Discotek's release of the second film entry in the Urusei Yatsura series. This one is a generally regarded by Toho fans for the nods to tokusatsu films, such as props for Manda, Moguera, Mothra and more. That slice of the production aside, this is also well known by anime fans for being directed by Mamoru Oshii, who would go on to do Ghost in the Shell. As for this release, Discotek does a great job, presenting good video and audio quality alongside a decent mixture of bonus content.
| Video: |
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Video quality wise, this release looks fairly stellar. The noise level is nice and low, although the image is slightly soft which might be the compromise there. As for the source, it looks to be in good condition. There are a few sequences with what might be scratches, but based on how they look with the animation cells I suspect they are by products of the actual production process. One moment I'm unclear on happens about 64 minutes in, where it looks really rough and scratched. This might be some serious source damage, although it's relatively isolated in contrast to the rest of the film. On the negative side, the image overall is a bit too bright. This means the colors aren't as vibrant as they could be while the black levels aren't nearly as dark as one would like.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, or widescreen.
| Audio: |
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For this Blu-ray there are a total of four audio tracks available. Three are in Japanese: a PCM 2.0 Dual Mono noted as "restored", a 1.0 Mono track and a DTS-HD 5.1 surround offering. I'm not sure on the background behind the restored version, but it sounds so much better than the other mono track. This is really noticeable during the narration sequences, which have a very mild echo quality and sound really harsh on the unrestored version. As for the restored, clarity in dialogue is there and is overall a great option. For the surround track, it's similar in quality to the restored with some added directionality. A great example of this is the scene where Lum is looking through the tank barrel, which simulates the echo-like distant effect sound one would expect from this scene.
On top of the Japanese tracks is an English dub, presented in PCM 2.0 mono. The source is the 1993 dub introduced on the Central Park Media release. The quality is good, and easy to compare when listening to the soundtrack segments where there isn't a notable dip in quality between this and the Japanese source. As for the dub, the performances can be a little flat at times.
The Japanese tracks can be accompanied by removable English subtitles. This comes in two flavors, one for subtitling the dialogue and the other for dialogue and on screen texts plus the songs.
| Extras: |
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The disc features a decent mixture of bonus material.
Extra wise, the star attraction is the audio commentary by director Mamoru Oshii. He goes over working with Toho and how the company told him to "go nuts" with the cameos, which is why there are so many during parts of the movie. Oshii also discusses the experiences making the movie in contrast to the main series, and how he approached this film differently as opposed to the first which in retrospect he sees as a long episode. He does go in strange places in the conversation at times, though. The most glaring example is when a swastika is seen on screen and asked about it by the commentary host. In response the director starts professing his interest in German military history. Now there is nothing wrong with an interest in history, but it's an odd if not slightly insensitive segue from the question asked.
Following this audio commentary is a mish mash of other bonus content. This includes the Japanese and US trailers, the latter from Central Park Media's 1993 release. Quality wise the Japanese one, which offers English subtitles, looks great. The US one is 1.33:1 and displays artifacting, like shimmering, but audio wise it sounds solid. Some linear notes are also featured, ten screens worth. The notes are fairly informative and worth reading for fans. There is a slight snafu where it mentions that Toho produced the movie, although this was actually produced by Kitty Films with Toho distributing. That said, Toho did end up owning this film after the fact, both in Japan and internationally, so that might be where the confusion stems from.
Finally there is also a "vintage" English credit feature from the 1993 release. This... isn't very interesting. It's a 1.33:1 aspect ratio sequence that includes a shot of the title screen that plays at the end while English credits are super imposed on it. It then fades to black and more text scrolls. The audio is the same Japanese song as on the Japanese release, not dubbed or anything, and there aren't any added visuals unique to this version either. In other words, it's hard to merit its inclusion.
| Overview: |
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Good video quality mixed with great audio quality and a nice selection of extras help make this a recommendable release. It's nice to see Discotek back doing Toho titles, and hopefully they continue with more around this caliber.
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