Review of Aoi Bungaku Series ~ Ningen Shikaku (Eps 1 to 4)

It's been ages since I last posted a review and this marks the first in 2010. I've been neglecting this blog for so long and it's time to get things going again. For the past 1 or 2 years, I've not had the urge or interest to check out the newer animes because the genres tend not to be my cup of tea. I think the last series which I followed faithfully was Higashi no Eden but that was kinda disappointing at the end.

As such, getting started on the Aoi Bungaku series was a step back into the anime world for me. Based on the fact the anime is based on the signature works from some of the best Japanese authors, I was assured that the story wouldn't be too bad. Coupled with the fact that Sakai Masato was chosen as the navigator and main voice actor for the series, it gave me a boost of confidence about the quality of the series. People who have seen his dramas and movies would probably agree that this guy can act. Of course, voice-acting is different and more challenging because we can't see the voice actor's facial expressions. However, this also shows us the depth of acting one can achieve just by relying on the voice. In addition, looking at the cast list which consists of many notable names in the seiyuu world like Park Romi and Noto Mamiko so this series did looked like a sure-win on paper.

After finishing the first story Ningen Shikaku which spans four episodes, I'm impressed.

Ningen Shikaku was written in 1948 by Dazai Osamu and is one of his signature works. The novel was actually released in three parts and just before the final installment was published, Dazai committed suicide with his lover. As such, this novel was seen as a suicide note by him. In addition, as there were some parts of the story which seemed to reflect Dazai's real life e.g. the names of the women whom he was involved in appeared as women in the lead character Youzou's life, there was talk that Dazai was potraying his own life through Youzou.

As the general atmosphere in the story was rather gloomy and pessimistic, the colour scheme in this anime wouldn't be considered vivid or impressive given today's standards. I can accept that since this is consistent with the storyline. If you are looking for light entertainment, you might want to give this a miss. Another point to note is that whenever I look at Youzou, I'm reminded of Yagami Light in Death Note. I guess this is largely due to the fact that the revised version of the novel has a brand new cover drawn by Obata Takeshi thus the resemblance is striking.

The story weighs heavily on the viewer because Youzou's life is simply like a tragedy played out before your eyes. Although he was born into a rich family, being sexually abused by his caregivers made his personality twisted. Coupled with his father's expectations, he was forced to retreat behind a socially-acceptable but unreal facade which he had to create in order for him to live on. He started to put on a pretence before people and gradually found it difficult to show his true self. He was constantly haunted by his past and he could never find a way to break free other than drift along in life. Coupled with the fact that he didn't have anyone to accept him for who he was, Youzou suffered. Time after time, just when he thought he had got over a hurdle, another challenge came his way. It was as if he was trapped in a maze and could never find a way out. However, when you come to think of it, Youzou didn't really try to do anything to get out. He was merely riding on the kindness that people showered on him and when things went awry, he started to blame everyone except himself.

I like Sakai Masato's potrayal of Youzou especially in the first two episodes. Without even looking at his facial expressions or what Youzou was doing on screen, the despondent and resigned attitude showed through Sakai's voice. It does bring out the sadness in Youzou's life. This has made me more excited to see how he will potray the other roles for the remaining stories. On the other hand, I thought the BGM and ending theme were quite lacking so I was a bit disappointed about that.

On the whole, this anime shows a lot of promise and I hope the other stories will be handled as well, if not better than what Ningen Shikaku had displayed. At the very least, the anime has sparked my interest in trying to find the novel so it is considered successful in this sense.