Customer Reviews

Urusei Yatsura - Movie 1 - Only You

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Only You" is probably one of my favorite Urusei Yatsura movies, tied along with "Beautiful Dreamer" and "The Final Chapter". If you're a casual viewer, you might want to check out the TV series and get to know the characters before diving into this one. But if you're an established UY fan, then this will be a real treat.

The movie puts the usual slapstick comedy in the back, and prefers to focus on the more heartwrenching scenes. Don't get me wrong, there are enough things to laugh at, such as the UY trademark subtle face expressions (of which Ataru is a master at), good ol' tiger-bull Rei's obliviousness, and the monk Cherry's appearances -- but the primary focus of the film is set on scenes that squeezes your heart.

And the scenes are, fortunately, quite well done. I'm a man, and I'm not afraid to admit that the "Lum in space" scene with "Lum no Ballad" playing in the background got me choked up -- and I'm usually quite apathetic to scenes like that in movies. Ataru watching with fear and concern for Lum in the back of a fighter jet is another tug. And of course, the final scene at the end alone is worth the time and money for any long time UY fans -- those that've seen the movie will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately, as with any movie, there tend to be a few flaws. For one, the humans don't really get to do anything. This includes Mendou, Shinobu, Megane & Fan club, Cherry, and especially Sakura. Sure, Mendou, Shinobu, and Megane fare better than the others, but for the better part of the movie, they were just "there" for the sake of appearances. Cherry gets a bit of spotlight early on, but then disappears. I get the feeling that Sakura was just brought in to appease the Sakura fans since she had a few lines but did absolutely nothing else.

On the other hand, if you're a fan of the aliens (especially Benten), then you're in for a treat. Benten shows up A LOT, Oyuki gets some scenes, and even Rei jumps into the action. Ran also helps out, as do Mr. Invader himself. You'll even hear a few lines from the Crow Princess, Kurama.

Another flaw would be the characterization of Ellie. For a main villain, she seemed rather one-dimensional. Her design is good, and she can definitely compete with the other UY females in terms of beauty.... but when it comes to personality, we aren't given much about her. Reasons for why she did her malicious deeds are never explained, and nothing is said about how she came to be. And worse of all, just when we're about to get a glimpse of the surface below, the movie's about over. Sigh.

All in all, if you 1) are familar with Urusei Yatsura and its characters, 2) are a big fan of the Lum+Ataru relationship (and who isn't?), and 3) don't mind a few flaws, then you need to see this movie, no questions asked.

In 1983, Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura had nowhere to go but up. With its stellar production team, excellent writers and simply fantastic voice tallent, the series, then helmed by director Mamoru Oshii(who later went on to be known for his work with Ghost in the Shell among others) needed only a final push to send it rocketing into its respected place in anime history.

That final push was Urusei Yatsura Movie 1: Only You. With its larger budget, it was the first time we saw exactly what the UY team could muster up. An excellent story and then cutting edge animation are only made more impressive by the fact that this film was also created along side the regular series' 3rd season.

The film opens with a sequence, painted only in orange, black, and white, of two children playing shadow tag. As the boy announces to the girl that he has won the game by stepping on her shadow, she in turn informs him that she is an alien and that on her planed stepping on someone's shadow is a marriage proposal. She boards a space craft, and tells her play mate that she will return in 11 years. When the student's of Tomobiki High School suddenly receive wedding invitations to Ataru Moroboshi's wedding, sparks between him and Lum begin flying.

In comparison to Movie 2, Only You requires the viewer to have seen substantial portions of the first two seasons to fully grasp the relations between certain characters. Most notably, this applies to Benten, who undergoes some substantial character development. We see her blossom from a somewhat disposable secondary character to a supporting character who reapers again and again from here on out. If you've seen any of season one and two of Urusei Yatsura, you're more than familiar with the characters who just mysteriously vanish from the series after a thorough introduction.

Speaking of one off characters, Elle is one of the most well done antagonists I've seen in UY thus far. She's a very complicated character. Even by the end of the film, her true intentions on Ataru are still very much a mystery. She inspires sympathy and malice as a diabolical female Ataru on an incomprehensible scale. She can go from a sunny and bright girl whose saccharine sweet demeanor rivals that of Lum, to a literal ice queen, often with in one scene.

The film is also important in the development of the Lum/Ataru relationship. Here, along with the fist episode of season 3 are some of our first glimpses into the nature of Ataru's real feelings towards Lum, with all bravado and machismo stripped away.

Above all, Only You manages to strike a balance of drama and comedy that makes for a serious film that retains the whimsical and absurdist nature of the Manga and TV series. There's not so much dramatic action that the film feels like a Leji Matsumoto Space Opera(Although it is blatantly obvious that Matsumoto's classics had profound influence on the movie), but there is markedly less of the bizarre comedy of the series. This balance is very much like that found in early portions of Takahashi's recently completed Inu Yasha series.

All in all, for the Urusei Yatsura fan, the film is classic UY at its very best. You have here a movie of pure entertainment that incorporates all the hallmarks of UY into a neat little package. It is intensely satisfying, and has some very edge of your seat moments. A warning: New comers to UY need not begin here, however. Since this film draws so heavily on some of the support characters of the TV series, to fully understand the relationships(and appreciate this film), one really needs to see at least episodes 1-18.

There are some movies (excuse me *films*) that are made as pieces of high art, to startle the senses, to challenge the intellect, and make the viewer question their very perception of reality and their existence... "Urusei Yatsura: Only You" is not one of those films. This movie is pure unadulterated, unpretentious *fun* in the same vein as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or "The Thief of Bagdad." No big ideas, no philosophizing, no art-for-the-sake-of-art. This doesn't mean that this is a stupid movie, however - this is *smart* fun.

The story? 11 years ago Ataru Moroboshi was accidentally engaged to an alien princess, Elle while playing a playground game of "shadow tag." Now she has shown up to make good on the engagement and take him to her planet to get married. One tiny problem with this however: Ataru doesn't remember his childhood "promise" and - two tiny problems - he is already "engaged" (through *their* game of tag) to another alien princess named Lum who, while babelicious is very possessive (she also tends to deal out massive electric shocks when angry) and - three tiny problems - she is now very angry, not to mention very determined to get married to him first and - *four* tiny problems - Ataru just might, deep, deep, down inside really love Lum back.

What ensues is the most epic romantic comedy of all time, with alien battle fleets, tiger-bulls, UFO vacuums, interstellar biker babes, electric zaps, refrigerated harems, galactic bus rentals and tender moments all conspiring to make you completely forget about any troubles you might have and put a big smile on your face for an hour and forty minutes. "Only You" is also a great parody of all the old movie tropes, like the one where the damsel in distress is forced to marry the villain, and the hero has to save her. Remember the old "Flash Gordon" serial where Flash has to save Dale Arden from marrying Ming the Merciless? Well here it's exactly the same except that the genders are reversed. The animation in this movie is also great, although there are a few hiccups here and there - but this is forgivable as at the time this was made the animators were also working on the TV show, so with the huge workload not everything is spotless. But this is a minor, minor quibble. Watching this film is seeing all of what makes movies fun rolled up into one of the best celluloid presents ever.

Enough praise, what about the DVD itself? Well, the video is great - presented in the movie's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with good colors and few flaws in the image itself. Audio is also good - both the original Japanese and the English dubs are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, though for all intents and purposes are in Mono... there is no use of actual stereo sound as everything is played equally out of both channels. The Japanese language track sounds good for its age. The English track is technically adequate but the dub itself is awful. The acting is sub-par and the voices just don't stand up to their Japanese counterparts. My advice is to stick with the Japanese - subtitles are your friend. Extras-wise this DVD comes with Animeigo's famous liner notes, located in the case with the disc. These notes will bring anybody not familiar with UY up to speed (so that watching the TV show - while still recommended - is not absolutely necessary) while also shedding light on aspects of Japanese language and culture in the movie that may not be familiar to English-speakers. On the DVD itself extras are in short supply, and limited to a small art gallery, featurettes on the English dub (which are completely nonessential) and more character notes (which are almost redundant). No theatrical trailer, or feature on the movie itself. Oh well, the movie itself is worth the price of admission.

Conclusion: this is one of the greatest romantic comedy movies of all time, rivaled only by "The Princess Bride". Those who like Urusei Yatsura should probably already have this; those who are new to Urusei Yatsura will find this a good starting point, and those just looking for a good, fun, joyous movie will find one in spades.

Quick Summary:

Pluses - Funny, exciting, great story, great characters, great artwork, and lots of fun.

Minuses - Slightly inconsistent animation, gateway drug to the rest of Urusei Yatsura.

But I have a problem with this DVD. This would have been a GREAT DVD If Mr. Woodhouse would have put a WIDESCREEN version out, and had dropped the assinine dub.

Diddn't the Dub of episode one teach him anything?

Well, at least UY is still coming out on DVD, so I guess I should be somewhat greateful.

The He-Man Rejects face off against the Flash-Gorden Fan club in a very watchable film.

I have this movie on japanese laserdisc.
If you're a fan of Tahahashi Rumiko and in particular the Urusai Yatsura series this is a must have.
UY is a twist on the Von Daniken theory where most of the aliens are beings from japanese folklore, Oni, Tengu and yuki-onna.
The story opens with every regular character receiving an invitation to the wedding beween Ataru and someone called Elle. The only person happy about the news Is Ataru though he doesn't remember her.(he won a game of shadow tag when he was 6 which is tantamont to being eng
aged on her world).
Elle turns out to be the Queen of the Rose star world, Lum who regards herself as Ataru's wife decides not take this lying down and takes all the regulars to her home world the Oni star and officially marry him first. But, on the way they are intercepted by the Rose star fleet and Ataru is liberated by rose star agent during which he says things over an open mike that discourage anyone from the Oni world from wanting him back.
How will Lum react?
As I haven"t seen the DVD I can't comment on the translation or the english voice acting or extras. and they may not be calling it the Rose star.....
This film eatures a lot of the serious to outrageous humor that was the trademrk of the UY series. It's the second best of the 6 UY movies after Beautiful Dreamer, already available on DVD.
4 stars as it's very good for what it is but less appeal for people who arenot familiar with UY or anime.

When everyone in Tomobiki receives invitations for Ataru's wedding, and Lum's not the bride, it doesn't take much to get everyone into an uproar. Things don't get better when it turns out that Ataru's bride-to-be is another alien princess.

This movie is proof that Urusei Yatsura was in serious decline around the time of its release, 1983. The creative team that had collaborated so successfully in the first season and partway through the second began to lose their compass, perhaps as a result of labouring under the increasingly erratic direction of Mamoru Oshii. This was a shame, and the movie, with shallow character portrayals, subpar animation (despite the feature film budget), and a laughable storyline (in the sense of 'laugh at') disappoints on many levels. Where the early TV episodes were charming, emotionally involving and disarmingly funny, the movie is cold, uninvolving and strains to generate any comedy.

What makes the animation subpar? Characters are poorly drawn, while key poses are awkward and boring. The animation is indeed rather fluid in certain scenes, but fluidity does not equal quality. Then again, it is choppy elsewhere. Compared with the blissful animation of the majority of the early TV episodes, "Only You" looks terrible. I wish it were otherwise, but I can't escape this conclusion. The backgrounds are either too sparse or too fussy, lacking the clever perspectives and inspired colour palette of those early TV episodes.

There was a sort of swansong at the end of the TV series, with certain episodes standing out as polished examples of the animator's and storyteller's art, but viewed as a whole, the series was declining badly when this movie came along.

If you enjoyed Lum's theatrical debut, good for you, but that's not the way I see it. Pity!