When Lum and Ataru are late meeting up with Shinobu to see a movie, she notices all the couples around her, and ends up shouting at some guys who she thought were going to chat her up, but only wanted to pet a cute dog. Lum and Ataru do eventually arrive, but they’re also doing their couple schtick. Shinobu heads home alone, wishing someone who only liked her would fall in her lap. While that doesn’t happen, she does find Inaba on the ground suffering from heat stroke.
Inaba is a surpassingly nice guy—you could even call him a pushover—so he means no harm when he says technically “any woman would do” to be a partner for his promotion test. But when Shinobu gets upset, throttles him, and skulks off, he chases after her and apologizes, saying he only wants to take the test with her. Ataru tags along because he’s worried about Shinobu; Lum tags along because she’s worried about Ataru.
The double date takes some weird turns, beginning in what seems to be an ordinary bath filled with mostly-naked women. Once they’re free of there the couples are swapped and bound by leg shackles. Ataru and Shinobu head to a fork in the road, one looking like heaven, one like hell. Ataru hears a pretty lady in trouble so heads down the hell path, which turns out to be the correct one.
The Buddha mistakes Ataru’s insatiable need to meet as many cuties as possible for spiritual perceptiveness, which is pretty funny! The temptations continue, from an army of comely bunny girls to a mermaid who cruelly makes Inaba choose between kissing her or letting Shinobu drown. Of course someone as innocent as Inaba is going to give the mermaid a kiss if it means saving Shinobu.
Unfortunately, when he’s about to kiss the mermaid, Shinobu is so upset she’s able to summon the necessary strength to tear her hair binds and surface alone. Angry, hurt, and disappointed in Inaba, she decides to walk home, ignoring Inaba’s attempts to apologize.
She ends up falling through a portal to the continuum, and he follows and rescues her from an eternal fall. But when they emerge through a door she remains cold on him, and ready to simply go home and never see him again.
When more bunny girls offer an easy path to the flower Inaba needs to make bloom but won’t let Shinobu pass (because she’s not a bunny), Inaba chooses the tougher path: fighting a giant boxing rock cyclops. Even funnier than his absurd appearance is his voice, which is constantly provoking Inaba to fight.
And fight he does, getting absolutely pummeled in the process yet not giving up until he snatches his opponent’s weak spot (his horn). All because he only wanted to take this journey with Shinobu. No one else would do.
The bout leaves Inaba unconscious, but with the way clear Shinobu drags him to the location of the flower, only to find it wilted. As we learn when Inaba’s co-workers explain it to Lum and Ataru, the flower will only bloom in the presence of “cheerful romance”, something very hard to achieve when a couple traverses all those tempting obstacles.
But Inaba never cared about any of those temptations. Even though the flower is wilted, Inaba asked Shinobu to accompany him because he wanted to spend more time with her. That’s it. When he gives her a bouquet of beautiful flowers, it occurs to Shinobu that she is actually allowed to have hope there’s someone for her.
The realization it might be this super-nice guy brings tears of happiness to her eyes—which fall upon the wilted flower and cause it to bloom and allow Inaba to pass the promotion test. But it’s clear he’s far happier about forming a connection with Shinobu, and the feeling is mutual.
Shinobu has never looked more radiant than this week, with special care taken to her flowing hair and features, while Uchida Maaya knocked it out of the park with a performance that ran the emotional gamut. With most “serious” Urusei episodes understandably focused on Lum and Ataru, it’s just nice to see Shinobu get some love!
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