Aoi Bungaku Series

"Masterpieces are blue", says the man at the start of every episode. Blue, because the color represents tragedy and sadness, and that's certainly what this is about, as every character in their arc experiences hard moments in his or her life, which they overcome or not. A terrific anime with beautiful art and well-adapted stories of classic Japanese authors and every single one of them interesting. I believe some may not like it due to the negative vibe the anime shows, during literally every arc. Yes, the anime is not one of those you watch sitting and laughing in front of your TV or monitor, which isone of the factors that makes it enjoyable for some, for me as well. It doesn't have many flaws and easily it's one of the best of the fall '09 season. The only thing I don't like about it is using the same seiyuu for almost every main character in every arc, but on the other hand - it's an amazing voice.

One thing I have learned after finishing this series, that the world and its society is a one cruel place full with violence, madness, and betrayal, or in the other hand, overpowered by those with the authority. Story: 9/10 The Anime itself is divided into 6 different famous Japanese literatures made by famous authors from the past and all of the arcs has no connection with the others, but don't let this make you down because those 6 literatures sure were masterpieces indeed. You may prefer some arcs over the others, but overall it was a roller coaster full of emotions. One has to think deeper toget the full and real meaning of each arc, or as an english teacher would say, you need to think outside the box. You wouldn't really expect what to happen next since it's like a train of irony. You will be left with awe once you finish a certain arc. You will most likely doubt your own instincts since at first you'll be like "ah he's a bad guy", but then later on you'll be like, "wtf I was wrong." Art: 10/10 If I can give a number higher than 10, then I would gladly choose that number as Aoi Bungaku's art was a hell of a masterpiece. The art was one of the parts why this show was awesome. The art gave the Anime a mysterious atmosphere and in some part, creepy. Heck, I would be glad if all Anime were drawn like this. Sound: 9/10 You get different sounds in each arc. The background music that they play when a certain creepy event is happening was so good that it'll make either your eyes closed or wide open, if you're a masochist. Also, when emotional parts strike, the background music really helped to make a viewer sad or cry. Character: 10/10 6 different arcs, which mean a lot of new characters. In each arc, you get awesome characters, and by awesome I mean characters surrounded with mystery and such. You wouldn't expect that character would do that to other character such. Also, 2 of the mains in 2 arcs looked like Light from Death Note. :D Plus, you get a 3d guy in every beginning of an episode. Where can you see an Anime with 3d people on!? Enjoyment: 10/10 Pretty much enjoyed the entire series. There are 6 arcs so normally, one would prefer one over the other. Overall, it was really good. Superb, I must say. Overall: 10/10 I would frankly say that this is the first Anime I've seen with a different type of storytelling so I'm going to give this a 10. It was very unique. You can't help it but fall in love with the arcs although in some cases, you will most likely hate some of the arcs before you prefer the previous one and wanted that arc to be longer.

Overview: If you have never heard of Aoi Bungaku, don't be ashamed. It is NOT a well known series at all. This is unfortunate, because in both popularity and rating it is one of the most criminally underrated anime on all of MAL. What makes this anime good? I will try to do it some justice and explain. Story: 10/10 Aoi Bungaku is an anthology of stories taken from classic Japanese literature. The most famous of the stories featured is the short novel "No Longer Human" which is covered in episodes 1-4. The story is about a tortured young artist who as a child was sexually abusedby his maid and emotionally abused by his politician father. As a result, the narrator feels alienated from society and never reveals his true emotions to others. He wears a mask until he becomes hollow and dead inside and no longer considers himself human. He meets a girl who is also suffering from great sadness and they decide to commit suicide together in scenic Kamakura. This is one of the most famous of all Japanese stories, so perhaps it helps explain why so many damn anime take place in Kamakura. She dies during the suicide, but the narrator survives and is haunted by guilt over her death. He attempts to live as a normal human, but the guilt always follows him. When he finally meets another woman that basically makes him feel normal, he discovers that she has been sleeping with his boss in order to keep him employed. The narrator has a complete psychological breakdown and wanders off into the snow, already showing signs of advanced tuberculosis. The stories are masterfully adapted and help capture the psychology, emotion, and philosophy of the originals, even if some of the stories stray a little in terms of plot. At the beginning of each episode, a narrator also helps by explaining certain aspects along with interesting facts about the author of each story. Art: 10/10 The art is absolutely beautiful in this series and the animation changes to fit the tone of each story. The colors and shades are dark in the first tale due to the depressing nature, while they are bright and vibrant during the fairy tail adaptations in episodes 11 and 12. Studio Madhouse is a very excellent animation studio and they are really at their best with this one. Enjoyment: 10/10 Each story is well adapted and has a different style and flavor of its own. This keeps things interesting and fresh. If you are a fan of classic literature, than you will probably have fun with this one. Overall: 10/10 People praise series like Tatami Galaxy and Mushishi for being artistic, deep, true masterpieces of anime that abandon obnoxious anime cliches and have all the dignity of true art. This series fits that description at least as well, but has a measly 8/10 while those 2 series both have a 9/10. This is sad since I personally felt that the first 4 episodes of Aoi Bungaku beat the shit out of any of the Mushishi episodes and can match in quality anything from Tatami Galaxy. I'm not just giving this series a 10/10 because it is an adaptation of a classic. Gankutsuou tried to adapt a classic and fell right on its face. I'm giving it a 10/10 because it is a GOOD adaptation of a classic that has real depth and artistic value without coming across as annoyingly pretentious. That is really hard to accomplish, yet Aoi Bungaku pulls it off with grace and style!

As a huge fan of the psychological (mostly thriller) genre, this anime was a diamond in the rough. I have not seen a series that did so well in presenting and going through human psychology. Not only that but, Aoi Bungaku also takes a look at issues involving human morality. The whole series consists of 6 works of fiction from Japanese authors. On the surface the idea sounds dull as it relates with classic Japanese literature, which as we’ve seen in multiple school SoL anime, are apparently a bore to read. Though I don’t know what the original pieces ofwork were like, I can say without a doubt that this adaptation turns these suggested ‘boring’ pieces of literature into something very interesting that will open your mind to a different perspective on human psychology and morality. Art/Animation: I’m not a huge expert on art, or animation for that matter (only expertise I have is grade 9 art). But, even an amateur can tell that this series does a very nice job in changing its colour tones for each story. Some of the darker stories such as No Longer Human and Hell Screen had a much darker tone and much darker colours as compared to In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom which had a more colourful palette in its creation. These tones were the most prominent thing to me visually. The character design was also very solid and matched the character personalities to a tee. General art work and backgrounds were also very solid. Sound: There are no openings for this anime as almost each episode is instead started off with a narration, explaining the story, its background, and a little bit about the author. I find this refreshing and unique as it gives you very useful information before heading into the story. There is not much music playing in the background in the anime, especially when there is dialogue. But, in the few instances where there is a musical score in the background, it matches the tone of the series very well. The first series, No Longer Human, had much more dramatic and eerie music playing, in contrast to Kokoro which had more poppy SoL type music playing. The OST for each series represented what type of setting/genre the story was placed in. Characters: This section is hard because there are a lot of characters and in some stories they’re main focus while in others they are not that important. In fact, most of the stories focus more on the themes and the message of the story than the characters. Because of the nature of this series, I will not do a character review section. Story/Plot: Aoi Bungaku has a variety of 6 different stories, each conveying their own message and having their own meaning. All of them are unique and interesting and I didn’t find any of them to be below average. I will do a rundown of my thoughts on each one. -No Longer Human: The first piece of literature to be shown in the anime is in my eyes, the best one. No Longer Human shows the life of a man, named Yozo Oba, who has lost all hope in his humanity and, for the most part, life. It shows the inner thought process of a man on the verge of suicide, as he is disowned by his father for following his dreams. You see how he hits rock bottom due to the traumas of his past actions and childhood horrors. The author does a great job of delving into human psychology as it is shown how and why Yozo has completely lost faith in himself as a human. The piece not only shows how sensitive and powerless we really are as humans, but also how society can make us this way with its generalized standards. -In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom: This story is much more basic in comparison to the first. It tells the story of a bandit who falls in love with a mysterious yet beautiful woman and how he does anything for her. I feel this is one of the weaker stories as it doesn’t really convey a message of deeper meaning. Instead, it just shows how easily humans can be manipulated and used; the comedy also doesn’t really help or fit in. -Kokoro: Kokoro is another great adaptation, but goes towards a more slice of life feel as opposed to the rest of the stories. The plot in this one is basically, without spoiling too much, about a love triangle. Yes, on the surface it sounds very dull and out of place, but if you take a deeper look you can see that the story shows the struggles of suppressing human emotions and how understanding each other’s (very powerful) emotions can play a key role in life in general. On top of this, the story adds a twist by adding a second, non-canon, episode in the adaptation. This episode shows the importance of perspective and really makes you think about the situation differently. The episode shows the story in the perspective of what was deemed as the ‘antagonist/rival’ of the first episode. I found it a very unique and necessary part, and without it I feel the story would probably be much worse. -Run, Melos!: Run, Melos! was another not so great adaptation out of the bunch. Though it tells an interesting story about the importance of friendship, the message wasn’t very inspiring or new. The moral of the story was generic and mundane, thus I did not care much for this title. -Spider’s Thread: Spider’s Thread was an adaptation of a children’s book with a very basic and generic moral; it wasn’t very interesting as I have heard stories like it many times before except with a much lighter tone. -Hell Screen: This story is has a great message that could last forever and told in a very short and precise manner using the same type of fairy tale style setting as used in Spider’s Thread. The main point of the story was to show how art can fight oppression and help express many things. Hell Screen shows how influential art can be and how loud it can speak to someone. It also shows how a ruler having absolute power is corrupt and can ruin a nation. Overall: Aoi Bungaku is a great series of 6 short pieces of classic Japanese literature with some great themes explored in them. The art was very solid and added a certain tone that matched each story very well. The sound, though lacking, was nice and the background music, just like the art, gave life to the story and matched it very nicely. The stories were also a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of other shows out. Though not all of them were great in my eyes, they were still well done and each had a unique atmosphere to them; none of them were below average. The only major gripe that I had with the series that brings it down from getting a higher score is of course, the inconsistency. By that I mean the difference in the stories and how some were much better than others. Other than that, I feel Aoi Bungaku is one of the better anime I’ve seen even though it can be a bit hit and miss with so many different stories. Final Score: 8/10

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