Urusei Yatsura

Episode 29

Say what you will about the Urusei Yatsura reboot, but I think it's a strong contender for one of the most high-effort reboots I've seen in the past couple of years. There is such a dedication to whatever bit or setup that I honestly find myself enchanted at what's on the screen, even if I have no idea what on earth is going on. This episode is divided into two skits. The first focused on that random large cat we kept seeing in the background. I remember nothing significant about this cat besides chilling in a kotatsu and drinking tea. Seeing him be in a semi-proactive role was refreshing. The setup was about a living kotatsu that was afraid of being warm, and there's a lot of buildup with the cat having this pride as a kotatsu expert, but I don't understand the random shift that happened at the end of the skit where they just shook hands and made a sleigh like Santa. That felt like a bit of a letdown, like the writer had a funny setup but couldn't think of a punchline.

The second skit is more memorable because it was overly dramatic but in a good way. This was a version of a couple's conversation about "Would you still love me if I was a worm," except as a cow. The episode highlights a problem I mentioned in a previous review where the more dramatic episodes don't hit as hard sometimes because any character growth that happens needs to be self-contained due to the episodic nature of the series. You're not seeing a lesson learned in one episode carry over. But if the series is going to have a self-contained dramatic moment, it should do everything in its power to make it stand out, and there's a lot of imagery here that will be burned into my skull.

The setup is ridiculous, with a looming threat of Lum becoming a cow because her horns grew overnight. I don't know why Lum doesn't immediately ask her parents if that is normal, but they are all dumb teenagers. A part of me was genuinely surprised by how invested Ataru was in Lum's well-being. Usually, he shows that he cares in a more passive-aggressive way, but here, he seemed very genuine and straight-faced for most of the episode. Maybe that was the joke? The setup is idiotic, but everyone plays it so straight, and it builds up to this incredibly well-animated and well-directed dramatic crescendo like something out of a Makoto Shinkai movie. I got swept into the emotion of it. That one dumb image of Ataru taking care of Lum as a cow made me feel something. It's so weird, but that's a testament to the show's quality that it could sell you on something so ludicrous with its drama and comedy. While the cat skit missed the mark, the second skit was a homerun.

Rating:

Urusei Yatsura is currently streaming on HIDIVE.