In Japan the movies are the "default" version of MS Gundam. The TV series it was made from is however also worth doing if you are a fan. I have both on LD.

Main differences:

The "G Parts" are all edited out of the movies. This is because they really were only created to satisfy their toy sponsor. Realistically, the G parts were dumb but...I like them. The Gundam Hammer is also missing in the movie, and that kinda sucks.

A main character's death is made less impactful, IMHO. When this person died in the TV series the sorrow is so thick you couldn't cut it with a beam saber. It's possible that Tomino thought it was too sad? I don't know. He then went on to make Zeta Gundam...but then ZZ Gundam so...I think the guys bipolar, perhaps.

There is a lot of new animation in the movies and it's nice, but nice for early 80s low budget anime. Not super amazing.

The Movie Master Grade box is one of my favorite LDs. The movies in general are great, the bonus disc is a lot of fun, the art on the jackets is amazing, it's in CAV, and with this being one of the later major Bandai Visual releases it benifits from all of their best LD mastering tech. Video quality is fantastic. The TV show (sold in 1998, I think) is perhaps even better.

Just watched Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. To be honest, I didn't really like this movie so much. Didn't really follow the tone of the show in my opinion. Felt more like a psychological thriller rather than a romantic comedy. Really hope the following movies will change the tone again to "how it should be."

Trying to watch everything in release date order. So have at least a 40 or so TV episodes until the 3rd movie.

Headed off to the anime club meeting in a few minutes.

Beautiful Dreamer is my fave UY movie.
Watched it a dozen times or so.

Its way different from all the other movies and stuff. Its also probably the most popular UY thing. Personally, I love it, and I don't even really consider myself a UY fan.

Speaking of Mamoru Oshii, I recently watched a perfect HD copy of Angel's Egg on Youtube. My word, this really is the way it was meant to be seen. I've always loved that movie but always watched it on VHS. I had no idea what I was missing.

The movie wasn't bad at all. Just wasn't what I were expecting to see. Did some reading now, and apparently the director quit the job after this movie. The creator of Urusei Yatsura also wanted to reject the script because of the deviation. Seems it were well recieved here in the west, but not so much in Japan when it got released.

Beautiful Dreamer was an example of Oshii's method of improvisation on the theme of UY taken to it's ultimate level. The far out, philosophical episodes of the series were all Oshii (like 78: "Pitiful! Mother of Love and Banishment!") and Oshii cinematic "tics" were everywhere in eps like the one about "Tachiguishi" fast food fighters, which had characters that would show up again in his Kerberos continuity (Red Spectacles, Jin Roh etc.). Beautiful Dreamer is one of my favorites, and one my first anime LDs (I got it new mail order from Pioneer's Laserdisc Fan Club retail store in 1997).

The first movie, Only You, was closest in tone to basic UY comedy without the Oshii-isms.

UY without Oshii would be like...that vapid whitewashed moe BS that passes for most anime these days. I like fur bikinis as much as the next guy, but having my place in the universe questioned occasionally is something I'm going to need to get through a series with 200 episodes.

Indeed. The early episodes that stuck close to Takahashi's source material were nowhere near as good as the ones Oshii and company made when they inserted their own blend of philosophical insanity into the mix. Great characters like the Stormtroopers of Megane and company were barely even in the manga and eventually vanished, while they were key players in the anime continuity. Episodes like 99, "Deadly! Standup Eating Wars!!", the fast food warrior ep are my favorites.

I recently bought the Cowboy Bebop LDs. I love the covers, I intent to frame them. Just out of curiosity, I popped one of the discs into my X0. Oh Lord! What a picture:0 Any video noise? Not even once!!!! The other title I bought along with them, Nightwatch, does it even Laserdisc bro? Cowboy Bebop is pristine, it is LD on juice bro! But!!!....it breaks my heart, it has no English dubs or subs:( there you go, they go on my wall, framed. What a shame!

You could always get the Blu-Ray set. I tend to buy the Japanese anime LDs because they're usually really nice and collectible. Because of practical reasons, I get the DVD or BD as well. Anime usually present it self really nice on LD, I've played quite a few discs in my X9 now, and much of it is awesome in picture quality.

My intention is the same with some of the LDs, simply just frame them! I haven't seen the Cowboy Bebop series, but I've seen the LD covers and want them because of the artwork. Just a gorgeous set!

Toward the Terra TV Series (I have this on DVD). I do need to revisit the movie some but so far I have notice a few differences. would love to read the manga if I can ever find it. edit I am still watching this.

I'm not surprised the Bebop LDs look great. Late period Bandai Visual releases are clean as hell. Macross 7 Dynamite and the Gundam 0079 TV series are truely fantastic.

Yes, I bought the Cowboy Blu-ray the day it came out. I am not anime person but I live this show. The soundtrack is simply amazing! It's like Firefly but it came out much before that. Joss Whedon was probably influenced by Cowbow.

just caught the Ghibli film "When Marnie Was Here" it was wonderful...

That's the most recent movie? Haven't seen it, yet. Did purchase some movies on blu-ray, but seems that one were one of those I didn't buy. Bummer, guess I have to buy the rest to complete the set.

huh. just watched my first ever URUSEI YATSURA entry, the 1982 "BEAUTIFUL DREAMER" film (1992 AnimEigo U.S. LD edition) and... i just don't get it.
the whole affair seems effin' INSANE. perhaps i'm being too serious-minded, but the whole affair seemed bat-shit crazy
in a way i had a hard time deriving any enjoyment from.

Lum herself was often cute and sweet and all, but her love interest seemed a total A-Hole,
and most of the balance of the cast were just plain out of their minds.

i mean, i get metaphorical imagery and storytelling and all, but i have a hard time following director Mamoru Oshi here in any meaningful way.

i know that the MILITARY OTAKU was a serious thing back in the 80's, and that overwork was endemic to the degree of common personal fatality,
but if this series was meant to be a bracing sarcastic mockery of life in Japan in the 70's/80's,
i feel that it could have been delivered in a more coherent, lucid manner.

i guess early Rumiko Takahashi works, at least, and Mamoru Oshi as a director in general, just simply isn't for me...

The thing with Urusei Yatsura is the totally absurd situation. Just so much crazy going on with a lot of weird characters that appear all the time. I find it really entertaining and fun to watch. Beautiful Dreamer don't follow the show, it tries to be a more serious psychological thriller rather than a crazy romantic comedy. I read that Takahashi wanted to reject the script because it deviated too much from the tone of the show. Oshii got his way in the end and it clairly shows he did some experimenting, and he quit the job after the movie. What followed were his more famous works like Ghost in the Shell and such.

The first movie follows the TV series tone, would suggest watching that movie instead. The cast might be confusing if you've not watched the TV series, though the AnimEigo releases do include liner notes which should get you up to speed.

I just love how much bizarre stuff that happens in the show. Ataru runs after every girl he sees, Lum is crazy after him, all the other boys are crazy for her. Ataru is just the unluckiest guy on earth, which results in him attracting all sorts of odd characters and bizarre situations.

i dunno... Ataru seems a serious Jerk, but i suppose one shouldn't criticize until they've walked (or ran, in this case) a mile in the guy's shoes...

I felt I needed to read the book it was based on unlike the other movies like Howl's Moving Castle and Tales from Earthsea.

toward the end if you think about it some of the earlier stuff in the movie seems really creepy at least to me.