Aoi Bungaku Series ~ Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita (Eps 5 & 6)

As I had never heard of this story nor the author Sakaguchi Ango prior to the production of the Aoi Bungaku series, I had no prior expectations about it. This could be good in a sense because I won't be prejudiced against the presentation of the story. However, right from the first three minutes or so, I already felt that this story didn't interest me. Or should I say handled really badly. Although it got better at several points, I still felt that the story left a bad aftertaste.

Compared to Ningen Shikaku, I find myself getting really irritated with this story at many junctures even though it spanned two episodes only. First of all, the character design got me riled up. From the very refined and detailed drawings in Ningen Shikaku, the drawings of the scene and characters are so coarse as if this anime was produced many years ago when technology wasn't that advanced yet. I do not know whether this is supposed to be the drawing style of Kubo Tite (the author of BLEACH) but this style certainly doesn't go down well with me. At the very beginning, it felt as if I was watching the chibi version of an anime. The first few scenes were terribly done and simply set things off on the wrong foot. It's kinda stupid to see Shigemaru fighting in such a manner with the man whom he robbed.

In addition, humour was also added in at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The story is supposed to be set in the 12th century but what's with the IPod and mobile phone camera jokes? If the producers wanted to make the viewers laugh, I'm afraid those jokes were pretty lame. In fact, it spoilt the mood which was building up especially for that part when Shigemaru was lamenting his inability to cope with living in the city. Another eyesore was the sudden fighting scene where Shigemaru's wife, Shoko charged towards him as if she really wanted to kill him. That was really dumb because it failed to add anything substantial to the story.

A lot of detail and effort was put into those scenes when Shoko was singing. I'm sure those background visuals took a long time to produce. However, I didn't really like those scenes and wished that they could end earlier. I didn't know that Mizuki Nana was the VA behind this character though as I couldn't recognise her voice. Nonetheless, I thought her potrayal of the role was pretty good although I thought singing was seriously not warranted for the story to progress. It's not so much to do with whether her singing was good. To think that there were so many songs in just two episodes! The time could have been spent in a better manner.

This time round, I thought Sakai Masato didn't do well. Frankly speaking, a lot of Shigemaru's emotions were not depicted in such a way that it will leave an impact on the viewer. The limited scope of the character development coupled with the fact that he had to do some of those jokes which I mentioned earlier made it difficult for me to like his potrayal of the role this time. He is just not suited for showing the violent, crude or corny sides of Shigemaru. As such, I think it's better for him to steer clear of such "twisted" roles which require him to balance gyagu with the serious stuff.

As this story isn't straightforward (in terms of relaying its message), I would have preferred spending more time trying to understand what the author was trying to convey rather than seeing senseless pranks. Actually, right till the end, I was kind of puzzled as to what the story was driving at but after thinking through for a while, here are my conclusions and views about the various parts of the story:

1) Why Shigemaru was scared of the sakura tree and why he moved to the city
Unlike the modern era when people marvel at the marvellous sights of sakura in full bloom, the sakura tree was viewed with awe and fear at the same time. People loved the beauty of the sakura tree but they were also scared since there was a common belief that the sakura tree was masked in some mysterious veil unknown to them. This could be why Shigemaru was so scared of the tree. Then again, why did he keep going to see the tree despite his fear? This seems to reflect human nature. Sometimes, we know that someting is wrong and yet we still go ahead to do it. Likewise, Shigemaru knew he wasn't suited for city life yet he was tempted by Shoko's description of that unknown place. People are all curious and greedy but sometimes, when something is not suitable for us, we still hang on to it. I get the feeling that this could be the main message in the entire story.

Although I am not convinced that there is anything in the city which is so important to Shoko that she wanted so much to return there, I think it could be partly due to her desire for control. In the mountains, she was totally reliant on Shigemaru for her survival. However, in the city, she took on the role of a master. Shigemaru's inability to adapt to a change in environment switched the tables this time. And since Shoko isn't the typical traditional type of Japanese woman depicted in that era, it is of no surprise that she wants to do something unlike the norm i.e. controlling her man instead of letting him call the shots.

2) Why Shoko told Shigemaru to kill his wives
Actually, I didn't know the woman's name until I checked the official website. Either they did not mention her name at all or I was not paying attention. Anyway, on the surface, it may seem like jealousy. However, I think Shoko's motive for doing this wasn't so much of wanting sole attention from Shigemaru. She knew that he was already eating out of her hand when she wanted him to find that hairpin and carry her back home. No matter what she said, he would listen. Or I should put it this way, he would fall for her bait whenever she taunted him. I feel that Shoko's reaction of disdain when she saw the wives was because she felt that the wives were in a lower class than her. She didn't think that they deserved to be living in the same place with her especially when she saw people who were dressed shabbily, looking unhygenic and behaved rudely. Her princess complex was probably what drove Shoko to instigate Shigemaru to kill.

3) Whether Shoko was a ghost
I'm inclined towards the view that she wasn't a ghost. Shigemaru might have been hallucinating when he was standing below the sakura tree thus he killed Shoko. In any case, Shigemaru's obsession with the sakura tree was the primary driving factor for his life which had gone awry. Coupled with the fact that he had been suppressing himself so much when he was in the city, the sakura tree or rather his imagination took over and caused him to kill Shoko. Maybe deep down in his mind, he feels that Shoko is the biggest cause for his unhappiness. And the sakura tree was merely the trigger for the explosion of his emotions.

4) Why Shoko left a note saying that she would be back soon
Shoko was very confident that Shigemaru would listen to her. She had absolutely no intention to return to the mountains because that wasn't what she wanted. She pretended to be understanding towards Shigemaru and expected that he would be persuaded to return to the city with her. However, her biggest problem was that she underestimated Shigemaru. She expected that Shigemaru would not be able to live without her but in fact, I feel that she's the one who cannot live without him. She needed Shigemaru to bring back the heads for her pleasure. That was why she bothered to pacify him. If Shigemaru was totally useless to her, Shoko would have let him go when he wanted to go back to the mountains. And this in turn resulted in her murder.

I'm very disappointed with the presentation of this story especially when I contrast it with what Ningen Shikkaku had to offer. I can only hope that the remaining stories will turn out well and not fall short of expectations given their reputation as literature classics.