Aoi Bungaku Series - Reviews

Madhouse is a studio that has received my respect based not only on its ability to dish out effectively entertaining gore (Ninja Scroll) but also because it has a high quality standard and used to have a prominent cooperation with genius Satoshi Kon. Lately I've discovered that it's a studio which also bothers to lend its creativity to less mainstream projects as well, with daring visual treats like Kaiba. I just finished Aoi Bungaku, a show based on six stories gathered from classic Japanese literature and I absolutely loved it. A studio that boldly applies a comparably huge budget to a project without otaku culture appeal deserves all the praise in the world. 

Story: 9/10

The quality does not reach its peak in the visual section, but in its narration. The reason behind my personal affection for compilations is that you get to enjoy several different stories where normally you'd get one. It just might turn into a risky ride if the creator is unable to craft something with such a minimal amount of time at hand, but there are instances where each story is able to mesmerize you without overstaying its welcome. This is such a case.

All the six chapters may differ fundamentally in quality, but they are all equipped with above average stories that usually choose to explore the darker aspects of humanity. A matter of importance, though, is that the last two episodes are heavily rushed in order to reach some sort of conclusion with only 1 episode each. Otherwise, each story takes its reasonable time to develop and ends up being a truly pleasant and well scripted watch.

Animation: 8.5/10

Compared to contemporary opponents, Aoi Bungaku radiates a visual brilliance and a clean front that's hard to compete with. It's obvious that its budget is a fair share higher than the standard one and it really pays off in frame after frame of awesomeness. Everything from character designs to backgrounds and movement is close to top notch and in the 11th episode we're even allowed to behold a surrealistically twisted version of hell that improves upon an otherwise mediocre plot.

Sound: 8/10

In all honesty, the soundtrack didn't grasp my attention too much. I noticed certain extremely effective scores during key moments in the plot but generally I was so mesmerized by the writing and storytelling that I fixed my concentration on that instead. What I did notice though is that the voice acting remained more than solid throughout the show. It's obvious that many characters are voiced by the same actor but it doesn't really matter as he does a great job in his portrayal of different personalities. 

Characters: 7/10

The anime is driven by its compelling storylines and splendid artistic approach, and that is more than enough to compensate for the almost inevitable fate of any compilation; character development cannot be featured a lot. Over the course of the 12 episodes many interesting characters come and go. However, in a few episodes later they need to leave the stage for new roles to rise and the time they get isn't enough for them to stand out as truly memorable.

The 11th episode is a chaotic mess in which a sociopath is introduced; his evil actions exposed, and finally his execution portrayed. We don't get any reason whatsoever for his psychopathic tendencies to begin with. This applies to several other characters that, despite being comprised of good cores, just aren't capable of going from good to spectacular.

8.2/10

I feel like I've failed to emphasize it enough, but I truly loved this anime. In fact, it's been a while that I saw something as good as this, and I'm not surprised to see it come from Madhouse. Each story is good in its own way, even if the last two fail to reach the quality of their predecessors. In a time where Moe and Ecchi seem to be the dominating forces in the industry, it's always nice to encounter anime like this one; inspired, psychological and dark. It also features a story titled "Run Melos!" that hovers dangerously close over what I'd call a masterpiece. 

 

From the order of Best to worst:

1. Run Melos!
2. No Longer Human
3. Kokoro 
4. Hell's Screen
5. In the Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom
6. The Spider's Thread 

(Note: I have no idea what to call the separated stories in this series so I am calling them "arches" even if I know that isn't the most proper word to describe them.)

Story: Aoi Bungaku Series is a compilation of multiple horror stories into one anime.  Thus, it is difficult to rate the story as a whole.  The first four episodes, which are all part of the same arche, are a 10 by themselves.  If all of the episodes had been that good this rating would be higher.  However, the second story arche was completely rediculous, in my opinion.  The entire style changed to become more silly.  The rest of the stories were well done but did not measure up to the first four episodes.  However, the rest of them were ultimately high quality, except for a couple of arches which I felt were too short.

Animation:  In a word, "Excellent."  There were some truely facinating scenes that sometimes came off as trippy but always intriguing.

Sound:  I really enjoyed the themes.  I thought they were all very telling about the show.  The voice actors did an excellent job.  None of them stood out to me as being really awful.

Characters:  Some of the characters were stronger than others.  Yozo is a deep and facinating character.  He is a truely disturbed person and (as the audience) I was always questioning wether his problems were supernatural or psychological, which I found intriguing.  Shigemaru came off as a bit rediculous  and underdeveloped (then again, this was the only arche I truely disliked.)  K and Sensei were two very excellent characters.  This arche is told from both there perspectives and this made it easier to empathize with both of them.  Takada was an intriguing character, but I was left thinking he could have been developed more.  Kandata was such an interesting character to watch.  I think he would have been my favorite character in the show if his arche wasn't so short!  I feel like they wasted a great character with him.  Yoshihide was an interesting character, but I don't feel like some of his actions are explained well enough and I was left a little confused.

It is an intriguing show.  I definately recommend watching it if your in the mood for something very psychological and quite bizarre

This is a series of four stories taken from classical Japanese Literature. There is a commentator we see at the beginning of episode three who introduces the authors and presents the philosophical theme for each story.

Story

No Longer Human

How does a human live?

It’s a useless attempt anyway ? Why?

This work represents the author and his inability to be able to ‘get along’ with people. There is a certain malaise attached to the main character who believes, for one reason or another that he is not human. The reasons behind this belief are explained, explored and looked at. The character is really his own worst enemy, making choices that put him in very bad places, only for him to bemoan his existence.  You see him create an almost perpetual cycle of bad to worse situations, he knows he is doing it and never does anything about it. At some point you learn he only feels behooved on to a better path if he is inspired by someone else.

My favorite lines “Why are women so nice to me?” and “because the world is not so nice to women.”

Story Two

In the Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom

People descending into decadence

By doing so they discover themselves and reach salvation

If you want something, say you want it and if you hate something, say you hate it

(I have actually seen drama and anime, including Darker than Black use this line)

I liked this. After the dark and somber if not isolationist tone from No Longer Human we get bright colors and a gag here and there. The first ‘gag’ actually threw me off for a minute, however I am glad they put it in there. This story could have been terrifying. However it was presented in an upbeat sarcastic way, so that only later, when you think about it (if you do think about it) then unease creeps up on you.  This story was a lot of fun to watch and for the most part I could only shake my head at the folly of the main character. For me, the ending was a bit unexpected in more than one way and I was all the more pleased for it.

Story Three

Kororo

Enraged by the egoism and morals of humans

Or perhaps lack of morals?

Again we have bright colors and it starts off cheerful enough, but the characters are swallowed in duplicity and jealousy and guilt. At the end, there are things you are left pondering.

That is ok (it’s really not) because there is a continuation that was not in the original book.  I was a bit confused after I watched it so I looked it up to see if I had misunderstood something. The original author had nothing to do with this story. I think it’s glaringly obvious. Also at the end of this you can’t help but wonder if the main character and his friend are ‘pawns’ which of course reverses the entire theme of guilt and betrayal as presented in the first story.  Episode 8 is the only one I would actually chunk. It’s horrible.

Story Four

Run Melos

Is it more painful to wait or to make someone wait?

The first story was also written by Dazai Osamu, and this, another one of his works is presented again with a mostly dark and lonely backdrop.  I have a few mild questions in regards to the main character’s issue… and why he never resolved it earlier, but I guess if he did, there wouldn’t be such a story. Other than that we are going toward the theme of betrayal yet again, but in a totally different way and somehow, even though Osamu is the one that asked the above question, he crafts a clear picture that it is worse for the one who waits.

Characters: even though we only have four stories, mostly with two episodes each, we are able to see a full fleshed out character. I didn’t feel like any of them where ‘just there’ of ‘filler space’ except for the few who were, but that isn’t a big deal since they were appropriately done.

Animation - it was a higher quality than I had initially expected.

Sound: the background scors were apropriately supportive. Unless it was supposed to stand out, it didn't. The voice actors were great - no complaints.

Overall

This is a look into classic literature and it is well executed, I genuinely enjoyed the series and will someday watch it again.

Aoi Bungaku was a series which I knew nothing going into other than that it was short stories in anime form. It passed all expectations I had forged and has proven itself a must watch, well rounded in all categories.

 

Story

Aoi is made up of several short stories spanning 12 episodes. I will give a review of them each individually though I must say that even the order in which these stories are placed is excellent. The first is an intense and heavy, nearly smothering experience which is followed by a story which begins much more lighthearted. Then a brilliant psychological but not lighthearted or overwhelmingly dark stimulates the brain. The last four episodes are different but just as visually appealing as the rest of the series which makes for a good wind down.

 

The first story "No Longer Human" is a brilliant piece. It follows a young man who can only view himself as a monster, but craves to be human. All the characters in these four episodes are excellently woven in, either to love or to hate them. If you are unable to sympathize with the character then this may not be the best story, and I confess there are a few scenes I would have omitted or changed to make everything more believable/watchable.

In the woods was one of my least favorite arcs in the series my first viewing. However the second time around I realized that it really wasn't awful. I enjoyed the comical aspects of these two episodes, an element that is not present in any other stories, which not only works here but is used to display elements of the plot.

Kokoro is genius and by far my favorite two episodes from Aoi. Each episode of the story is a different mans perspective on the same set of events. It is incredibly interesting to see how the same moment can be interpreted so differently and it leaves you to figure out exactly what happened! When I think of Aoi this is the story which comes to mind.

Run Melos is the weakest of the stories in Aoi. It is unfortunate as I very much enjoyed the narrative, which is split between a man's reality/memories and a play, used to tell two different but very similar stories. The extreme issue with this story is that the man's reality makes no sense. It is hard to explain without spoilers, but essentially he displaced himself due to a lie of a friend and proceeded to live in depression in Tokyo when he could have very easily just taken a train back. Not to mention the friends lie makes no sense and he could have achieved what he did in a much more logical manner.

The final stories, Spiders thread and Hell screen are not as thought provoking or interesting as much of the other tales. Both take place in the same universe but are separate stories. As it stands alone, Spiders Thread is enjoyable if you just appreciate the animation and the vulgarity of the main character. Hell Screen is ok, but the characters behave in such unbelievable ways I ended up just being able to appreciate the art.

 

Animation/Sound:

The animation is varied and brilliant. The distinct art from the different stories reminds you it is a different story and keeps it very fresh, so you really don't feel any attachment between any of the unrelated stories. The soundtrack is brilliant and never failed to set the mood. The voice actors also do a good job especially considering one actor voices several different stories!

Characters:

The main problem with most the characters in Aoi are that they are not given time to develop. The final two episodes feature such basic characters due to the fact they don't even have an episode to develop.

Yozo in No Longer Human is a character who suffers from time being spent on his development poorly. Half the time we see his ugly monster drawing following him around which doesn't actually serve as good character growth. Had there been more substance to his inclination to be emo he would have fit better in the awesome atmosphere of the episode and tone.

Kokoro's cast is brilliant however and by far the greatest gem of the series. The characters are interesting and multifaceted and create a story to which you must pay attention to grab all the details.

Run Melos' characters are terrible. They behave irrationally as I stated before, and when they act over emotional as a result of occurrences which make no sense it creates a wholly terrible experience.

Overall

For what it is, Aoi Bungaku is brilliant. It makes me wish there were more short story series out, as what I enjoyed in it I enjoyed very much. Other than the Melos arc even the underdeveloped stories fit into place, as enjoyable albeit not profound diversions. If you are looking for an anime and haven't seen this it is a MUST that you check it out, and at least give all the stories a chance.

Story [8.5/10]

Aoi Bungaku Series is a complication of stories involving psychological, deep stories written in books and then portrayed in this anime. I'm not surprized there are so few reviews about this anime, it's very difficult to say anything about it that will be worthwhile critique. Aoi Bangaku's stories are very strong because they select one or two themes, sometimes a few and examine them. Nothing really gets in the way of that, we get a solid and interrupted examination of friendship, egotism, ambition and much more. It's true you can probably get more from these stories than just that but it's not like other anime. Psychological thrillers of anime are the only anime to really give unique and powerful meaning to their stories, that is the main reason why I watch them. Are you sick of all these overly cautious animes care so much about what the audience thinks of them that they refuse to do anything that would portray "how the genre should play itself out". It seems like too many animes have rules, it's a taboo to break them and they're too scared to do anything interesting. This leads to predictable, boring anime that you watch because they have some nice aspects. Those nice aspects feel like they're only there because they expect you to like them! They're designed around the very idea that the audience is just a machine that only accepts the regular and well-recieved but explodes if you give it something different. Then someone does something unprecedented and unique that is finally interesting and I cheer and say this anime's success will surely encourage more people to step outside the box a little! But nope... Aoi Bungaku doesn't give a shit about what you think about it. Fan service barely exists in this anime and that's what makes it special. These stories are great, interesting and challenging and while I won't say much about the stories themselves I recommend watching this anime just for that reason alone.

Animation [10/10]

As though the story wasn't enough, MADHOUSE is easily my favourite studio but this was amazing even for them. It was realistic when it needed to be and ignored realism when it needed to. It's arguable that because they couldn't do too much with the stories themselves they focused on making their job to portray it beautifully. The animation is just spectacular and is perfectly used in this anime, they don't just ignore the film making techniques that most anime neglect. I always get annoyed that studios don't consider what has already been learned in regular films, use lighting and "special effects" in the same way they do and it will work despite the different medium.

I won't get advanced and rather just say, many people rate in different ways, Sheex who is a site reviewer to my knowledge has never given a perfect score because thats how he does it. For my ratings I give them by comparing them to the other anime that i've viewed + my own little scale. 10/10 means it's the best use of animation i've ever seen in an anime. If I decide that a different anime has better animation then I will rate it as 10/10, but I won't degrade this one. Animes don't have to compare with animes developed in the future, if they don't become better then that's depressing, they only compete with ones made in the past.

Sound [8.5/10]

I don't like repeating myself but the sound was amazing too, I feel as though they didn't have to worry as much about the story perhaps because it would have been rude to change them. I won't worry about that but the sound fit very well for the story line and while it was ambitious and powerful, it didn't get in the way of the story telling. I feel like sometimes the OST is a bit timid, it's nice to see a powerful OST.

Characters [8/10]

There were a lot of characters, they were used perfectly, in essence, but not all of them were that interesting and so they will get 8/10. By examining the themes so thoroughly it was clear that these stories had to be plot-based. Characters were used as mere pawns to allow the story line to work. They represented who they needed to in order for the story to work and if they extened further then it would have gotten in the way. It feels strange to compare anime to the books on which they were based but I'll do it anyway. Anime has a strong tendency to make characters the focus of the anime. Whether that be because they focus too much on the merchandise (it seems in Japan they're used in advertisements and etc, more than I expected). Still many characters become more important than the themes they are representing, so they betray them as some kind of fan service which really annoys me. It's still hard to give a plot-based anime a higher score than 8/10, particuarly when it was a complication of stories. I do not think that these were just randomly chosen out of their popularity in Japan, they fit together too well.

That means that I feel there's no reason to deal with each one seperately (and it was done by others that did a better job than I could). Each one had that same feel, but I will say that some characters were more strong than others, particuarly in the longer anime it was easier to identify with them. 8/10 feels a little mean but many of them were just to easy to forget about. It's very hard to rate because I do my ratings as comparisons but most anime run much longer than 4 episodes.

Overall [8.6/10]

Aoi Bungaki Series was a great anime which performed in every section very well, although it's hard to rate I can say one thing for sure. There is no anime that can compare in terms of complexity and maturity, if there is then it is avoiding me with great effectiveness because i've been searching for it. MADHOUSE certainly lives up to it's reputation and it wouldn't be fitting if the most mature anime wasn't made by them in my opinion, there's no one else like them really. Aoi Bungaki Series and Death Note are rare breeds that actually prize their themes and plot over their characters and still care about the animation. That's really saying something because their characters were amazing despite it. I've seen so many animes recommended to people because they are similar to Death Note, but that's the shounen part of Death Note.

I really feel like I can finally recommend an anime to people who enjoyed Death Note for it's maturity, complexity and intelligent work. That anime is Aoi Bungaku Series, so please watch and enjoy.