Urusei Yatsura (2022) – Season 1 Episode 15 Recap & Review

Anko Pathos, the Taste of Love?! / Memories And A Close Call… / Adverse Effects

Urusei Yatsura episode 15 begins with Lum checking up on Ran’s progress in winning Rei’s heart. However, Ran mistakes her kindness as Lum wants to get back with Rei.

Later, Ran visits Rei in space to enjoy a fabulous dinner with him. Ran understands that Rei may only like her for her meals, but she’s okay with that as long as she can spend time with him. Afterward, Lum visits Ran on her spaceship and wonders if she’s cooking up a scheme. Ran tells Lum that Rei kissed her, and Lum congratulates her. Lum leaves happy because she no longer needs to worry about getting harassed by Rei.

Upon arriving at Ataru’s place, Lum notices Rei, who is dying to see her again. Lum gets upset and says he should spend time with Ran since he kissed her. Ran shows up at Ataru’s place and notices Lum and Rei together, angering her. Ran starts getting upset when Rei forgets their kiss. Ran cries about the situation while Rei notices some food crumbs on her lips. He proceeds to kiss Ran again, resulting in her looking shocked. The segment concludes with Ran screaming to the heavens that this is the happiest moment of her life.

The next set piece starts with Ran and Lum having tea at a parlor. Ran says she likes spending time with Lum since she’s her only friend on Earth. Lum argues she doesn’t like hanging out with Ran because of her consistent personality swaps. Ran argues Lum’s to blame for that as we get sent into a flashback to when they were kids. Lum had arrived at Ran’s spaceship for a sleepover. Ran’s mother tells Ran not to wet the bed and for both girls to get a good night’s sleep.

When she leaves, Lum wets the bed. However, she places Ran in the spot to put the blame on her. Ran’s mother yells at Ran for wetting the bed and leaving a stain on it. When Ran’s mother leaves, Lum comforts her and promises to give her her favorite doll. Ran spends the night at Lum’s spaceship and is thrilled to have a new doll. They head to sleep, and Lum pulls the switcharoo gimmick because she wet the bed again. In the morning, Ran’s mother arrives to see if Ran’s causing Lum’s family any trouble.

Lum’s mother tells her there’s nothing to worry about while hanging laundry. Ran’s mother notices a urine stain on Lum’s blanket and yells at Ran. We head into another flashback involving Lum and Ran throwing rocks at a space creature and fleeing. Whoever falls behind has to treat the loser to ice cream. Although Ran fell behind, Lum promised to pay for her ice cream because she got her into trouble with the monster.

Unfortunately, Lum lies to Ran and asks her to pay for the ice cream. In the present, Lum’s angry with Ran for sharing stories that paint her as an ill person. In response, Lum shares a tale where she took the fault for destroying Ran’s mother’s doll with darts. Ran’s mother blamed Ran for the incident because Lum was holding her darts. In the present, Ran says Lum treated her like a footstool and lived a better life than her. Lum starts feeling bad for treating Ran terribly. This segment concludes with Lum leaving the parlor and Ran getting stopped by the waiter because she forgot to pay for her meals.

The final segment shows Sakura roasting a newt to make medicine and a love potion. Lum and Shinobu stop by and are interested to learn more about her love potion. Sakura takes them to her secret lair to watch her concoct the potion. She hands Shinobu and Lum a piece of love potion candy. Lum heads to Ataru’s place to feed him the candy while he’s sleeping but wakes him up. Even though he doesn’t want to consume the love potion candy, Lum says Sakura made it, which convinces Ataru to devour it.

The love potion seemingly works as Ataru starts complimenting Lum in a romantic fashion. However, after a few encounters with a local and Ataru’s mother, Lum realizes something is off about Ataru’s behavior. Eventually, they run into Shinobu, and Ataru confesses feelings toward her, angering Lum. Lum visits Sakura to discover she made a “loud” potion instead. Cherry confirms it’s a potion that turns people into loudmouthed liars. The episode concludes with Ataru breaking the fourth wall and asking the audience to confirm that he’s never cheated on a girl.

The Episode Review

We finally receive visual confirmation that Lum’s a bedwetter and not the greatest friend. It’s something Ran held against Lum for the longest time, so it was nice seeing where it all started. This chapter had some funny dialogue and deadpan humor. Fans will adore learning more about both space girls’ origins and getting a glimpse of how rough Ran had it as a child.

On the other hand, Lum wasn’t always a terrible friend to Ran. The second segment shows that she attempted to redeem herself, but the constant blaming resulted in Ran’s mother pointing the finger at her daughter. Ran’s lucky to have only received a verbal punishment from her mother, as it could’ve been a lot worse.

The first and third set piece doesn’t offer much in the grand scheme of things. While it’s great witnessing Rei smooch Ran, it didn’t come from his heart. It’s only used as a gag to generate a quick laugh, which is fine. Many viewers would probably want to see Rei develop genuine feelings for Ran over time than put them in a relationship swiftly.

Overall, this was an okay chapter. It had some funny comedic banter and gave us a glimpse of Ran and Lum’s childhood lives. Hopefully, the series can revert toward a more serious and dramatic angle. That’s when Urusei Yatsura was at its best, and it’s unfortunate that we consistently receive humor-focused chapters instead right now.