The path of true love never runs smoothly, especially when your man has been turned into a hippo.
Menus
You are presented with a simple static image of Ataru and Lum gazing into a crystal ball, offering the option of playing the movie or going to the Chapter Select Screen.
Soundtrack
DD 2.0 Japanese with burnt in subtitles, yellow and green for dialogue, with pink for the songs, the occasional deciphered pun and cultural information snippet.
Video
A 4:3 transfer that very much shows its videotape heritage, with a soft image, occasional colour bleed and low resolution throughout. The world and character design is pretty impressive, with a Blade Runner inspired opening sequence. There was a scene that made me think that the image was cropped from a widescreen ratio, with one character off the edge of the screen, but this was a sole occurrence and the rest of the film shows no sign of this.
Extras
Nothing to see, move along.
Episode Contents (This part may contain
Spoliers)
When aliens from the planet Oniboshi invaded Earth, reluctant hero Ataru Moroboshi found himself in a whole heap of trouble, when he caught the alien princess Lum in a competition to decide the fate of the planet. He wound up ‘married’ to her, which was something of a drawback considering his career as an eternal lecher. When Lum would find her ‘Darling’ straying, chastisement would soon follow in the form of electric shocks. Urusei Yatsura was a long running television series that spawned 6 movies as well as an OVA series. Remember My Love is the third feature film, made in 1985.
In 1967, a certain wise woman wasn’t invited to the birth ceremony of a certain alien princess. It’s practically obligatory in these cases for there to be a curse, and there was, sealed in a crystal ball, one that would deny all happiness with her true love for when the princess came of age. Jump forward to 2267, and a young boy finds a crystal ball, just lying around. These are all ominous tidings for Lum, who back in 1985 is busy dragging Darling Ataru to a new theme park. Only the attractions at this particular theme park are a little too realistic, and are more unnerving than entertaining. A strange clown is orchestrating all of this, and it all comes to a head at the magic show. Ataru, smitten by a beautiful assistant, steps willingly into a magic box. A flash of smoke and the magician and his assistant vanish, and then out of the box steps a small pink hippo. Lum is heartbroken, and is determined to restore Ataru to his normal lecherous self. Ataru isn’t too pleased with his new lifestyle either, although his parents foresee fame and fortune on the chat show circuit. When the magician, Ruu appears to Lum and promises to restore Ataru if she follows him, she cquiesces, and is pulled into a mirror dimension. Ruu has been watching Lum for years, finds it objectionable that she is with a lecher like Ataru, and is determined to break up their relationship. Meanwhile, Ataru and his friends have to get used to a world without Lum in...
Having thoroughly enjoyed the first film, I was looking forward to another dose of relationship mayhem from Urusei Yatsura. The first film’s generous helping of madcap comedy and slapstick mayhem was a strong draw, and I hoped to see that echoed in Remember My Love. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be, as the third film tries to do something different by exploring other genres, but just winds up as uncertain in tone, and unevenly paced. That isn’t to say that the comedy is absent, it’s just that it is diminished in strength, to be replaced with an overall sense of melancholy when Ataru and Lum are separated. It’s unwise to separate your protagonists, when it is their relationship that drives the heart of the story. The film also takes a good while in getting going, with the build up to the magic show protracted and bordering on the tedious. The intent is to explore the theme park, and the uneasy feeling it engenders on the visitors, and also convey that neasiness to the audience, but it takes too long about it, and the sequence begins to feel over-indulgent. Another problem is that of the supporting characters. In a series as lengthy as Urusei Yatsura, there are plenty of added cast members, and you would expect to see them in a film. The thing here is that their appearances amount to little more than cameos, they pop up to make a wisecrack, or deliver a bit of exposition, and then vanish once more. It would have been better if the story made better use of one or two characters, rather than to cram in as many cameos as possible.
Still, there are some moments of hilarity, and if you care about the characters, then Remember My Love certainly delivers in terms of character moments. Most importantly, the film finishes strongly (despite a hideous time travel cliché), and leaves a strong final impression with the end credits. It may not be a patch on the first film, but it is entertaining enough to while away ninety minutes.
Signed
Jitendar Canth
Ai Says
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Sporadically entertaining, Remember My Love is one of those films where you have to wait for the good bits. It would have been better if there were more of them though, and this film just about nudges above average. "
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I’ll be putting Starship Operators up there with Gits:SAC and Crest Of The Stars as some truly outstanding Sci-Fi Anime.
Highly recommended
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