Urusei Yatsura (film Series) - Beautiful Dreamer

Beautiful Dreamer

Release date: February 11, 1984, dubbed 1996.

Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (うる星やつら2 ビューティフルドリーマー, Urusei Yatsura 2 Byūtifuru Dorīmā?) is the second Urusei Yatsura movie.

Not all is normal in Tomobiki, even by its standards. The students have been preparing feverishly for the first day of the student fair, which is scheduled to go on the next day. However, problems arise when some begin to notice that the next day simply will not come. As the students begin to try to find the reason for the problem, their beliefs about reality and the world of dreams are challenged.

Even though the movie is generally well loved by English-speaking fans, when it was first released in Japan the response was not as favorable. Writer/director Mamoru Oshii, unsatisfied with how the first film, Only You had developed, rejected the idea of catering to audience expectations and decided to do the film his own way. This almost caused Rumiko Takahashi, the manga artist, to reject the script because it deviated so far from the original story, and generated a lot of criticism for Oshii, generally from the fan community.

As a result Oshii quit working on the production of Urusei Yatsura and went on to do other more experimental projects. This is also seen as the first movie in which he displayed his unique directing style. The Red Spectacles, released in 1987, can be seen as a live version of this movie.

Both movies borrow heavily from the Japanese fairy tale of Urashima Tarō.

Beautiful Dreamer is also the only Urusei Yatsura film released in the United States by US Manga Corps and not AnimEigo, though AnimEigo is credited with doing the translation and subtitling of the film on the VHS release, as well as designing the packaging to match the other movies in the series. Their movie DVD box also included a space for it. This movie also aired on the Sci-Fi Channel's anime lineup in the U.S.

The Japanese DVD release of the film is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, and features both the original mono soundtrack as well as an all-new 5.1 surround audio track, both in Japanese. An audio commentary is also included on the DVD. This version is not available in the United States. A Blu-Ray version of the Japanese DVD was recently cancelled.

This film has been referred to by most fans as the best film in the Urusei Yatsura series.