SUMMARY
Ataru is the
worlds laziest, lecherous, looser. Everything he does winds up causing
himself as well as the people around him more trouble. Now, this waste of
a human being has somehow managed to save the Earth from the Oni, a group
of intergalactic invaders who came to take over Earth.
Due to an off handed comment in the heat of battle, Lum,
the champion for the Oni, is now convinced that Ataru wants to marry her.
Now he is stuck with a girl who will give him electric shocks if he so
much as looks at another woman. He also has to put up with Lum's family, a
legion of male Lum fans who want to kill Ataru, and his long suffering
girlfriend, Shinobu, who also wants to kill him.
An old friend of Lum has arrived, hell bent on revenge.
Her target, Lum's "husband" Ataru. Mad that Lum took the
handomse Rei away from her, the girls whose name is Ran, wants to drain
all the youth and enthusiasm from Ataru. You think with easy prey
like Ataru, it would take her two seconds.
You would be wrong.
Other dangers await Ataru in the form of possessed
cameras, sleep fairies, and a peach blossom princess. Let's not
forget about the devil Veial that wants Ataru's soul.
DVD VISION TEST
VIDEO: AnimEigo has done a fine job of transferring this
20 year old anime to DVD. The colors are solid, with no color bleeding,
wrinkles, or pixels to be seen. The image is sharp and the washed out look
of the original video is gone except for the opening. However, a lot of
the scratches and nicks still remain, especially in the opening segment.
AUDIO: The original Japanese 2.0 audio track is pretty
sharp and clear. Despite it being a 20 year and counting TV series, the it
sound almost like new. There is no mono hiss, and there is slight surround
sound mix. Audiophiles may be disappointed.
EDITS: Not a single frame has been edited. The original
open and close are still there, with optional subtitles.
EXTRAS: None on the disc. There is a set of Liner notes cards in the box,
with some explanations about the plethora of in jokes.
WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: Based off
of the manga series by Rumiko Takahashi, Urusei Yatsura is a funny and
interesting take on Japanese life. Many of the typical conventions of life
in Japan (despite it being set in the 80, many of
its themes are still current) are blown up way out of context. At times a
romantic comedy, at times slapstick, the team of writers do a good job of
balancing the two.
ACTING: With only the Japanese track to review, it is
pretty easy to sum up the acting. Wonderful. When anime really hit its
stride in the late 70's, early 80's, so did the voice acting. Never has a
voice sounded so perfect for a character as Fumi Hirano's Lum. With the
right mix of playful sexuality and strong femininity, she gives us the
voice to go with this fan favorite. The other great actor in UY is Toshio
Furukawa as Ataru. He screams well, his voice takes on a sort of a dreamy,
lecherous drawl that reminds me of Homer Simpson in one of his
"transcendent" moments. Like Lum, you can imagine another voice
doing it.
FAN SERVICE: Not much in the nudity/panty shots
category. There are quite a few shots of girls in their lingerie or sports
uniforms. The other type of fan service is there. There are
references to several classic anime as well as joke about Japanese culture
and history and even literary jokes. While many may be obscure to American
audiences, those with a watchful eye will have a great time figuring out
what they are satirizing.
Isn't that "Lupan" up there?
CONCLUSION
You know how people say that the odd number "Star
Trek" movies are dull while the even ones rock. Well, it seems
that this is starting to be the case with Urusei Yatsura. While vol
1 started out pretty good, the second was better. The third one was
fairly dull, with vol 4 the best out of all of them. Now here we are
at volume 5, and once again, we are in a down swing.
While a couple of segments are interesting, the volume
as a whole is not. It's mostly more Ataru going after beautiful
women, and always getting in trouble over it. The introduction of
yet another main character to an already overwhelmed cast is getting
monotonous. It's pretty much more of the same.
The episodes with the various Japanese and Chinese
deities reminds me very much of the "Fractured Fairy Tales"
segment on the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show. While
based in actual myths, the way they are presented is nothing like the
source they come from. You fans of Rumiko Takahasi will notice that
the sleep fairy in "Sleepy Springtime Classroom" looks like a
cross between Shampoo and Ranman from her other popular series, Ranma 1/2.
As mentioned in my review of volume 4,
Mendou and Ataru are not that different. In these episodes,
you see those cracks in Mendou's veneer become fissures. You really
notice the similarities in the episode "Demonic Jogging" when
Ataru's life starts to change for the better, and Mendou is the one that
is viewed vindictive and disrespectful of women.
The nice thing about UY is that you really don't have to
see the first episode to understand what is going on. The formula is
pretty standard. Ataru wants every woman he can find, and despite
being attacked, beaten, and electrocuted, he doesn't get that Lum and
Shinobu both love him. Despite everyone trying to change him, he
stays the same perverted, lecherous, unlucky dork he always was.
While the previews
of the next episode on vol 6 look interesting, I am kind of glad that I
don't have any more volumes to review at this time. While I do enjoy
UY for the most part, I need to take a break. My recommendation is
that if you watch UY, don't watch it all at once. Pace yourself so
it stays fresh and funny. We have many more volumes to go, and at 4
episodes a shot, my kids will be in college before the series ends.
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