as someone who runs a few imageboards i think they still have a place, especially in terms of anonymous posting. The difference is that they're far more organized than the older ones and have stricter rules set which leads to a better userbase.

the rest of the story basically played out the same, but they kept ataru's agency which was a nice touch. we'll leave off with this solid reaction image.

as for the original anime, they changed a LOT.
for starters, the stormtroopers kidnap ataru in the clock tower - a location that actually will come up again in the first movie. also they added this big guy for some reason??? ataru got roped & the ufo design is also way less oni

now since the new series skips this, lum just kinda moves in and ataru does nothing to stop her - it's lacking the give and take that makes this situation compelling.

also the implications of this ending are absolutely insane, not to mention ataru's still trying to fix things up.

and here is a seemingly innocuous story beat that the new adaptation skipped over and in my opinion suffered as a result. ataru is basically forced to accept lum living with him because the world is doomed otherwise - she literally saves him and he has to accept that.

now something to note is that unlike in the anime, lum didn't use her electric powers at all in the tag game, so this is the first time we're seeing it after her initial landing. moving lum away from being so physical was definitely the right choice in the long run.

it's always a good day to speak wingdings, and it's also really funny that the actual reason that lum ends up sticking around is because of the UNION. as for ataru's parents, they get the honor of having rumiko's first instance of characters falling over from shock

credit to the translators, by the way. it's the small details like patterns in the sound effects that really tie it all together.

the taxi driver on the other hand has a wonderfully "weird yet benign" design. like yeah, he's a blob from space, but he's also just doing his job.

background calculus would do it for anyone. and the taxi ufo, despite not being oni has a very oni-like pattern. the pattern doesn't even serve a story purpose - it's just one of those things that makes you think.

now the reason that rumiko stated for why she brought lum back is that she got stuck on the storyboards for this chapter, but i like to imagine she was already getting word of lum's initial popularity which is where the proto stormtroopers come from. just my headcanon of course.