Urusei Yatsura (2022) – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Present For You / The Yellow Ribbon of Happiness

Episode 2 of Urusei Yatsura begins with Ataru sitting in class while being smothered by Lum. Everyone in class is annoyed with Lum and find it hard to concentrate.

Shinobu throws a fit because of Lum’s teasing, resulting in all the girls in the class belittling Ataru. Shinobu buries Ataru under multiple desks after he and Lum share a smooching session.

The next day, Ataru visits the Cat and Caboodle Diner under disguise. As he eats, the television reporter classifies him as a missing person. Lum, Shinobu, Cherry, and his family share their grievances over his absence. The news reporter puts up a photo of Ataru in disguise, causing some people in the diner to point suspicion at him.

Ataru flees the diner and bumps into a woman. He asks the woman if she needs help seductively, and the woman knocks him to the ground. She can sense his terrible luck due to her having physiognomy. She reveals that she’s a shrine maiden and that Ataru is ill-fated regarding women. She promises to do an exorcism on Ataru to try to relieve him of his curse. At her house, we learn that the woman’s named Sakura.

When Ataru meets Sakura’s mother, he tries to flee, but Sakura’s mother lassos him back into their home. He thought she was Cherry in disguise. She pulls Ataru into the exorcism room, and he tries to escape. However, Sakura knocks him toward the ground with one of her canes. Sakura prepares the exorcism, but she can’t perform it successfully due to tooth pain. This causes many demons to swarm Ataru, showing that Sakura’s making things worse.

Sakura chants and tries to wipe away the demons. She stops again because she gets a migraine. Ataru tells her that every time she stops, more monsters show up. Suddenly, we discover that the demons that latched themselves onto Ataru were the ones causing Sakura pain. Sakura sends the demons packing, only for the Grim Reaper to show up and slice Ataru.

At the hospital, Sakura and her mother speak with Cherry. He’s happy that the demons causing her illness have vanished, and we find out he’s her uncle. Everyone from the Grim Reaper and Ataru’s loved ones establishes pity for him because they think he’s dead. Ataru wakes up asking for a woman’s number and address. Lum gives Ataru and the Grim Reaper a shocking ending in this episode’s segment.

In the next segment, Ataru visits Cherry. He asks him if he can make something to strip away Lum’s powers. He shares his reasoning with Cherry and is unaware that Lum’s nearby. Lum starts electrocuting Ataru as Cherry realizes Ataru’s predicament. At Ataru’s home, one of his friends visits him and gives him a present from Cherry. Inside the box is a yellow ribbon and a letter from Cherry.

In the letter, Cherry informs Ataru that he needs to tie the ribbon on Lum’s horns to neutralize her Oni powers. Only those who tie the ribbon around her horns can take it off. Lum arrives, and after a few naive comments from his friend, Ataru ties the ribbon around her horns. Lum loves the gift. She departs but lands hard on the ground after attempting to fly away.

As Lum tries to figure out what’s going on, Ataru and his friend spy on her. Lum bumps into one of Ataru’s other friends and tries shocking him to see if her electrocution powers work. His friend takes her gestures as a sign of affection, sparking jealousy in Ataru’s other friend. The same routine repeats with this friend, causing a massive argument between the two. As they are arguing, Ataru confronts Lum, asking her why she can’t use her powers.

Shinobu arrives, telling them to get a room. Lum retaliates with an offhand reply and flaunts the gift that Ataru gave her. Shinobu’s enraged that Ataru never gave her anything and tries taking off Lum’s ribbon. Ataru blocks her off, as Shinobu’s distraught. She wanted to deliver some baked goods to Ataru. She kicks Ataru in the face, leaving him defeated.

At night, Ataru’s two friends wish to crash at his place. They want to protect Lum because she can’t utilize her powers and worries about Ataru’s pervy antics. Ataru fights his friends, leading them to leap onto a nearby tree outside his bedroom window. Lum thanks Ataru for his heroism and tells him she wants to be with him for life.

Ataru hates the idea and asks Lum to take the ribbon off. As Lum begs him to stop, Ataru’s friends rush into his room through the window. They stumble upon Ataru over-powers; Lum. They try to knock him off of her. However, Lum isn’t a fan of their gratification and asks them to leave. As she chucks Ataru’s belongings at them, she unknowingly throws the box Cherry sent Ataru.

The letter inside the box lands in front of one of his friends. His friend reads the letter revealing everything to Lum. Enraged, Lum performs various wrestling maneuvers on Ataru. Defeated, Ataru removes the ribbon off her horns, giving Lum her powers back. As Lum electrocutes Ataru for his cruel actions, she vows to give Cherry a similar ordeal.

At his tent, Cherry receives a faint message in his concoction, alarming him that he’s in danger. Cherry packs up his belongings and plans to stay at Sakura’s house for the night to avoid any problems with Lum. The next day, we meet a boy named Shutaro, who plans to move to Tomitake Town. The episode concludes with Shutaro leaping from a plane to attend his first school day in Tomitake.

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The Episode Review

This was another fun episode of Urusei Yatsura. This episode introduced us to a few new characters while shedding more light on some we’ve seen in the first. Lum and Ataru’s hilarious antics continue to delight viewers and haven’t failed to get a laugh out of me. That said, some issues cropped up this week worth addressing.

Sakura’s introduction was fine, but her character was a tad over the top with her reactions and emotions. Her constant arguments and pauses during the exorcism were funny but annoying and repetitive. It would’ve been funnier if the gag had different jokes outside of her pausing numerous times to let in more demons. The scene may remind some of Spider-Man: No Way Home during the whole Dr. Strange and Peter debacle.

Hopefully, any future episode involving Sakura won’t depict her as an excessive individual. Furthermore, it’s refreshing to see Lum attack someone other than Ataru. However, it’s strange that she doesn’t do anything to protect him from Shinobu’s wrath. Fans know how much she values Ataru as her husband, and they know her gripes about him cheating on her.

Some may find it weird that he hasn’t decided to give Shinobu a good shock for all her physical assaults toward Ataru. Incorporating a scenario like that would make the three’s relationship tenser and more dramatic. Considering Ataru protected Lum twice in “The Yellow Ribbon of Happiness” segment, it would be neat to see how he’d tackle a situation where Lum hurts Shinobu.

Overall, this was a fun follow-up to last week’s introductory episode. Several jokes landed well, and many slapstick-heavy scenes made me laugh hysterically.

These two segments featured new and old characters strutting their stuff and adding some value. Here’s hoping the next few episodes can continue providing entertainment for old and new viewers.

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Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!