Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
Time may be an illusion, but it's certainly a compelling one that ensnares us all. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer follows a group of students from Tomobiki High--including the lecherous Ataru Moroboshi and his alien fiance, the sexy, tiger-print bikini-clad Lum Invader--as they prepare for a school festival. Having lost track of the days spent in preparation, they discover that they have fallen into an existential trap that defies logic--like a dream--alternately indulging in their new reality and resisting the clutches of an intangible force controlling their universe.
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Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is a Japanese animated film written for the screen and directed by Mamoru Oshii, based on the popular Japanese comic (manga) and TV series, "Urusei Yatsura", by writer and artist, Rumiko Takahashi. (Lum's iconic look even inspired rock musician Matthew Sweet to feature her in the music video for his song, "Girlfriend".) Knowledge of the backstory of Ataru, Lum, or the rest of the characters is not truly necessary to enjoy Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, which mostly abandons the series' tone as a romantic comedy in favor of a metaphysical fantasy story. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is heavily inspired by the Japanese fable of "Urashima Tarō", in which a fisherman who saves a turtle is carried on its back to the "Dragon Palace", and returns to find that hundreds of years have passed while he was away. The film deals in themes like the subjectivity of time, the mutability of reality, and its relationship with dreams. The students are working on Megane's ill-conceived World War II-themed school cafe, complete with a genuine Leopard tank--implausibly situated on the second floor--courtesy of the uptight, sword-wielding Shutaro Mendou. Stranger still, they can't remember a time when they were not working on it, alongside their beleaguered homeroom teacher, Onsen-Mark, and aloof school nurse (and sorceress), Sakura. The chaos at Tomobiki High would be right at home in any given episode from the "Urusei Yatsura" series; in fact, everything seems just a little too familiar, and when small details emerge that reveal the framework as artificial, the elaborate fantasy starts to come undone. Those who question the unspoken rules of this shared dream are systematically removed from it, becoming "pillars" who literally hold up this dream world in one of the most disarming images in the film.
Astute viewers will anticipate the twists in Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer well in advance of its "reveal", since Lum all but points it out to Sakura and her rival for Ataru's affections, Shinobu. As they are in the kitchen filling a tea kettle, they all comment on the stress involved in their preparations for the school festival that is perpetually "tomorrow". Lum replies that this paradigm of having all of her friends--rivals or otherwise--together is like a "dream come true" for her. Mendou also tells Ataru--after one of Lum's jealous outbursts--that he resents being "dragged into his filthy dreams". The implication of this is that a dream may not solely be within the purview of the dreamer, and can have an effect on others whom the dreamer is thinking about. The antagonist of Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is a cherubic "dream demon" called Mujaki, who floats around while dressed like a stage magician, with enlarged teeth and glasses, and speaking in an obsequious tone of voice. Mujaki is the sculptor of this elaborate dream world, and refers to the story of "Urashima Tarō" in a cryptic conversation with Sakura while possessing the body of a cab driver. Sakura later confronts Mujaki and describes him as the Devil himself, responsible for inspiring the worst monsters in history and tempting good people to evil. Mujaki retorts that his purpose is to give people they dreams they long for, and if someone has evil desires, their dreams are evil as well. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer avoids depicting Mujaki as a sneering monster, but the question remains as to whether he is truly the devil Sakura accuses him of being. The answer is found in the characters of the film, whose desires mold the world around them, especially true for Ataru and Lum. When people caught up in this fantasy become miserable, is it because they choose to be miserable on a subconscious level, or because they are victims of the whims of others who are careless in how their desires affect others? This philosophical question represents the appeal of Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, inviting the audience to consider the answer on an existential level, rather than placating the audience with patronizingly uniform conclusions.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer begins in medias res with the students at play in a post-apocalyptic city, sunbathing and playing on a jet ski around the waterlogged wreckage of their erstwhile high school. The face of the school's clock tower is always obscured with an "out of order" sign, and is later revealed to be missing the hour and minute hands--representing that time is an illusion or a construct of human consciousness. When Sakura advises the weary Onsen-Mark to get some rest, she later discovers that she accidentally prescribed him laxatives instead of tranquilizers. When she vigorously rides her motorcycle to his apartment (up the stairs, no less), and bursts in on him, she finds him in a room filthy with mold and mushrooms--as though years had passed since they started staying at the school. They later sit at a cafe--not yet deserted--and debate about their memories of recent events. The film's perspective spins around the table, creating a sense of dizziness which Onsen-Mark likens to his amnesia, and challenges Sakura to remember anything other than what they've been doing the last few days. When the students discover that they are unable to return to their respective homes, they all convene at Ataru's house instead. On the walk to school the next morning, their faces are reflected in the puddles dominating the rain-soaked streets of Tomobiki. These reflections are mirror-like, a metaphor for the illusory reflection of reality that is Mujaki's dream-crafted world. Despite Mujaki's supernatural powers, Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer proposes that no dream can truly replace reality, because contrary to the demon's arguments, the human mind will always know the difference. There is something illogical about why Ataru's home is at the literal center of this world, and remains equipped with all the modern amenities deprived to the rest of this microcosm. Other idiosyncratic elements in this fantasy realm include a tiny pet piglet who moves into the Moroboshi home with everyone else, and a ubiquitous girl seen around the town, wearing a wide-brimmed hat that obscures her face. Even Ataru's own ignorance and stubborn indignation proves to be an unorthodox defense against Mujaki's soporific suggestions, forcing the demon to frantically conjure up wildly disparate fantasies to subdue him into complacency. But all of Mujaki's efforts seem less and less convincing with each iteration, revealing that despite being offered a world where every wish is granted, or where one can lead another life, human consciousness is preinstalled with the pervading voice of reason that calls out the illusions for what they are--provided one listens to it.
Recommended for: Fans of a philosophical fantasy anime film that combines comedy with existentialism. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer tackles lofty themes like the power of dreams to control consciousness, the subjectivity of reality, and time as a human construct, recalling movies like Groundhog Day and predating films like Inception by over a quarter of a century.
Astute viewers will anticipate the twists in Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer well in advance of its "reveal", since Lum all but points it out to Sakura and her rival for Ataru's affections, Shinobu. As they are in the kitchen filling a tea kettle, they all comment on the stress involved in their preparations for the school festival that is perpetually "tomorrow". Lum replies that this paradigm of having all of her friends--rivals or otherwise--together is like a "dream come true" for her. Mendou also tells Ataru--after one of Lum's jealous outbursts--that he resents being "dragged into his filthy dreams". The implication of this is that a dream may not solely be within the purview of the dreamer, and can have an effect on others whom the dreamer is thinking about. The antagonist of Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is a cherubic "dream demon" called Mujaki, who floats around while dressed like a stage magician, with enlarged teeth and glasses, and speaking in an obsequious tone of voice. Mujaki is the sculptor of this elaborate dream world, and refers to the story of "Urashima Tarō" in a cryptic conversation with Sakura while possessing the body of a cab driver. Sakura later confronts Mujaki and describes him as the Devil himself, responsible for inspiring the worst monsters in history and tempting good people to evil. Mujaki retorts that his purpose is to give people they dreams they long for, and if someone has evil desires, their dreams are evil as well. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer avoids depicting Mujaki as a sneering monster, but the question remains as to whether he is truly the devil Sakura accuses him of being. The answer is found in the characters of the film, whose desires mold the world around them, especially true for Ataru and Lum. When people caught up in this fantasy become miserable, is it because they choose to be miserable on a subconscious level, or because they are victims of the whims of others who are careless in how their desires affect others? This philosophical question represents the appeal of Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, inviting the audience to consider the answer on an existential level, rather than placating the audience with patronizingly uniform conclusions.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer begins in medias res with the students at play in a post-apocalyptic city, sunbathing and playing on a jet ski around the waterlogged wreckage of their erstwhile high school. The face of the school's clock tower is always obscured with an "out of order" sign, and is later revealed to be missing the hour and minute hands--representing that time is an illusion or a construct of human consciousness. When Sakura advises the weary Onsen-Mark to get some rest, she later discovers that she accidentally prescribed him laxatives instead of tranquilizers. When she vigorously rides her motorcycle to his apartment (up the stairs, no less), and bursts in on him, she finds him in a room filthy with mold and mushrooms--as though years had passed since they started staying at the school. They later sit at a cafe--not yet deserted--and debate about their memories of recent events. The film's perspective spins around the table, creating a sense of dizziness which Onsen-Mark likens to his amnesia, and challenges Sakura to remember anything other than what they've been doing the last few days. When the students discover that they are unable to return to their respective homes, they all convene at Ataru's house instead. On the walk to school the next morning, their faces are reflected in the puddles dominating the rain-soaked streets of Tomobiki. These reflections are mirror-like, a metaphor for the illusory reflection of reality that is Mujaki's dream-crafted world. Despite Mujaki's supernatural powers, Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer proposes that no dream can truly replace reality, because contrary to the demon's arguments, the human mind will always know the difference. There is something illogical about why Ataru's home is at the literal center of this world, and remains equipped with all the modern amenities deprived to the rest of this microcosm. Other idiosyncratic elements in this fantasy realm include a tiny pet piglet who moves into the Moroboshi home with everyone else, and a ubiquitous girl seen around the town, wearing a wide-brimmed hat that obscures her face. Even Ataru's own ignorance and stubborn indignation proves to be an unorthodox defense against Mujaki's soporific suggestions, forcing the demon to frantically conjure up wildly disparate fantasies to subdue him into complacency. But all of Mujaki's efforts seem less and less convincing with each iteration, revealing that despite being offered a world where every wish is granted, or where one can lead another life, human consciousness is preinstalled with the pervading voice of reason that calls out the illusions for what they are--provided one listens to it.
Recommended for: Fans of a philosophical fantasy anime film that combines comedy with existentialism. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer tackles lofty themes like the power of dreams to control consciousness, the subjectivity of reality, and time as a human construct, recalling movies like Groundhog Day and predating films like Inception by over a quarter of a century.