REVIEW: ‘Urusei Yatsura,’ Episode 6 – “Good Day for a Departure”

Urusei Yatsura Episode 6 is a sci-fi romantic comedy based on the original manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi. The series centers on girl-obsessed Ataru Moroboshi and the alien princess Lum who believes she is Ataru’s wife after he accidentally proposes to her. 

Urusei Yatsura is produced by David Production and directed by Hideya Takahashi and Yasuhiro Kimura, with scripts written by Yūko Kakihara and character design and illustration by Naoyuki Asano. Takahiro Komei serves as series director, and Masaru Yokoyama composes the music. The leading voice cast consists of Summer Uesaka as Invader Lum, Hiroshi Kamiya as Ataru Moroboshi, Maaya Uchida as Shinobu, and Mamoru Miyano as Shutaro Mendo.

In Urusei Yatsura Episode 6, Ataru has his stomach and heart set on his once-a-year meal Sukiyaki feast with his family. Unfortunately for him, Lum has other plans in store for them. First, Lum rushes Ataru through an interdimensional portal she builds in his room. When they arrive on the other side of the portal, Lum informs Ataru that he will be participating in her world’s Setsubun festival. Later on, Ataru meets some of Lum’s friends, Benten and Oyuki, and in his typical fashion, Ataru flirts with them. Ataru’s flirting, of course, leads Lum to act out in a jealous rage. 

Urusei Yatsura Episode 6 feels like a filler or throw-away episode. Overall it is still pretty entertaining, but it only offers a little toward moving the series’ story or characters forward. Additionally, it feels like a weak follow-up to Episode 5’s fantastic ending when it comes to building upon Ataru and Lum’s relationship. 

It does not help that the pacing in Episode 6 is rushed compared to previous episodes. The time for the first two segments was cut short to make room for a mini bonus segment at the end. However, the bonus segment ended up being the funniest and one of the more entertaining parts of the episode. While I won’t ruin the surprise, the use of meta-humor and fourth-wall-breaking in this segment was refreshing and natural for the series. It shows that the Urusei Yatsura knows how to poke fun at itself and have the characters poke fun at its characters. I would love to see the series use this kind of humor more often as the show continues. 

Lastly, Urusei Yatsura continues introducing another set of characters to its ever-growing cast. In Episode 6, we meet two of Lum’s childhood friends, Benten, a girl from a rival alien clan, and Oyuki, a snow queen from Neptune. Although the moments with these characters felt very brief in this episode, they offer a tiny peek into Lum’s personal life outside of Ataru. At this point in the series, we do not know much about Lum and her past, let alone her present life, outside of being in love with Ataru. 

Lum is such an interesting character, but her one-sided relationship with Ataru sometimes limits her. With a character as strong and capable as Lum, you can’t help but want to see more of her outside of just being a love interest. It would be great to see who Lum is outside of her relationship with Ataru and how she interacts with her friends. Episode 6 offers a peek into that, even if it s brief, the introduction of Benten and Oyuki gives a glimpse of Lum’s relationships and personality with other characters besides Ataru. 

Overall, Urusei Yatsura Episode 6 is a decent watch and addition to the series. Episode 6 introduces some interesting new characters that give a peek into more of Lum’s life outside of Ataru. Unfortunately, it feels like a throw-away episode, and the pacing for the episode segments is rushed, which only offers a little towards moving the series’ story or character relationships forward. Episode 6 is just not a solid follow-up to the tremendous episode that was Episode 5.

Urusei Yatsura exclusively streams weekly on HiDIVE.