The following contains spoilers for Episode 9 of Urusei Yatsura, “To Kill with Love/Studying Mayhem,” now streaming onHiDive.
The newest episode ofUrusei Yatsurare-introduces yet another classic character to the series; Rei, Lum’s gluttonous and transforming ex-fiancé. His handsome face draws the attention of any woman, but his blunt personality that only focuses on food steers Lum away. His arrival on Earth makes him yet another troublesome rival to Ataru, even if Ataru would rather not deal with it at all.
With this episode, we learn just a little bit more of Lum’s past, with yet another character from her home planet now on Earth.Ran makes an appearance yet again, as her one-sided crush on Rei drives her to get him to turn her way using any means possible. More importantly, this episode is easily the funniest episode in a while, with antics that focus entirely on the characters' dysfunctional personalities.
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“To Kill With Love”
Ataru ignores Lum’s attempts to get his attention as he cleans his room in preparation for Shinobu coming over. Cherry soon arrives to deliver Ataru a warning that something bad will happen to him, but Ataru ignores him as well. As the three of them continue to bicker, Shinobu is walking towards Ataru’s home when a bolt of lightning comes down onto the ground, bringing a massive beast along with it.
Back at Ataru’s home, Ataru waits for Shinobu with the window open, despite Lum and Cherry’s protests. Shinobu soon arrives atop the large beast, and explains that he was calling for Lum repeatedly. The beast suddenly transforms into the figure of a young man, and Lum immediately recognizes him as her ex-fiancé, Rei. Despite his beastly form, Rei is actually quite handsome, enough to charm Ataru’s mother on sight.
Ataru and Shinobu are perplexed as to why Lum would dislike Rei so much, but Lum is insistent, claiming Rei to be a buffoon who transforms whenever he gets upset and an incorrigible glutton that cares more about food than anything else. Rei attempts to use a scroll filled with proposal advice to get Lum to come home for him, but she is completely unmoved. Frustrated and jealous of Lum’s affection for Ataru, Rei transforms and starts charging after Ataru, chasing him out of the house. The chase moves to a nearby park, where their chase disrupts several couples' romantic rendezvous. Making things worse isRei constantly shouting out proposalsin his handsome human form, immediately capturing the hearts of any girl he happens to come across. He also starts attacking random food stalls on the way as well, barely managing to pull himself away to continue the chase.
Ataru eventually returns home, where Ataru’s mother becomes the target of yet another of Rei’s random proposals. Rei corners them upstairs, but the chase is interrupted by the crowd of women who have come to accept Rei’s proposals. The stall owners attacked by Rei and the men whose women were taken by Rei also show up at the house as Cherry notes his premonition has become true.
“Studying Mayhem”
At school, Ataru’s class is having free study time when Rei suddenly crashes into the school andbegins eating random students' lunches. With his attention distracted, Lum and Ataru decide to run away, but their way out is blocked by Ran, who recognized Rei’s beastly bellows from the other classroom. Ran pulls Lum aside and insists that she help her get closer to Rei, since she has been in love with him for a very long time.
As Rei continues to devour random students' lunches, Mendo is stunned that such a beastly figure could ever be Lum’s fiancé. Mendo is forced to eat his words when Rei turns back into his human form, stunning everyone in the class.
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As Mendo experiences the pain of being outshone by a more handsome man, Shinobu asks Rei why he came to class, reminding him that he came to see Lum. When Lum and Ran return to the classroom, Rei leaps at her, but is stopped by Ran, who offers a lunch up to him. Rei de-transforms and slowly and carefully eats the lunch, sharing a small moment of intimacy with Ran. However, the moment he finishes eating, his attention turns to Lum yet again.
Lum is furious that Rei would so blatantly ignore Ran’s feelings after eating her lunch, but Ran doesn’t mind because he ate her lunch with more care than the others. However, Cherry comes by and offers a luxurious lunch to Rei and simulates the same tender moment he had with Ran. Ran runs out of the room in tears, but quickly returns with another lunch for Rei. Rei polishes off that lunch as well and decides to head home, leaving everyone unsure why he came in the first place.
A Boisterous Rival
Rei is yet another classic character from the original series, and it’s good to see him return even if everyone else finds him a hassle. His presence also gives Ran more chances to appear, and she’sthe first of Lum’s many friendsto have a repeat appearance, as well as one so close to her introductory episode.
This episode was a great episode for laugh-out-loud humor and shenanigans thanks to Rei’s lunkhead personality clashing with his handsome appearance. His interactions with Ran and Mendo are great, and he is sure to keep causing even more chaos with later appearances. With the next episode introducing Lum’s mother, the series' scope has definitely begun to expand.
