I've just rewatched Urusei Yatsura: Only You, and now I have the need to gush about it. Please, bear with me.
Personally, I am completely blown away by how well they set up everything despite the movie being completely unrelated to the original manga. Elle as a character stands out in particular.
The way she is set up as the perfect Foil or, more accurately, Evil Counterpart for Lum has me obsessed.
Both girls are members of alien royalty and downright gorgeous, to the point of having countless admirers. They're also two girls who became interested in Ataru after losing a game of tag against him.
But that's where the similarities end.
Even their introductions are as similar as they are different. They both first appear playing a game of tag with Ataru, and in both cases he had no idea what he was getting into—with Lum he didn't know winning against her would lead to accidentally proposing to her, and with Elle he didn't know the chaos that would unfold for stepping on her shadow.
The differences start when we take into account how Lum and Elle were perceived at first, especially by Ataru. Because while Lum was originally an antagonist, both in and out-of-universe, as the representative of an invasive force and then as a nuisance on a more personal level for him, Elle was presented in-universe as a benevolent ruler and ally of Ataru. But the truth about both is actually much more complex and, frankly, quite the opposite to what meets the eye.
For all her flaws, Lum is actually quite open about them, never trying to hide them or present herself as better than she actually is. And her relationships with both Rei and Ataru show that, no matter how many admirers she might have, her heart will only belong to one person at a time.
She was also introduced as a forced to be reckoned with from the get-go, thanks to her ability to fly and generate electric shocks. Not to mention, the fact that she's based on the Japanese Oni also established her as captivating but dangerous. Which is something reflected in her iconic tiger stripe bikini and go-go boots.
Elle and her people, on the other hand, are clearly meant to represent a rose. In fact, when describing her, a certain expression comes to mind: every rose has its thorns.
Because Elle is as dangerous as she is beautiful.
Unlike Lum's devotion to Ataru, Elle spent the eleven years they were apart collecting men and refusing to let go of their love in the most horrifying way possible, far exceeding Lum's own possessiveness. And when they finally did meet again, she did not hesitate to try and hide her more unsavoury qualities from him. Heck, the main reason her true nature was discovered was because she couldn't help herself from freezing Mendo even though Ataru was already hers!
Her appearance also serves to illustrate how she's not as good as she presents herself to be. Aside from the obvious choice of white and red to highlight her hidden villainy, there's also the fact that whereas Lum's skimpy outfit draws attention to a more seductive side (which was gradually downplayed once she became the female lead), Elle's is deceptively modest in comparison. She wears a red and white leotard, boots, and her body is almost always covered by a white cloak. Yet she is far more depraved than Lum (and even Ataru!) will ever be.
I would also like to point out how both Lum and Elle are not to be trifled with in different ways. As mentioned above, Lum relies more on her natural abilities than on her planet's military power and resources to deal with her problems. Elle, on the other hand, was never shown to have any special abilities beyond being indescribably beautiful. At first glance, this is another reason why she would seem a "safer" choice than Lum...Until we remember what she lacks in special powers she more than makes up for in military forces she will not hesitate to sic on her enemies at the slightest provocation.
And finally, there's also how the two of them have a specific term of endearment for Ataru. While he's Lum's "darling", in the original Japanese he is Elle's "honey".
(On a side note, I also really love the fact that a planet based after a rose uses insect-like hovercrafts.)
Given the magnificent job the team behind this movie did, it's no wonder this was Takahashi's favourite Urusei Yatsura film. It's simply phenomenal.
