The following contains spoilers for Episode 5 of Urusei Yatsura, “The Glove of Love and Conflict/How I’ve Waited For You…,” now streaming onHiDive.
The fifth episode of the new Urusei Yatsura anime series takes a slightly different track from previous episodes to focus on the relationship between Ataru and Lum. While the last couple of episodes have been incredibly rambunctious, there hasn’t been a lot of time put into developing their connection. This episode reminds fans that Urusei Yatsura is at its core a romantic comedy, in little ways that confirm that Ataru doesn’t completely hate Lum.
Of course, this episode is still laugh-out-loud hilarious, with plenty of ridiculous hijinks involving the supernatural. Sakura has finally returned,after being absent since episode 2, and Mendo continues to play the foil to Ataru as his eternal rival. The new series of Urusei Yatsura continues to deliver, and it hasn’t missed yet.
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“The Glove Of Love And Conflict”
As Ataru arrives at school, he learns that the school has a hot new nurse. Ataru immediately rushes to the nurse’s office, only to find that not only have the other male students (including Mendo) are already there, but the new nurse is actually Sakura, the shrine maiden he met earlier. Ataru and the other male students nonetheless lust after Sakura, who swiftly kicks them out of her office. However, before she can get any peace and quiet, the teachers arrive with an exorcism request for her.
The teachers show Sakura a pair of boxing gloves, and claim that they are cursed. Before they can explain the curse, Cherry appears and interrupts their talk. An irritated Sakura knocks him out of the school, but accidentally sends one of the gloves out with him. The glove ends up in Lum’s possession, who brings it to Ataru so he can tell her what it is. Ataru puts on the glove to show her what the glove is used for, but the glove turns out to have a mind of its own, and begins pulling in anyone nearby for an embrace. Ataru is unable to remove the glove, making him unable to end his predicament.
Ataru swears that the glove is doing this on its own,but no one believes him due to his usual behavior and antics. Sakura and the other teachers soon appear to exorcise the gloves, and explain that the right glove that Ataru put on is called the Love Clincher, which automatically pulls in close any nearby target. The teachers put the left glove Rage Hitter on Ataru to show the full effect: with both gloves, Ataru will pull in and punch out anyone who happens to get near to him. They explain that the grudge is caused by a boxer that wanted friends, but scared everyone away because of his strength.
During this explanation, Lum accidentally gets too close to Ataru, triggering the gloves to activate. However, Ataru takes the punch in Lum’s place, keeping Lum from getting hurt. Touched by Ataru’s compassion, Lum continues to attempt to hug Ataru, which keeps causing the gloves to trigger. Sakura, watching this happen, realizes something, and sets up a boxing ring for them to continue their chase. Lum continues to jump Ataru, forcing him to keep taking the blows until he eventually falls unconscious. Satisfied, the gloves finally let Ataru’s hands go.
“How I’ve Waited For You…”
While walking to school with Ataru, Lum spies a couple holding hands. Lum tries to hold hands with Ataru, but Ataru runs off to talk to Shinobu, leaving Lum in the dust. Meanwhile at school, Mendo receives a number of love letters from his female classmates, earning him the ire of the other male students. They decide to plot to ruin Mendo’s reputation using Ataru as the conduit. The male students create a fake girl named Otoko Kumino and address a love letter to Ataru in her name. Ataru falls for it hook, line, and sinker, and reads it aloud. The love letter praises Ataru and insults Mendo, earning the latter’s rage.
Mendo declares the love letter is fake, to Ataru’s ire.The two end up making a bet; Ataru will set up a meeting with Otoko Kumino, and if she is fake, Ataru will give Mendo the title of class president, and if she is real, Mendo will pay Ataru 10,000 yen. As this goes on, Lum is furious to hear that Ataru is so excited about a love letter from another girl, and tries desperately to make him jealous. Ataru, however, doesn’t seem to care at all, making her worry that he doesn’t care for her the way she does him.
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The students pay a girl from another school to play the role of Otoko Kumino, but she gets a stomachache on the day of, leaving them without a girl to play the role. Lum overhears this, but decides not to help Ataru because of his cold attitude. Ataru, Mendo, and the other male students head to the cafe, but even after an hour, Otoko Kumino does not show up. However, right before time runs out, Lum takes pity on Ataru and shows up disguised as Otoko Kumino to save him the humiliation. Ataru quickly realizes it, but Lum manages to get him out of the cafe before they are found out. Once outside, Lum and Ataru bicker over how often Ataru’s antics get him into trouble, having seemingly reverted back to their usual routine. However, this time, Ataru finds something different about Lum, and when she starts to leave, he asks her to keep walking with her for just a little while longer.
A Relationship Growing Slowly
This episode takes a breather from introducing new characters and concocting ridiculous situations to focus on the relationship between Ataru and Lum. As the leads of the series, their relationship is the crux on which the show is built upon, so it’s important to illustrate how the two feel about each other. Lum’s feelings towards Ataru are obvious, but Ataru’s feelings towards Lum are a little more complicated.While Ataru openly claims to dislike Lum’s presence, these two stories show that he does care for her in his own way.
Of course, the world of Urusei Yatsura continues to expand even with this focus on the main characters. Sakura’s return establishes her as a recurring character sure to show up again, while the post-credits scene teases Benten, another fan favorite and friend of Lum. In addition, previews reveal another friend of Lum, Oyuki, will be introduced. With the cast sure to expand in the coming episodes, it’s good to take some time to develop the relationship between the main characters.
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