Urusei Yatsura – Season 2 Episode 16 Recap & Review

Nagisa’s Fiance / The Fairy’s Parasol

Episode 16 of Urusei Yatsura Season 2 begins with Ataru, Shinobu, and Mendo on a helicopter heading toward Ryunosuke and her father’s new seaside cafe. Ataru and Mendo are confused about how Ryunosuke and her father achieved this. Shinobu informs them that Ryunosuke and her father set up the seaside cafe on an abandoned small island. 

The four arrive at the cafe and notice Ryunosuke and her father arguing about the cafe. Ryunosuke was baffled that her father thought this was a swell idea. Ryunosuke’s father welcomes Ataru and the others inside. Inside, he says he bought this island for 300 yen, angering Ryunosuke further. Later, Ryunosuke takes a bath and reflects on her father’s purchase. 

Suddenly, a woman approaches Ryunosuke and vanishes after she throws a bucket at her. Ryunosuke realizes this female is a ghost. Mendo and Ataru arrive with tennis rackets and Mendo says he had a hunch this island was fishy. Ryunosuke and the others regroup with her father at the cafe. There, Ryunosuke’s father reveals someone died on this island. 

Additionally, he reveals that this seaside cafe’s previous owner (Shiowatari) perished last summer. Ryunosuke’s father says the ghost girl Ryunosuke encountered is Nagisa, Shiowatari’s daughter. Next, Shiowatari and Nagisa pull a shave-ice prank on Ryunosuke and the others. Ryunosuke’s father applauds Shiowatari and Nagisa for the stunt. Shiowatari approaches Ryunosuke and introduces Nagisa to her. 

He tells Nagisa that Ryunosuke is her fiance. Shiowatari and Ryunosuke’s father reveals that they had planned to have their kids marry each other. Ryunosuke shoots Nagisa’s affection down, resulting in Shiowatari and Nagisa crying. Ryunosuke’s father yells at Ryunosuke for her cruel words. Ataru and Lum confront Shiowatari and Nagisa about how they perished.

Shiowatari shows the two and the others a distinct shave-ice creation he worked on. The two said they created this special dish to attract more customers to their island. Shiowatari explains that he and Nagisa ate several shave-ice creations because they wanted to see if it was a perfect dish. Ultimately, the two perished because they ate too much of this special shave-ice dish.

Ryunosuke’s father finds Shiowatari and Nagisa’s deaths admirable and promises to carry the mantle regarding the special shave-ice dish. Although Shiowatari says this will help his soul find peace, Nagisa says she won’t be able to ascend to the afterlife until she and Ryunosuke kiss each other. Ryunosuke’s against kissing Nagisa. Nagisa believes it’s because she’s a ghost and runs outside to vent.

Lum and the others comfort Nagisa. Next, Ryunosuke approaches Shiowatari and tells him she’s a woman. Shiowatari says he doesn’t mind if Ryunosuke is a girl or a guy. All he wants is for Nagisa to find romance. He argues that Ryunosuke is the only one who can help her achieve that. Before Ryunosuke can think it over, her father clobbers her on the head with a mallet.

Ryunosuke’s father drags Ryunosuke’s unconscious body toward Nagisa and asks her to smooch Ryunosuke. Nagisa fazes through Ryunosuke and says this won’t do. Shiowatari tells Nagisa not to fret and points toward the full moon nearby. Shiowatari shares a legend about the full moon and a large sea urchin who arrives at this island to lay eggs. 

Next, this legendary sea urchin arrives and performs the said action. Shiowatari tells Nagisa to touch the sea urchin’s tear. Nagisa touches the sea urchin’s tear and her body restores itself. She chases after Ryunosuke and asks her to kiss her. While they’re doing that, Shinobu tells Lum that it’s strange Ataru and Mendo aren’t going after Nagisa, considering their infatuation with women. 

Nagisa and Ryunosuke reach an undisclosed location. Ryunosuke flashes Nagisa and tells her she’s a woman. Nagisa says she doesn’t care if Ryunosuke is a woman and Ryunosuke learns Nagisa is a boy. Before Nagisa can kiss Ryunosuke, Shiowatari vanishes due to the sun’s arrival. Later, Ryunosuke asks Nagisa why he didn’t vanish like his father. 

Nagisa says he can’t vanish because he has a physical body now. This segment closes with Nagisa presenting Ryonosuke’s father with the special shave-ice dish.

The next set piece starts with Ten and Ataru having a puppet and robot duel in Ataru’s room. Ten’s upset Ataru cheated but Ataru argues against Ten’s claim. In the morning, Ten spots a glowing puddle nearby and investigates it. 

A fairy appears in the puddle and greets Ten. The fairy shares how he entered the puddle and his dream-achieving goals with Ten. He tells Ten to find his parasol so Ten can free him. The fairy promises to make one of Ten’s dreams come true if he finds his parasol. Ten departs and stumbles upon a cat carrying the umbrella. After a quick scuffle with the cat, Ten manages to trick the cat into letting go of the item.

Unfortunately, Lum grabs the parasol and looks for Ten. Ten’s far away from Lum and can’t get her attention. Lum places the parasol on a bird’s nest because she doesn’t want the birds to get wet from the tree’s dew drops. Ten spots the parasol and attempts to retrieve it. However, the bird’s mother blocks Ten’s path. Ten flees to Ataru’s place to grab a rod. 

Ten plans to fight the mother bird with the rod but fails. Lum spots Ten and confronts him. Ten tells Lum why he’s toying with the birds. Ataru arrives, eavesdrops on their discussion, and grabs the parasol. Then, Lum stops Ataru, steals the parasol from him, and hands it to Ten. Ten burns Ataru with his fire breath and Ataru knocks Ten into the sky with his frying pan. 

Ten plummets toward the fairy’s water puddle and drops the umbrella into the puddle. The fairy exits the puddle, conjures a rainbow, and tells Ten to head toward the end of the rainbow. By doing so, Ten’s dream will come true. Unfortunately, the nightmare creature Ten dreamed of enters their world, angering Ten. The episode ends with the fairy singing his song and flying away. 

The Episode Review

After airing a two-part special featuring Tobimaro’s sister Asuka, we return to our regularly scheduled episodic endeavors featuring Ataru, Lum, and the others. These set pieces focus on Ryunosuke and Ten and place them in amusing and slightly chaotic scenarios. Unfortunately, those looking for something meaningful and refreshing with these characters, may not find these episodes appealing. 

Regardless, there are snippets in both segments that’ll catch a few fans’ attention. First and foremost, many audiences will find the Nagisa gender twist compelling. Although the episode makes it semi-obvious via Ataru’s strange behavior and Shiowatari’s remarks, several folks will find some value in the twist. Additionally, it appears Nagisa will be a mainstay cast member based on that segment’s closing events. 

Whether or not she receives critical development begs to be seen. Given the number of chapters we have left, that possibility is looking less likely. Nevertheless, we’re optimistic Nagisa will add some pizzazz to Urusei Yatsura Season 2 before it wraps up. As for the Ten set piece, it introduces viewers to a new magical dream-granting entity and offers a few laughs via colorful dialogue and amusing encounters. 

Besides that, this episode was fine at best as it relies on old gags to make audiences chuckle. Although Urusei Yatsura’s second season may not deliver as stellar a showcase as another romantic comedy that aired in the Winter of 2024 anime season, we’re hopeful this anime will wrap things up satisfyingly.