Rumiko Takahashi’s gag manga has been brought to life, yet again. This is a remake of an older series we never asked for, but in the end, I’m glad this remake exists, as it’s a way for the newer generation of anime fans to watch a show with an older style of dialogue and humour, with more modernized animation. Admittedly, I’ve only skimmed through some of the original 1981 version, but I could tell that the remake is an extremely truncated version of the original. That said, as I’m someone who only watched the remake, I can still say that I more or less enjoyed what was presented.

This show is just simple, dumb comedy, that sometimes works really well, and sometimes flops on its face, and that’s because comedy is subjective, a phrase I’m sure many of you will have heard when comedy is discussed in a more analytical mindset. It’s inevitable that some jokes land, and some don’t, but when they land, they are genuinely quite hilarious. It embraces how stupid it is, it never really escapes its stupidity, and that’s fine. Don’t expect any semblance of a plot, or much progression in romance, it’s more of an episodic comedy than anything else, though some episodes build upon previous ones.

The characters are just a big cast of idiots. Ataru is someone you want to just punch. He’s basically unlikable in every way, and the show realizes that, so they double down on making him as scummy as possible. He flirts with every girl he meets, and no one around him has a good time.

As for Lum, she’s often called as “the first waifu”. She embodies most of the qualities that waifus have nowadays, but that’s about it. She gets jealous, and she zaps people.

The side characters have their moments, and each have their gimmicks. I suppose that’s a problem of the show, with the characters being so gimmicky and one-note, but in a gag comedy like this, it doesn’t really matter.

The modernized animation will definitely bring more viewers into this series, and make this show more accessible, which is always a welcome thing. However, I would venture a guess that the old style also worked well in its own way.

I would also like to highlight that both openings and endings were absolute bangers, and I enjoyed listening to them all. Shout out to MAISONdes and their featured artists for their performances.

Overall, this show was a decent watch, once I learned to not take it remotely seriously. It’s simply a dumb comedy, and it might work for you, it might not work for you. One thing is for sure though, I’ll definitely be checking out the original in a bit more detail, as there’s probably some more meaningful storytelling to be found there.