Urusei Yatsura – Season 2 Episode 17 Recap & Review

One Night’s Peril / Deadly Peril in the Classroom

Episode 17 of Urusei Yatsura Season 2 begins with Nagisa telling Ryunosuke to wake up for breakfast. In her sleep, Ryunosuke grabs Nagisa and Nagisa tries to kiss Ryunosuke. Then, we learn this is all happening in Nagisa’s dream. In reality, Ryunosuke’s trying to wake Nagisa up for breakfast. This results in an amusing altercation to occur between the two. 

Later, Ryunosuke, her father, and Nagisa eat breakfast. Nagisa finishes several plates worth of food and demands more, angering Ryunosuke. Ryunosuke’s father tells Ryunosuke to treat Nagisa respectfully. Then, we receive a flashback. In it, Nagisa begged Ryunosuke and her father to let him stay at their place. Later, Ryunosuke informs the others about her Nagisa problems.

Shinobu reminds Ryunosuke that if she kisses Nagisa, Nagisa’s spirit will depart to the afterlife. Ryunosuke refuses to kiss Nagisa. Lum and the others contemplate the matter further while Ataru plans to smooch Ryunosuke before Nagisa does. Nagisa arrives and hits Ataru with his mallet. Ataru tells Nagisa that Nagisa’s love for Ryunosuke is nothing compared to his connection with Ryunosuke.

Later, Ryunosuke’s father tells Ryunosuke and Nagisa he won’t be coming home tonight. He warns them not to get into mischief while he’s away. Ryunosuke sends her father into the air with a punch after he tells her not to get freaky with Nagisa. Ryunosuke locks Nagisa out of the house. Nagisa punches a hole in the house and enters it. He stumbles upon Ryunosuke undressing herself. Ryunosuke yells at Nagisa and tells him to leave her be.

Nagisa heads outside and ponders nefarious thoughts. Ryunosuke tells Nagisa that she’s going to spend the night at her friend’s house. Nagisa asks Ryonosuke if she’s scared of him. Ryunosuke drops her bag and fights Nagisa. Nagisa overwhelms Ryunosuke, but then a Ghost Warding Talisman lands on Nagisa’s face, causing him to flee. Sakura arrives and grabs the talisman. Sakura insists that Ryunosuke come to her place tonight. 

Later, Ryunosuke tells Nagisa that he wants to settle things outside, but Nagisa refuses. Then, Nagisa vanishes, causing Ryunosuke pain. The real Nagisa arrives seconds later, and Ryunosuke yells at him. Lum, Sakura, and Ataru overhear the two’s arguments at night. Nagisa rushes out of the home and Ataru and the others confront Nagisa about his and Ryunosuke’s dilemma. 

Then, Ryunosuke exits her home and fights Nagisa again. Meanwhile, Ataru, Lum, and Sakura analyze the fight from afar while eating snacks. Sakura tries sharing some insightful things with Ataru, but Ataru’s crude behavior gets the better of him. Then, the three keep monitoring Nagisa and Ryunosuke’s fight. Nagisa realizes this will continue forever, so he lets go of Ryunosuke. 

Ataru confronts Nagisa about his strength. Nagisa says he likes competing in the yearly seaside sumo contest. Ryunosuke yells at Nagisa for taking things easy on her. Nagisa tells Ryunosuke he doesn’t want to fight a girl, especially one that he loves. Before Nagisa leaves, Ryunosuke convinces Nagisa to stay. However, she promises to clobber Nagisa one day.

Nagisa rushes inside and Sakura hands Ryunosuke a few talismans for her safety. Then, Ryunosuke and Nagisa sleep with a long wooden board between them. Nagisa rolls over to Ryunosuke’s side and attempts to kiss her in his sleep. This set piece concludes with Ryunosuke locking Nagisa in a different room.

The next segment features Ataru speaking with one of his male classmates about Onsen-Mark’s supplementary lessons scheme. 

Ten confronts Ataru and his friends about the lessons but Ataru and his allies tell Ten to buzz off. Ten attacks the boys with his fire breath so Ataru and his friends decide to throw pinecones at Ten. This convinces Ten to fly away, however, he promises to make them pay for their actions. Onsen-Mark tells the class that he’ll offer them 3 minutes of chat time. 

However, if they say anything while he’s lecturing, he’ll force them to take supplementary lessons. Ataru’s classmates complain but Onsen-Mark says he won’t reverse the decision as it’s set in stone. Lum asks Ataru to explain what supplementary lessons are and she finds the idea interesting. Ataru tells Lum not to talk. Then, everyone’s free time ends and Onsen-Mark starts lecturing. 

Onsen-Mark asks Ataru to read a snippet from his textbook. Ataru writes something down and presents it to Onsen-Mark. Onsen-Mark tells Ataru he and the others can talk in class if it’s related to their studies. More students hold textbooks with writing on them. Onsen-Mark says if anyone speaks, he’ll give them supplementary lessons. 

Next, Ten arrives and causes trouble. Mendo and the others tell Onsen-Mark to continue lecturing. While Onsen-Mark lectures, Ten causes more problems and wonders why everyone’s silent and ignoring him. Ten approaches Lum and asks her to explain what’s happening. Ataru reminds Lum not to talk even though Onsen-Mark told her to tell Ten to leave. 

Ten leaves and returns with several pinecones to throw at Ataru. This results in Lum and the others pelting Ten with textbooks. Ten throws a grenade and it goes off in the classroom. Ataru writes a new message to Onsen-Mark, telling him to continue lecturing. Onsen-Mark is thrilled that his students want to learn from him this badly. More wacky instances occur. 

The school bell goes off and everyone starts talking. Lum hopes Ataru will thank her for her assistance. The episode closes with Ten stating how this was a huge waste of time. 

The Episode Review

After last week’s events, it made sense for this chapter to explore Ryunosuke and Nagisa’s relationship (or lack thereof) further. Despite giving fans more of the same comedy, this chapter offers a touch of drama and action to spice things up. The action wasn’t anything too spectacular, especially by David Production Studios’s standards, but the martial arts on display will pique several fans’ interest. 

Those who’ve followed Rumiko Takahashi’s other works like Ranma 1/2, will question if Nagisa and Ryunosuke partially influenced that series’s storytelling slightly. That might be the case considering Ryunosuke and Nagisa’s origins, skills, and appearances. Nevertheless, Takahashi resolved Ryunosuke and Nagisa’s problems decently here. 

This storyline isn’t the most visually or narratively engaging, but Nagisa and Ryunosuke fans will cherish the two having proper screen time. Meanwhile, Ten says it best regarding this episode’s second set piece. Although this school segment was a “waste of time,” others may find it more appealing than the Nagisa and Ryunosuke story beat.  

This is solely due to how random and wacky everything felt throughout that one. All in all, this was a fine chapter of Urusei Yatsura Season 2. It has its stand-out moments and gives Nagisa some decent depth. However, it doesn’t offer anything unique.