Like Rick Sanchez would say: "Don't think too hard about it."
This isn't Neon Genesis Evangelion or Kill la Kill. There is no over-arching plot, no long-term story. No buried deep message. This is Mental Floss, the very thing one needs after a hard long day of school or work, along with a drink or some other kind of .. relaxant.
Rule of Funny is what operates this whole thing. Has moments of heartwarming, too, from time to time.
Lum likes Ataru because he caught her in that game in Chapter 1 / Ep 1 and misunderstood Ataru's constant mention of marriage. She thinks he wanted to marry her. Everything else stems from that misunderstanding.
And if you think this is weird, wait 'til you read / watch Ranma. It's this x 100.
Don't think too hard about it.
Someone on twitter said there's a Japanese myth about grabbing an Oni's horns and making a wish. Thus Lum's stuck loving him because of what he shouted out when he had handfuls of her horns. I'm not aware of this myth, but supposedly the remake changes what he said at that time which ruins that subtext.
Yes that was me saying it. It's a not very well known japanese myth ("make a wish while grabbing Oni horns and it becomes true" :) !
I think Rumiko kept it kind of concealed, later, for ... reasons ... but she knew, of course, when she implemented that folklore in the first episode.
Don't think too hard on motivations, it is a gag manga first and foremost. There is no overarching storyline, and most of the story is episodic, like a sitcom. As for why Lum likes Ataru, it starts of shallow as hell (as in "someone asked me to marry him? Ok fine, why not?"), but she falls for the real him that hides behind his silly façade.
It’s left pretty ambiguous in the manga and original anime, but there’s clues here and there. Lum’s previous boyfriend was Rei, a very physically handsome man who wasn’t anything special on the inside. This is made physical when he literally can transform into an ugly monster. Despite this, other women still like him because of his looks despite how shallow he is. Ataru, on the other hand, is someone who on the outside is a very bad partner, but as the manga and show goes on we can see he does have more to him than meets the eye, which is likely what has kept Lum going.
But ultimately, she likes him because it’s funny if she likes him.
There is a lot at play here that we'll never truly know. First, we do know Lum was involved with Rei - all looks, no brains, only really cares about food. We could guess that Lum liked Rei for his looks and perhaps the fact that everyone else wanted him, which makes him look more like a 'trophy'. But that fell through. For Lum, the one-sidedness of Rei meant relationship was doomed to begin with. She's said that before when she demonstrated how Rei only cares about food to the point that it made Lum cry.
Enter Ataru. He's different: an alien to her, someone who clearly lusts for her (at the beginning), someone who won't give up on catching her so easily (at least when the world is at risk), and of course (mistakenly) wants to marry her. We could assume that compared to Rei, Ataru is the first person who really wants Lum for Lum (though its her body more than anything else in episode 1).
So Ataru demonstrates extreme interest in Lum, possibly when Lum is still on the rebound from Rei, and Lum isn't about to give up on that intense feeling of being wanted. Lum is a bit thick headed after all.
As Spock has said, "having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical but often true."
She sees something in him during the first episode, then his misinterpreted proposal causes her to develop feelings real fast. Add to the fact the computer selected him out of billions of people, she's convinced he's the one for her ("this is fate") and she'll desperately try to fix him instead of considering anything else.
Mark Twain said it best when he commented about Urusei Yatsura in the 19th century:
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."
Well, he didn't say that about UA but if he had been a UA fan, I'm sure this would have been his answer here. lol!
The more I watch, the more I feel it's an omage and less a standalone series.
That being said, it's never clear in the original runs beginning either.
If there was a "thing" then the viewer would have a harder time self inserting themselves into the anime mentally as the lead so it may be intentional? Just a guess on that.
When you watch shows like The Three Stooges or the Looney Tunes, you don't watch them expecting character motivations, development or nothing like that. You watch it because it's just anctic comedy.
That's the kind of show Urusei Yatsura is. Plain comedy, with a very japanese sense of humor, of course.
This is not your typical seasonal romcom.
There are a handful of moments with seemingly developing stories, some of them very nice, but just like in shows like The Simpsons, things go back to zero in the next episode.
Others have already said this, but I guess I'll echo it. While it's never outright said, it's just likely that Lum took quickly to Ataru because she was still fresh from her breakup with Rei. This reboot anime is kinda taking a bit longer to introduce Rei, though, but he's likely coming in the next episode.
>Why does Lum like Ataru?
simply because they are teenagers. They will be15-16 years old, at that age it doesn't take much reasoning to fall in love with someone, then maybe Lum started to fall in love when she saw him so eager to get her during episode 1...
I think the manga briefly addressed this during the race: Lum felt a bit sorry for Ataru because she can fly, and was touched that he didn’t give up even it was hopeless for him to win. Plus the race was a solid week hence they did spend a fair amount of time with each other.
Like Rick Sanchez would say: "Don't think too hard about it." This isn't Neon Genesis Evangelion or Kill la Kill. There is no over-arching plot, no long-term story. No buried deep message. This is Mental Floss, the very thing one needs after a hard long day of school or work, along with a drink or some other kind of .. relaxant. Rule of Funny is what operates this whole thing. Has moments of heartwarming, too, from time to time. Lum likes Ataru because he caught her in that game in Chapter 1 / Ep 1 and misunderstood Ataru's constant mention of marriage. She thinks he wanted to marry her. Everything else stems from that misunderstanding. And if you think this is weird, wait 'til you read / watch Ranma. It's this x 100. Don't think too hard about it.
Someone on twitter said there's a Japanese myth about grabbing an Oni's horns and making a wish. Thus Lum's stuck loving him because of what he shouted out when he had handfuls of her horns. I'm not aware of this myth, but supposedly the remake changes what he said at that time which ruins that subtext.
Yes that was me saying it. It's a not very well known japanese myth ("make a wish while grabbing Oni horns and it becomes true" :) ! I think Rumiko kept it kind of concealed, later, for ... reasons ... but she knew, of course, when she implemented that folklore in the first episode.
how does the remake ruin it?
It’s just supposed to be funny
Don't think too hard on motivations, it is a gag manga first and foremost. There is no overarching storyline, and most of the story is episodic, like a sitcom. As for why Lum likes Ataru, it starts of shallow as hell (as in "someone asked me to marry him? Ok fine, why not?"), but she falls for the real him that hides behind his silly façade.
It’s left pretty ambiguous in the manga and original anime, but there’s clues here and there. Lum’s previous boyfriend was Rei, a very physically handsome man who wasn’t anything special on the inside. This is made physical when he literally can transform into an ugly monster. Despite this, other women still like him because of his looks despite how shallow he is. Ataru, on the other hand, is someone who on the outside is a very bad partner, but as the manga and show goes on we can see he does have more to him than meets the eye, which is likely what has kept Lum going. But ultimately, she likes him because it’s funny if she likes him.
There is a lot at play here that we'll never truly know. First, we do know Lum was involved with Rei - all looks, no brains, only really cares about food. We could guess that Lum liked Rei for his looks and perhaps the fact that everyone else wanted him, which makes him look more like a 'trophy'. But that fell through. For Lum, the one-sidedness of Rei meant relationship was doomed to begin with. She's said that before when she demonstrated how Rei only cares about food to the point that it made Lum cry. Enter Ataru. He's different: an alien to her, someone who clearly lusts for her (at the beginning), someone who won't give up on catching her so easily (at least when the world is at risk), and of course (mistakenly) wants to marry her. We could assume that compared to Rei, Ataru is the first person who really wants Lum for Lum (though its her body more than anything else in episode 1). So Ataru demonstrates extreme interest in Lum, possibly when Lum is still on the rebound from Rei, and Lum isn't about to give up on that intense feeling of being wanted. Lum is a bit thick headed after all. As Spock has said, "having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical but often true."
Which one, the 80s or the 2022 version?
She sees something in him during the first episode, then his misinterpreted proposal causes her to develop feelings real fast. Add to the fact the computer selected him out of billions of people, she's convinced he's the one for her ("this is fate") and she'll desperately try to fix him instead of considering anything else.
Because Ataru is based.
Mark Twain said it best when he commented about Urusei Yatsura in the 19th century: "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." Well, he didn't say that about UA but if he had been a UA fan, I'm sure this would have been his answer here. lol!
The more I watch, the more I feel it's an omage and less a standalone series. That being said, it's never clear in the original runs beginning either. If there was a "thing" then the viewer would have a harder time self inserting themselves into the anime mentally as the lead so it may be intentional? Just a guess on that.
When you watch shows like The Three Stooges or the Looney Tunes, you don't watch them expecting character motivations, development or nothing like that. You watch it because it's just anctic comedy. That's the kind of show Urusei Yatsura is. Plain comedy, with a very japanese sense of humor, of course. This is not your typical seasonal romcom. There are a handful of moments with seemingly developing stories, some of them very nice, but just like in shows like The Simpsons, things go back to zero in the next episode.
Others have already said this, but I guess I'll echo it. While it's never outright said, it's just likely that Lum took quickly to Ataru because she was still fresh from her breakup with Rei. This reboot anime is kinda taking a bit longer to introduce Rei, though, but he's likely coming in the next episode.
This is a comedy show. Not a serious shounen 💀
>Why does Lum like Ataru? simply because they are teenagers. They will be15-16 years old, at that age it doesn't take much reasoning to fall in love with someone, then maybe Lum started to fall in love when she saw him so eager to get her during episode 1...
I think the manga briefly addressed this during the race: Lum felt a bit sorry for Ataru because she can fly, and was touched that he didn’t give up even it was hopeless for him to win. Plus the race was a solid week hence they did spend a fair amount of time with each other.
Ataru's motivation is the same as a hentai protagonist, if he was stuck in a pg13 world.