うる星やつら episode 188 (TV anime)
Urusei Yatsura Ep. 188 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Shinobu and Lum are in a local wooded area for different reasons when they encounter Sakura-sensei roasting some newts for medication.  They aren’t interested in the different medicines that one can make from roasted newts until she mentions she can make a love potion in medicine form.  Leading them back to the place she makes the medicine, Lum and Shinobu note how the place looks like a witch’s hut, more so after Sakura-sensei makes them wear special cloaks. After dealing with Cherry’s interruption, Sakura-sensei produces candy, which she places in a wrapper, telling Shinobu and Lum that if their intended consumes one of the candies, they will fall in love with the girl who gave the candy.

Lum rushes to Ataru’s house and tricks him into taking the candy. Lum is happy to hear Ataru’s poetic love confession to her, but when his mother calls to him, Ataru tells his mother that he knows the truth of her and his father, stating he found them in a bamboo shoot and raised them to be his parents. His mother is happy to hear that she is the same as Kagyua-hime.  At school, Shinobu gives Shuutaro a candy, but instead of confessing his love for her, he states that they are in fact brother and sister.  He then recounts a lengthy tale of how an alien race known as the Ryugu went to war with Earth, and in the process, a young Shinobu was kidnapped. Although returned to Earth, her memories of being Shuutaro’s sister were erased and she lived with another family.

When Shuutaro sees Lum, he recounts how Lum agreed to marry him the day before, which is a lie. Lum’s Storm Troopers beat him as Lum and Shinobu wonder what went wrong with the medicine. Shuutaro ends up going out a window because of Lum’s supposed rejection, but when Onsen-sensei comes into class, he and Ataru trick the teacher into thinking they’ve erected a statue of him in the courtyard. After sending Onsen-sensei off on a rocket, Ataru reveals that Shuutaro is actually Shuuko, a woman. After recounting a Cinderella-type story, Shuutaro confesses to being a woman, and the two fight it out over their love for each other. Meanwhile, Lum and Shinobu learn from Sakura-sensei that she accidentally made a lying potion, explaining Ataru’s and Shuutaro’s actions.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode was rather hit-and-miss with me.  On the miss side, the prevaricating stories sometimes got rather long and tedious, especially Shuutaro’s science fiction story, which actually is as a parody of the Japanese tale Urashima Tarou (that also being the main character’s name, family name first). Cherry’s part wasn’t a win with me either.

On the other hand, Ataru’s tale making Shuutaro a woman very much like the elegant Cinderella wasn’t as long, and was funny to boot.

There were other nice humor moments, such as the unexpected attaching of a rocket to Onsen-sensei’s back, or the girl’s reaction to hearing that Sakura-sensei could make a love potion.

As to Ataru’s false love confession near the start, I had sorta hoped that there might have been more of this, with a reveal that the candy actually made the person confess from the heart.  Obviously that didn’t happen, but that’s OK.

In the end, despite some slow parts, this episode was enjoyable, complete with funny moments.