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Urusei Yatsura - Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer (Collector's Series)

Urusei Yatsura - Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer (Collector's Series)

List Price: $29.99
Your Price: $26.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Dream, dream, dream...
Review: "Beautiful Dreamer" is the second Urusei Yatsura movie, and universally accepted as the best UY movie of them all. While not my favorite UY movie (that honor goes to "Only You"), I still throughoutly enjoyed "Beautiful Dreamer", and am glad that it's a part of my collection.

Comedy wise, this movie is full of the wacky antics we've come to expect from UY. Fans of Mendou will probably enjoy this movie a lot, since he gets plenty of screen time. Two scenes of his that especially stand out are: 1) where he giggles like a madman while trying to find an exit; 2) where he suddenly prances around in joy, laughing and giggling "Oh, you really don't know??!" at Ataru. Both scenes are hilarious because they were unexpected YET expected -- expected because this is Urusei Yatsura, and unexpected because of how unpredictable the character of Shutaro Mendou is.

Mendou aside, there are also many characters that get to showcase their unique personalities. Unlike the first movie, "Beautiful Dreamer" focuses on the humans rather than the aliens this time around. In fact, other than Lum and Ten (which are main characters, anyway) + a few other really small cameos, you don't see any other aliens in the movie. The spotlight is mostly put on Lum, Sakura, Mendou, Megane + Fan club, and even Onsen-Mark. Ataru Morobishi, the main character himself, gets a piece of the action during the last third of the movie. My only grip is that some of the other funnier supporting characters don't get much slice of the pie -- Ryuunosuke gets a few lines, but doesn't contribute anything and disappears early on; her father, Mr. Fujinami, gets about two or three lines at most, and isn't seen again. Worse of all, Cherry, of whom would've been extremely useful in regards to this movie's plot, goes completely AWOL for most of the film (which sucks, as I'm a big fan of the deranged monk).

Anyway, moving on: the english dubbing is quite good. While there'll probably never be another person who can play Ataru as well as his original seiyuu, the english VA here comes very close. Vinnie Penna captures Ataru's sleaziness perfectly, and even adds another dimension to the character in some scenes. His Mendou is also great (especially at the comedy scenes mentioned above), although I personally would've given the character a slightly deeper voice. Marnie Head plays a PERFECT Sakura. I've always found the original seiyuu's voice to be a bit.. old, and thus slightly unfitting for a character that's supposed to be jaw-droppingly beautiful. Marnie's voice is younger, yet maintains the maturity and sophistication that we expect from Sakura. Honorable mentions are Megane, Mr. and Mrs. Moroboshi, and Mujaki.

Unfortunately, the dub has its flaws. Lum's voice does not have the spunk that the seiyuu had; Shinobu sounds like she's supposed to be in college; Cherry's voice is too high (I personally WOULD give him a high voice, but not THAT high..); and Ten just sounds weird.

The film's music is excellent. The score sets the mood for a lot of the scenes -- you have the bizarre music for the wacky scenes, cheesy music for the [intentionally] cheesy scenes, and happy music for the happier scenes. The ending song, "Ai wa Boomerang", is a catchy piece of pop music that'll stay in your head for a long time.

Finally, if you're hesitant to pick this movie up because of its age, then let me tell you that it's really a non-factor. For a film that's about 20 years old, the animation here is superb. The quality is much better than the TV show (which, unfortunately, does show its age -- well, the early episodes, anyway), and it should certainly be able to satisfy today's anime audiences.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Dream, dream, dream..."
Review: "Beautiful Dreamer" is the second Urusei Yatsura movie, and universally accepted as the best UY movie of them all. While not my favorite UY movie (that honor goes to "The Final Chapter"), I still throughoutly enjoyed "Beautiful Dreamer", and am glad that it's a part of my collection.

Comedy wise, this movie is full of the wacky antics we've come to expect from UY. Fans of Mendou will probably enjoy this movie a lot, since he gets plenty of screen time. Two scenes of his that especially stand out are: 1) in his car with Shinobu where he giggles like a madman while trying to find an exit; 2) where he suddenly prances around in joy, laughing and giggling "Oh, you really don't know??!" at Ataru. Both scenes are hilarious because they are things that were unexpected yet ALSO expected from an insanely wacky series like UY.

Mendou aside, there are also many characters that get to showcase their unique personalities. Unlike the first movie, "Beautiful Dreamer" focuses on the humans rather than the aliens this time around. In fact, other than Lum and Ten (which are main characters, anyway) + a few other really small cameos, you don't see any other aliens in the movie. The spotlight is mostly put on Lum, Sakura, Mendou, Megane & Fan club, and even the usually neglected Onsen-Mark. Ataru Morobishi, the main character himself, gets a piece of the action during the last third of the movie. My only gripe is that some of the other funnier supporting characters don't get much slice of the pie -- Ryuunosuke gets a few lines, but doesn't contribute anything and disappears early on; her father, the ways funny Mr. Fujinami, gets about two or three lines at most, and isn't seen again. Worse of all, Cherry, a character that basically screams to be put in the plot, goes completely AWOL for most of the film and is only seen in about 30 seconds combined (which really sucks to me, because I'm a big fan of the deranged monk).

Moving on: the english dubbing is quite good. While there'll probably never be another person who can play Ataru as well as his original seiyuu, the english VA here comes very close. Vinnie Penna captures Ataru's sleaziness perfectly, and even adds another dimension to the character in some scenes. His Mendou is also great (especially at the comedy scenes mentioned above), although I personally would've given the character a slightly deeper voice. Marnie Head plays a PERFECT Sakura. I've always found the original seiyuu's voice to be a bit.. old, and thus fairly unfitting for a character that's supposed to be jaw-droppingly beautiful and in her 20's. Marnie's voice is younger yet maintains the maturity and sophistication that we expect from Nurse Sakura. Honorable mentions are Megane, Mr. and Mrs. Moroboshi, and Mujaki.

Unfortunately, the dub has its flaws, mainly: 1) Lum's voice does not have the spunk that the Japanese seiyuu had; 2) Shinobu sounds like she's supposed to be in college; 3) Cherry's voice is too high (I personally WOULD give him a high voice, but not THAT high..); and 4) Ten just sounds weird.

The music for the film is excellent. The score sets the mood for a lot of the scenes -- you have the bizarre music for the wacky scenes, cheesy music for the [intentionally] cheesy scenes, and happy music for the happier scenes. The ending song, "Ai wa Boomerang" performed by UY anime music regular Hiroko Matsuya ("Lum no Love Song"; "Space Is Super Weird!"), is a catchy piece of pop music that'll stay in your head for a long time.

Finally, if you're still hesitant to pick this movie up because of its age, then let me tell you that it's really a non-factor. For a film that's about 20 years old, the animation here is superb. The quality is much better than the TV show (which, unfortunately, does show its age -- well, the early episodes, at least), and should certainly be able to satisfy today's anime audiences.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A beautiful story
Review: After the fantastic Only You I expected the second Urusei Yatsura movie to be another laugh-a-second romp through outer space.

It isn't. What it is is a little odd actually. It's a story which focuses on the human cast of Urusei Yatsura, leaving the aliens (except Lum and Ten) out, apart from the odd namecheck and cameo in Ataru's dream sequence. Instead we're treated to a surreal, seemingly post-apocalyptic mystery world inhabited only by the core Urusei Yatsura characters.

And very strange it is too. I don't want to give anything away, although the title does that very well on its own, but this story is not what you expect at all. Which is a good thing in many ways. It's full of surprises and odd twists. But beneath it all, supporting it like a stone collossus (sorry, in joke) is the old Urusei Yatsura humour. Because the jokes, puns and slapstick are there, the rest of the film feels fun, not complex and heavy. And in the end you come out having been entertained, and perhaps a little disturbed. An utterly fantastic film.

Just make sure to watch in Japanese!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Asian Folklore + Surrealism + Tiger-stiped Bikini
Review: B.D. captures the essence of what made this long-running animated Japanese romantic tv-sitcom the success it was at home and abroad. All of the main characters are here in force! Each scene in which the characters interact presents, in miniature a summation of what their relationship has been over the 180+ TV episodes.

At the same time, the plot is not a rehash old ideas but rather it uses the time a feature film has over a half-hour episode to create a story of such deep and vast implications that you need to watch and rewatch B.D. several times over.

As always, be sure to view it at least twice just watching the background scenes and reading the signs.

For those of you who are Anime fans but have never seen any episodes of U.Y. please understand ... Lum, Ataru and the rest were the First. They laid the groundwork for Tenchi, Dirty Pair and anyone else.

Thank You for your time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great anime, but make sure you watch it twice ^_-
Review: Based on the popular Japanese anime series which ran during the 80s, this movie is a real treat. It's strength lies in its intricate (though somewhat confusing) plotline and colorful characters. The characters tend to be a rather obnoxious bunch, but even if you don't like this at first (I thought it made them all the funnier, myself), they *will* grow on you. If you enjoy this movie, make sure to check out the other UY movies and the TV series.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great starter for those new to the series
Review: The best animated work I've seen yet based on a Rumiko Takahashi work (Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, etc), this amusing and downright bizarre film is among the first films to hook me on anime.

Based on Japanese mythology, this is an interesting take on what amounts to the Japanese Rip Van Winkle. The whole town seems to be living the same day over and over again. This is the kind of film where it doesn't all quite make sense until you've watched it a few times, and the great thing is it's got a sense of fun and weirdness that keeps it appealing on each repeated viewing.

It helps if you know who the characters are ahead of time, but it's not completely necessary as long as you are willing to let the character dynamics explain it to you.

Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ursei Yatsura...
Review: This has got to be one of the best animes I have ever seen....I first saw this when Sci-fi channel would play animes early in the morning....this is one animes that actually got me into Japanese animation..I did not know much about this anime but after some research I found it quite interesting....if you like Ursei Yatsura you will love this...the DVD makes the picture just look so much better than on VHS...SO BUY THIS!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful movie, terrible DVD...
Review: This is an awesome movie. Five stars, all the way. Unfortunately, this DVD must have been taken from one of the worst film elements in existence. Three stars, at best.

When this disc was first announced, I assumed that CPM would license the newly-restored, anamorphic widescreen video released on the Japanese R2 DVD. What CPM chose to do was clean up the cropped-to-fullscreen video from the original R1 DVD and release that for this edition. Proof? Check out the 2:15 position, close to the edge of the screen. That red dot that appears repeatedly throughout the movie was on the first release, too. Also note the hard subtitles for signs are same font/color as the older disc, while the soft subs have been improved for better visibility.

Just to rub salt into an open wound, the original Japanese trailer on this disc *is* widescreen. Aarrghh!

On the plus side, the ending is complete now, including the Japanese credits and the full version of "Ai wa boomerang." Sweet! I think the subtitle translation was updated, too.

I was hoping for a new dub, but that was never going to happen. Not for a twenty year old anime movie with one U.S. release already. Even if the existing dub sucks. Even if the movie is the GREATEST film ever.

Overall, if you have the first release, don't bother with this one unless you're obsessive and/or a rabid Urusei Yatsura otaku. If you don't have the original, buy it NOW. You'll enjoy it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful movie, terrible DVD...
Review: This is an awesome movie. Five stars, all the way. Unfortunatly, this DVD must have been taken from one of the worst film elements in existance. Three stars, at best.

When this disc was first announced, I assumed that CPM would license the newly-restored, anamorphic widescreen video released on the Japanese R2 DVD. What CPM chose to do was clean up the cropped-to-fullscreen video from the original R1 DVD and release that for this edition. Proof? Check out the 2:15 position, close to the edge of the screen. That red dot that appears repeatedly throughout the movie was on the first release, too. Also note the hard subtitles for signs are same font/color as the older disc, while the soft subs have been improved for better visibility.

Just to rub salt into an open wound, the original Japanese trailer on this disc *is* widescreen. Aarrghh!

On the plus side, the ending is complete now, including the Japanese credits and the full version of "Ai wa boomerang." Sweet! I think the subtitle translation was updated, too.

I was hoping for a new dub, but that was never going to happen. Not for a twenty year old anime movie with one U.S. release already. Even if the existing dub sucks. Even if the movie is the GREATEST film ever.

Overall, if you have the first release, don't bother with this one unless you're obsessive and/or a rabid Urusei Yatsura otaku. If you don't have the original, buy it NOW. You'll enjoy it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: this ones interesting....
Review: this move needs to be wacht more than once to git all the stuff thats going on but is well worth all the seans of lum flying around thow i think the aritst needs to spend more time on the guys in the move most of thim look very fake but the girls are grate. if you wont to talk with me about anime my neopets username is san2000221


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