Sakura's Sorrowful Childhood (愁の幼年期・サクラ, Aishu no yonenki * Sakura?), known as "Sakura's Lonely Childhood" in the Project ILM Scanlation, is the 198th chapter of the Urusei Yatsura manga.
Summary[]
A well-meaning attempt by Cherry to get his niece to have some fun creates a mischievous embodiment of her repressed childhood.
Plot Overview[]
It's the morning of the first day of the new semester, and at Sakura's shrine, Cherry suggests that he and Sakura go off and have some fun. His niece refuses, declaring that she has work, but Cherry responds by drugging her with his homemade "inner child potion", a pill that will supposedly bring out her inner child. She swats him and then goes off to work. At Tomobiki High, she deals with the usual horde of horny young fools, but then is struck by a sudden queasiness that sends her to rest in the nurseroom bed. Closing her eyes, she has a flashback to when she was a little girl, wanting desperately to play with her peers but prohibited, due to her illness and spiritual powers. Suddenly, she is jolted awake by someone begging her to play with them, opening her eyes to find a little girl sitting in the bed with her. Ataru, Lum, Shinobu and Mendo arrive as if on cue, and Sakura deduces that this strange girl is her inner child, brought to life by Cherry's pill. She tells the four teens that the girl is in their hands, and leaves before they can stop her, intent on finding her uncle. Confused, they ask what Little Sakura wants, and she tells them that she wants to play "Self-Defense Force"... with Ataru, Shinobu and Mendo as "the monsters". She summons a horde of lesser yokai and, with an amused Lum at her side, they go on a rampage, chasing the human teens through the school and indiscriminately attacking everyone in their way. Fortunately, Sakura and Cherry arrive before they can do too much damage. Sakura defeats her inner child with her superior exorcism and summoning powers, then spanks her for causing such mayhem. A teary child explains she just wanted to play, like she always saw the other kids doing, and it touches Sakura's heart. She tells her inner child that she can play to her heart's regret... and immediately regrets this when Little Sakura summons a new yokai horde and levels the school, pinning all the blame on her uncle.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Sakura
- Cherry
- Ataru Moroboshi
- Tomobiki High School Principal
- Kotatsu-neko
- Lum
- Shinobu Miyake
- Shūtarō Mendō
- Onsen-Mark
- Kōsuke Shirai
Trivia[]
to be added