Present For You / The Yellow Ribbon of Happiness

Lum begins to smother Ataru in class, making everyone in the room annoyed.

Shinobu is upset because Lum is teasing her and she gets all the girls in the class to belittle her. Shinobu covers Ataru with desks after they share a smooching session.

The next day, Ataru visits the Cat and Caboodle Diner under disguise. As he eats, the television reporter classifies him as a missing person. Some people in the diner point suspicion at him because of the photo of him in disguise that was put up on TV. ..

Ataru is walking through a diner when he bumps into a woman. He asks her if she needs help seductively, and the woman knocks him to the ground. She can sense his terrible luck due to his physiognomy. She reveals that she’s a shrine maiden and that Ataru is ill-fated regarding women. She promises to do an exorcism on Ataru to try to relieve him of his curse. At her house, we learn that the woman’s named Sakura.

When Ataru meets Sakura’s mother, he tries to flee, but Sakura’s mother lassos him back into their home. He thought she was Cherry in disguise. She pulls Ataru into the exorcism room, and he tries to escape. However, Sakura knocks him toward the ground with one of her canes. Sakura prepares the exorcism, but she can’t perform it successfully due to tooth pain. This causes many demons to swarm Ataru, showing that Sakura’s making things worse. ..

Sakura chants and tries to wipe away the demons. She stops again because she gets a migraine. The pain in her head becomes worse and worse, until she realizes that the demons are coming from her own mind. She sends them all away, but the Grim Reaper shows up to take Ataru away. ..

Sakura’s mother and uncle speak with Cherry. He’s happy that the demons causing his illness have vanished, and we find out he’s her uncle. Everyone from the Grim Reaper and Ataru’s loved ones establishes pity for him because they think he’s dead. Ataru wakes up asking for a woman’s number and address. Lum gives Ataru and the Grim Reaper a shocking ending in this episode’s segment.

In the next segment, Ataru visits Cherry. He asks him if he can make something to strip away Lum’s powers. Cherry shares his reasoning with Ataru and is unaware that Lum’s nearby. Lum starts electrocuting Ataru as Ataru realizes Cherry’s predicament. At Ataru’s home, one of his friends visits him and gives him a present from Cherry. Inside the box is a yellow ribbon and a letter from Cherry. ..

Dear Ataru, I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to let you know that you need to tie the ribbon around Lum’s horns in order to neutralize her Oni powers. Only those who tie the ribbon around her horns can take it off. I hope you can do this soon. Lum will be here soon, so be prepared. Take care, Cherry ..

Lum, trying to figure out what’s going on, bumps into one of Ataru’s other friends. She tries shocking him to see if her electrocution powers work, but he takes her gestures as a sign of affection and sparks jealousy in Ataru’s other friend. The same routine repeats with this friend, causing a massive argument between the two. As they are arguing, Ataru confronts Lum, asking her why she can’t use her powers. ..

Shinobu arrives, telling them to get a room. Lum retaliates with an offhand reply and flaunts the gift that Ataru gave her. Shinobu’s enraged that Ataru never gave her anything and tries taking off Lum’s ribbon. Ataru blocks her off, as Shinobu’s distraught. She wanted to deliver some baked goods to Ataru. She kicks Ataru in the face, leaving him defeated.

At night, Ataru’s two friends want to crash at his place. They want to protect Lum because she can’t use her powers and worries about Ataru’s pervy antics. Ataru fights his friends, leading them to leap onto a nearby tree outside his bedroom window. Lum thanks Ataru for his heroism and tells him she wants to be with him for life. ..

Lum hates the idea of taking the ribbon off of Ataru, but her friends force themselves into his room and stumble upon him while he’s over-powering her. They try to knock him off of her, but he’s too strong for them and they end up throwing everything at him, including a box that Cherry sent him.

Lum’s friend hands him a letter that reveals everything to him. Lum is enraged and performs various wrestling maneuvers on Ataru. Defeated, Ataru removes the ribbon off her horns, giving Lum his powers back. As Lum electrocutes Ataru for his cruel actions, she vows to give Cherry a similar ordeal.

Cherry is alarmed when he receives a faint message in his concoction. He decides to stay the night at Sakura’s house to avoid any problems with Lum. The next day, we meet a boy named Shutaro who plans to move to Tomitake Town. The episode concludes with Shutaro leaping from a plane to attend his first school day in Tomitake. ..

The Episode Review

First and foremost, Lum’s mental health is still a mystery. We know she’s been through some tough times, but we still don’t know what caused her to snap. This week, we also learned that Ataru is a bit of a loner. We see him spending most of his time in his room or on the computer, which could be because he’s feeling down about something. However, it also seems like he may have some issues with social interaction. This week also saw the return of the ghost girl from last season. She was a bit more subdued this time around, but she still managed to stir up some trouble. Overall, this was another fun episode of Urusei Yatsura and I look forward to seeing what happens in next week’s episode."

Sakura’s introduction was fine, but her character was a bit over the top with her reactions and emotions. Her constant arguments and pauses during the exorcism were funny but annoying and repetitive. It would’ve been funnier if the gag had different jokes outside of her pausing numerous times to let in more demons. The scene may remind some of Spider-Man: No Way Home during the whole Dr. Strange and Peter debacle. ..

Sakura has been a bit of an over-the-top individual in the past, but it’s refreshing to see her take on someone other than Ataru. However, it’s strange that she doesn’t do anything to protect him from Shinobu’s wrath. Fans know how much Sakura values Ataru as her husband, and they know her gripes about him cheating on her.

Some may find it weird that he hasn’t decided to give Shinobu a good shock for all her physical assaults toward Ataru. Incorporating a scenario like that would make the three’s relationship tenser and more dramatic. Considering Ataru protected Lum twice in “The Yellow Ribbon of Happiness” segment, it would be neat to see how he’d tackle a situation where Lum hurts Shinobu. ..

The show continued to be funny and entertaining, with several jokes landing well and many slapstick-heavy scenes making me laugh hysterically. ..

The new and old characters showcased their talents and added value in these two segments. Here’s hoping the next few episodes can continue providing entertainment for old and new viewers. ..