Urusei Yatsura Chapter 12 Discussion

Yeah this was an interesting chapter. Definitely pro Lum here so not feeling the idea of Ataru and Shinobu.

This should have been the true ending of the manga, Ataru marrying Shinobu and having little Kokeru as son, Thinking that Ataru will one day a member if adult society gives me the shivers, he will probably assault OLs on his way to work.

So, the class reunion took place in the year 1989! The manga began in 1978. But this chapter was most likely released in 1979. It's crazy cause the manga ended in 1987, 2 years before this chapter supposedly takes place.



Kokeru is one ugly and filthy child. Only his parents can love him.



Ataru's luck was truly awful in this episode. He missed his class, saw an awful future, lost his money, and got home wet with his son's piss that everyone thinks is his. Poor guy.


This is an infamous chapter. It shows Rumiko Takahashi's plans for early Urusei Yatsura when Shinobu was still the main heroine and Lum was just a bad guy who got a little more screen time than intended. I think it was bold of Takahashi to basically just "spoil" the ending for the series just like that.



But this was her first series. If she wrote this later, she probably would keep the identity of the mother ambiguous instead of turning it into a punchline. Because I don't think she pulled something like this in any of her other series. And no other experienced author would do something like this either.



Early in the series, it made sense that Shinobu would be the wife of Ataru. But as the series went on Lum got more development and became the definitive love interest for Ataru. Eventually, this chapter was retconned with Inaba the Dreammaker arc. And I prefer it that way.



I just find it really strange that some people were actually legitimately upset that their ship didn't sail. I don't understand people like them. Or more accurately, I don't know why they don't understand retcons and rewrites are a thing. Something that's doubly applicable for a series like Urusei Yatsura which has a very loose canon anyway.