Return Of Lum, Vol. 7: For Better Or Curse [Paperback]

Deranged monk Cherry says that Ataru Morobishi is cursed, but he's never had to deal with a curse like this before! "For Better Or Curse," the seventh volume of boy-meets-alien sci-comedy series, continues the hijinks of Rumiko Takahashi's oddball cast of aliens, losers, teens and monsters.

In this volume, Ataru and Lum encounter a lovely girl who is always followed by rain. Cherry initially thinks that she is the Rain Demon, but it turns out that because of her father's promise years ago, she's merely cursed. She now needs a loyal pal, and Ataru is all too willing to take the job. Later, the gang encounters a melancholy (and beautiful) ghost, and try to help her find peace... except she may not be as pitifully innocent as she looks! And when a hurricane hits the Morobishi household, Lum's antigravity device causes walls of water -- on the ceiling.

More hijinks ensue when Lum accidently spreads an alien flu through the school, the gang takes the "Pool Freak" to the seaside, Sakura goes to a graveyard to meet her fiancee's (dead) father, and a cursed watermelon menaces a town. Finally, Lum and Ataru have to deal with an idiotic vampire and his smart-alecky bat, who are trying their very best to suck Lum's blood.

Takahashi created the ultimate alien sitcom with the "Urusei Yatsura" series, and the fun only flags in one or two places. (The story about Tama the ghost lags somewhat). By this time, Takahashi had settled well into her style, and what is more, she was doing longer and more involved stories about demons, deranged monks, and oddball aliens.

Things have changed a little by this point in the series -- Lum is less likely to zap Ataru, and while Ataru still chases girls, he has settled into a comfy routine with Lum. And Takahashi's art style had also changed a little: sultry priestess Sakura and her boyfriend Tsubame look eerily like the leads of "Maison Ikkoku." Alien tot Ten still looks like a floating head with a teeny little body, though.

Takahashi piles on the comedy, whether it's precocious Ten making goofy faces, a Walkman-wearing Cherry surfing, or Ataru making out with a bat while Lum laughs hysterically in the trees. And with Lum and Ataru now familiar to readers, the supporting characters provide plenty of laughs, such as the bewigged Cherry, Ataru's long-suffering parents, and the completely stupid Count Dracula.

The seventh volume of "Urusei Yatsura" is an entertaining set of sci-comedy tales. Just don't get on the wrong side of the Rain Demon.

This book is by far the best book next to creature features. If you like Ataru's anitics in all of the other books, you will love For Better Or Curse. Ataru is cursed yet again by a beautiful girl. But now he is being followed by the Rain Demon!

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