OK. Oshii’s just showing off now.
This is a classic sitcom plot, that of someone saying one thing and another misunderstanding it for the entire episode.
When Ataru tells Megane, that tomorrow he’s going to give a speech announcing that he’s “giving up” and naming Megane his successor, the bespectacled lunatic thinks he’s being given the job of Lum’s new boyfriend.
Shinobu overhears them and realises that this will upset the balance of the classroom, deducing that with Ataru out the way, Lum will make a move on Mendou. So she teams up with various gangs from across the neighbourhood schools to prevent Ataru from leaving Lum.
They ambush him and drag him to a scrapyard, where they try to convince him not to leave Lum, but Megane (dressed as some sort of armoured superhero) rescues him!
However, of course, it’s not Lum that he’s giving up. It’s the role of Class President. A role he has singularly failed to fulfil since he was given it in episode 14! Indeed everyone had forgotten he was even elected.
Megane’s world is naturally shattered.
This is the episode that’s probably the purist to Oshii’s vision of the series so far, being that it focuses on Megane, a character with little presence in the manga. Likewise, it’s probably the least like the original manga in doing so.
A great episode, and as someone who prefers Oshii’s take over Takahashi’s, up there among my favourites so far. Lots of fun little touches – the “Gundam” scene on the mall roof, Onsen-Mark teaching English from a book with Betty Boop on the cover, the designs for the gangs. But the highlight is Megane, the night before Ataru’s announcement, delusionally fantasizing about his new role as Lum’s boyfriend. Some wonderful character work there.
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Screenplay: Mamoru Oshii
Storyboards: Mamoru Oshii
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Animation Director: Yuji Moriyama