is a

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of ''

kamishibai is a form of Japanese street theater and storytelling that was popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the post-war period in Japan until the advent of television during the mid-20th century. were performed by a (" narrator") w ...

'' during its revival in early

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The character and her story is traditionally attributed to a creator known as Seiun, though the plagiarism and retelling in sundry variants that was the norm for popular-proving tales make its true origin uncertain. Generally speaking, the character is a stereotypical adolescent or

preadolescent Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is c ...

ingénue The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such roles ...

, a daughter of a penniless family who goes from selling

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controversy ...

s on the streets to being sold or forced to perform in a

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

show. The character is known to western and contemporary Japanese audiences predominantly by way of

Suehiro Maruo (born January 28, 1956 in Nagasaki, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and painter. Biography Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15, he moved to Tokyo and began ...

's ''

ero guro is an artistic genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and decadence.Silverberg, Miriam Rom. "By Way of a Preface: Defining ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense''". Galley copy of the preface for ''Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass C ...

'' reinterpretation in

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

s, first in a short story as part of an anthology and then in a full-length

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

of the same name (published in English as ''Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show''), and Hiroshi Harada's semi-animated film based on Maruo's version, screened at

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s and released on

DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs. DVD-Video was the dominant consumer home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was supplanted by the high-definition Blu-r ...

with English subtitles as ''Midori''. The graphic novel is considered a classic of Maruo's 1920s-inspired brand of ''ero guro'' and its

out-of-print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

English edition has become much sought-after. Harada's film is also infamous in itself and for the elaborate expanded cinema presentations it was originally only shown in, though it has been allowed to screen in conventional

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s and even released on home video outside of Japan. A

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of the manga was released in Japan in May 2016.

Manga

Maruo's manga (as well as its film adaptations) follows the dark misadventures behind the colorful curtains and extravagant performances of the local

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

freak show A freak show, also known as a creep show, is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with ...

, hidden away from the audience's smiles and praises. Set in early 20th century Japan in a circus involving freaks such as "Hohichi the Human Pretzel" and "the Human Worm", one member (who is a little girl) has highlighted the misdeeds that occur during these events of the circus camps in her dark and twisted tale.

Characters

* ''Hanamura Midori the Camellia Girl'': An innocent 12-year-old girl with a bob haircut who enjoyed her life as a student to the fullest. However, everything changed after her father left and her mother died. Midori is forced to drop out of school and sell flowers in the city. The orphaned Midori then meets a stranger who leads her towards the circus. What awaits her will change her life, and her, forever. * ''Midori's Father and Mother'': Midori's father mysteriously ran away and left his family alone, and Midori's mother was bedridden due to an illness. Her death is horrific as she's eaten by rats and mice. * ''Mr. Arashi'': The boss of the Amazing Freak Show and the seedy stranger who led Midori into his horrific circus. While he appears to be a benevolent and consistent manager, he is actually a greedy and manipulative conman. He'll do anything to get rich, even going so far as taking Midori hostage for his show. He has no qualms of sleeping with little boys, and he has a fetish of eyeball licking/ oculolinctus. * ''Tokkuriji Muchisute the Mummy Man'': The first circus performer – the disfigured pervert with missing arms and a face covered in bandages like a

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

; he is one of Japan's victims of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

(though he's a burn victim in the other adaptations). Although he has no arms, he is able to use his feet just as if they were hands, performing archery in the circus. He is a stalker who has raped Midori several times. * ''Akaza the Giant'': The second circus performer – the sword-swallowing, one-eyed strongman with a shaved head and tattoos. He is a laid-back "tough guy" who enjoys eating, money, and having sex with Benitsu. He goes along with the other circus members' sadism and fetishes. * ''Benitsu the Snake Woman'': The third circus performer – a middle-aged, voluptuous, long-haired, snake-charming woman. She is sadistic and promiscuous. She once tried to solicit sex from Mr. Arashi, but was rejected due to his homosexuality and pedophilia. Despite also taking part in assaulting Midori both violently and sexually, Benitsu would later be the one to defend Midori. * ''Kanabun the Boy-Girl'': The fourth circus performer – the fire-swallowing

psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical B ...

who is characterized by overt cruelty and bloodlust. He is one of the members who caused Midori's attempt to escape the camp after murdering her adopted puppies without her knowledge and serving them as supper to their peers, which Kanabun implied through taunting her. Though Kanabun is dressed as a dollish girl, the bullying sadist once urinated in front of Midori, then flashed their male genitalia at her while wiggling and masturbating in her face just to freak Midori out before raping her, thus revealing that Kanabun is

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...

. However, Kanabun is considered a boy by the other circus members as well as Mr. Arashi's

sadomasochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

sex slave. * ''Masamitsu the Bottled Wonder'': The fifth circus performer – the charismatic, middle-aged, chubby dwarf magician. He is a master illusionist, using special magic techniques from the West, and can fit into a small bottle. He also manages the circus. Much like Mr. Arashi, Masamitsu is bent on

pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

, as he chooses Midori as his helper and acts as her "guardian".

Anime film

is a 1992 Japanese independent semi-animated ''

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

horror

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

by Hiroshi Harada, based on Suehiro Maruo's comic version of the ''kamishibai'' standard. The film (which Harada wrote for the screen and directed under the pseudonym of and whom he presents as a lost filmmaker he worked on it under) consists primarily of paintings and

cel A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid (consisting of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was used during the first half of the 20th century, bu ...

s of drawings by Harada held, panned, or zoomed over with

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, and occasional touches of

traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proce ...

. In 1994, a censored version of the film was produced for future screenings at the request of Eirin, the Japanese film censor board. This version optically censored nudity, sexual assault, and violence towards animals, while removing discriminatory language from the audio track in the form of audio muting. The 2006 Ciné Malta DVD release of the film contains the original 1992 version, albeit with two short sections intended for audiences at live screenings omitted. For many years, a videotape transfer of the film was all that was known to exist of the film, aside from censored post-1994 film prints screened at various international film festivals. In 2013, the original 16 mm negative of the film was rediscovered in an IMAGICA warehouse. A new print and digital master were made from this negative and began to be screened in digital format in Japan numerous times. Harada's production company plans to release a restored Blu-ray Disc of the new film master in 2020.

Production

The film was single-handedly created by Hiroshi Harada. Given the subject matter, Harada had found it impossible to gain sponsors. He then used his life savings to make the film over a five-year period. Harada hand-drew over 5000 separate sheets of animation.

Screenings

The film was for many years very rare to see at all, as Harada will only screen ''Midori'' in Japan if the venue is presented as a carnival freak show. From 1994 to 2006, outside of standard definition videotape transfers of the original master, the film was only available in the form of prints with visual and audio censorship in place. However, in 2006, a region 2-locked

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

-style

of the film with subtitles in French, English, Spanish, Italian, and German was released in France by Ciné Malta containing the film's original, uncensored version.

Live-action film

, a

of the manga directed by Torico and starring was released in cinemas in Japan on May 21, 2016. Other cast members include

Shunsuke Kazama is a Japanese actor and television personality affiliated with Johnny & Associates. Biography In 1997, when Kazama was in his second year of junior high school, he entered Johnny & Associates and started activities as a trainee. He made his debu ...

, , Takeru of the band Sug, and . The film was shown in Germany in 2017 at the 18th Japan-Filmfest Hamburg, and it was released on limited edition DVD (limited to 1000 copies in total) with Japanese audio and both German and English subtitles in German-speaking Europe by the distributor Midori-Impuls in 2020.

References

External links

Official website of Harada's company, Airtight Lantern Theater Kiryukan

Page on the DVD release of Harada's film at Ciné Malta's website

''AniPages Daily'' article on Harada's film

''Midnight Eye'' article on Harada's film
* * *
Live-action film official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shojo Tsubaki 1992 anime films Animated films based on manga Child characters in anime and manga Ero guro Fictional circus performers Fictional Japanese people Fictional slaves Folklore characters Historical anime and manga Independent animated films Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Performing arts in Japan Shōwa period Suehiro Maruo Japanese animated horror films Anime and manga controversies Film controversies Obscenity controversies in animation Obscenity controversies in film Obscenity controversies in comics Controversies in Japan Censored films Fiction about animal cruelty Japanese fantasy drama films Japanese avant-garde and experimental films