The following contains spoilers for Episode 11 of Urusei Yatsura, “Mendo Siblings!!/A Strange New Year at the Mendo Estate,” now streaming onHiDive.
As the end of 2022 draws near,Urusei Yatsura’s eleventh episode decides to celebrate with two very appropriate stories. The first story introduces Ryoko Mendo, the impish little sister of Mendo anda capable agent of chaosin her own right.Urusei Yatsurafans are sure to be happy to see her again, and the shenanigans always get taken to the next level when she is around.
The next story features a New Year’s party that brings back nearly all the characters we’ve met so far. While there have only been eleven episodes, we’ve met a lot of characters, and the cast is only going to get bigger from here. A great and chaotic episode to end the year on for the series.
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“Mendo Siblings!!”
While walking down the street, Ataru and Lum find a handkerchief that carries the scent of a young woman. Ataru manages to track down the owner of the handkerchief, who is slowly traveling through town in an oxcart. Ataru offers the passenger her handkerchief, hoping to meet a beautiful young girl, but is shocked to see a skeleton woman inside instead. Ataru and Lum quickly run off, horrified by what they’ve seen.
Ataru and Lum tell Mendo about the skeleton woman, but while he initially does not believe them, something about the story bothers him. His suspicions are confirmed at lunch, when the young woman in the oxcart arrives with a large bento box in hand. After causing some trouble by claiming to be Mendo’s fiancée, she is eventually introduced as Ryoko Mendo, his younger sister. Ryoko explains that she came all the way from the estate just to drop off Mendo’s lunch, but Mendo is confused as he already has his lunch. It turns out that the lunch was the one he forgot at home several days ago, and that it had taken five days for Ryoko to make it to the school by oxcart.
Ryoko attempts to have Mendo eat the spoiled lunch she had brought to him, but he refuses.Hoping to charm Ryoko, Ataru offers to eat the lunch instead, and Lum, annoyed at Ataru’s skirt-chasing, offers to feed him the way a wife would a husband. Hearing this, Ryoko suddenly butts in and offers to feed Ataru instead, but Mendo cuts in himself, refusing to let Ataru interact with Ryoko in any way. Despite being grabbed by Ryoko’s servants and forced to reveal his phobias by getting trapped in a locker, Mendo refuses to allow Ataru to speak to Ryoko for even a second. Annoyed by Mendo’s interference, Ryoko invites Ataru to visit the Mendo estate sometime to rile him up even more.
“A Strange New Year At The Mendo Estate”
Ataru arrives at the Mendo estate and is greeted by a massive mansion and a row of servants. Mendo claims he didn’t invite Ataru, but Ataru claims that Ryoko invited him. Lum, Shinobu, and Sakura soon appear in kimonos, having all been invited to Mendo’s New Year’s party. Benten and Oyuki also arrive, and Mendo quickly invites them along as well. The group heads into the main area of the estate, where they are greeted by Ryoko standing on the rooftops. Ryoko directs them to follow the areas to the first room they see. Inside the room is a number of floor cushions, and the group is directed to sit wherever they like. It’s soon clear that something is up; Several trapdoors open under the cushions, sending Benten and Ataru back to the entrance, while a moving wall pushes the rest of the group out of the room.
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Chaos ensues as each of the party-goers ends up in a different room and is forced into various odd situations. Mochi-eating contests, spiked tea, and trick walls hinder the bewildered and confused group as they try to make sense of what exactly is happening. Eventually, it’s revealed thatMendo’s parents and sisterare playing a board game in the main party room, with Mendo and his friends serving as the board game pieces. Whatever space a certain person’s piece lands on, the Mendo family’s servants attempt to make happen in real life. The hijinks continue until the group finally arrive at the main party room, only to find the place empty. A large bamboo rocket emerges from the floor sending Ataru and Mendo flying into the air before exploding into fireworks, with the lights spelling out ‘Happy New Year!!’ in the sky.
New Year Shenanigans
This episode ofUrusei Yatsuracombines its usual off-the-wall shenanigans with a festive New Year’s celebration. Raising the level of insanity is new character Ryoko Mendo, a scheming young woman who always manages to get the better of her older brother. This is readily demonstrated in both stories, with Ryoko playfully revealing all of Mendo’s weak points in the first part, then making him and his friends run ragged around his own home in the second part.
The second part was also a good way of bringing backalmost every character that has been introducedin the series so far. While Cherry and Ran did not make an appearance, Benten and Oyuki reappeared after having not really shown up since their introductory episode, and Sakura and Rei also got a bit of the spotlight. A great episode for the end of the year, and a good sign of what’s to come in the future.
