Urusei Yatsura’s 3rd season is the one that wraps up the series – putting most of the cast into varying degrees of relationships, while also finding – in an indirect way – a way for Ataru to express his feelings to Lum without either shedding their stubborn exteriors.
The series thus far has done a good job handling the concepts of the original manga and making the series feel more modern in some respects – not in terms of the tech-level of the setting (it maintains that ’60s-’70s vibe), but more recognizing that some of the jokes from the original work have aged better than others, and they’ve put their focus on the parts that work. It’s maintained the core concepts of the characters – Ataru is a horndog who hits on any woman that moves, Lum zaps him whenever he does, Shinobu has shifted gears to basically being one of the two reasonable people in the cast (Benten being the other), and so on.
On the one hand, this makes for a series that isn’t the best jumping-on-point for new viewers. On the other hand, if you’re hesitant to jump on board with the show because you want to know how well it wraps – the good news is the series does stick the landing on the ending. We don’t get what I think some modern audiences would conclusively want – an actual confession – but ultimately Rumiko Takahashi is someone who, for good and ill, passionately believes in the Moonlighting Rule (that moving past the “Will They, Won’t They” phase removes all drama). I disagree with that sentiment, and there’s about a decade of anime that proves it. However, if you’re adapting one of Takahashi’s older works, that’s a core element of most of Takahashi’s romantic comedy series, so not following that rule would be breaking the vibe of what makes a Rumiko Takahashi series what it is.
In all, I do think that the final season of Urusei Yatsura is a satisfying conclusion, and with plans for a future new adaptation of Ranma 1/2 (and hopefully a new adaptation of Maison Ikkoku), this series is a sign of good things to come.
The new Urusei Yatsura series is available for streaming on Hidive.
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