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Pitter-Patter, Summer Date (どきどきサマーデート, Dokidoki Samā Dēto) is the 39th episode of Urusei Yatsura.

Summary[]

Lum and Ataru go on their first date together.

Plot Overview[]

On a sweltering hot summer's day, a bored Lum sits and watches television in the Moroboshi household. She watches a televised game between two High School baseball teams, before the game ends and a brief interview with a child psychologist come on. The interviewee comments on commen behaviors of teens in love, and before the segment concludes, he states that it is highly abnormal for a young couple to live together without having dated even once.

This statement resonates deeply with Lum, who is quite distressed.

Ataru, meanwhile, is trying to score a date, phoning several girls that he knows. He strikes out with all of them, and ultimately goes to the living room to cool off. There, Lum confronts him about how abnormal their relationship is, and asks Ataru for a date. But Ataru just waves her off.

Heading upstairs to Ataru's room, Lum persists in asking Ataru to go on a date, pointing out that it's weird for them to be engaged but never having dated before. Ataru counters by pointing out that Lum basically forced her way into his life. Finally, Lum loses her patience; she steals Ataru's precious notebook of girls' names, addresses and phone numbers, and threatens to destroy it if he won't take her on a date that very day, also adding that she will stop helping him with his homework and bringing him lunch each day. Ataru scuffles with her briefly, but ultimately gives in, though he orders her to comply with three restrictions in exchange:

  • That she will disguise herself as an Earth girl for the date.
  • That she will abstain from the use of her superpowers.
  • That she will obey Ataru no matter what he tells her.

Confused but happy, Lum heads to her flying saucer to prepare, and then phones Ataru about where to meet her. Ataru is initially unhappy with this, but when he sees the dressed up Lum, he is gobsmacked by how beautiful she looks, even admitting that this mightn't be so bad after all.

Their first point of call is the local pool. They briefly separate, until Ataru notes that men are crowding around and loudly commenting on the beauty of a girl. Intrigued, he forces his way through them, and is shocked to find they are talking about Lum - although he rather enjoys their envy at seeing she is his girlfriend. Inspired by a diver, Lum asks if they can give it a try, and Ataru agrees... but the flying alien decides that she wants to try diving from the highest board, and the jealous guys goad Ataru into accepting by playing on his pride. He has second thoughts when he gets there, but the naive Lum forces him off of the board, causing him to painfully bellyflop into the pool below. Horrified, Lum dives down to rescue her stunned boyfriend, and is promptly swarmed by the horny men gathered around the pool. Their antics enrage her, and she instinctively discharges a lightning bolt, electrocuting them all.

As bystanders call for medics to attend the shocked men, a revived Ataru grabs Lum and flees with her before they can get into trouble, scolding her for forgetting that water conducts electricity. A bemused Lum can only ask why Ataru didn't end up fried to a crisp like all the hornballs, and he asserts that he's built up a tolerance for it over the many times she's zapped him. He even credits it with waking him back up when he was still groggy before.

They make their way to a park, where Ataru fetches them some cool drinks. In a rare moment of introspection, Ataru takes a moment to appreciate Lum's beauty before he joins her. Lum's attention, however, is fixed on another young girl, whom she confidently declares must also be on her first date with her boyfriend. Curiosity piqued by Lum's interest, Ataru watches with her, and to their surprise, the young girl's boyfriend is none other than Perm!

Lum and Ataru approach the other young couple, with Perm briefly pulling Ataru aside for some barbed yet friendly discourse. Ataru gives back as good as he gets, wondering if Megane would be thrilled to hear that Perm is dating a normal girl. Finally, at Perm's suggestion, he agrees to make it a double date.

Perm leads them to the rollerskating part of the park, and Lum proves to be incredibly talented at it. Perm is shocked, and Ataru smugly needles him, correctly deducing that Perm was expecting to impress Lum and then mocking him for how little he actually knows Lum. Perm's date asks him to teach her how to skate, and Lum invites Ataru to join her, but he refuses, ordering her to just skate on her own.

Perm's date asks Perm what the deal is with Ataru and Lum, and Perm explains that they are married - but with this couple, normal conventions simply don't apply.

Lum's status as an apparently single beauty soon has horny guys flocking to her, sparking a rare moment of jealousy from Ataru. He tries to catch up with her, but he is far from a skilled skater. Lum nimbly ditches her unwanted flirts, then spots Perm and his date, who is clinging to her boyfriend whilst trying to stand up on her skates. Coming to the deducation that Ataru is avoiding her because she's being "inconsiderate", Lum skates off to join Ataru and tries to imitate Perm's date, before Ataru scolds her and tells her to cut it out. He then painfully falls over, leaving Lum to cradle him tenderly.

Next, the two couples go out to eat. As their chosen restaurant is fancier than the usual fast-food places Ataru frequents, he quietly warns Lum that such a place requires certain manners, and instructs her to mimic Perm's date. Unfortunately, that turns out to be an incredibly poor decision on Ataru's part; Perm's date is a ravenous glutton who gorges herself shamelessly on a stunning array of dishes, and Lum is so busy trying to imitate her that she doesn't hear Ataru trying to tell her to stop.

As sun sets, Ataru and Lum walk along a riverbank, with Ataru marveling on what kind of girl Perm found himself. Lum apologises for her behavior in the restaurant, but Ataru admits that he's to blame for telling her to imitate Perm's date. Lum thanks Ataru for taking her out, describing it as "thrilling", to Ataru's shock, before she gives Ataru back his date info-book. Then, to Ataru's confusion, she says goodbye and flies away, pausing only to explain that it's "not normal" for them to have one date and then go back to the same home.

Upon reaching home, Ataru goes to call some of the girls in his notebook... then stops himself, admitting that he can't get in the mood. He retreats to his room, where he experiences a rare moment of introspection. He realizes he legitimately misses Lum, mentally complaining to himself about how she first forced her way into his life and now has left it just as abruptly. Unable to deny his feelings, he breaks down and shouts for Lum to come back already, before he spots her UFO hovering over his house.

Lum pokes her head out and tells him that she intends to stay in her UFO until they've gone on a few more dates, before asking him to let her park it here for the night.

Cast[]

Trivia[]

Differences from the Manga[]

  • In the manga, it's a TV drama show that makes Lum want to go on a date with Ataru, and she blackmails him only by not helping him do his homework.
  • Shūtarō Mendō appears when Lum asks Ataru on a date in class.
  • Lum has a different hairstyle and is dressed differently in the manga.
  • The date happens in the same places (Swimming Pool, Roller Rink, Restaurant) with a few different events.
  • It's Kōsuke Shirai who's on a date and meets Lum and Ataru.
    • Kōsuke's date appears to be the girl who was supposed to pretend being in love with Ataru under the alias "Shinobi Nobade" in the manga version of Episode 10.
    • In the manga, Kōsuke is aware of his dates rapacious appetite beforehand, noting to Ataru that she was nicknamed "Saint Stomach".
  • Following the restaurant, Lum and Ataru go to the amusement park where Ataru hopes to show off his masculine courage while riding a Horror Coaster together by sitting still while she'd freak out and grab him, only for him being the one who freaks out while she pretends being scared and grabs him.

Gallery[]

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