Synopsis
Life is but a dream?

- or so the story goes.

But is it? As you read these, are you wake or dreaming? A silly question perhaps, but if you’re a high school student, and your classmates include Lum, a beautiful alien princess, Ataru, the lecherous and luckless lad she loves, and Mendou, the scion of the richest family on the planet, you quickly learn not to take anything, even reality, for granted.

So when the gang at Tomobiki High find themselves endlessly repeating the day before the School Festival, they may be confused, but they aren’t surprised!

Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is writer-director Oshii Mamoru’s magnum opus, combining the insanely funny comedy that made Urusei Yatsura a huge hit in Japan with a deeply philosophical tale of time and space, reality and fantasy. Yes, life is but a dream, but who is the Beautiful Dreamer?

Review
My first experience with Urusei Yatsura was a vague one. I remembered Lum by her dressing style when I was around eight or nine years old. That was it. Now I guess it was fate that I finally found out what it was about. Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer is truly beautiful. There is a joy to watching something this well done considering when it first started. Newer anime these days have the same formula, comedies are not funny and actions do not contain much action. That is why old school anime like Urusei Yatsura is so great. It is enjoyable and hilarious. Let me tell you this too, another good old series you should look out for is Ghost Sweeper Mikami… that is if it ever gets licensed in the United States. I will take Ghost Sweeper Mikami over Excel Saga or Puni Puni Poemy any day. Okay, back to Urusei Yatsura.

The story of this movie focuses between reality and dreams. What is considered reality and what are considered dreams? What makes you so sure that your dream is not reality and your reality is not a dream? All these questions are brought up and broken down in a very fun adventure. Imagine a world with no one but yourself and your friends. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want and live happily ever after in this non-aging world. Quite cool is it not? That is until you start realizing that you are living the same day over and over again. As Onsen and Sakura start realizing what was happening in the world, Lum and friends also begin to feel that things were acting strange. There was not a soul to be seen on the streets or anywhere for a matter of fact. So the investigation begins and the fun as well.

I loved how this movie was funny throughout. With every scene there is bound for something good to happen and surprisingly it does not lose its edge. Everything is well scripted, compliments of Mamoru Oshii and of course Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of Urusei Yatsura. Finding a boring moment in this movie is like trying to find your keys in an ocean… it just is not going to happen :P. That really explicates a lot about how fond I am with this title. Urusei Yatsura is truly a classic and an example of high quality entertainment at its best.

The Breakdown
I am really looking forward to seeing more of Urusei Yatsura. I definitely recommend this title with five stars, two thumbs up or whatever you like to use to judge a great anime.