Sex-Change Shenanigans (性転のヘキレキ!!, Seiten no he kireki!!?), or "Sex-Change Chaos!!" in the Project ILM Scanlation, is the 157th chapter of the Urusei Yatsura manga.
Summary[]
Kurama's efforts to court Ryūnosuke reach their climactic conclusion!
Plot Overview[]
Kurama is aboard her spaceship when she receives word from her karasutengu minions that they have accidentally turned Ataru Moroboshi into a girl. She is puzzled why they'd do that, but figures that this will make him stop chasing her. She declares her intent to visit her chosen groom, Ryunosuke Fujinami, but her minions stop her and beg for her to let them go ahead. Meanwhile, Lum and the genderbent Ataru are taking shelter at the Fujinami's residence behind the Tomobiki High school store; when the karasutengu arrive, Ataru immediately demands they change him back, but is informed that a replacement sex-change raygun hasn't arrived yet. Mr. Fujinami is delighted to hear about this plan to turn Ryūnosuke into a boy, but she wants none of it, forcing the karasutengu to feed her a hiccup pill to foil her plans of simply telling Kurama the truth. Kurama arrives and tries to get affectionate with Ryūnosuke, only to be foiled deliberately by Lum and accidentally by Ataru, who is trying to get handsy with her. As Ataru keeps Kurama distracted, the karasutengu deliver the new sex-change raygun, and Ryūnosuke's father immediately tries to use it on his daughter. Being unaware of the truth, Kurama saves Ryūnosuke from being zapped. Unfortunately, Ataru intervenes again, and Ryūnosuke must flee her father until Kurama can intervene again. Ryūnosuke finally flashes her breasts at Kurama to prove she's really a girl, but this doesn't dissuade her father or the karasutengu, who work together to hit Ryūnosuke with the very last shot in the gun. Fortunately for everybody, Kurama accidentally throws Ataru in the way of the last shot when the genderbent boy gets handsy one last time, before taking her minions home in disgust.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Trivia[]
- A TV announcer reveals that this chapter is set on Culture Day (文化の日, Bunka no Hi); this public holiday takes place on November 3rd, and has been celebrated since 1948, having initially been held to commemorate the announcement of Japan's post-war national constitution on November 3, 1946. Before that, it was first declared a public holiday celebrating the birth of Emperor Meiji, called Tenchō-setsu (天長節), in 1868, only to lose that status in 1912 when the Emperor died. In 1936, it became the custom to hold the ceremony for awarding the Order of Culture, a high honor bestowed by the Imperial family upon those who have significantly advanced science, the arts or culture. Thus, Culture Day evolved into a celebration and promotion of culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars.
- In Viz Media's English translation of this chapter, Ataru speaks with a distinctive font; this is intended to showcase that Ataru is using the feminine form of the Japanese language, and was first used for that purpose when Ataru attempted to teach Ryūnosuke how to talk in a properly girlish manner in Chapter 152.
- At one point, Ataru notes that being in female form and sharing a house with Lum and Ryūnosuke makes him feel like he's in "that movie, Little Women". Ataru is referring to the two-part novel written in 1868 and 1869 by author Louisa May Alcott, which covers the lives of a family made up of four sisters. By the date this chapter had been published - November 2, 1982 - the novels had received four film adaptations; a pair of silent black-and-white films in 1917 and 1918, which have been lost to history, a black-and-white sound film in 1933, and a colored film in 1949. More intriguingly, the novels had also received a 26-episode anime adaptation in 1981, titled Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari (愛の若草物語), which is probably what inspired Takahashi to make the reference.
- In the panel where Ataru mentions Little Women, the panel's edging is decorated with bushes and ivy; this is a parody of a common visual trope in shojo manga.
- When Lum warns Ataru not to get too excited about Kurama's upcoming arrival due to their both being women, Ataru flippantly declares that girls can love each other too; this is quite hypocritical, given how angry Ataru was at the thought that Ryūnosuke might develop a lesbian crush on Ran in Chapter 151.
- Mr. Fujinami's reaction to hearing of the sex-change gun, and his subsequent efforts to use it on Ryūnosuke, make it clear that he does know her true gender is female - he simply refuses to accept it.