Iwa ni Hana

'Kanashimi no Belladonna' directed by Yamamoto Eiichi

Rating: 4.5/5
Gallery of screen captures

Produced in 1973 by Mushi Production and based on Jules Michelet's work entitled La Sorcière, Kanashimi no Belladonna is the story of Jeanne who has been raped by the feudal lord on her wedding night.
Her sweetheart-turned-husband nearly strangled her for her 'impurity' though he tells her to forget about the incident. One day, as she is spinning, the devil appears, saying that she has called out to him to help her in exchange for her soul. The devil wakens her sexual libido and after much resistance she finally yields to the pleasure he gives. She goes to town wearing a green coat (green being the colour of the devil) and 'earns' a lot of money.

A war then takes place and the feudal lord leads the men away for war. On his return, he is told by his lady, who is jealous of Jeanne's erotic powers, that Jeanne is possessed. The lord then allows his soldiers to gang-rape her. She runs towards her home but her husband locks her out, so she turns to the devil for refuge. Later, a plague strikes the land and it is discovered that she can cure the sick miraculously, which eventually leads to accusations of witchcraft...

Desultory comments follow as usual:
1) It seems fair to say that the artstyle of Kanashimi no Belladonna was inspired by, among other things, the art nouveau movement - and by Aubrey Beardsley in particular. Methinks art nouveau and Beardsley tended to be more oblique when it comes to sexual references whereas KnB is much more in your face (okay, maybe not Beardsley, at least not all the time). See, for example, the pears in border of La Beale Isoud at Joyous Guard - the pears are actually distorted forms of the female torso; and look at Isoud's dress - it is full of holes. So there you have subtle visual hints of sexual desire in a seemingly demure young lady. But KnB is more in-your-face than that.

[Beware of adult content ahead]

'The Rose of Versailles' mascara

By way of celebrating the 35th anniversy of Ikeda-sensei's The Rose of Versailles, there are now The-Rose-of-Versailles mascara on sale:

(Source: ttp://mantanweb.mainichi.co.jp/web/2007/05/35_1.html)

I wonder if this is something to go with the new movie adaptation thereof. Anyway, it's about time they start making cosmetics and other stuff and bill them as anime-related goods. I am such a gullible consumer. I for one would be interested in Le Chevalier D'eon shampoo and lipstick, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto disposable contact lens, Seirei no Moribito foods, Cowboy Bebop cigarettes (though I don't smoke). It's a good way for the anime industry to generate extra income.

So what is everyone's dream anime-related goods?

'Overseas Animation @ Tollywood' and 'Animations: Creators and Critics' and 'Atamayama'

I just learned that there is a something called Overseas Animation @ Tollywood, a film festival of short animated countries from around the world in at a small theatre in Shimokitazawa, near Tokyo. Here is the official website. Be sure to check out the pictures of the programmes (even if you cannot read Japanese): A, B, C, D, E, F. You can watch the trailer here on YouTube.

In other news, a website called Animations: Creators and Critics has been launched by 5 creators and 2 critics sometime in the middle of May 2007:

• Yamamura Kouji 山村浩二

Best known for his work Atamayama 頭山 which, according to Wikipedia Japan, is an adaptation of the most surrealist rakugo 落語 out there: A man, who has eaten a sakura seed, has a sakura tree grows on the top of his head. His neighbours make a fuss of holding a hanami or flower-viewing session on the top of his head and call his head 'Atamayama'. Find it all a heck of a bother, the man cuts off the tree, which opens a big hole in his head. Then rain falls and the hole in his head becomes a pond, and his neighbours come to fish in that pond. In the end, the man drowns himself in the pond of his head.

Quite surreal indeed. I wish to could get hold of Atamayama somewhere. His official website is here. The other creators among the members are:

• Arai Chie 荒井知恵

• Oyama Kei 大山慶

• Wada Atsushi 和田淳

• Nakata Ayaka 中田彩郁

Their works, as I learn from their profiles, seem non-mainstream. I do not have much time to translate the details but please do not hesitate to give me a shout if you recognize any of these names.

The critics are Nyugen Ilan, a French scholar specialized in animation, and Doi Nokuaki 土居伸彰, a Ph. D student specialized in animation at the graduate school of Tokyo University.

Wakamoto Norio reads 'Hyakunin isshu'

This is not strictly related to anime but it is an interesting piece of trivia about voice actors -

Apparently, Wakamoto Norio 若本規夫 is to release an album where he reads Hyakunin isshu 百人一首, a collection of Japanese archaic poetry. For those of you who may not be familiar with his name, here are a few of his memorable roles:

• Oskar von Reuenthal from The Legend of Galactic Heroes

• The Narrator from Hayate no Gotoku

• Torii Youzou from Oh! Edo Rocket and Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

To be honest, he is not exactly on my list of favorite male voice actors though I am sure he has his own following out there (he played Reuenthal after all). Now, if this was read by Nakata Jouji 中田譲治 or Miki Shinichirou 三木眞一郎, I would absolutely - to borrow a phrase from a certain anime fan I know - 'melt into a pool of shame'.

The voice actress Tanaka Rie has also released her version of Hyakunin isshu. So it seems that voice actors have come upon a way to diversify their business by recording audio CDs of Edifying Works of Literature instead of relying on BL Dramas and hentai shows.

Silhouette Animation: 'The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello' by Anthony Lucas + Others

Rating: 4.5/5
Gallery of screen captures

Again, this 26-minute animated film is not Japanese anime per se but I am utterly floored by its aesthetics of silhouette animation. Every frame is of poster quality. The story is engaging and the atmosphere is captivating. The show is like one long magic spell - I beseech you all to watch it. You can find a plot summary and related info at the official website and this Wikipedia entry.

I have to confess my ignorance and say that the only silhouette animation I remember seeing was from Revolutionary Girl Utena 少女革命ウテナ, but even those footages were fleeting. However, a search on YouTube reveals the following gems dated 1927 and 1954:

• The Adventures of Prince Achmed

• The Little Chimney Sweep

(How would I ever live without YouTube?)

'Kemonozume' by Madhouse Studio

Rating: 4.5/5

No words of mine would ever do justice to Kemonozume ケモノヅメ, arguable the most mature and art-house-ish thing to have come out of the anime fodder in 2006. And since I am pressed for time, I shall limit myself to discussing only two points (out of a zillion other blog-worthy points):

[Spoilers ahead for the whole series]

1. What is it about Japanese anime that the most lyrically beautiful scenes (to me at least) are inevitably limited to four colours: red, white, gray and black? It happened before with Otogizoushi お伽草子 and Asience's commercial Hairy Tale, and there it is again in Kemonozume -

(Off-topic: I have always wondered why Japanese plates and bowls are black outside and red inside too, whereas the rest of the world seems to prefer their plates and bowl to be white outside and inside. In my mind, red and black are such a quintessentially Japanese colour combination.)

2. Basically, Kemonozume envisions a doomsday scenario for Japan where the country reverts to primitive violence on account of a madman, Ooba, who runs a pharmaceutical company selling a drug that purports to make people stronger. And yet, as people become 'stronger' they also become beasts (ie. not human). There is practically no means of stopping him within Japan and help from 'an ally' (America) is sought. In the end, it's not so much about the protagonist defeating the madman - the madman would have been nuked into shreds by America's oh-so-accurate booming. Japan would have been saved whether he puts himself forward to seek out the madman in his evil hideout or not. The only thing he gained from his heroic endeavour was the he saved the life of his love, Yuka, who has been (true to form) kidnapped by the madman. (I know it sounds cliched but bet's just say it is a serviceable plot to showcase the splendid animation and visual details...)

Methinks the deeds of Ooba and his cartel may be allegoric of the social insanities begotten from the Japanese idea of masculinity, which seems to have claimed more victims among its aspirants than victors.* Ooba is a perverted version of masculine strength - he is the embodiment of all that can go wary with the masculine principle. At the same time he seems to be himself a victim of that ideal of male self-sufficiency/empowerment (well... he seems to long for some sort of female companion among his Harumi clones). The promotion of masculine strength usually comes at the expense of recognition of the feminine principle, and you see hints of that within Kifuken itself. Sure, they are taught to be 'manly' and 'follow the way of the sword' etc, but for what?

(Also, I may be stretching it a bit but the whole story stangely reminds me of karoshi 過労死, or death by overwork. Received Opinion seems to have it that being able to work insane hours is a sign of one's superhuman/macho quality. But karoshi is a form of extreme madness that has been around for years and yet there seems to be little sign of self-correction within Japan. The whole work culture seems to be a drug in itself.)  

* If you study a lot of the post-war movies by Ozu Yasujirou 小津安二郎, there is often no single character who may be called the villain and the real 'villain' is often the traditional Japanese concept of masculinity.

The Japanese sense of humour and anime comedies

I just ran into an interesting description of the difference between the Japanese sense of humour and the English sense of humour at Metropolis:

In English, humor is logical and situational, whereas in Japanese it’s illogical. What’s important here are physical humor and atmosphere and sounds. English comedy is sarcastic, and you’re laughing at something, whereas in Japanese manzai, you laugh directly at the straight man.

Does this description fit in with comedy as we know it in anime to you guys?

If I am not mistaken, I think by 'manzai' and 'laugh directly at the straight man' the speaker mean those iikagennishirou (いい加減にしろう) moments where one character tells the other who runs away with some extravagent fancy or folly to cut out the nonsense. There is plenty of physical humour, atmosphere and sounds in a comedy like Oh! Edo Rocket, but honestly I can't say I have laughed at any of the jokes yet. You get the 'straight man' in the form of Kyon in The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi but I think this is a more 'logical and situational' show. Then you get a cross in between like Ouran High School Host Club. Could it be I don't find Oh! Edo Rocket funny because it is one of the more Japanese-sense-of-humour shows whose hilarity, a foreigner that I am, do not appreciate? (Though I like the stylish direction and some of the art direction readily enough.)

And just by way of comparison, can anyone think of other Japanese-sense-of-humour shows? I think Crayon Shin-chan may be an example but I have only read a chapters of the original manga before.

(Thanks for any input in advance, as always.)

Two French animation: 'L'homme sans ombre' and 'L'inventaire fantome'

Obviously these are not Japanese anime but I should like to make a point of mentioning them on this blog -

L'homme sans ombre

The artstyle of this 9-minute animation reminds me of Cat Soup ねこぢる草, a minor masterpiece from J.C. Staff, and The Diary of Tortov Roddle. The abstractionist symbolisms of the story are such that you can read multiple interpretations into it. The most poignant part of the story (to me at least) is when the man in blue, in chasing the woman he loves, chases his own shadow, which has been stolen from him by the man in red. You can watch it on Stage6 here.

L'inventaire fantome

Likewise a 9-minute animation with stunning art direction. Unfortunately I don't understand a word of the French dialogue (please feel to drop me a note if you happen to know French). I am guessing that the spectacled man is there to confiscate the souvenirs. Great coordination of hues and colours. (I am a great fan of colours - I could just sit and stare at pretty colours.) You can watch it on Stage 6 here.

Ani*Kuri15: 'Sancha Blues' by Kobayashi Osamu (Madhouse)

So Ani*Kuri15, a series of 1-minute animated films, has begun to air on NHK. The one I like best so far is Sancha Blues 三茶ブルースby Kobayashi Osamu 小林治. You can watch it on YouTube here. Usual desultory comments follow:

[Spoilers ahead]

1) If I am not mistaken, I believe "Sancha" of Sancha Blues refers to the Tokyo neighbourhood Sangenchaya 三軒茶屋, abbreviated as "Sancha". I am not sure how prosperous the place is these days - Wikipedia says it is a lively shopping district but Sancha Blues seems to depict a drab neighbourhood.

2) The first line of the signboard says, It is best to dance the way one dances after all. The second line reads - This is Edo Akemi. Apparently Edo Akemi is the stage name of a has-been musician. It seems that the record shop really exists too - it is called Fujiyama. You can see a photo of the shop front and the official website by following the links below:
ttp://styleblowheadstgm.seesaa.net/article/41242622.html
ttp://fujiyama.press.ne.jp/top.htm

3) The short film is about money. The shop-owner sees the heads of his customers turning into paper money or coins. Also, for the split of a second, you see a box with the scribble ozeze and a doodle of paper money.  Apparently ozeze is an infantile word (幼児語) for the old word for "money" (zeni 銭).

4) I like the idiosyncrasies of the setting. Here is a shot of a corner of the shop. The banner reads an idiot is an idiot (which may well be the motto of the shop-owner). The man in the black-and-white image is one-eyed. And isn't the artstyle of the man with the green hat reminiscent of the artstyle of Ansai Mizumaru 安西水丸, best known as the illustrator of the books of Murakami Haruki 村上春樹?

Would you rather have more or less anime series airing at the same time?

I ran into a post by a Japanese blogger proposing a new way of scheduling anime series on TV networks. Here is some background info:

• There is now an average of 100 titles of animes series made in a year.

• The number of titles has increased fivefold in the past 30 years.

The competition is fierce and viewing rate is by no means impressive, even with the anime industry diversifying to cater to a grown-up audience. In light of the above, the Japanese blogger suggests the following:

• If there is only around an average of 20 titles made in a year, then the viewing rate per title would increase fivefold.

• The anime industry should take a leaf from the book of the Korean TV drama industry: The same series should be shown twice a week instead of once a week. If there is only half of the titles showing at the same time, the average viewing rate would increase tenfold.

• This way, anime would be able to compete with other TV dramas.

There are downsides to this proposal and illogicalities which I think are obvious to all, so I won't go into details here myself. But here is an open question to you all: Would you rather have more or less anime series airing at the same time?

(Source: ttp://reviva.blog1.fc2.com/blog-entry-537.html)

'Le Chevalier D'eon' and the definition of a good OP

I once heard an insightful definition of a good OP from a Japanese fan: Besides great audio and visual aspects and creative directing, the OP ought to convey to the viewer the sekaikan 世界観 of the story. Sekaikan in this case is not the same as its ordinary meaning of 'world-view' - it means the whole package of time and place settings, relationship between the characters, the overarching themes of the plot, hints towards how the story will unfold and so forth. In other words, you should be able to tell what the story is about without checking the official website for written information (more or less).

Of the shows that aired in 2006, Le Chevalier D'eon seems to have an OP that fits this description to a T. It is packed with enigmatic symbolisms and every footage of the characters tell you sometime essential about their personalities and histories. You can watch the OP here at Stage6. In the meantime, some comments on the actual details:

[Spoilers of the whole series of Le Chevalier D'eon ahead]

1) The OP tell us about the setting, namely 18th century France. When I first saw the frame on the right, I thought to myself: 'Gee, the real Versailles looks drab by comparison.' In a way, that is probably the point of the whole show - it is a Japanese fantasy of Europe. I once heard a theory of how anime allows Japanese creators to 'transcend racial boundaries' - though it is another issue as to how successively they have managed to do so. (For example, there are sometimes stories in a foreign setting featuring characters who are decidedly not Japanese - and yet the characters say tadaima and ittekimasu when they come or leave home, and itadakimasu before they eat.)

2) The premise of the show is spelled out in the first few seconds with the sword penetrating through a falling woman (ie. Lia). Next we see a grieving young man (ie. D'eon). The transition of the frames make it clear that the two are closely related. Indeed they are brother and sister, and the story is set into motion with D'eon trying to find out the truth behind his sister's mysterious death.

3) The Latin phrase that appears on the sword below is Sit Nomen Domini Benedictum, meaning blessed be the name of Lord. So there you have a hint that the Word of God in this show has busting powers. The cross on the sword also says 'NQM,' a Hebrew word meaning 'vengeance' and also 'restoration of the proper order after a period of disruption of harmony' (hat tip to Wikipedia). So there we have a hint of supernatural elements interfering with the coming French Revolution.   

4) Shots of the supporting characters are also instructive as to their roles:

Robin shoots at the royal coat of arms with a gun that says NQM. This foreshadows his change of mind at the end of the series in 'rebranding' the Royal Psalms as the Revolutionary Psalms.

The Dauphin looking cowardly between two portraits of the French king(s) - I cannot see the portraits too clearly to tell which king(s) those are.

The flower D'eon gives to Anna withers gradually against a sumptuous painting of Versailles, signifying that Anna will eventually die there.

Other examples include Teillagory kneeling before a man whom we later know to be the Duke of Orléans, Durand laying a lily flower before the Psalms coffin (signifying his love for Lia), and Maximilien throwing away his sword and holding the Royal Psalms with both hands (signifying his belief that it is not the sword that changes the world, but the written word).

5) Another Latin phrase appears: Novus Ordo Seclorum. The first half is written by Comte de Saint-Germain and the second half is written by Maximilien Robespierre (or should we say 'Maximilien Robespierre I'?). It means 'new order for ages'.

So there you have it. These subtle hints are laid at the very outset of the series and we only see how they all fit together by the end. Nothing is ever wasted - the characters are not making cool poses for the sake of making cool poses. The OP communicates to you what you need to know about the world of Le Cevalier D'eon and it builds up anticipation as to how the mysteries will unravel. Not every anime OP is as thoughtful as that.

I am trying to think of other OPs that fit this definition and the OP of Paprika (see Stage6 here) seems to fall into this category - I probably won't be able to comment on that until I have actually seen Paprika though.