Lum Becomes a Cow (ラムちゃん、ウシになる, Ramu-chan, ushi ni naru?) is the 221st chapter of the Urusei Yatsura manga.
Summary[]
When Lum is bitten by a cow, her horns start growing! Could she really be turning into a cow herself?!
Plot Overview[]
On a random visit to a local pet store, Lum gets bitten by a bad tempered cow. That evening, after watching an alien adaptation of a vampire movie, Lum has a terrible nightmare about turning into a cow, and wakes to discover her horns have grown. Two days later, her absence has become quite noticeable. When Ten wanders by, they attempt to grill him on what happened to her, only to be interrupted by Lum, now sporting a strange new haircut. She takes Ataru with her to Sakura's office, but the school nurse has no comforting words, pointing out that since Lum is an alien, they have no idea what effect a cow's bite might have on her. Shortly afterwards, Lum pleads with Ataru to promise that he will look after a cow if one should mysteriously show up at the Moroboshi household. Finally losing his cool, Ataru demands an explanation, grabbing Lum before she can fly away and causing her to reveal her new horns. A tearful Lum confesses her fear that she is turning into a cow, and a weeping Ataru assures her that he will care for her no matter what happens. Meanwhile, Ten contacts Lum's father, who explains that the horn growth is a natural side-effect of the oni body fighting off infections, and they'll go back to normal once she gets better. Ten happily conveys this to an embarrassed Lum, who isn't sure how to break this news to Ataru as he works to build her a new barn in the back yard.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Ataru Moroboshi
- Lum
- Ten
- Shūtarō Mendō
- Kōsuke Shirai
- Sakura
- Lum's Father
- Ataru's Mother
- Ataru's Father
Trivia[]
- The pet shop Ataru and Lum are visiting, Yoshinoya (吉野家), shares the name of a famous gyudon (牛丼, "beef bowl") restaurant chain. The Yoshinoya restaurant chain was established in 1899, with a motto that translates as "Tasty, low-priced, and quick".
- The three alien movies that Lum is shown watching aboard her personal spaceship are pastiches of a noir film, a comedy show, and an alien version of Dracula.
- The alien comedy show is most likely a reference to the Japanese television comedy tradition, known as Owarai (お笑い). Whilst this shares elements of the historical comedy traditions such as Manzai (漫才) (a fast-paced two-man act centered on puns, misunderstandings and slapstick), Rakugo (落語) (a minimalistic act where a single performer tells a comical tale using only facial expressions, tone, voice-acting, a small paper fan and body language) and Kyōgen (狂言) (comical mimicry and slapstick theatrical performances), it is entirely its own thing.
- Bram Stoker's vampire novel "Dracula" was first translated into Japanese in 1956 by Hirai Teiichi, and was Japan's first exposure to the Western concept of vampires. This is why some older manga and anime refer to vampires as "Draculas" (or "Draculinas", for females).
- A bumbling and comical version of Dracula had appeared earlier in Chapter 101 and Chapter 102.
- The form that Lum takes in her nightmare after dozing off in front of the television is clearly based on the ushitora form that Rei takes.
- Sukiyaki (鋤焼, or more commonly すき焼き) is an extremely popular nabemono (Japanese hot pot) dish based on broiling thinly sliced beef and vegetables in a sweet and savory broth. It was established back in Chapter 8 that sukiyaki is a rare treat at the Moroboshi household, due to the expensive status of beef in Japan, and it's also one of Ataru's favorite foods.
- In the chapter's final panel, the kanji on the back of Ataru's jacket as he builds Lum a cow-pen is 大工 or "daiku", which translates into English as "Carpenter". In Viz Media's English translation of this chapter, it is instead replaced with the letters "D.I.Y.", an acronym for "Do It Yourself".