Urusei Yatsura

Episode 12

New year, new episode of Urusei Yatsura, new anime opening, new anime ending, and the introduction of a new character! This episode focuses mainly on Lum's baby cousin Ten who runs the whole gamut of being just as adorable as he is a menace to Ataru. It's always nice to see more members from Lum's past to paint a better picture of who she was with others before she came to Earth. We didn't get much of that in this episode outside of her trying to take advantage of a situation where Ran nearly had her identity outed, but the episode more than makes up for that with tense humor. The first half of this episode was a little bit one note as it boils down to Ten filling Lum's usual role of attacking Ataru whenever he steps out of line. It makes me wonder if the series will explicitly dial back Lum's electric punishments and have Ten do that instead, especially since it seems like he's now staying at Ataru's house.

The second half is much stronger as not only was the gimmick of an innocent child completely not understanding perverse advice hilarious, but it also kept putting the characters in unique situations. I empathize with Sakura as she was trying to be a good adult and not hurt a child's feelings, only to have that patience constantly tested in such an unrealistic situation. I also like the subtle detail that Ataru and Lum were going on a date in the background while watching Sakura and Ten, but no one paid any attention to that. Hands down, the funniest thing I have watched this year so far was Sakura running away with Ten under her shoulder as he was shouting that he wanted to go to a swingers club. Surprisingly, Sakura didn't get arrested or approached by any authority figures. Overall, a fresh episode to start the new year, and I look forward to seeing what other ways Ten will be used in the show moving forward.

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Urusei Yatsura is currently streaming on HIDIVE.