うる星やつら episode 89 (TV anime)
Urusei Yatsura 89

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ataru’s mother is sick of always winning the 6th place prize of a packet of tissues in the Shopping District’s lottery, feeling that it is rigged. She completes her shopping and receives another lottery ticket. She’s going to throw out the ticket, but decides to try her luck one more time. She wins! Now she and Ataru’s father are eagerly planning their romantic trip for two while Ataru bitterly complains about being left alone. No matter what he says, they are not going to take him with them.

At school, Ataru is not happy. When Lum asks him what he wants for dinner, he sarcastically mentions foods with plenty of heat on the side (from Tabasco, peppers, etc.). She takes it literally though. Learning that Ataru and Lum are alone under the same room, Mendou as well as Lum’s Stormtroopers (Megane, Perm, Chibi, & Kakugari) aren’t happy to hear this. Mendou attacks Ataru with his katana, which Ataru defends against. Ten-chan floats down, promising to help defend Lum from Ataru. Ataru is relieved to remember that Ten-chan will be staying with them as well, and then expresses his relief with Ten-chan, expressing his love for the young alien.

After school, Ataru tells Lum he has an errand so he takes off, making an empty promise to save his appetite for dinner. He’s followed by the Stormtroopers and Mendou as Lum makes a fire meal. Ataru is about to scarf out at a local restaurant when one of Mendou’s guards in drag grabs Ataru and takes him to the Mendou estate to be held prisoner until Ataru’s parents return. Ataru is happy by not being forced to spend the night with Lum, which Mendou doesn’t believe. However, Ataru finds that he has a device attached to his back and that devices begins pulling him through walls, ceilings, and any other obstacle until he arrives home.

It is time for dinner and Ataru isn’t interested in eating what he knows will be food too spicy-hot to eat. His attitude changes a bit when Lum offers him what appears to be beer but he’s disappointed when it is only barley tea. Mendou and the Stormtroopers both bust in on the scene, ruining Lum’s dinner. As a result, Lum punishes them all with a massive, lengthy burst of electricity. She does save one piece of food which she pops into Ataru’s mouth, causing him to be a bit ill.

Now it is bedtime and the other guys imagine Ataru as a perverted man looking to soil the lovely, innocent, 17-year old Lum (in a kimono). So they attack Ataru, who’s immediately defended by Lum. Mendou doesn’t understand why she defends Ataru and Megane says they’ve sworn to defend Lum’s purity. She responds that she didn’t ask for that as she can take care of herself. To their horror and shock (which has them briefly in scenes from Return of the Jedi), Lum tells them that her body belongs to Ataru. She continues that she’s going to bed with Ataru and that they can’t get cozy with the guys there. Megane snaps and is out.

Lum tells Ataru that it is time to go upstairs and he’s out of options. He imagines the wrath of her parents and his if they go through with this and it isn’t a pleasant prospect. He considers how that by keeping a line between himself and Lum, if he looks at another girl, he’ll be electrocuted. However, if he allows himself to be in a real relationship with Lum and he looks at another girl, he’ll be electrocuted. Suddenly, the guy’s worst fears are realized as Ataru suddenly understands that no matter what he does, he’s going to get electrocuted so why not have some fun on the way.

Lum is happy that Ataru is suddenly excited to take her to bed while the remaining guys are horrified. Lum and Ataru make it to the bedroom where the guys break down the door. However, Lum anticipated this and has the sliding glass door open so that their momentum carries them right out to the balcony and down to the ground. Lum reveals that she has put Ten-chan to sleep with some candy so it is just the two of them. Ataru is nervous but Lum is inviting so he joins her in bed. However, nothing happens as Lum makes Ataru wear a bulky, insulated, full-body suit to protect him from accidentally being electrocuted as they sleep. So he can’t even sneak a kiss off her.

Thoughts/Review:

I’m not sure, but this episode may be the best of the lot so far. For starters, Lum’s Stormtroopers and Mendou’s constant attempts to keep Lum and Ataru apart cracked me up. Lum attaching a device to Ataru so that she could bring him him though any obstacle just had me laughing and laughing. What had me laughing the most was when Ataru finally realized that whether he was with Lum or not, he’d be electrocuted if he ever looked at another woman, so he may as well go to bed with Lum. Lum’s happiness and her dealing with the other guys helped add to the humor of the scene. Then when the guys went into shock and “became” characters from Return of the Jedi, I laughed so hard. Just good stuff all the way around.

One thing I never understood from the beginning is why Ataru never went for Lum when he goes after the babes (more so in the past than now). After all, Lum is portrayed as a hottie and Ataru has been electrocuted by her before. With this episode revealing that the main thing holding him back from actively being in a relationship with Lum is a fear of her and his parents, things suddenly made sense. That too added to the humor of Ataru deciding, “What the heck” and going with Lum to the bedroom.

I chuckled at the resolution to how they would retain their innocence (as it were) while still sleeping together. Oh, it is too much.

So, this ended up being an episode with a lot of good laughs and possibly the best episode to date (humor-wise at least).