The following contains spoilers for Episode 15 of Urusei Yatsura, "Anko Pathos, The Taste of Love?!/Memories and a Close Call.../Adverse Effects," now streaming on HiDive.
This week's episode is a rather special three-parter, with the main focus being on Lum and her antagonistic childhood friend Ran. It's a chance to develop Ran as a character and also show some of the backstory behind her terrible grudge towards Lum.
This episode gives us another look at Lum's backstory, while also giving us more of Ran's bipolar personality. Meanwhile, the shenanigans and stories that get thrown about are absolutely hilarious, solidifying the series' comedic reputation.
"Anko Pathos, The Taste Of Love?!"
Ran offers some taiyaki filled with Anko to Rei while on a date. Rei ravenously eats up the taiyaki, then suddenly kisses Ran on the cheek. Overjoyed, Ran rushes to tell Lum immediately. When Lum expresses joy for Ran, Ran realizes that Lum really isn't trying to steal Rei, and Lum is happy to not deal with Ran's jealousy anymore.
Lum returns home, only to find Rei waiting for her with Ten and Ataru. Lum tries to get Rei to leave, but Ran arrives before she can convince him to go. Seeing Rei there, Ran immediately assumes that Lum was trying to steal him away again. When Ran brings up the kiss, Rei doesn't seem to remember what she is talking about, causing her to burst into tears. When she is offerred taiyaki by Kotatsu Neko to cheer her up, she rips into it ravenously, leaving bits of anko on her face. When Rei sees the anko, he immediately moves to eat it off of her lips, basically kissing her in the process. Ran explodes into a joyous roar, not realizing Rei's actual intentions.
"Memories And A Close Call..."
Ran and Lum hang out at a cafe, though Lum is suspicious of Ran's intentions. When Lum mentions Ran's tendency to explode, Ran claims that Lum is the reason why her personality got so twisted in the first place. Ran brings up a time when Lum was sleeping over at her house when they were children, and Lum wet the bed. Lum switched places with Ran, causing her to take the blame and getting her in trouble with her mother.
Lum tries to pass the whole thing off as childish antics, but Ran continues the story. In order to make it up to her, Lum offers to give Ran her favorite doll, as well as invites her to sleep over at her house. However, Lum once again wets the bed and lets Ran take the blame for it.
Feeling bad, Lum offers to pay for her order, but Ran rejects this show of goodwill, reminding her of a time they made a bet to see who could get away from a monster, with ice cream on the line. When the two are about to reach a cliff, Lum takes Ran's hand and flies off, but ends up smashing her face against the cliff. Lum offers to pay for Ran's ice cream to make her feel better, but since she lost the bet, she makes Ran pay for hers.
Lum insists that there have been times when she has been a good friend to Ran, and recounts a time when she tried to take the blame for Ran accidentally throwing a dart into her mother's favorite doll. Ran's mother immediately recognizes that Lum's darts are a different color than the dart that hit the doll, and punishes Ran again. Ran firmly places the blame for her personality on Lum's shoulders, who actually feels some regret for her actions in her youth. Ran feels good about being able to let out her frustrations, but when she realizes she has been left with the bill, she flies into another rage.
"Adverse Effects"
Shinobu and Lum find Sakura burning something in her house's front yard, and are surprised to see her cooking a newt. Sakura explains that she is preparing ingredients for medicines, and while the two girls are initially uninterested, their ears perk up when Sakura brings up love potions. The two get Sakura to create two love potions for them, which they receive in the form of candies.
Lum immediately heads home to give her candy to Ataru. While Ataru is initially resistant to eat the candy, once Lum mentions Sakura he eats the candy without hesitation. He immediately professes his love and swears his loyalty to Lum, who is ecstatic to see the candy work. However, Ataru begins to act strangely, telling bizarre stories to everyone he meets, including his own mother. Eventually, the two meet Shinobu in the park, where Ataru feeds Shinobu the same lines he gave Lum earlier. Sakura eventually reveals that what she made was a "loud" potion rather than a love potion, causing Ataru to lie relentlessly and constantly. While the girls are disappointed that they don't actually have a love potion, they do think it would be entertaining to feed Mendo.
Childhood Antics
This episode largely focuses on the relationship between Ran and Lum, particularly the moments where their friendship was strained by something Lum did in the past. While it can't be said that Lum is completely to blame for Ran's twisted personality, it's clear that Lum's childhood mischief has had a negative effect on Ran.
Overall, this episode focuses more on building and defining the relationship between Lum and Ran, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its share of hilarious moments. This is once again another hilarious episode of Urusei Yatsura, and there is sure to be more in the future.
​​​​​​​