Transfer Student Close Call… / Farewell Party Close Call…
Ataru’s teacher is flustered to discover that Lum is a transfer student. Lum’s arrival at the school has caused some confusion and disruption, and Ataru’s teacher is determined to make sure everything is back to normal as soon as possible.
Lum’s father promises Ataru’s teacher that Lum will be on her best behavior. In class, Ataru’s teacher introduces Lum to the class. Everyone is thrilled, but Ataru ends up choking on a piece of food. Meanwhile, everyone goes outside to attend today’s recreation day. While some female classmates frolic toward Lum, one of Ataru’s friends asks him what sport appeals to Lum.
Ataru doesn’t care until someone mentions that another class received a good-looking transfer student. The girl’s name is Ran, and Ataru doesn’t hesitate to introduce himself to her. Lum grabs Ataru and tells him he should be cheering for her instead. Lum glances at Ran with jealous eyes. Before Ran attends her sporting event, Lum walks past her and requests that she meet her behind the gym later.
Ran meets Lum after school, and it turns out that they know each other. Lum asks Ran if she transferred to the school to meet her. Ran admits that she does, but Lum asks why she wanted to meet her while disguised as a human. Ran says it’s integral that she did. We receive a flashback to Ran on her spacecraft as she remarks how she was looking at old photos of her playing with Lum when they were children.
Ran reveals that she and Lum once fell in love with a handsome stud named Rei. Lum denies it, despite Ran confirming Lum was once engaged to Rei. Lum says it’s all in the past, angering Ran. Ran shows her true colors and reveals that she visited Earth to enact revenge on Lum. Ran vows to steal Ataru from Lum and drain his life energy by making lip contact with him.
Lum tells Ran not to tell anyone about her being an alien. If she does, Lum promises to tell everyone that she wet the bed before. Mendo grabs a card indicating that he must find an electrifying beauty. Ran obtains her card and asks for Ataru’s assistance. Lum tries to prevent him from heading toward Ran, but Mendo grabs her aside.
Ran asks Ataru to kiss her. Unfortunately, Lum throws a block at Ataru to prevent him from kissing Ran. With Lum on his back, Ataru heads toward Ran to attempt to kiss her. Despite Ran and Ataru’s efforts, Lum prevents them from kissing again. ..
Lum and Ran kiss a classmate in a situation where they drain their life energy. Later that day, they visit an area next to Tomobiki’s bridge. Lum requests that she leaves Ataru alone, but Ran steers the conversation into another memory. In a flashback, we see a younger Lum and Ran making wishes while staring at the stars. They reveal their dreams to each other.
Ran and Rei both wish to find the world’s most wonderful husband. Rei brings up Lum again and gets infuriated by the fact that she only had eyes for Lum and not her. The segment ends with Ran yelling and vowing to murder Ataru to get payback. The next set piece features Lum standing near a tree. She received a letter from Ran, who wanted to meet her at this location to inform her about something.
Lum sends an android of herself to meet with Ran. The android reveals that Ran plans to return home and no longer wants to seek revenge on her. She plans to hold a farewell party on Sunday and wants Lum to attend the fiesta with Ataru. Lum grows suspicious as Ran’s robot asks that she doesn’t tell him that she’ll be going home. The robot explodes and drops a map signifying the location of Ran’s farewell party.
On Sunday, Lum and Ataru arrive at Ran’s party. Ran shows them to her room and hands them some cookies and refreshments. Lum is worried about the meal having tranquilizers or something. When Ran heads into the kitchen to grab something, Lum notices one of Ran’s creatures that she’s playing off as a mundane vase. Lum pours the cookies into his mouth to see if Ran put something inside them. Lum noticed one of Ran’s sentient creatures that she was playing off as a mundane vase while she was pouring the cookies into his mouth, so he decided to test her by putting some of the cookies in his own mouth. ..
Ran places something in the cookies as the creature falls asleep. Ran returns with a cake and is furious that her plan didn’t work. Lum heads into the kitchen to clean off their dishes. Behind the curtain, Lum knows Ran might try to seduce Ataru behind her back. Lum peeps through the curtain to spy on them. Ataru suggests Ran kiss him while Lum’s gone, but Ran doesn’t want to upset Lum.
Lum is angered when she sees Ataru egging Ran on to kiss him. Ran heads into the kitchen to see Lum cleaning the dishes and tells her to go back to Ataru’s side. As Lum heads back into Ran’s room, she wonders if Ran gave up on taking Ataru from her. When Lum returns, she notices Ataru is missing and he left a door wide open. It turns out that Ataru went for a walk. ..
Ataru walks through Ran’s home and is surprised by how different it looks from when he last saw it. He then learns that Ran was baking an android that looks like him inside her oven. Lum barges into the kitchen and sees the android, which surprises and frightens Ran. Ataru notices the android and finds it strange. Ran tells Lum he was there the whole time, but Lum grabs the real Ataru and plans to leave. ..
Ran enters the hallway and kisses the fake Ataru android because she believes it’s the real one. Ran realizes her mistake and yells as Lum tries dragging Ataru home. At night, Lum ponders over her encounters with Ran and wonders if she’s really going home. The next day, Lum notices Ran and asks why she didn’t go home. Ran yells at Lum and says she hasn’t finished getting her revenge yet.
The episode concludes with a giant, oni-like creature roaring into the sky. It holds a toy that looks like Lum.
The Episode Review
This week’s episode introduced a new character, Ran, who could be either good or bad for the show. While Benten received more screen time than Ran, many viewers might be worried that the show is putting too much trust in this new character. However, the interactions and mischief in this episode were leaps above the previous one. ..
Shinobu’s exclusion from the main cast is frustrating, but her interactions with Ran and Lum are intriguing. Ran’s plans for Shinobu are also worth keeping an eye on.
The idea of another rival for Ataru intrigues me. While I’d prefer the anime to build upon the rivalry between Mendo and Ataru, Rei’s character could bring some fun humor and drama. This is because he was Lum’s former husband and likely retains feelings for her. Maybe Rei’s involvement with the group will help Ataru progress and develop closer feelings for Lum.
In the latest episode of “Astro Boy”, we saw some nice banter and humorous slapstick between Ataru and Rei. It also fleshed out Lum’s backstory further. Let’s hope the next episode can deliver more tension and humor. ..
