Recovering That Which Was Lost (失われたモノを求めて;前編, Ushinawareta mono o motomete; zenpen?), known as "Looking For A Lost Thing" in the Project ILM Scanlation, is the 199th chapter of the Urusei Yatsura manga.
Summary[]
When Benten's precious chain is stolen, she recruits Lum and Oyuki to help her get it back!
Plot Overview[]
In her UFO, Lum takes a video-call from Oyuki, asking if she's seen Benten; something was mailed to Oyuki for Benten. Lum hasn't seen her, but when she descends to the Moroboshi household, she finds Benten is there taking a bath. Benten explains she's spent the last week looking ceaselessly for her chain. They travel to Neptune, and Benten recounts the story of how it was stolen. Oyuki then provides the item waiting for Benten; a VHS cassette. It contains a video-message from three alien girls; Sugar, Ginger and Pepper. They're an aspiring bad-girl gang from Lum, Benten and Oyuki's old school who want to prove their toughness by taking down the former "top gang" of the school. They stole Benten's chain and demand a duel in exchange for its return. Benten eagerly sets off to fight them. Ironically, at their ship, the three younger teens are starting to panic at the idea of actually facing such legendary delinquents. They turn to their advisory robot Soruto #1 for advice on the best place to battle the trio, and are told to go to Space Vector Aho. And so this is where the two groups meet... at a nice little Earth cafe in Tomobiki.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Trivia[]
- This chapter adds the trio of wannabe alien delinquents Sugar, Ginger and Pepper, commonly known amongst fans as "The Spice Girls", or "the Spice Trio", to the canon of Urusei Yatsura. Their nicknames stem from the naming theme that they have, with each girl being named after a particular spice flavoring.
- The Spice Girls are clearly intended to be a gang of Sukeban (スケバン/助番), or female delinquents; because bancho (番長) (male delinquent) gangs seldom if ever admitted female members, when delinquency went on the rise in the 1960s through to the 1980s, bad girls began gathering in all-female gangs of their own. Sukeban used many weapons, but were particularly fond of chains; Benten herself is clearly based on the sukeban archetype.
- Soruto #1 means "Salt #1", fitting in with the spice naming theme of his owners; Sugar, Ginger, and Pepper.
- Soruto #1's design is the "Kawai Cook-chan" character; this is a popular Japanese doodling game that even has its own instructional melody. Prior to this chapter, "Kawai Cook-chan" had appeared as a random throw-away alien character in Chapter 132.
- When the Spice Girls set off to Space Vector Aho, this is yet another case of Takahashi using the Kansai-ben word for "idiot" to subtly mock the foolishness of her characters.
- When Benten and Lum join Oyuki at her home, they gather around a traditional Japanese sunken hearth called an irori (囲炉裏). This square, stone-lined pit in the floor has been used both to cook food and to heat the Japanese home since ancient times, as well as serving as the primary gathering point for residents and visitors.