In Defense of the Gyagu

    One of my all time favorite genre's is the raucous styling of gag manga.  Largely joke driven instead of plot driven, many times yonkoma formatting and just indecipherable for those not in the know.  Many times the artwork is crude, either to enhance the absurdist nature of whats being presented or because the author is a far better jokester than artist.  Out of all of the genres of manga or anime that see distribution in North America, it may be one of the hardest types to sell, perhaps similar to the difficulty of sports stories to gain traction.

    There are some well regarded titles that sit firmly in the gag camp, Gintama, Nichijou, Lucky Star, etc.  Yet the titles generally have a hard time finding large audiences especially with audiences that are looking for something familiar and/or story driven.  I have long been a fan of the genre, eagerly seeking out the bizarre titles that no licensing firm would ever contemplate bringing to America.  Titles like the fantastic Gag Manga Biyori or Super Radical Gag Family.  America has its own history of absurdist humor and what amounts to sketch comedy.  Its not difficult to make connections between Saturday Night Live and Gag Manga Biyori.  They both deliver short, self contained concepts who's sole intent is to deliver a punchline.  Some gag manga is difficult for Westerners to approach because of the localized nature of the comedy.  This can be especially hard when the comedy is styled on the manzai form of stand up.

    I had initially started to write about my love for gag manga ten years ago and just sat on a partial script until finally scrapping it.  The week of this writing the Netflix exclusive American cartoon inspired by the card game Exploding Kittens premiered and I watched a few episodes of it.  I enjoyed it at first but then noticed a common pattern in American adult animation.  The need for the writers to force a plot in a single episode as a weak support system for the jokes that are the real focus of the writting.  What I enjoyed with the Exploding Kitten cartoon was the absurdist cringe humor peppered through out.  Unfortunately the bulk of each episode was consumed with trying to develop an unnecessary narrative that was both contained in the episode and could be expanded across a larger story.  I believe the product would have been far more satisfying to both the audience and I suspect the writing staff if it compartmentalized its self focusing on the jokes as the most important, in the way Robot Chicken does.

    Even the original source material, The Oatmeal, is self contained jokes and musing with zero over all plot of connectivity.  Yet the choice was made to follow the formula used in all manner of adult cartoons designed for Adult Swim and it turned into something that was an imitation of those other show sprinkling with some amusing biting commentary.  It could have been some much more if it hadn't fallen victim to forced expectations instead of relying purely on the strength of the joke writing.  I have a similar opinion on the Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy films.  Both of those series have no need for a structured plot as the joy of the movies is the absurd interactions between the characters.  Trying to force in a grander story or message only gets in the way of the joy.

    Gag manga is a hard sell, even if there are a number of well received titles that have found homes in North America.  It doesn't usually get the attention that other more exciting genres get so large portions of the fan base shy away from something that is so different than they are familiar with.  But all it takes is to find that one title that scratches an itch that's never been scratched before to make someone a believer.

    In conclusion I think my gravitation towards gag manga and anime was laid down as a young child, growing up on sketch comedy like SNL, Monty Python and SCTV.  I'm of the opinion that the greatest comedy movie ever made is The Jerk and its story barely does anything other than to set up all of the jokes.  There is so much gag manga out there that is difficult to get into because of how obtuse the jokes are if you're not familiar with the medium, that and some legitimate cultural differences.  But honestly, thumb through a copy of Life Lessons With Uramichi-oniisan and tell me you didn't laugh.

Look Back

 Look Back (ルックバック) is a dramatic slice of life movie based on the manga of the same name by Fujimoto Tatsuki.  The movie was originally released in theaters in 2024.

 Spoiler Warning: In order to properly discuss the film plot points will need to be somewhat spoiled.  Please be aware of this before you continue.

    Fujino Ayumu draws the 4-panel manga for her school weekly newsletter.  The praises of her efforts by the other students and her teachers carry her through her days.  She sits confidently on top of the world through her artwork.  Another student begins to submit 4-panel manga for the newsletter as well, a girl who doesn't come to school named Kyomoto.  Fujino figures that a girl who can't even attend school on a regular basis might not be able to meet the weekly deadlines.  The first strip by Kyomoto completely devestates Fujino.  The shut in girls highly detailed creations offer a stark contrast to the juvenile nature of Fujino's artwork.  Everyone notices and in an instant her praise and admiration evaporate.  Bulking at the difference in ability, Fujino doubles down and consumes herself with studying art, feverish to improve her abilities.  Time slides by as she does nothing but study and practice, trying to surpass Kyomoto.  Her single minded focus causes her friends to grow distant and her grades to slip.  After so much effort and sacrifice she realizes she doesn't have the ability to surpass the other girl and decides one day to completely give up drawing manga.

    On the day of graduation from middle school her teacher tasks her with bringing Kyomoto her diploma.  Begrudgingly she does only to find her house lifeless.  She creeps in through the unlocked front door and sees piles upon piles of sketch books lining the hallway, to what she assumes is the other girls bedroom.  Angered by everything she grabs a strip of paper and jots down a quick manga, attacking the other girl.  A gust of wind slips the strip underneath the closed door, panicking, Fujino flees the house.  Kyomoto notices the art and realizes who the intruder is and rushes out after her.  The disheveled timid girl yells after Fujino as she briskly walks down the street.  That works and she stops, tuning to see her rival for the first time.  Kyomoto addresses her with admiration and respect, gushing about specific panels Fujino drew over the years that she loved.  When she asks her why she stopped drawing Fujino concocts a lie about changing her focus on creating a manga to submit for publishing.  Kyomoto begs for Fujino to let her read it.  Even though no such creation exists she tells her she will and leaves to return home, propelled by the admiration her rival pours upon her.

    Fujino returns to manga creation as she enters high school, crafting a concept to submit for publication, she decides to partner with Kyomoto, tapping into the other girls abilities.  To their complete surprise their creation is selected for a new artist contest and wins 2nd place.  The success gives them some money to use and a foot in to door to produce more works for the publishing company.  Through out high school the two girls feverishly produce short manga one after another, all getting published.  Kyomoto has dropped out of school, still unable to interact with other people very well and wanting to pursue art full time.  As graduation approaches their editor sets them up to begin a longer series for the magazine.  Kyomoto tells Fujino that she has to step away from the work.  She has a great desire to improve her art and to grow into a more productive member of society by forcing herself into social situations.  Fujino is upset with her decision, relying on her artwork and design input.  Fujino believes that she is all the other girl needs, that she can always lead her into the future.  Kyomoto is determined to improve herself both mentally and artistically and goes ahead with art school.  Meanwhile, Fujino pushes ahead with a serialized manga that gradually becomes successful and popular.  But her success brings problems as her reliance on assistants causes her extra work.  Her world shuts down when a rampage at the art college Kyomoto attends leads to the other girls death, along with many other students.  Fujino struggles to comprehend the loss and believes that the choices she made lead to her friends death.  The story ends with a quiet note of reflection and speculation on Fujino's part as she faces the world without her rival and friend.

    Fujimoto is known for his super natural shonen action hi Chainsaw Man, a series that has never interested me.  This however, has been on my mind since the first preview came out for it.  I absolutely love dramatic retrospective stories and this hits a lot of those beats.  I feel the message that we can take from this story is to appreciate the time we have with those around us as we have no control over how long that time is.  Nothing you can do will change things once they have happened, no matter how much wish crafting we do.  The story telling is poignant, precise and well paced for what it wants to say.  There is really no wasted time and the majority of it is the set up of the relationship between the two girls during their formative years, using a fantastic time lapse of them working on manga during high school.  That said, I still have no interest in Chainsaw Man...even if I can recognize some story telling skill on Fujimoto's end.  This however is well wroth the hour run time.

    A lot of people may bulk at the artwork, which is full 3DCG.  Its not clean or pretty by any definition of those words.  But it fits well with the characters and the story.  At times it felt like it was rotoscope like that found in Flowers of Evil.  With all the uncanny quirks with this style of animation, the production team showed off how it can be used effectively for framing and motion.  But in the end this is a no frills production that focuses more on the dialogue and exposition to tell the story and it does a really good job at that, a fantastic job.  This is a heavy movie that may not be for everyone but it doesn't make the subject material a spectacle.  It doesn't romanticize anything, choosing to be stark and bare in its emotions.  It's been a while since an anime kept me awake at night thinking about it.

The film is currently available in dub and sub on Amazon Prime.  I am going to need to pick up the manga to add to my collection. 

Returning to Ninja Scroll

 Ninja Scroll (獣兵衛忍風帖,) is an action movie from 1993 created by Kawajiri Yoshiaki.  The movie was originally made available in North America in 1995.

    Set in the 16th century, Kibagami Jubei is a wandering swordsman who finds himself wrapped up in a plot to over through the Tokugawa shogunate.  He encounters a beastly man in the middle of 'assaulting' a woman.  He doesn't enjoy the idea of forced anything and does what he can to help the woman out.  She however was helping herself out as well and with some quick thinking on both their part the monster is distracted enough for them to escape.  The woman introduces herself as Kagero, the sole survivor of a team of ninja's from the Koga clan, sent to investigate a strange rumor around a port village.  As the team came to investigate the stories of a plague wiping the village out the monstrous being attacked them, killing all of the men and kidnapping Kagero for some entertainment.  She parts ways with Jubei to return and report the tragedy to her master.  Jubei continues on his way only to be attacked by the same monster, a super naturally enhanced man going by the name Tessai.  His body is made of stone he towers above mortal men, at perhaps 3 meters in height and weilds a massive double ended...sword?  The battle seems lost to Jubei, he is a normal human with some tenacious abilities and sword handling.  Tessai's stone body suddenly begins to crumble, allowing Jubei's sword to do damage leading to the creatures downfall through his own weapon being uncontrollable.  

     A wizened man appears and gives the swordsman some details about what he just faced.  Tessai is a member of 8 demonic ninja's who are working for a shadow shogun, planning on over throwing the real shogun and restoring power to a different clan.  The old man is a Tokugawa spy and forces Jubei into helping him in his current mission.  A few years earlier Jubei was part of a ninja team who had uncovered an illegal gold mine.  In a series of unfortunate actions he was forced to kill all of the members of his team due to an order to try and hide the gold mines information from being leaked.  Jubei exacted revenge for his comrades by killing the man responsible for their death, a man named Gemma.  The old man informs him that Gem,ma still lives, after Jubei cut off his head, and is the leader of the demon ninjas who are protecting the gold mine.  The old man poisons Jubei and tells him he will receive the antidote once his investigation of the gold mine is completed, forcing the swordsman to face against the demon ninjas and a man he killed once before.  Kagero returns to the area after informing her master of the failure and arrives in time to save Jubei from another of the demon ninja, deciding to join him and the old man on their mission, looking to learn more and for a chance at revenge for her teams destruction.  The three venture into the heart of the beast, facing super naturally powered beings with their only goal being survival until the next day.

    Ninja Scroll was one of the most important and influential anime for American otaku in the 90's.  It was one movie that almost everyone who watched anime saw.  I have been meaning to re-watch this for a while now, as I have not seen it since the 90's.  I wanted to revisit it and see how my opinions of it have changed over the decades as anime and myself have changed drastically.  I ended up finally watching it when we chose to do a side quest episode for the Otaku Network Podcast around it.  I wanted to have David watch it and get his thoughts on it from the perspective of someone younger and much newer to anime fandom than myself.  Listen to that episode here for his, mine and a guest opinion on this 30+ year old samurai film.  I talked about it at length but wanted to also express that here with just my thoughts to focus on.

    Ninja Scroll is absolutely a product of its time, coming at the end end of a decade of decadence in anime production.  Through out the financial boom on the 80's a lot of risky anime was produced, stuff aimed for either direct to video or theatrical markets, unburdened by censorship.  Ninja Scroll came to light from a mutual love of Japanese period drama's and American action films and it shows.  There is a lot of visceral violence and degradation.  The story is shallow and linear, being little more than an excuse to have the character fight a series of bad guys.  My love for anime has fallen heavily into the slice of life and romance genres.  I am not impressed by rippling muscles and ultra violence like I was as a teenager.  I suspected for a while that I wouldn't have any lingering favorable opinions on this movie.  I was quite surprised that I still held a somewhat favorable opinion on the movie.  I have never been a fan of the character design and a lot of the artwork is simplistic, at least in its detail.  There are some well directed fight sequences and some moments of amazing cinematography.  The sexualization of its female characters is problematic and definitely a product of its time...even if there is still a problem with that in anime as a whole.  Ninja Scroll really is the feudal Japan answer to the 80's American action film.  Jubei, the stories hero, is an enviable and noble hero and strong man.  Able to over come any physical injury and situation to win in the end.  Yet he's also vulnerable, one aspect that's not present in 80's action films.  Outside of that 'flaw' of masculinity, he is just another action hero to make the male audience swoon with envy.  While it doesn't have a lot of merit as a piece of art, it is a well enough crafted action movie that it shouldn't really slip into the sands of time.  It's still worth checking out for new and old anime fans, unlike a lot of the iconic titles from that time period.  I don't plan on ever watching it again, ever.  There is no need.

For a long time this was widely available streaming.  But it's become scarce, I believe tied to a recent theatrical return and new blu ray release.