Urusei Yatsura – 28 – The SisTerminator

Mendou is having a lovely dream where he’s about to marry Lum, Shinobu, Benten, Ran, Ryuu, Kurama, Oyuki, and Sakura (phew) when suddenly a giant suit of armor crashes the ceremony, turning all the ladies into SD versions of themselves and running back and forth. It’s a hilarious and absurd dream, and just a small a taste of the madness that’s to come.

When Mendou learns this isn’t just a casual meeting but the actual engagement ceremony, he tries to flee, but his servants catch him and deposit him at the Mizunokouji manor. Ataru, Lum, and Shinobu rescue him—Shinobu because she likes him, Ataru because he likes the girl in the armor—but their plan fails when Ataru’s half-assed disguise fails and Shinobu is caught.

The ceremony proceeds as schedule, and when Mizunokouji Asuka is wheeled in behind a curtained cage and wearing her suit of armor, Mendou’s dad starts with the dad jokes. Ataru manages to enter disguised as a tea server, but when he pounces on the armored Asuka she smashes through the cage and walls and flees outside. Her commando maids try to eliminate Ataru with suppressive fire, but his speed and agility is comparable to Asuka’s.

When Lum sees him clinging to the armor, she zaps him, but the zapping affects Asuka as well, and her suit of armor shatters, revealing a normal-sized girl with a ponytail wearing a yellow leotard, black tee, and fuchsia leggings, looking every bit like the 80s workout enthusiast, but with strength that would put all-time Olympic Gold Medalists to shame.

She’s able to elude Ataru, who returns to the manor with Lum and Shinobu, both of whom mention to Mendou that under the suit of armor there’s a cute girl. Now he knows why Ataru was helping. Turns out Mizunokouji women aren’t allowed to see any men—not even their father or brothers—until the age of fifteen. Her mother went through the same thing, all in the name of “family custom.”

Asuka’s flight from Ataru leads her to land in the same tree as Tobimaro, and when she sees he has the same eyes as her, her first thought is that he must be a girl like her. In fact, it’s because they’re brother and sister. Remember, Asuka was only recently given a rushed and inadequate explanation for what a “man” is, but since her maids said a “brother” is a special type of man who won’t attack her, she’s immediately smitten with him.

When Mendou and Ataru start chasing her and she starts pulling fully-grown trees out of the earth like they’re popsicle sticks, her maids shoot her with an elephant tranq dart. When she comes to she’s chained to the wall, but so are Mendou and Ataru. The dads let the kids sort things out, with Lum and Shinobu trying to demonstrate that boys aren’t scary, but that fact is dubious considering the scary faces they’re being made to make.

The group tries to explain to Asuka that she can’t marry her brother, but she doesn’t know what marriage is. Then Ryouko, who heard her brother had been captured, launches a guerilla operation (love her combat gear) that results in heavy damage to the manor. When Asuka overhears Ryouko calling Mendou “onii-sama”, her whole attitude towards him changes, because she thinks brothers aren’t men.

The strength of this episode lies in the attention to detail with regards to Asuka’s feats of strength, the similar feats Ataru and Mendou pull off trying to keep up with her, and a commentary on blind arranged marriage, extreme family customs, and other rich people nonsense. Also, it’s true: Asuka is cute as all-get-out, and voiced just as cutely by M · A · O in her triumphant Urusei debut.

Komi Can’t Communicate – 06 – First Strike

This week Komi’s Got Jokes! Unfortunately, they’re dad jokes, delivered by writing them down on paper. Scurrying away to call Tadano and sheepishly recite such jokes doesn’t improve matters. But what she lacks in comedic ability she makes up for in pure adorability. I’m surprised Tadano couldn’t at least…humor her!

The next segment is Komi’s very first shopping trip with friends, as well as the first time buying her own clothes (something usually left to her mom). Najimi makes it a competition—possibly just so they can see Komi in a cheongsam—but the one who wins with all “10” scores is Tadano, who chooses a simple light summer dress and cute sandals. Despite having never picked out clothes for a girl, he knows what suits Komi best.

Following her new threads, Komi works up the courage to go to the salon to get a haircut. The salon’s newest employee Arai almost  but is understandably in awe of both Komi and her boss Karisu’s beauty. It isn’t until Komi has Arai keep the change as a tip and points at the word “thank you” in a magazine that Arai understands Komi didn’t dislike her at all, but simply doesn’t like chatting at the salon.

Exams are almost here, which means it’s time to hit the library and study. Agari warns Tadano, Najimi, and Komi that if the burly quietude monitor Gorimi-senpai hits any of them with a paper fan three times, they’re ejected from the library. Najimi is obviously the first to be tossed; their third strike coming when the trio’s Jenga tower collapses. Even so, Komi is happy to have played another game and received her “first strike”—as is Tadano.

Finally, with exams out of the way it’s time for summer break. We see Komi bored and desperately wanting to call Tadano to hang out, but just can’t hit the “Call” button, and when she finally works up the courage to do so, quickly panics and hits “End Call” as soon as he answers.

Tadano, by the way, is equally hesitant to call Komi even though he perfectly diagnoses her situation. Fortunately Najimi cleans everything up by arranging for the three to hang out, and both Komi and Tadano are elated to be scoring some summer time together. Maybe she’ll don the outfit he chose for her!