I'm currently rewatching the first 70-odd episodes of UY before moving onto the 130-odd I haven't yet seen. I just want to write a few (lol) words about episode 10, one of my favourite episodes of anything ever. Yeah, I know, get a blog, but I don't want to... so there.
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Urusei Yatsura - episode 10
It's Christmas eve and Ataru, Lum, and Ten are on a public roof terrace when Megane and the stormtroopers, along with a couple of girls, show up. Lum is sitting on a bench
knitting a Christmas present for Ataru, who makes it clear that he doesn't want anything from her. He then uses his yoyo to flip up the skirt of one of the girls. Everyone expects Lum to zap Ataru for this latest transgression, but instead she expresses concern over his behaviour. Ataru is unrepentent and
tells Lum to go home. Disgusted with Ataru's attitude, (and with getting a
taste of electricity from Lum for admonishing him), Megane and the stormtroopers hatch a plan to have Lum break up with him.
They write Ataru a
fake love letter and enlist the help of an
attractive girl to play the part of his admirer. And, er, they also recruit an absurd wrestling dude and a reporter. The idea is for her to attack Ataru when he makes his move, whereupon the wrestler will beat him up and the reporter will catch it all on camera, thereby humiliating him in front of Lum and showing her how pathetic he really is. Ataru
falls for it hook, line, and sinker, while poor Lum is
heartbroken that he insists on meeting her. But later she overhears the stormtroopers discussing the plan and, after some thought,
decides to help her Darling.
The meeting place: the café. The time: 4PM. For
some, the tension is too much. In walks "Kumino"--only it's not Kumino, it's Lum, who intercepted the girl and electrocuted the crap out of her. Somehow Ataru fails to recognise her until he's up close, but she makes sure he
plays along before he can blow it. Megane's
reaction to the whole affair is priceless. Outside, Lum tells Ataru everything. He's outraged, but she says that it's his own fault. Suddenly Ataru catches Lum in profile and realizes what everyone else in the universe already knows: that she's actually
quite lovely. Just before it starts to snow, Lum remembers Ataru's
Christmas present. As she goes to fly away, he grabs her arm and bashfully asks if she'd like to walk with him for a while. She does, and they share a warm moment.
This was the first episode where we see how much Lum really cares for Ataru. Early on she's kind of bitchy and possessive, but by the time the series moved away from the half episode format, she had become a more rounded, likeable, and sympathetic character. This episodes is an early example of that, and showed that UY could effectively marry pathos with comedy.
Asami Endo is my favourite character designer of the Oshii era, and this episode contains so many lovely shots of Lum. Oshii himself directed, and he frequent demonstrates an impeccable sense of subtle comic timing (it's such a shame that all he wants to do these days is use film as a platform to air his political and philosophical views). The aforementioned café breakdown is a fantastic moment, as are the numerous exaggerated facial expressions sported by the male characters. But the moment that makes me laugh the most is when stormtrooper Perm falls down the stairs in the café, simply because it's so random and unexpected.
... that was longer than intended!
