A word on Madhouse’s upcoming anime series Aoi Bungaku (青い文学)
In my mind, there is a spectrum of Japanese authors. On one extreme end there are those I understand and admire tremendously and they are the likes of Natsume Soseki (夏目漱石) and Kyougoku Natsuhiko (京極夏彦). And then there are others whose works I unfortunately can never quite understand and cannot bring myself to like, and there sits the likes of Oe Kenzaburo (大江健三郎) and Dazai Osamu (太宰治). So that when news reached me that Madhouse is to launch Aoi Bungaku (青い文学) – an anime series based on works of modern Japanese literature – it was with mixed feelings that I received the lineup of titles to be animated. You can find a list of the titles here.
Screenshots of "In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom" downloaded from Aozora Bunko to the iPhone app Aozora Hondana (青空本棚). Yes, I recently yielded to get an iPhone.
In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (桜の森の満開の下) by Sakaguchi Ango (坂口安吾) would be the highlight of this series for me. I have mentioned it briefly before on this blog and I personally reckon it to be the most thought-provoking short story written in the post-war era. The text itself is available on Aozora Bunko. (Actually, the copyright of a lot of Sakaguchi’s works would seem to have expired in the recent months, as I noticed that Aozora Bunko has been active with many uploads of his works.) I don’t want to spoil that story by summarizing the plot because it is much more powerful if you do not know what comes next from the very beginning. For now, I will only say that it is a complex story juxtaposing man and woman, savagery and refinement, beauty and madness, urbanity and wilderness, lawlessness and order, and a host of other things. A story like this begs to be handed by an anime director like Nakamura “Mononoke” Kenji, but I see that they have chosen Araki Tetsuro (荒木哲郎) for the task. I have seen Araki’s recent work Kurozuka (黒塚) and I think he does have the skills to depict that darkly beautiful air that permeates Sakaguchi’s story.
As for the rest of the lineup -
For many years, Natsume Soseki has always been my favorite Japanese novelist of all times. That was up to this summer and how he shares that place with Kyougoku Natsuhiko. Kokoro is actually my least favorite story by him – my favorite ones are (in descending order): Grass on the Wayside (道草), The Gate (門) and Sanshiro (三四郎). Natsume Soseki is much more well-known for his earlier works like I am a Cat and Botchan, though personally I much prefer his later style. Somehow works produced in the last stage of an author’s life just appeal to me more if only for their artistic maturity, and that applies across the board to my list of favorites. (Thomas Mann would be an example of this – I think the last book of his life Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man: The Early Years. is about as good as German literature will ever get.) In any case, I am optimistically cautious about their choice of Miya Shigeyuki (宮繁之) as the director of Kokoro the anime.
On a side note, Botchan has been translated as Master Darling and you can find the translated text on Gutenberg.org. Natsume Soseki has a wry sense of humour when he chooses to show it, and you may get a taste of that in Botchan.
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (芥川龍之介) sits in the middle of the above-mentioned spectrum. I just feel neutral about his works. Hell Screen is a natural choice, and I am curious as to what they will make of a story like The Spider’s Thread.
As for Osamu Dazai – I know this year is the hundredth anniversary of his birth and much fuss is made about it and all that. The only I have to say is that he is just not my cup of tea.
So Aoi Bungaku will be on my watchlist in the fall season, along with Nakamura Kenji’s Kuuchuu Buranko (空中ブランコ) and the remake of Ai no Kusabi (間の楔). Is there anything else cool that I missed?
Interesting project. I myself love Osamu Dazai’s Ningen Shikkaku. When I lived in Japan I had a calligrapher friend write the title characters for me so I could hang them in my room!! And Thomas Mann is glorious, but I much prefer Doctor Faustus to Felix Krull. Soseki, mmm.. Well, animation might be a way to see old things in new angles!
animekritik:
Yes, Madhouse seems to be taking on more challenging projects and do well in them than Production I.G. these days. Production I.G. just seems to have lost direction by comparison.
As for “Ningen Shikkaku” or “No Longer Human”, I like what I see of the released screenshots so far (ttp://anime.webnt.jp/nt-news/?detail=1426). But on the whole, I am just not a fan of self-destructive characters and that may be why I have never been a fan of Dazai Osamu.
I like Thomas Mann’s novellas/short stories more than his full-length novels, which can get too long-winded at times. The novellas/short stories are sharp, succinct and never a word wasted – just what I like prose writing to be. I strongly recommend:
- “Tonio Kröger”
- “The Hungry”
- “Disorder and Early Sorrow”
- “Tristan”
- “Disillusionment”
- “Mario and the Magician”
For the record, “Death in Venice” (for which Thomas Mann is much more famous) just never appealed to me for some reason.
Those Dazai screenshots look more depressing than the story ever was! I do hope they inject some of the humor from the book…
I did read Tonio Kroger and Mario, the other ones I must find. As for Death in Venice, I wouldn’t be surprised if your dislike for it can be linked to that for Dazai. Death in Venice is really all about self-destruction too, so!
animekritik:
I thought the screenshots look just about right.
Thanks for sharing these interesting thoughts about the novels *_*
Aoi Bungaku is also on my watchlist *_* I’ve been doing arc previews and uuumm . . . can I use your images of In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom when I make a preview of it (after No Longer Human episodes are aired). WIll credit you of course =)
Thank you!
Sapphire Pyro:
Yes, feel free to use the image.
I gathered that today is the day the first episode of “Aoi Bungaku” airs, btw.
hmm…looks interesting. when i first saw news about this series, i got excited. but now i’m thinking that i’ll wait for good reviews and then i’ll decide if i watch it or not.
ayame:
I would give the first episode a 10 out of 10. I have a feeling I will like “No Longer Human” the anime better than the book.