The third volume of Rumiko Takahashi Anthology presents another trio of comic and touching stories by one of Japan's greatest manga artists.  This volume has a theme of sorts, with each of the tales centering around an elderly lady and the supernatural events that surrounds her.  These stories, like the ones in the previous volumes, are filled with pleasing characters and amusing sequences making this a delightful DVD.

For those of you unfamiliar with Rumiko Takahashi, she is known as the "Princess of Manga."  During her 25+ year career in comics, she's created one hit after another, many of which have been turned into successful anime shows.  Rumiko had her first big hit in 1978, the year she turned professional, with Urusei Yatsura (also known as Lum.)  While this series was still going on, she also started Maison Ikkoku, and followed that up with fan favorite Ranma ½.  Rumiko is also the creator responsible for Inu-Yasha, and the darker Mermaid Saga.  Somehow while creating all these works, she also had time to write and draw a number of short strand alone stories.  The best of these shorter works have been animated and collected under the title Rumiko Takahashi Anthology.

The third volume of this series presents three stand alone tales that show that are all comic and a bit touching.  They are:

Hundred Years Love:  An old lady dies in the hospital, only to awaken minutes after the doctors leave.  She discovers that she has incredible psychic powers and uses them to make sure a nurse and her boyfriend get married.  The boy friend reminds her of a man she once rejected, only to have him jump off a cliff and she doesn't want history to repeat itself.   An amusing story, it's great fun to see the withered old lady with an attitude fly through the air on a crutch.  The slight twist at the end is enjoyable too.

In Lieu of Thanks:  Kobato and her family are the newest residents in a condo building.  She dutifully takes presents to her neighbors and, upon the advice of some of the women, the president of the resident's association Mrs. Shiratori.  Mrs. Shiratori seems nice enough until Kobato also pays a visit to the old woman living right above her.  The old lady and Shiratori get into a yelling match accusing each other of spreading rumors about.  Kobato gets on the bad side of the women in the condo when she hears her upstairs neighbor fall and yells a Mrs. Shiratori when she doesn't want to call an ambulance since it might worry the other residents.  That simply won't do, and Kobato gets all of the worst jobs in the building to do...until she learns of Mrs. Shiratori's secret.  If only she could figure out what it means.

Living Room Love Song:  One of the best episodes on the disc.  An older man arrives home on his anniversary to find his wife dead.  After the funeral, he wants to spend every night out with his co-workers because he just can't face going home.  Not because he's lonely, though.   He doesn't want to go home because his wife's ghost is still there nagging him.

One of the main reasons that this show is so fun is that Rumiko Takahashi is great at characterization.  The people in her stories aren't good or bad, they are all human.  They have human foibles and realistic, if sometimes exaggerated, reactions to situations.  Whether it be a salary man with unusual marital problems or a put upon woman, the people who populate these stories seem real.

The stories are also elegant in their simplicity.  The plots aren't complex, there's just as much story as is needed to create an entertaining tale.  The sparse plots make these light comedies a pleasure to watch.

Audio:

This DVD offers the viewer the choice of the original Japanese soundtrack or an English dub, both in stereo.  The show is mainly dialog based and both soundtracks reproduces the actor's voices very well.  I alternated between tracks, and liked them both equally well.  There were no dropouts or other audio defects of note.

Video:

The widescreen anamorphic image looked very good.  The colors are bright and vivid, and the picture is sharp.  With only three episodes on the disc, there was plenty of room for the video, and compression artifacts are practically nonexistent.  A very good looking disc.

Extras:

This disc includes an art gallery of production sketches and stills and a series of Geneon trailers.

Final Thoughts:

I'm sorry that there is only one more volume in this series.  I could easily watch a dozen more.  As soon as I pop in the disc, I'm drawn into whatever story Rumiko Takahashi has to tell.  These simple tales are immensely enjoyable and quite funny.  Well worth the cost of the disc.  Highly Recommended.