"Batshit crazy" is pretty much right, but Beautiful Dreamer is for most people not the right place to start with UY.

He is really lecherous, but can have a sensitive side too. I think it is hilarious, he is really persistent. It is part of the humor in the show, and one of the reasons he manage to drag him self (and others) into really crazy situations! It is supposed to be batshit crazy. As publius stated, Beautiful Dreamer isn't the best place to start. It questions your own existance, rather than being pure and simple fun. The first movie is more about what the show really is.

The 2nd movie wasn't actually released by AnimEigo for some reason. It was released by US Manga Corps if I remember correct. All other movies were AnimEigo, though I think they still did the subtitles for the 2nd one.

well, if the best possible starting point for newcomers doesn't seem to particularly float my boat,
then i suppose it's a fairly solid assumption that i wouldn't exactly be enjoying the balance of the series any better.

Lum herself is in fact a Cutie, and i love seeing all those old-fashioned Japanese Schoolgirl Sailor Suits,
but there are plenty of other girls from multiple 80's series alone that happen to possess a far greater overall appeal to me.

in any case, i also have the fourth UY film on LD, the early-90's AnimEigo U.S. release.
i obtained these two in a lot of like 50/60 Anime LDs and a mid-90's CLD-S104 player less remote unit,
all off the PORTLAND, OR. CL for around $80.00 about a half-dozen years ago.
doubtless, i would probably have never taken any initiative to procure or screen anything UY related otherwise.

i mean, Dammit, i really want to like this series. it has a lot of great 70's/80's culture about it,
but i'll be damned if i can stomach zaniness of even greater magnitude
than what my introductory experience with this second theatrical film has presented to me.

i mean, i'm no brooding "trenchcoat and Fedora" type of Anime fan, -not even in the least-
but i sure don't particularly dig fast and loose freestyle storytelling either.
i feel i had my fill of those sorts of shenanigans 15 years ago as a one-time hardcore TENCHI MUYO! fan.

in any case, apologies to everyone for being so damned difficult...



that's exactly right. Copyright-related complications can often lead to some rather weird situations...

I my self can't sit through many hours and watch it. One or two episodes a day is more than enough. I'm not the only one who does this, I've read reviews where others take it slow too. This is certainly not for everyone, and can hardly blame you for not liking it.

I think it is fun to just remember all the odd and crazy situations and make a quick re-cap. Almost becomes even more funnier that way. Had a good laugh when one of my friends did a re-cap of Dragon Ball, which also does sound really crazy!

I'd love to read the Urusei Yatsura manga, but it seems it wasn't released in English. Currently reading through Ranma 1/2, it got a lovely re-release in English. Sadly the anime never got a proper conclusion, which is why I started to read the series. I have a feeling it could be beneficial with Urusei Yatsura too.

Jeez, guys. There is more UY anime than what could ever possibly need to exist. So many LDs! Can't at least one of them, Beautiful Dreamer, be something other than the exactly same stuff that fills the majority of the series? How much homogeny can a person stand?

But if Tenchi Muyo was too wild for you then...I don't know. That thing is like the white bread and butter of anime. Both of these shows are. Hundreds of hours of the exact same stuff. Boy has harem. Boy "accidentally" walks into onsen. Boy gets boot print on face. Over and over and over and over again.

Check out Kenji's Spring, Story of Buddha, Run Melos!, Night on the Galactic Railroad, 999, Angel's Egg, Jin Roh, Memories, that sort of thing. These are the strories that people never forget, and Oshii, having a very broad range of cinematic interests, wanted to sneak some of that into 8th grade home room because he thought you'd like it, basically. Afterwards you can go watch that one episode of UY where that one character leaves the group and some of the other characters get that character back. You know, that one.

I would honestly argue that Movie 2 is the best thing to introduce people to the series with in many cases, because a lot of people, if the didn't get bored of UY, grew bored of some other series that was %75 the same show. Dreamer is something Tenchi will never have. It's nice to have a break once in a while.

Oshii's work makes my head hurt.
I mean that literally. Patlabor 2 is the best example. His penchant for long scenes of driving through streetlights, with the alternation of light & dark (also in Beautiful Dreamer) has a tendency to set me off on a migraine.

But Beautiful Dreamer isn't a very good introduction to Urusei Yatsura precisely because it isn't typical of the rest of the series. It doesn't give you a clear idea of what you would be getting into. Inaba the Dream-Maker would be a better choice.

Good thing we're all different. Would be a boring world if not! I can understand your point, signofzeta. I've probably not seen enough of the series yet. I'm sure I'll appreciate it more once it grows on me.

It really is a vast number of LDs UY have. I probably have almost everything available now. A quick count and I'm up at 67 discs currently. That is the box set + movies, OVA episodes, music discs, etc. I still don't have everything, hehe.

Anyone seen a short anime called Tokimeki Memorial from the late 90s? Supposedly based on the PC Engine game with the same name. Not sure if it would be worth the hassle to try and track it down.

Tokimeki Memorial is an early-90's Dating Sim by KONAMI corp. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokimeki_Memorial

i've never played a game in the series, nor seen the Anime, but i've flirted with the merchandise through the years,
my latest encounter being a relatively inexpensive 1/6 scale TAKARA made character doll
i bought expressly so i could appropriate her Sailor Suit to fit my 1/6 TAKARA SNK "SAMURAI SPIRITS/SHODOWN" Nakoruru;

Came across a torrent with the Tokimeki Memorial OVA, but of course no seeders. One leecher, so got to 65% before it stopped. Tried to find subtitles for it and maybe import the DVD, but all links were dead. Lucky me. Might just have to learn Japanese for this one...

If you like your anime as thin and vapid as a vanilla sugar cookie, this show is for you.

The game is kind of fun, or at least it seemed fun to me when I was blasting through it multiple times back when the Saturn version came out, but the anime is just total dullsville.

Sounds like it isn't the biggest loss in the world, then. Guess the one called Dokyusei is about the same thing too?

Much worse because it's longer.

These are shows about 14 year olds. Not magic ones either, and the subjects never range beyond what is appropriate for 14 year olds. What could possible happen that would entertain any adult that wasn't severely stunted developmentally? The answer is nothing.

I see! Happened to buy a LD set called Dokyusei, noticed it had the same title as another PC Engine game I have. Might be more entertaining (and useful) as paperweights I guess, hehe.

Guess I'll pop in the Record of Lodoss War OVA LDs I got instead.

Somebody woke up on the cranky side of the bed!

I mean, if memory serves, "Dokyuusei" is a video adaptation of an H-game, & probably contains nothing of any particular interest... but "Nadia" & "Kimagure Orange Road" were both made for 12~14 year old audiences, & both are quite solidly regarded as classics.

Please excuse my ignorance, what would H-game be? I've never actually played Dokyusei, got to the point where I realized this is just a pile of text I cannot read (yet). Kind of the reason I got the LDs, thought it could give me an idea what it is about.

It's not an H game, or at least the PCE ones aren't. Sometimes PCE games are based on stuff originally made of X68k or PC98 that were H, but they lost the H to go mainstream.

Regarding the 14 year old thing. You miss my point. NOTHING happens in these shows that doesn't happen in real life boring classrooms that real life boring kids are usually wishing they could escape. Why make an anime about that? It's like 40 year guys watching Degrassi. It's weird.

Nadia has spaceships, underwater cities, Atlantis, etc. Orange Road is a lot more real world than Nadia, but it has psychic powers as a common place thing.

The quality of the writing & characterization doesn't necessarily depend on the age of the characters, or even the age of the target audience (typically, for kids' shows, 1 to 2 years younger than the characters). Sure, there's a lot of junk out there created by people who said "kids are uncritical, they won't care", but it's absolutely possible to create something a juvenile audience which proves to be of lasting value for viewers in a wide age range.

This isn't The Muppets we're talking about, its garbage grade video game based junk from the absolute peak of the OVA glut.

i dunno, some people just happen to find girls doing girly things to be adorable to watch.

"Normal" people, especially "Normal" Westerners, tend to find that to be "Creepy" as can be, and i suppose that is indeed their perogative.

all the same, it seems most modern garden variety Japanese men have a rather rough row to hoe throughout their adult lives,
and are forced to subsist in a socially discriminating and financially taxing societal environment.

this environment seems to foster a sad syndrome in which a high percentage of the young/middle-age adult male populace
have a forbiddingly difficult time even considering how to find themselves a lifetime partner,
and form any degree of a nominal nuclear family unit.

this, in my observations, seems to have lead to a modern culture of young/older Japanese men
whom are seriously confused and frustrated, both in their natural Heterosexual and Fatherly instincts.

furthermore, most, if not all, are very probably quite lonely, living in a cold, rigid societal structure
in which a palpably insincere public Facade is the mean average norm in public relations.

if you consider all of this, it is not hard to see how this modern era of Underage Fetishism in Japan,
this fetishistic idolization of "Innocent, Sincere, Guileless Feminine Purity" that is "Moe" has been a very long time in coming...

While everyone is having their fun bad mouthing Doukyuusei, I've seen the whole franchise, and while it might not be anything superb, it also wasn't the worst anime I have ever seen.
I must also admit that I really enjoyed the three part OVA "Doukyuusei 2 Special: Sotsugyousei". That made up a lot for the "boring and dull" prequels and sequels.



H would mean HENTAI. Basically a game, where you date all the girl characters, but not for the sake of showing them your LD collection - you want something else from them