うる星やつら episode 45 (2002)
Urusei Yatsura 45 (2022) review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

While on a date, Inaba tells Shinobu of a coming darkness. In the darkness dimension, Upa shows up with a massive blimp to save his great grandson. Rupa again kidnaps Lum, who begs Ataru for help. Ataru refuses because the clone rejected him. Meanwhile, Benten brings in the others. Shuutaro cuts the rope ladder to the blimp while Oyuki uses massive ice shards to try to stop their falls.

Lum falls off the room anyway, so Ataru goes after her. She rejects him because he was with another girl. As such, Ataru decides he will marry Karula for real. This enrages Lum so that her horns grow, returning her to full power. After frying Ataru, he rejects her for good. Lum decides to stay with Rupa, who rejects Karula. Benten and Oyuki explain to Lum about the clone. However, Lum refuses to change her mind and tells them to leave.

Meanwhile, Inaba and Shinobu consult with Sakura-sensei, who sees a growing darkness due to Lum. At Ataru’s home, his mother is angry because he has brought over so many guests. Karula shows up with a basket of mushrooms for the nabe. As they eat, they realize the mushrooms are multiplying. Karula tells them that light and heat cause them to grow like mad.

Back in the darkness dimension, Lum sees that Rupa’s room is filled with posters, plushies, and more of Karula. He says she forced them on him. However, it causes Lum to realize Ataru’s never said he loved her. On Earth, the mushrooms are taking over the planet. Lum and Rupa make a transmission. In it, Lum challenges Ataru to a game of tag. She’ll give him an instant win if he says he loves her. He refuses to do so.

Thoughts/Review:

Manga chapters 362, 363, and 364 went into the making of Urusei Yatsura 45. And as before, this was originally adapted as Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter movie.

Plot Demands

All of the so called “drama” in Urusei Yatsura 45 is because the plot demands it. Nothing is organic. Ataru being a moronic aho may be in character to an extent, but it is done more because of plot demands. Lum learns the truth about why Ataru has an excuse to reject her, but the plot demands she be in a huff, so there. The plot demands she be okay marrying her kidnapper, so she reluctantly is fine with going along with it. Karula comes to Earth with mushrooms she KNOWS will overrun the planet ’cause “plot.” Lum gets her horns back just before falling to her death ’cause “plot.” And that’s just for a start.

Rupa is not a sympathetic character, so I don’t care about him one whit. And he’s further marred by being a kidnapper. Ataru is not a sympathetic character. He’s further marred by being a complete and total smeg head. Karula isn’t that sympathetic. She’s just a hothead who does things ’cause “plot”. Lum isn’t that sympathetic, even though she is the most sympathetic of the lot. However, she’s willing for a planet to die just to get a smeg head to say he loves her.

I suppose I’m irritable about this ’cause I already know how this ends. That aside, I wasn’t a fan of this kind of writing back in the day. And today, I’m even less of a fan, which may be while when I watched The Final Chapter movie, I didn’t mind as much. Indeed, there were things I appreciated back then that I’m pretty sure I won’t appreciate when this series wraps up. But I’ll save that for later.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of the 2022 Urusei Yatsura 45 with some final thoughts.

• I really hate the cringe British lingo that is injected into this. No doubt, the adapter thought it was funny, but it isn’t. I know the dark dimension folks speak in a different Japanese dialect, but it is so cringe when adapters go with British or Southern speak to try to reflect this.
• It is amazing how the annoying aspects of Cherry have really been brought to life in these later episodes.

In the end, I found Urusei Yatsura 45 to be a tedious, boring, forced melodrama where needs of the plot dictate all of the actions of the characters.