Urusei Yatsura – Season 2 Episode 22 Recap & Review

Boy Meets Girl: Crooked Heart

Episode 22 of Urusei Yatsura Season 2 begins with Inaba showing Shinobu black doorknobs. Inaba tells Shinobu when he attaches these doorknobs to the doors in hyperspace it leads him to purely dark locations. Shinobu informs Inaba that Lum and Ataru haven’t been around lately either. Both characters wonder what’s happening. 

Meanwhile, Benten and the others spot Carla firing her weapon at Rupa and Ataru on the wedding ceremony’s rooftop. Rupa tells Carla he refuses to marry her, so she continues firing at the two gentlemen. Then, Master Upa arrives via his airship. Rupa escapes with Lum. Lum asks Ataru to help but Ataru refuses because he thinks Lum’s a backstabber. Remember, Ataru doesn’t know that the Lum who said she’d rather marry Rupa was a fake one. 

Before Rupa escapes, Mendo arrives and cuts the rope bridge Rupa’s holding onto. Rupa, Ataru, Carla, and Lum slide down the wedding ceremony’s rooftop. Rupa saves Carla from falling. Mendo tells Ataru to save Lum. Lum’s currently hanging off a piece of cloth. The cloth snaps, causing Lum to plummet toward the ground. Ataru jumps off the roof to join Lum. 

While falling, Lum slaps Ataru and yells at him for flirting with Carla instead of saving her. Moreover, Lum’s infuriated that Ataru joked about marrying Carla in front of her too. Ataru tells Lum he is serious about that claim. He shows her a marriage registration form and tells her he wants nothing to do with her. Enraged, Lum’s powers return, preventing the two from falling.

Lum flies into the air while holding Ataru in one arm. Simultaneously, bolts of electricity circle her body. Then, Rupa, Carla, Lum, and Ataru argue, leaving the others confused. During the argument, Lum says she’d rather stay with Rupa than be with Ataru. Benten and the others question Lum about her decision later. Benten reminds Lum that Ataru got tricked by the fake Lum. 

Lum says that’s why she refuses to return home with him. She doesn’t want to be with a man who doesn’t trust her. Lum says she’ll return to Ataru’s side once he apologizes. Benten and Oyuki enter the ship and see Mendo trying to persuade Ataru to apologize to Lum. Ataru refuses to apologize so he and the others return home. Simultaneously, Carla leaves with them since her ship’s still entangled in Oyuki’s. 

Later, Shinobu and Inaba visit Sakura and Cherry at the latter’s place. Sakura shows Inaba and Shinobu the crystal ball and tells them it predicted Lum would get dragged into the darkness. Next, Sakura’s crystal ball prophesizes that the Earth will be covered in darkness soon. Then, these four arrive at Ataru’s home. Ataru’s mother’s not thrilled that she has to make a meal for everyone, including Ataru and his group. 

Carla arrives and offers Ataru’s mother mushrooms to use in her dish. While eating, Sakura and the others insist Ataru apologize to Lum. Ataru refuses because he wants Lum to apologize first. The others yell at Ataru for refusing. Benten questions Sakura about the Earth prophecy. Sakura’s unsure if Ataru bringing Lum back will prevent that prophecy from occurring. 

Meanwhile, Rupa informs Lum about his past conflicts with Carla. Rupa says he’d be better off with Lum than Carla because she’s less chaotic. Lum shows Rupa that she can be just as loose as Carla. Moreover, Lum says it’s weird for Rupa to develop feelings for someone he holds no knowledge or connection with. Back at Ataru’s place, everyone notices the mushrooms are growing larger. 

Carla tells them that the mushrooms will grow larger if they’re exposed to sunlight and heat. Next, several mushrooms start sprouting throughout Tombiki Town, leaving Tomobiki Town’s residents confused. Sakura demands Carla call her people here to get rid of the mushrooms. Carla refuses despite claiming Rupa and his pigs are the only way to remove the mushrooms. 

At Rupa’s castle, Lum notices Rupa has pictures of Carla everywhere in his room. Rupa says Carla gave him this stuff and says he’d feel terrible if he didn’t treat her gifts properly. Then, one of Rupa’s servants tells him that Carla’s calling him. During their call, Carla tells Rupa that she accidentally covered Tomobiki Town with their planet’s mushrooms and needs his help. 

Rupa mocks Carla for her actions. This leads to the two boasting about their fabricated relationships with Lum and Ataru. Sakura interrupts both group’s banter and begs Lum to convince Rupa to help them. Lum says she’ll do it but Ataru must tell Lum he loves her. Ataru tells Lum he hates her. Shinobu, Benten, Mendo, and Sakura punish Ataru and accidentally destroy the calling device. 

Lum reflects on Ataru’s words and Ataru reflects on his remarks to her while visiting a bridge. Ataru says he shouldn’t have to tell Lum because she should know that he loves her. Meanwhile, Ran tells Sakura that it’ll take 10 days for the mushrooms to cover Earth. Then, Rupa’s pigs arrive and eat some of the mushrooms. Rupa and Lum appear via a device. 

Rupa informs the Earthlings that his pigs are the only ones capable of exterminating the mushrooms. Lum says they’ll assist Earth if Ataru can defeat her in a game of tag. Ataru must grab Lum’s horns within 10 days to win. Lum tells Ataru she will give it her all this time around. However, Lum says she’ll yield if Ataru tells her she loves her during their game. 

The episode closes with Ataru telling Lum he’ll never say those words to her. 

The Episode Review

Although this wasn’t the best episode of Urusei Yatsura Season 2, it had some neat callbacks to the series’s initial debut chapter. From Lum and Ataru’s upcoming game of tag to Ataru visiting the same spot where he pondered how to defeat Lum, fans who’ve watched this remake since its 2022 debut will love the small throwbacks to that first chapter. 

Moreover, it was nice seeing Carla offer our heroes some aid. Although her mushrooms caused them problems later on in the episode, it shows that she’s not an entirely barbaric nutcase as Rupa says she is. At the same time, we hope Carla and Rupa can settle their long-running issues with each other authentically since many predict the season finale will center around Lum and Ataru’s issues with each other. 

On that note, this whole Lum and Ataru debacle feels drawn-out and annoying. Many folks know the two could easily resolve their complaints by maturely discussing the fake Lum situation and other issues in detail. On the other hand, Ataru’s always been a flirtatious individual who occasionally shows that he cares for Lum on a deeper level. Unfortunately, most of season two didn’t explore that side of him further. 

Overall, this chapter was average at best. It has its sentimental moments but upon further inspection, most of these segments don’t land as hard as they should. Hopefully, the final episode will give us something memorable and entertaining.