(Japanese Video Series)In an effort to learn more about Japanese culture (and learn more Japanese language as a bonus) I thought I should probably work my way through some Anime series and bone up my otaku credentials.
Your average video rental store in Japan is made up of almost half anime series, so there's no lack of choices. What caught my eye about this series in particular was it was a familiar story. And plus Shoko and I have been having a lot of arguments lately about the merits of Shakespeare. (She doesn't think he's all that great). So I was curious to see what the Japanese Anime take would be. I was also curious to see how they would stretch Shakespeare's story over 12 DVDs.
The series opens with the little child Juliet watching her parents killed by the house of Montague. And then escaping out of a castle in the sky via a winged horse.
It was at this point that I began to suspect what I was watching was not the official Shakespeare version.
Indeed, this was an entirely new re-imagining of Shakespeare's story, where the creators apparently felt free to borrow whatever they liked from Shakespeare's story, and then add and remove elements at will. Many of the same characters, like Tybalt and Mercutio appear, but often in completely different roles. Shakespeare himself (or a thinly disguised caricature of him, a playwright named Will) becomes a character.
It's a bit jarring at first, but once you suppress your inner purist, it can be a lot of fun.
Will the young lovers meet with a happier end then they did in Shakespeare's tragedy? I guess you'll just have to watch the series and find out yourself. (Here's a hint though: remember it's a Japanese version of the story. Expect a big emphasis on duty and sacrifice near the end).
This anime series can probably be safely classified as "Shojo". That is, comic books or animation targeted at Junior high school or elementary school girls. This represents my first foray into the genre. And the big surprise is that it's not half bad.
I don't mean to be sexist here but...Well, I have always been (and my sisters and past girlfriends will vouch for this) eternally a 12 year old boy in terms of my entertainment choices. Action, superheroes, and giant monsters: Yes! Anything remotely emotional or feminine: No!
But I really enjoyed this series. The setting seems to be roughly 19th century Europe...taking place in a city in the sky with flying horses. It has a wonderful feel of a fairy tale.
There's plenty of action to spice things up. Juliet fights injustice in the town disguised in a mask as "The Red Wind", which gives the series something of the 1700's swashbuckling feel of the Scarlet Pimpernel series.
There's lots of subplots, narrow escapes, betrayals and intrigues between the two battling families.
The main story is of course the romance between Romeo and Juliet. And at times it does get a bit sappy, although more often it is likely to resemble a teenage romance a little too much. ("Oh my god! He actually likes me! What do I do? I better run away before I say something stupid!")
However, once Romeo and Juliet finally work up the courage to talk to each other and develop a relationship, their relationship progresses in a linear way from there. I can't help but feel that if this had been an American TV show the writers would have spun out the time by having them get together, and then break up, and then get back together again, and then break up again, and then develop feelings for other people, and then get sort of back together again, et cetera. (Shoko has been renting a lot of "Grey's Anatomy" and "The O.C." recently).
Every American who has ever commented on Shojo comic books or animation has with out fail said something like, "Aha! It is possible to make a comic book fantasy/ adventure story for girls that doesn't suck! Why can't the American comic book companies learn from this?"
...And yet at the risk of being repetitive, I can't help but ask the same question. What are you thinking, American comic books? Don't you realize girls represent half the population? Wouldn't you like to get just a little bit of that market?
Recently I've been probably spending more time than is good for me reading the musings of former comic book insider and female comic book geek "Occasional Superheroine". And one of her frequent complaints is the way American comic book companies completely write off or ignore female fans in an effort to make comic books pure male adolescent fantasy domain. I couldn't help but think of her blog as I watched this series.
Link of the Day
Shades of 1976
No such thing as reading too much "Superheroine." DC is pissing away its future by ignoring her. My daughters (11 and 9) would be dyed-in-the-wool DC readers if they just ditched the thong-based costumes and injected a little gender intelligence into their scripts. They actually prefer DC stories circa late 70s, early 80s. They'll pick up the stuff I bring home from my bi-monthly comic store forays. But when my 9 year old thinks her intelligence is being insulted, DC should know it's in a crisis much larger than the one they're cooking up. Killing off one of "The Big Three" ain't gonna help 'em out of this one!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to delve into the anime realm, but you're right, there's a lot out there. I think the main difference between the comic book communities in Japan and America is that EVERYONE reads comic books here and they're more like picture novels than comic books. On the downside, few people read novels here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid I loved Tranzor Z ("majinga zed" in Japanese) but I don't know if it'd still be interesting now that I'm all grown up. The female robot that fought the giant monsters could shoot breast rockets. She could only shoot twice until they gave her unlimited rockets later in the series. That probably wouldn't go over so well with parents these days!