The following contains spoilers for Episode 13 of Urusei Yatsura, "The Great Off-Campus Snack Battle/A Gift from Ten!!," now streaming on HiDive.
After consistently reintroducing new characters into the cast over the last few episodes, Urusei Yatsura has amassed a large ensemble of quirky and kooky characters, all of which serve to compound the natural chaos that serves as this series' bread and butter. This new episode shows just how crazy life in Tomobiki can get with two stories that start off bizarre and only get crazier from there.
The first part showcases a day at Tomobiki High School, while the second part is a story featuring new character Ten. Both stories start off slow, but quickly become wild thanks to the absurd personalities of the cast and their hilarious interactions with each other. The result is a classic Urusei Yatsura episode filled with gut-bursting laughter.
"The Great Off-Campus Snack Battle"
At Tomobiki High School, the teachers plan to enact a new rule this week to keep students from sneaking out of campus to eat at nearby restaurants during lunch break. The students indignantly refuse to be put down by this new rule, and as soon as lunch lets out, head out to sneak out of school immediately. Some students are immediately caught by Mendo, who has formed the Covert Civility Patrol with some other students to catch anyone sneaking out of school and sucking up to the teachers. As Mendo gloats over his role, Ataru, Lum, and some other students climb over the wall and sneak out of school.
Ataru and his friends arrive at a ramen place, which is unbeknownst to them already being staked out by several teachers, including their homeroom teacher Onsen Mark, who is dressed in a giant cat costume. Ataru manages to escape thanks to a warning from the waitress, but it soon becomes clear that the teachers are taking this new rule seriously, as they have been staking out popular places to eat and catching any students they see. Mendo appears again, but he is easily subdued by the girls, while Onsen Mark is arrested by the police for his suspicious behavior.
The chaos continues as the students continue to evade capture by the teachers thanks to the business owners of the Tomibiki shopping district, who would rather support the students who give them business rather than the teachers who want to keep them from eating at their establishments. The chaos gets worse when Lum, annoyed with Ataru's usual philandering, feeds him super spicy okonomiyaki as punishment. A screaming Ataru is loosed on the district, eventually knocking over an older teacher. This emboldens the teachers to continue their crusade, which only pushes the students even further. As the day ends, the bodies of students and teachers are strewn over the streets, while those still standing declare that they'll continue this tomorrow.
"A Gift From Ten!!"
At a café, Sakura, Lum, Shinobu, and Ran all take turns feeding Ten, while an annoyed Ataru wonders why everyone fawns over him. Inside, talk turns to Sakura and her fiancé Tsubame, who she describes as a sorcerer with considerable control over black magic. Doubtful that Tsubame is the right one for Sakura, Ten pulls out laptop that shows a commercial from a galactic shopping center, which is selling an item called Lovey-Dovey Crystal Ball, which shows the user the person they are fated to be with. Sakura thinks the ad is complete bogus, but Ten buys it before she can tell him not to.
The item arrives immediately, and Ten offers it to Sakura to use. However, she refuses, thinking that it is garbage, so Shinobu, Lum, and Ran try it out instead. All three are troubled by what they see, especially Shinobu. Lum is distraught to see Rei, while Ran is disgusted to see Ataru. As Lum and Ran try to figure out who the other saw, Shinobu asks Sakura about Tsubame, and becomes flustered when she learns that Tsubame is coming to the café. She reveals that Tsubame was the person who she saw in the crystal ball, and is convinced by Ten that it is destiny.
As the commotion in the café continues, Ataru is joined outside by Mendo and Tsubame, who just arrives. The three watch the situation inside for a bit before deciding to sneak in to find out exactly what's going on. Inside the café, Sakura decides to look into the crystal ball herself and sees both Mendo and Ataru. Stunned, Sakura collapses into her seat, then notices the two in question hiding under the table. After roughhousing them for a bit, Sakura begins lecturing them on how a relationship with her is impossible. Ran is surprised to hear that Ataru also appeared for Sakura, and Lum is furious to hear that Ataru appeared for Sakura and Ran, but not for her.
As the chaos continues, Ten decides to leave the café before things get worse. As the chaos continues to scale up, Ten watches an announcement on his device explaining that the item sent wasn't the one meant to show your soulmate, but the one person that will ruin your life if you marry them. Ten is then sent the real Lovey-Dovey Crystal Ball, but upon witnessing the chaos taking place inside the café, Ten declares despondently that it came too late to fix things.
A Perfect Storm Of Chaos
This episode of Urusei Yatsura sums up the series very well; a collection of quirky, callous characters that get into absurd situations that only get worse the more they get involved. The result was two incredibly hilarious stories that won't fail to leave viewers laughing and prove how well the series can handle these characters in terms of their personalities and their interactions with each other.
The cast of Urusei Yatsura is almost fully formed, with only a few more characters that need to be added to complete the classic roster. Still, the collection of characters we have now is already good enough to start some serious chaos, and the insanity will only get crazier the more characters that get added.