Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Collection 02 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Collection 02 Blu-ray Movie Review

Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2 is the next installment of the fan-favorite anime classic. The anime gem is considered an essential classic of the anime medium. The anime series is based on the beloved manga by creator Rumiko Takahashi (InuYasha, Ranma 1/2).

Urusei Yatsura blends together a hybrid of action, science-fiction, adventure, and romance to form a unique comedy series with intergalactic style. Urusei Yatsura features production by Makoto Kubo, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Tadashi Oka, Takao Inoue, and Yūji Nunokawa. The anime features a theme song performed by Yuichiro Oda.

Released in North America by Discotek Media, Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2 features episodes 55-106. The series first aired on Japanese television with broadcasts on the Fuji Television Network and Bandai Channel. The series has outstanding animation by studio Pierrot (Kimagure Orange Road, Fushigi Yugi). The second collection continues the fun adventures of the characters with plenty of episodes for fans. Collectors will be enormously pleased to own another jam-packed set by Discotek Media.

The second box-set of Urusei Yatsura brings back the beloved characters of the series for more fun adventures. It has been well over a year since Ataru Moroboshi (Toshio Furukawa) became the big underdog hero of the story and managed to save everyone from an impending alien invasion. The unexpected heroics of Ataru made a big difference in the lives of the people of the Tomobiki town. Everyone is now moving on in new directions, including the beautiful alien Lum (Fumi Hirano).

The gorgeous alien princess has new adventures in store for her – even as love is in the air between both Lum and Ataru. Can Ataru finally cave to her charms and admit he loves her by saying those magical worlds? Things are goofy fun while things get out of hand. Ataru might not be over his girl chasing playboy days but Lum won’t let that be the end of things if she has something to say about it. The mischief and fun of Urusei Yatsura continues.

The series wouldn’t be so charming without the fun cast of characters. The characters are at the heart of the series. Urusei Yatsura is certainly a charming production and the main cast members do outstanding work with the series – bringing these characters to life with great voice-work. The vocal performances certainly add to the goofy charms of Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2. The vocals are essential and the lead performances by the Japanese voice cast make the series stand out as something compelling for anime fans.

When one also thinks about the contrast of the main characters, with Lum being an alien-girl with princess origins and Ataru being a playboy of sorts, the fun clash of personalities makes things more fun and there is something worthwhile in that aspect of the series. Some comedy anime series struggle with creating compelling characters and this is something that isn’t a problem for Urusei Yatsura and a lot of it is because of the talent of the creator, Rumiko Takahashi. For anyone who has ever read some of the manga of Rumiko Takahashi, it is clear she has outstanding knowledge about creating compelling and entertaining characters.

The animation on Urusei Yatsura is outstanding and there is little doubt that the series became such a popular creation because of the wonderful talents of the animators. The series has a fantastic hand drawn animation style. The animation imbues so much creativity into the series production.

The production features impressive work from the entire animation team. This begins with the talented contributions of storyboarding artists including chief creative director Mamoru Oshii alongside Keiji Hayakawa (Sherlock Hound, Digimon Adventure) and Motosuke Takahashi (Fighting General Daimos, Future Robot Daltanious).

The storyboards for Urusei Yatsura impact the animation in a compelling way. The animation is all the more successful as a result of the series production process. The animation features art direction by a team including contributions by Mitsuki Nakamura (Dirty Pair, Kimagure Orange Road), Tatsuo Imamura, and Torao Arai (Space Warrior Baldios, Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love). What a wonderful team effort with the series. The animation crew helped to make the series a stylish one with hand-drawn art showcasing plenty of style.

The series also excels with anime character designs by Akemi Takada (Kimagure Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku). The character designs add a lot of charm to the production. The designs highlight the iconic style of manga creator Rumiko Takahashi. The animation team brings the best out of these artistic character designs. The manga art is brought to the forefront of these designs. There is so much to appreciate about the character art – so much of the reason the series oozes charm is due to these designs.

Urusei Yatsura features stunning visuals with the cinematography by Yōichi Shimizu (Urusei Yatsura: Lum The Forever, Call Me Tonight) and Nobuo Koyama (Grave of the Fireflies, Night on the Galactic Railroad) making a big impression on the aesthetic. The cinematography is colorful and vibrant – a testament to the cinematographers. The style adds to the series in spades.

Featuring an original score composed by composers Fumitaka Anzai (Bakuen Campus Guardress, Legend of Basara), Katsu Hoshi (Ping Pong Club, Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer), Kōji Nishimura (Urusei Yatsura: Only You, Urusei Yatsura OVA), and Shinsuke Kazato (Ultraman Graffiti, Jarinko Chie), the production highlights a lot of great music. The music is fun, charming, and action-oriented. The compositions add a lot to the series. The score finds a good balance for the series.

The scripts by chief screenwriter Hisakazu Sou bring to life the manga by Rumiko Takahashi. The writing has fun with the cast of characters. Urusei Yatsura features such an eclectic and fun cast of characters. There is a lot to appreciate about what the writing does to showcase the charms of the cast. Plenty of fun comedic moments. The comedy is a highlight fans cherish.

Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2 brings the last episodes directed by series visionary Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor The Mobile Police). Oshii would also helm several of the Urusei Yatsura films but the collection includes the remaining episodes featuring the iconic filmmaking of Oshii and there is some significance in noting this. Oshii is a genius director and someone who has made a lot of great anime works. The filmmaking finds a nice balance between action-adventure, comedy, and drama. Fans of classic hand-drawn animation will appreciate the visual style and creativity of Oshii.

Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Collection 02 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The series presentation is excellent and there is a lot to appreciate about the quality of the animation and the encoding by Discotek Media. The transfer is nicely filmic and the high quality of the animation is a highlight of the encoding – providing good bit-rates and solid detail for the presentation.

The series certainly benefits from the native high-definition video and the transfer is far more sharp than what audiences would find on a streaming platform (as streaming services provide significantly lower video bit-rates). The series animation is well reproduced and colors look great as well. The transfer shows a few signs of slight wear but these are insignificant in the grand scheme of things – the scanning is the thing that matters the most here. The transfer is mostly free and clear of scratches, dirt, and debris. Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2 provides a transfer series fans will be pleased with.

Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Collection 02 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray release is presented in lossless Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The audio quality on the release is excellent and there is a lot to appreciate about the sound quality. Audio quality sounds crisp, clear, and engaging. Dialogue is well reproduced. The track provides a pleasing soundstage. The score soundtrack is well highlighted by the release.

The track will please audiophiles with great clarity and detail. Discotek Media provides excellent encoding of the audio source. It is worth remembering that the Blu-ray format also provides superior audio encoding (in a lossless format) compared to streaming video services (which provide only lossy audio quality).

Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Collection 02 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no bonus features included on the release. The release does come with an elegantly designed o-card slipcover and the art-work features an inner-art print. The disc art adds some extra value to the package as well. Unfortunately, I would have loved to see some interviews with the Japanese cast or behind-the-scenes with director Mamoru Oshii but nothing of the sort is included here. Nonetheless, slipcover fans can appreciate the quality slip provided on the release.

Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Collection 02 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Urusei Yatsura: Collection 2 is another fantastic release. Fans of the series will be pleased with the set. The release provides episodes 55-106. The Blu-ray release provides a pleasing video presentation and lossless audio. The set has no on-disc supplements (unfortunately) but the release does come with a nice-looking o-card slipcover. With a quality high-definition presentation by Discotek Media, Urusei Yatsura fans should consider a purchase. Recommended.