Critical response Contemporary reviews Upon its initial release, the film received mixed responses, generally from the fan community. Criticism was especially given towards Oshii, with several fans sending him letters containing razor blades. In
Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii, Brian Ruh noted that the film "angered a number of viewers" as it placed "emphasis more on deeper philosophical issues" instead of the more comedic tone of the series. In an interview with Richard Eisenbeis in 2017, Oshii recalled fan criticism on the film's deemphasis of its series characters, especially of Lum.
Later reception in 2008 In subsequent reviews of the film, critics considered
Beautiful Dreamer to be an early example of Oshii's
well-received style of
filmmaking. Brian Ruh noted that the film contained an "unmistakable visual style, using quiet, contemplative shots, often coupled with long monologues or dialogues" and that the film featured imagery that would be seen in Oshii's later films such as
water and
tanks. Vincent Ostria stated in
Les Inrockuptibles that the film is "a series of dreams in abyss, foretelling...the virtual games of
Avalon and
Ghost in the Shell". Todd French of
Cinefantastique called the film a "must-see", comparing the work to
Alain Resnais' "existentialist time-space displacement flicks" and the
Agatha Christie novel
And Then There Were None. Meanwhile, John Hartl of
The Seattle Times compared the film's use of a
time loop to the later 1993 film
Groundhog Day.
Aaron Gerow of
The Daily Yomiuri referred to Beautiful Dreamer as a critique to "both the repetitive world of anime and the
otaku fans who lock themselves up in that universe." Jeff Yang of
SFGate compared the film to Oshii's next film, ''
Angel's Egg'', claiming that both of the films question "whether what we think is 'real' is real and whether we're really 'thinking' at all -- or whether we're just the products of someone else's fantasy." On mania.com Chris Beveridge called the film "a great anime classic". In
Otaku USA, Daryl Surat said the film "is commonly hailed as one of the single best anime films of all time".
THEM Anime Reviews gave the film 4 stars and called it "a skilled surrealist Oshii Mamoru piece with lots of mystery and just enough Urusei Yatsura wackiness to remain familiar." Olivier Bitoun on
TVClassik gave the film 3 stars.
Fred Patten of
Animation World Network stated that the film was an excellent movie, but also stated that it was not a good representative sample of the series. In "The Anime Movie Guide",
Helen McCarthy gave the film three stars out of five, writing "Oshii uses the story [of Urashima Tarō] as a basis of a comedy that plays with serious issues like time, space, reality and perception.
Accolades Kinema Junpo ranked
Beautiful Dreamer as the 17th best Japanese film of 1984. That same publication later ranked it as one of the best Japanese animated movies. The film was the runner-up for the "Best 10" films in the
6th Yokohama Film Festival. In the 1984 edition of the
Anime Grand Prix, the film was ranked third place. The film was ranked number 38 on a list of the Top 100 anime by
Animage magazine. It was also number 9 on a list by Wizard's Anime Magazine of the Top 50 anime released in North America. In February 2004,
Cinefantastique listed the film as one of the "10 Essential Animations" of Japan alongside Oshii's
Ghost in the Shell. The film was named 7th
Greatest Japanese Animated Film of All Time by Japanese film magazine
Kinema Junpo in 2009. ==Legacy==