Urusei Yatsura

Episode 6

So after that more emotionally intense episode last week, I think it's only fair that we get an episode that is almost entirely about the laughs. There's no overarching narrative here, and the episode is strictly divided into three skits that are only connected by the fact that almost all of the characters reappear in them at some point. Of the three, I will say that the final skit was probably my favorite in how it absolutely demolished the fourth wall in the most unexpected way. Urusei Yatsura has sort of dabbled in meta-humor every now and then, but it had never been as blatant as it is here, with most of the skit committed to that joke. It's also the skit where I felt the worst for Ataru because the show just really lays it on thick that everybody does not like the guy and it's so weird weighing in my brain whether or not he really deserves all of this, especially when everybody else is kind of just as bad.

The other two skits seem to revolve around the more alien, science-fiction elements of the series. Rumiko Takahashi's interest in Japanese folklore comes through very strongly in these skits; I like the fact that a lot of creatures are contextualized as aliens like the Oni and Yuki-onna, even when their inspiration is as clear as day. It does make me wonder a little bit about how some of the traditions or abilities shown relate to actual Japanese folklore because the first skit ends with Ataru having beans thrown at him the same way that Setsubun is celebrated except the joke is that the Oni are throwing the beans. So did Earth get that tradition from aliens or is it all a big coincidence? It doesn't matter at the end of the day, I just find it really interesting and I guess that does give me another recurring element to look forward to in the show moving forward. Overall, not the best episode but definitely filled with enough laughs and world-building to keep me entertained.

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Urusei Yatsura is currently streaming on HIDIVE.