© Rumiko Takahashi・Shogakukan／Urusei Yatsura Anime Production Committee

I'm dreading the idea of ​​an episode revolving around Shutaro. Setting the theme of the episode as solving his obsession by time travel also makes me think that the climax of the episode will be quite predictable. My problem with Shutaro as a character is that I don't think he gets as much punishment as he should, since he's just as bad as Ataru. The two work together as rivals, and I like when Ataru finds different ways to bully Shutaro, but overall, he will always come off as slightly superior. However, not in this episode! For me, this episode felt like a relief because Shutaro's suffering was the punchline to every joke and I loved it.

Even though most of the episode was made possible by time travel, we were still very confused with the rules of it. There was no talk of creating a paradox or anything like that. While I was right about the episode's conclusion that Shutaro would eventually cause his trauma, I liked that outcome basically because he was so fed up with himself that he almost forgot the reason why I was there in the first place. There's a quest for this episode, but everyone is pretty lost and caught up in frustration because Shutaro, as a child, was an adorable little troll. Shutaro will always have money and status to rely on. While this could have been a good opportunity to humiliate him, I liked that they relied more on him being so preoccupied that he missed obvious solutions to his problems.

I don't know why Shutaro thought it would be a fun walk. His parents and his estate in the past would not acknowledge him as a teenager. The guy is so lacking in self-awareness that he doesn't even think about becoming a spoiled child when he grows up in this estate. In the end, he still doesn't know that he is the cause of his problems. This whole episode felt like a huge dose of karma for him.

What helps elevate the episode is the interactions between the supporting characters. Ataru played a straight man and a bad starter in this episode. I don't know what it is, but Ataru's comedic timing is incredibly fast and precise. It happens so fast and to the point where he accidentally raises his hand to show how much he cares for Lum in a blink-and-you-miss-it scene that's one of my favorites. My favorite scene of the entire episode, however, is probably the scene where Shutaro's parents abandon him so he can be tortured so they can go to another room and have sex. Everyone is caught up in their own little world, but it feels like Ataru and Lum are the only characters who know how to engage others in creative ways, which helps them stand out from the cast. left, even in episodes like this when they're not the focus. This is a solid start to the final episode of this reboot.

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Urusei Yatsura is now streaming on HIDIVE.