Ten is Here / A Date For Just The Two of Us
Urusei Yatsura episode 12 begins with Ataru’s family taking photos of Lum in her kimono dress. Ataru grows jealous of the attention Lum’s receiving from them and heads outside. Ataru notices a small child roaming around in his mailbox and takes him out. Ataru informs his family about the child. The child notices Lum, who reveals to know something about the kid. We learn his name is Ten. He’s Lum’s little cousin. Ten reveals he had someone deliver him to Ataru’s household. Ataru and Lum head out to meet with Sakura, but Ataru’s not happy that she brought Ten. He doesn’t want him ruining his romantic escapades with Sakura. Ten converses with Ataru and finds him unfit to be Lum’s darling. He breathes fire upon Ataru, causing him to run in pain. They arrive at Sakura’s place, and Ten greets Sakura and Shinobu. He wins them over with his charm, infuriating Ataru. Ran arrives, and Sakura reveals that Ran will work for her as a part-time shrine maiden. Unlike the other girls, Ran isn’t happy that Ten’s arrived. Ten reveals that Ran lives right next door to his family. Ran deflects the other’s suspicions of her being an alien-like Lum. Cherry starts the Karuta card activity. Ataru starts putting his hand over the other female’s hands. Before Ataru could put his hand over Ran’s, Ten burns his hand with his fire breath. They move on to holding a talent show. Lum tells Ten he should participate. Ten shows off his flying skills and burns Ataru to a crisp for making a witty remark toward him. Ataru heads to the kitchen to cool off his wounds. Ran goes to the kitchen to check on Ataru. Ataru thinks Ran cares for him, but Ran only shows compassion to get revenge on Lum. Before Ran and Ataru share an intimate moment, Ten lets out more flames on him. Ataru chases Ten down with some pans and plans to give the kid a beating. Sakura grabs Ataru and flings him into the pond because of his poor behavior. Lum helps Ataru out of the water and giggles. She knows Ten must be jealous because Ataru took Lum from him. Ten helps Sakura with her cooking. The segment concludes with Ten admitting to having a crush on Sakura because of her kindness. In the next segment, Ten scribbles notes on a piece of paper. Ataru’s annoyed by his actions because he’s doing it loudly and can’t study. Ten throws something at Ataru, and the two get into a heated argument. Lum tells them to stop and asks Ten what he’s doing anyway. Ten says he was writing a letter and asks Lum if she can translate this into Earthling for him. It turns out it’s a love letter to Sakura. Ten wants to meet up with her in the afternoon for a date at a cafe. Ataru tells Ten to prepare for disappointment and rejection. Ataru offers to become Ten’s love letter ghostwriter for unknown reasons. Sakura arrives home and receives news from her mother about the letter. Sakura reads the letter and gets disgusted by the explicit things written in it. Sakura rips the letter and storms out of her place. She plans to give the writer a piece of her mind. Sakura arrives at the meetup location. Lum, Ataru, and Ten notice her from afar. Ataru’s shocked because he thought the words written in it would scare Sakura off. Ten approaches Sakura, and she’s dumbfounded after hearing him say he sent her the letter. Ten promises Sakura he wrote the letter, and Sakura goes along with it because she doesn’t want to harm a child. Ten and Sakura head out, and Ataru laughs behind the corner. He planned a saddening and adult-themed course for Ten that’ll have him getting his heart shattered by the end of his date with Sakura. Meanwhile, Ten and Sakura chat with each other. Sakura knows kids can be precocious but mean no harm. However, she’s startled to learn that Ten booked them to hang out at a raunchy club. Sakura grabs Ten and runs away from the establishment. They attend a different cafe instead but Ten cries because his plan didn’t go accordingly. Sakura promises to adhere to his every demand if it’ll make him happy. Ataru gets unhinged about this whole charade. Sakura and Ten go to the movie theater as Ten wants him and Sakura to watch a mature-rated film. After more crying, Sakura concedes and watches the movie with him. Sakura finds the film boring and notices that Ten fell asleep. She overhears Lum questioning the content of the film as Ataru yells at her to stop. Sakura grabs Ataru with brute force, and Sakura questions if Ataru was behind Ten’s raunchy desires. Sakura drags Ataru out of the theater as Lum complains about not finishing the film. Ten wakes up and says it’s time for him and Sakura to check into a hotel. Sakura questions Ataru about what dirty things he put into Ten’s head. Ataru yells at Ten for ruining his plan as Sakura grabs a statue and throws it on top of Ataru. At night, Sakura and Ten sit on a bench and chat. Sakura said it was time for them to depart, but Ten suggests they go to a hotel. Sakura questions Ten if he knows what he’s implying by that idea. Ten asks Sakura if he can marry him, but Sakura says she can’t. Lum points out Sakura’s ring on her finger, indicating that she plans to marry someone. Ataru and Ten are devastated by this news. Ten feels it’s Ataru’s fault for putting him in this situation and lets loose on him with flames. The episode concludes with Ataru trying to wipe the flames off himself.
The Episode Review
This was a fun and enjoyable episode of Urusei Yatsura. It had some funny adult and situational humor and introduces a new character from Lum’s side of the family. While Ten’s not a main character, he will fill in the void Anya left behind in her show. That said, I enjoyed seeing Ten interact with our cast moreso than Rei. He feels like a younger version of Ataru but coated in a layer of wholesomeness instead of raunchiness. The anime plays off Ten’s date with Sakura in a hilariously delightful way, making it feel less strange and purer. Adult-themed jokes are sprinkled throughout, and Ataru gets his comeuppance for taking the toddler for a ride. Many viewers will enjoy seeing Sakura struggle to keep the child happy but will love seeing Sakura put her foot down when the time calls for it. The second segment though feels weird given the events from Pocchi’s episode. Ataru and Lum already saw Sakura trying to get intimate with another man, who we can assume is the person she plans to marry soon. The way they react to Sakura’s ring is bizarre since they spied on her conversing with her fiance in a previous episode. While the whole bit feels meaningless, the jokes inserted into it were great enough to keep me entertained. Overall, this was a fun episode of Urusei Yatsura. While I enjoy meeting new characters, this series should refrain from introducing more. It should focus on building off the ones present and developing them to the highest degree. Otherwise, I can see Urusei Yatsura not ending with a fulfilling pay-off.
