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Aoi Bungaku
is a twelve episode Japanese anime series featuring adaptations inspired by six short stories from Japanese literature. The six stories are adapted from classic Japanese tales. Happinet, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, McRAY, MTI, Threelight Holdings, Movic, and Visionare were involved in the production of the series. Character designs were provided by manga artists Takeshi Obata (#1–4, 7–8), Tite Kubo (#5–6, 11, 12) and Takeshi Konomi (#9–10). Stories adapted * ''No Longer Human'', by Osamu Dazai (episode 1–4): The path of a man with intense feelings of alienation towards society and the feeling of "humanity". * ''Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita'', by Ango Sakaguchi (episode 5–6): A forest bandit finds a beautiful maiden in the forest and takes her to be his wife, but she is more than she seems to be. * ''Kokoro'', by Natsume Sōseki (episode 7–8): A young man lives in Tokyo as a renter with a widow and her daughter. He invites his childhood friend to come live wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Longer Human
is a 1948 Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai. It is considered Dazai's masterpiece and ranks as the second-best selling novel ever in Japan, behind Natsume Sōseki's ''Kokoro''. The literal translation of the title, discussed by Donald Keene in his preface to the English translation, is "Disqualified From Being Human". The novel, narrated in first person, contains several elements which portray an autobiographical basis but is in fact categorized under the semi-autobiographical genre since the characters in the book are all fictional. The novel presents recurring themes in the author's life, including suicide, social alienation, and depression. Much like the protagonist Yōzō, Dazai attempted suicide a total of five times in his lifetime, with consorts, until ultimately succeeding in taking his own life with his lover at the time, a woman named Tomie Yamazaki. Many believe the book to have been his will, as Dazai took his own life shortly after the last part of the book (which had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tite Kubo
, known professionally as , is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He is best known for his manga series '' Bleach'' (2001–2016), which had over 130 million copies in circulation as of 2022. Biography Kubo was born on June 26, 1977, in Hiroshima Prefecture, where his father worked as a town council member. In elementary school, he had already decided to become a manga artist, due to reading the manga ''Saint Seiya''. His first one-shot was "Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine", written for the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1996. He wrote his first manga '' Zombiepowder'', which was also published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1999. It ran a short 27 chapters before being canceled in 2000. According to the author's commentary, Kubo was in a state of severe emotional trauma when he wrote it. Kubo later stated that he was not used to the magazine weekly serialization and used to pay more attention to his editor's comments rather than his own ideas. His next series, '' Bleach'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hell Screen
is a short story written by Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. It was a reworking of ''Uji Shūi Monogatari'' and originally published in 1918 as a serialization in two newspapers. It was later published in a collection of Akutagawa short stories, ''Akutagawa Ryūnosuke zenshū''. Translation "Hell Screen" was first translated into English by W.H.H. Norman in 1948, in his collection of Akutagawa short stories ''Hell Screen and Other Stories''. Numerous variant translations have followed, including the most recent one translated by Jay Rubin and published by Penguin Group. Plot overview "Hell Screen" is narrated by a mostly uninvolved servant who witnesses or hears of the events. The plot of "Hell Screen" centers on the artist Yoshihide. Yoshihide is considered “the greatest painter in the land”,Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. "Hell Screen." 1918. ''Rashōmon and 17 Other Stories''. Trans. Jay Rubin. New York City: Penguin Group, 2006. 3–9. and is often commissioned to create wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
, art name , was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He committed suicide at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital. Early life Ryūnosuke Akutagawa was born in Irifune, Kyōbashi, Tokyo City (present-day Akashi, Chūō, Tokyo), the eldest son of businessman Toshizō Niihara and his wife Fuku. His family owned a milk production business. His mother experienced a mental illness shortly after his birth, so he was adopted and raised by his maternal uncle, Dōshō Akutagawa, from whom he received the Akutagawa family name. He was interested in classical Chinese literature from an early age, as well as in the works of Mori Ōgai and Natsume Sōseki. He entered the First High School in 1910, developing relationships with classmates such as Kan Kikuchi, Kume Masao, Yūzō Yamamoto, and , all of whom would later become ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Spider's Thread
is a 1918 short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, first published in the children's magazine ''Akai Tori''. Plot summary Shakyamuni is meandering around Paradise one morning, when he stops at a lotus-filled pond. Between the lilies, he can see, through the crystal-clear waters, the depths of Hell. His eyes come to rest on one sinner in particular, by the name of Kandata. Kandata was a cold-hearted criminal, but had one good deed to his name: while walking through the forest one day, he decided not to kill a spider he was about to crush with his foot. Moved by this single act of compassion, the Buddha takes the silvery thread of a spider in Paradise and lowers it down into Hell. Down in Hell, the myriad sinners are struggling in the Pool of Blood, in total darkness save for the light glinting off the Mountain of Spikes, and in total silence save for the sighs of the damned. Kandata, looking up by chance at the sky above the pool, sees the spider's thread descending towards him and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Run, Melos!
is a Japanese short story by Osamu Dazai. Published in 1940, "Run, Melos!" is a widely read classic in Japanese schools. The story is a reworking of Friedrich Schiller's ballad ''Die Bürgschaft'', which tells the story of Moerus and Selinuntius (who have lent their names to Dazai's characters as well), originally Damon and Pythias. Schiller's version is based on an ancient Greek legend recorded by the Roman author Gaius Julius Hyginus. The most prominent theme of "Run, Melos!" is unwavering friendship. Despite hardships, the protagonist Melos does his best to save his friend's life, and in the end his efforts are rewarded. In the 1956 fiscal year, Run Melos! was used as a Japanese textbook for teaching material for the first time in middle high school. Story Melos is a naïve young shepherd with a sense of equity. The land in which he lives is ruled by Dionysius, a tyrant king who because of his distrust of people and solitude, has killed many people, including his own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natsume Sōseki
, born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer of haiku, '' kanshi'', and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1,000 yen note. Early years Natsume Kin'nosuke was born on 9 February 1867 in the town of Babashita, Ushigome, Edo (present Kikui, Shinjuku, Tokyo), the fifth son of village head (''nanushi'') Natsume Kohē Naokatsu and his wife Chie. His father, a powerful and wealthy ''nanushi'', owned all land from Ushigome to Takadanobaba in Edo and handled most civil lawsuits at his doorstep. He was a descendant of Natsume Yoshinobu, a Sengoku period samurai and retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Sōseki began his life as an unwanted child, born to his mother late in her life, forty years old and his father then fifty-three. When he was born, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kokoro
is a novel by the Japanese author Natsume Sōseki. It was first published in 1914 in serial form in the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun''. The title translated literally means "heart". The word contains shades of meaning—notions of the heart and also of mind—and can be translated as "affection", "spirit", "resolve", "courage", "sentiment", or "the heart of things". During the novel's initial serial run, from April 20 to August 11, 1914, it was printed under the title . When later published in novel form by Iwanami Shoten, its title was shortened to ''Kokoro''; the rendering of the word "kokoro" itself was also changed from kanji (心) to hiragana (こころ). Along with Osamu Dazai's ''No Longer Human'', ''Kokoro'' is one of the best-selling novels of all time in Japan, having sold more than seven million copies in the country as of 2016. Premise The work deals with the transition from the Japanese Meiji society to the modern era, by exploring the friendship between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ango Sakaguchi
was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels and an essayist. His real name was . Biography Born in Niigata, Sakaguchi was one of a group of young Japanese writers to rise to prominence in the years immediately following Japan's defeat in World War II. As such, Ango Sakaguchi was associated with the Buraiha or "Decadent School" (無頼派 buraiha, the school of irresponsibility and decadence), which designated a group of dissolute writers who expressed their perceived aimlessness and identity crisis of post-World War II Japan. In 1946 he wrote his most famous essay, titled "Darakuron" ("Discourse on Decadence"), which examined the role of bushido during the war. It is widely argued that he saw postwar Japan as decadent, yet more truthful than a wartime Japan built on illusions like bushido. (The work itself does not make any claims about the meaning of decadence.) Ango was born in 1906 and was the 12th child of 13. He was born in the middle of a Japan perpetually at war. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osamu Dazai
was a Japanese author. A number of his most popular works, such as '' The Setting Sun'' (''Shayō'') and ''No Longer Human'' (''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern-day classics. His influences include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Murasaki Shikibu and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. While Dazai continues to be widely celebrated in Japan, he remains relatively unknown elsewhere, with only a handful of his works available in English. His last book, ''No Longer Human'', is his most popular work outside of Japan. Early life , who was later known as Osamu Dazai, was born on June 19, 1909, the eighth surviving child of a wealthy landowner in Kanagi, a remote corner of Japan at the northern tip of Tōhoku in Aomori Prefecture. At the time of his birth, the huge, newly-completed Tsushima mansion where he would spend his early years was home to some thirty family members. The Tsushima family was of obscure peasant origins, with Dazai's great-grandfather building up the family's wealth as a moneyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and other editorial content, forums where readers can discuss current issues and events, and an encyclopedia that contains many anime and manga with information on the staff, cast, theme music, plot summaries, and user ratings. The website was founded in July 1998 by Justin Sevakis, and operated the magazine ''Protoculture Addicts'' from 2005 to 2008. Based in Canada, it has separate versions of its news content aimed toward audiences in four separate regions: the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. History The website was founded by Justin Sevakis in July 1998. In May 2000, CEO Christopher Macdonald joined the website editorial staff, replacing editor-in-chief Isaac Alexander. On June 30, 2002, Anime News N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeshi Konomi
is a Japanese manga artist, known for creating the manga series ''The Prince of Tennis''. Financial standing Every year the National Tax Agency releases a list of the highest income tax payers for entertainers in Japan. The higher someone's income tax, the higher their actual presumed earnings; however it is possible for a person to have paid more taxes than another person who made more money. Takeshi Konomi placed number nine on this list in 2002. On January 15, 2014, Takeshi announced that he will return to Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine. Works *''The Prince of Tennis'', a manga about tennis and at one time the most popular sports manga in Japan (July 1999 – March 2008) *'' The Prince of After School'', a spin-off of ''The Prince of Tennis'' (November 2008 – present) *''The Prince of Tennis II ''The Prince of Tennis II'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. It is a sequel to Konomi's manga ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
