うる星やつら episode 33 (2002)
Urusei Yatsura 33 (2022) review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

One of the Mendou octopi goes missing. That night, Shuutarou has a nightmare and starts skipping school due to head pressure. A week later, Ataru, Lum, Shinobu, and Ten-chan sneak in to visit him. There, they discover he has a floral-colored octopus on his head. While it is the missing octopus Akamaru, it has no substance. Sakura-sensei and Cherry arrive to state the octopus isn’t dead. Ataru angers Shuutarou, so Ataru uses a pillow to fend off a sword attack. Inside the pillow is Akamaru.

In the past, a girl in the hospital observes Ataru on an autum’s day and falls in love with him. In the present, Sakura-sensei summons Ataru with Lum in tow. She gets him to agree to go on a date with the girl, Nozomi. However, she has since died, but her ghost remains on Earth. In order to get her to pass on, she has one wish–to go on a date with Ataru. In addition, she has muffler, mittens, and partial sweater she knitted for him.

Ataru gladly accepts and wears the gifts despite the heat. The two spend the day together doing all of the things Nozomi wanted to do. Ataru struggles with the heat, but Nozomi hasn’t passed on. Sakura-sensei reads Nozomi’s diary and discovers Nozomi’s final wish was to walk with Ataru in the snow. Things go black and Nozomi panics.

Ataru reveals himself and a fireworks show happens. Seeing Ataru suffering from the heat, Nozomi makes one last request to hold his arm as the fireworks go off. She gets close to him, then passes on. Later, Ataru prays at Nozomi’s grave, impressing Lum.

Thoughts/Review:

The first story of the modern Urusei Yatsura 33 originated from manga chapter 274, and was originally adapted in the OG episode 166. The second story of this episode came from manga chapter 247. The OG anime adaptation was in episode 157.

Blind Stupidity

I hate Urusei Yatsura 33 for VASTLY different reasons. The first story is a normal dislike of a stupid story. I didn’t even remember the story from the OG adaptation, but I knew everything that would happen in the episode. When I looked at my original review, I can see why. I found it “meh” back then (and that was with whatever extra padding they added).

Today, the trimmed down story was still too long and pointless. Nothing made me laugh nor care. And the attempt at some kind of horror setup for a comedic payoff doesn’t work. It really makes one wonder what the heck Takahashi-sensei was thinking back when she inked the original manga.

Depressing Story

The reason I “hate” the second story of Urusei Yatsura 33 is that it is too depressing. Yes, it is a great story. I looked back at my OG review and saw I loved it, though there seemed to be more comedy there than here. That aside, the moment I saw Nozomi in the hospital room, writing her diary and observing Ataru, I lost it. I didn’t want to watch ’cause I knew I’d be depressed the rest of the day.

In my old age, I find I just can’t handle depressing stories like I could in my youth. As such, I hated this part of the episode for depressing the crap out of me. I know the episode shows Ataru’s good side. He wants Nozomi’s ghost to have her last wish fulfilled. And yet I couldn’t help but think that in reality, it was all a fake. Nozomi is dead. There is no future for her with Ataru or anyone else. And that depresses me even more.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Urusei Yatsura 33 showcases the extremes the series can go. On one hand, you have an insanely stupid and pointless story. On the other hand, you have a massively depressing tale that is also a good story.