Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum the Forever (1986)
Animation Production: Kitty Films
Running Time: 94 minutes
Released by: Animeigo
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Produced around the time the Urusei Yatsura TV series was coming to a close Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum the Forever came about as the result of the many challenges being faced by the production staff and the desire by Kazuo Yamazaki to move on from the world he had been a part of for several years.

The film he put together and which is the focus of today’s review is very well known for being one of anime’s most confusing and almost nonsensical movies ever made. This distinction is not one without merit, but to say the movie could be interpreted as not being about any one thing in particular and rather a collection of random sequences strung together for no reason whatsoever is a bit of an exaggeration. Let’s go in for a closer look and see what we can make out of the 4th film in the Urusei Yatsura movie series.

Story

"Strange things begin to happen in Tomobiki Town. When a great cherry tree, "Tarozakura," is cut down while Lum&Co. are making a movie, Lum loses her horns - and her powers!

Thus begins the strangest and most lyrical of the Urusei Yatsura movies." -- Animeigo's Urusei Yatsura Webpage

Review

Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum the Forever starts with a simple story that has the gang filming an independent movie about the legend of the Oni Princess. However, during the movie’s production the Mendo family tree, the gigantic Tarouzakura, is cut down, an event that serves as the catalyst for a large number of strange happenings and phenomena that no one in Tomobiki can explain or fully understand. Eventually, these strange occurrences lead to not only the disappearance of Lum, but the birth of the town’s consciousness as a living entity. As if these weren't enough a war also breaks out...makes perfect sense wouldn’t you say?

Without a doubt this is one of the strangest and hardest-to-follow movies I have ever run into. I still vividly remember seeing it many years ago when it first came out on VHS and being completely confused by it. Then seeing it again when it popped up in Laserdisc format and I still baffled by it. Coming into the movie for the fourth time (I think this was my fourth time seeing it in any case) I was determined to make something out of it; maybe now that I’m more accustomed to looking for minute details and more subdue plot threads and narratives in films I would finally be able to figure out more about this particular movie’s plot.

My success in reaching the goal I set out for myself was a partial, but decisive one. I can’t claim that I really understood what the movie was fully about this time out and in fact only the director himself knows what this film addresses, but I did manage to find some significance and meaning in things I never noticed before, which helped me have a better sense of what’s taking place in the story, albeit I’m sure it’s true meaning went right over my head.

To me the movie represented a struggle between Lum and the consciousness of Tomobiki over the passage of time and moving on to new things. Since Lum’s arrival many people in the town have lived their lives as a never ending routine that always seem to go in circles, refusing to move on from this point in time. In a way it could be compared to the way some people wish they could freeze a point in time and only exist there, be it their youth, a great vacation or a time in their lives when they were truly content.

It is almost as if the entire town was consciously fighting change and doing everything in its power to stay where they are and avoid the end of a great festival, similar to what happens in the third movie, which this one shares some themes with. This struggle lies very much at the center of the story and it’s fascinating to watch it unfold such as when Megane and his crew begin falling for other girls only to get frustrated when they realize that they are not focusing solely on Lum as they promised to each other, but they can’t seem to help it, something is nudging them forward against their will. This is conflict that can be seen in many places across the movie.

It feels like the director was telling us and the characters that its time to start growing up and moving to new things, which is fitting as my understanding is that he was trying to send a message to fans of the series at the time that there was more to life than Lum and Urusei Yatsura or so I’ve read in any case. Interestingly this movie does is very much an evolution from the typical crazy Urusei Yatsura atmosphere, so the story feels like it is maturing and moving away from the frantic pace that the series has always been known for. A fitting move for a popular franchise that was coming to its inevitable conclusion.

Due to this approach and topics covered this movie is not as packed with bizarre humor as you would expect from Urusei Yatsure. Sure, there are some really funny moments and laugh out loud scenes, but the overall tone is serious and thoughtful, more so than in any of the other movies.

The production quality for Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum the Forever is very much on par with what we saw in movie three. The animation is very smooth and uses a very balanced color palette that shifts between light and dark quite often to reflect the mood of any given scene. Special effects are sprinkled throughout, mostly for lighting and Lum’s electric attack, although there were a couple of nice environmental ones used too.

The soundtrack was very subdued this time out with many elegant and simple instrumental pieces being used quite often during the film. There are also some nice vocal pieces that do a good job at setting up a fitting atmosphere for the movie. The voice acting by the Japanese cast was superb and once more everyone put it an amazing performance.

The DVD is well put together with a very nice transfer of the original audio and video components of the movie that are free of any defects or issues. In addition to the main feature the disc also features a number of extras which include behind the scenes footage of the English dub process, promotional trailers for other releases, interviews with English voice actors (Lum & Ataru) and interactive linear notes, which replace the usual printed insert.

Conclusion

Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum the Forever is by no means the easiet point of entry for anyone who is interested in the series, however if you have seen the TV show and a couple of the movies, this is a must-own DVD! At first it may seem strange, but like a good bottle of wine it gets better with age and the more you see it the easier it gets to digest and understand. I would have a very hard time thinking of another movie that has so many layers to it that each time you see it you notice something new or unseen.

This one is very highly recommended if you have already plunged into the world of Urusei Yatsura, casual anime fans should take their time to check out the rest of the series first before attempting to take this one on.

Jeffrey Couto