Urusei Yatsura

Episode 9

Man, Shinobu really just said the quiet part out loud this episode. Let it be known to everybody that at the end of the day, all that really matters is how handsome you are, even if you are a giant glutton that eats everything in his path or transforms into some weird mutated Tigger monster whenever you get angry. I don't even think the voice actor for this new character had more than five actual lines of dialogue outside of grunts and growls, but it just goes to show how much his handsome presence just made everyone expose how shallow and insecure they are. It does make me wonder what Shinobu actually saw in Ataru if she doesn't consider him handsome enough to excuse his negative behavior. Funnily enough, this was actually another episode where Ataru was kind of more of a background character even though he was actively being chased throughout most of it.

It is nice to see more characters from Lum's past, although I do feel like this was a wasted opportunity to explore Lum's character a little deeper and see what exactly she values in a partner. Unlike most everybody else, she doesn't seem to care if a person is handsome or not, since she seemed to be the only person who couldn't overlook Rei's gluttonous behavior when they were engaged as kids. I think this episode would've benefited from some flashbacks to provide us with a proper frame of reference for whether or not Lum might've changed compared to how she was as a kid. I don't usually ask for stuff like that in a comedy but honestly, I didn't find this episode as funny compared to previous ones after it is established that the running joke was just how handsome Rei was. Although I will say, seeing Mendo's reaction and near existential crisis was probably a highlight for me. Then again, maybe we will get more about Lum's past next week since it's heavily implied that her mom might be making an appearance. In fact, I am a little shocked she hasn't made an appearance sooner, unless there's some kind of issue going on with the family. But either way, I'm sure that will lead to a very interesting situation.

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Urusei Yatsura is currently streaming on HIDIVE.