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FEATURED FILM
Urusei Yatsura 2:
Beautiful Dreamer
Central Park Media,
2004
I
must preface my review by saying that Urusei Yatsura 2:
Beautiful Dreamer is one of those films that is an absolute
must-see. Although it is now twenty years old, the animation
has held up remarkably well. It is a testament to the skills
of director Mamoru Oshii that he was able to come up with something
so complex and engaging in this, his second full-length feature.
(He directed the first Urusei Yatsura film as well,
and while it was a solid effort it was nowhere near as inspired
in its execution as the second theatrical Urusei Yatsura
outing.) This is actually the second time around for Urusei
Yatsura 2 on DVD. Central Park Media released the first
version way back in 1998, at which time it was one
of only 35 anime titles released that year. After six years,
it’s about time that we revisit this phenomenal film.
The
story of Urusei Yatsura 2 builds on the characters
from Rumiko Takahashi’s original Urusei Yatsura
manga and, more directly, the long-running Urusei Yatsura
television series (for the first half of which Oshii was chief
director). I’m not going to go too much into the plot
of the film here, which in typical Oshii fashion examines the
overlap between dreams and reality. However, I will say the
film does a great job of making the plot accessible for those
new to the Urusei Yatsura universe – a general
familiarity with the series is helpful, but even without such
knowledge I think it is possible to enjoy this film.
As
an already admitted fan of Urusei Yatsura 2, I am more
interested in the specific details of this new DVD release.
The back cover of the new version says that the film has been
digitally remastered. However, in examining the two versions
one after the other I couldn’t tell a big difference in
picture quality. (Perhaps I would need to watch the two versions
side-by-side in order to appreciate the difference.) This disappointed
me a little bit because whatever this “remastering”
entailed, it did not include cleaning the print. Most of the
time this is not a problem, but in some of the scenes with large
areas of dark blues and blacks there is visible dust. With that
said, though, most of the animation still looks great after
two decades.
So
if the video doesn’t look dramatically better, is there
any reason to buy this new version of the film? (In asking this
question, I’m assuming that you already own the older
version and are trying to decide whether or not to replace it;
if you don’t already own this, you need to go out and
get it right now because this is an essential work for anyone
interested in animated film.) Well, this new release is an improvement
on the previous one in many respects. First off, the subtitles
are much easier to read because the new yellow font, outlined
in black, provides more contrast than the plain white font of
the earlier release. I also really like the fact that they have
kept the original Japanese ending credits this time, as opposed
to cutting the ending short and going directly to the credits
in English like they did before. The DVD menus are much easier
to navigate this time around, too.
What
really makes this a standout release for me, though, is the
full-length commentary track on which two interviewers from
Central Park Media ask director Oshii questions and allow him
to discuss the film. As I am fan and scholar of Oshii’s
works, I feel that this feature alone is worth the upgrade.
(I would have been in heaven if this disc had also included
Oshii’s commentary from the 2002 Japanese DVD release,
but I can’t have everything.) Other extras on the disc
include the original Japanese trailer for the film and a pair
of English trailers for this and the first Urusei Yatsura
film.
So
if you’re just a casual fan and already own the earlier
release of the film, then perhaps you could get away with not
upgrading to this new release. However, if you don’t already
own the film or if you’re a fan of the film (or a fan
of Oshii’s works) then I would highly recommend a quick
acquisition of this latest version of Urusei Yatsura 2:
Beautiful Dreamer.
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