Urusei Yatsura 86
うる星やつら episode 86 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

MENDOU Ryoko rides her horse through her mansion’s hall and stops outside the closed door (guarded by two security men) where her brother Shuutaro is secluded. The security guys refuse Ryoko entry until she offers a massive bribe. Entering the room, which is filled with large jars, she finds Shuutaro in special training. He’s clearly shaken by the training and despite two whacks on the head, he refuses to tell her what he’s doing. So, she sends a couple of people to see Lum and Ataru to consult them on this.

Lum and Ataru pay him a visit (their whole class tagging along for some free grub). Ataru decides to let Lum know what he’s doing and takes her to the training room. His training has him get into one of the jars, pull the lid over, and then attempt to tolerate the experience. Instead, he ends up breaking out of the jar. To Suutaro’s dismay, his revelation is also heard by Ataru, Shinobu, and Ryuunosuke. Since it is clear this training isn’t cutting it, Lum suggests they go back in time to find out the cause and cure it there. As such, she makes one of the jars a portal to go back in time.

Arriving in the estate fountain back in time, Shuutaro finds himself attacked by his younger self. Young Mendou summons security, who then attack Shuutaro while the others escape with young Mendou. Shuutaro eventually escapes and because young Mendou is being a brat, he takes a few beatings. He eventually leads Shuutaro and Ataru on a chase where they find themselves trapped so that security can grab them. This is observed by Lum and the girls with Lum deciding that they should watch and see what transpires.

In the modern time, Megane and Perm are looking for Lum and the others who’ve disappeared. They soon find the jar room and they too get sucked into the past. By the time they arrive, Shuutaro and Ataru are chained from the ceiling of the mansion for young Mendou’s amusement. Ataru gets out somehow and pretends to be on young Mendou’s side, giving advice on how to have more fun with Shuutaro. Shuutaro is not happy with this and despite Ataru’s assurance that this is part of a plan to escape, Shuutaro doesn’t believe it.

Lum, Ryuunosuke, and Shinobu ambush three guards and change into their uniforms (the latter being oberved by Megane and Perm). The three then enter the mansion, where they then proceed to rescue Ataru and Shuutaro. Shuutaro is VERY upset about all the abuse he had to take and Ataru’s enjoyment of it. Ataru flees with young Mendou to the jar room of the past. Placing young, frightened Mendou in a jar to hide him from Shuutaro’s wrath, Ataru teases Shuutaro until he can be knocked out and everyone returned to the present. Being trapped in that jar is what lead to Shuutaro’s present phobia.

Thoughts/Review:

I figured that the group returning back to the past to discover the cause of Mendou’s (Shuutaro) phobia of being confined and phobia of the dark would be cause of said phobias. However, knowing this did not lessen my enjoyment of the episode. This is one of those times where one just sits back and enjoys the ride for what it is rather than for where it will go.

It is nice seeing Ryoko and Ryuunosuke again. Ryoko was little more than an extended cameo since she disappears after the first few minutes. However, she had some nice comedy moments (pure slapstick). Ryuunosuke was around longer, but she too is not used much (nor is Shinobu for that matter). However, that didn’t matter much to me because as I said, the fun is in the ride. ^_^

One nice little moment was when Ataru whacked young Mendou over his remark of marrying Lum. Ataru had gotten irritated earlier when young Mendou hit on Shinobu, but having him do it for Lum was kinda nice. Lum also appreciated that moment too.

On a side note, thanks to Viz leaving the term “Waka” untranslated in Hayate the Combat Butler manga, I can now hear that term clearly when I watched this episode. Cool, y’all.

Thus far, my return to Urusei Yatsura has been a real delight. I’m really happy about this.