The Anime/Manga

The Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar)

2008-03-25T06:08:00.000-07:00

The Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのばら, Berusaiyu no Bara, also known as Lady Oscar, is one of the best-known titles in shōjo and a media franchise created by Riyoko Ikeda. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue musicals, as well an anime television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and broadcast by the anime television network Animax and Nippon Television.
The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militiant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.
It features yuri elements embodied in the relationship between Oscar and her protégée Rosalie Lamorlière, the secret daughter of the scheming Madame de Polignac, whose admiration for Oscar may be interpreted as either idol worship or romantic love coming from her possible bisexuality. Many of the court ladies also greatly adore Oscar, openly admiring her at parties and become very jealous when she brings female companions to them.

Story

The setting is in France, before and during the French Revolution. The main character is a woman named Oscar François de Jarjayes. Her father, General Jarjayes, despaired over never getting a son (he had six daughters), and decided to raise his youngest daughter as a man. He trained her well in the arts of fencing, horsemanship, and medieval combat. Oscar often practiced her skills with her best friend, companion and (technically) servant, André Grandier, whom she almost always defeated. André was the grandson of her nanny and thus they spent most of their time together in harmonic friendship; near the end of the story, this blossomed into mutual love.
Oscar is the commander of the Royal Guard and responsible for the safety of the young, flighty Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, as well as the rest of the royal family. The story revolves around Oscar's growing realization of how France is governed, and the plight of the poor. Another important storyline is the love story between Marie Antoinette and the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen. The affair between the two was the subject of rumours through all of France, endangering the queen's reputation and driving Oscar to request the Count to leave the country.
After the Count decided to leave and sign up for the war of independence in America, Marie Antoinette became lovesick. She began spending money in excess —expensive jewellery and clothes, attending balls every other night— to distract herself from pining for the only man she loved. This, in turn, weighed even heavier on the taxpayers of France, and even greater poverty spread throughout France due to Marie Antoinette's squandering of money. Both the Affair of the Diamond Necklace and the appearance of the infamous Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac are central plot events taken from history, as well as the French Revolution and the fall of the Bastille -- all given interesting interpretations through the fictional character Oscar and her companions.

On July 14, 1789, the Taking of the Bastille, the crowds rebelled but lacked strategy, giving the military the advantage and making themselves easy target for cannon fire. However, Oscar and the regiment B then arrived to help organize the insurgents. During the following fierce battle, Oscar is shot and killed, but the Bastille eventually falls, symbolically striking down the French monarchy. After the Bastille is taken, the revolutionaries burst into the Palace searching for Marie Antoinette and her family. Many guards are killed and the royal family taken prisoner. Big trials were started for Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, but finally, both were declared guilty and guillotined

Characters

The series feature both fictitious and historical characters. Oscar François de Jarjayes is a woman raised as a man because of the desire of his father to have a son. She learned the arts of swordmanship, horseriding and use of firearms, alongside his friend, André Grandier. Oscar is a fictitious character, even though her father, General Renier de Jarjayes, was a real person.

Manga

The Rose of Versailles is one of the most influential manga ever written. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Margaret Magazine in 1973, and became an instant success. It was published on 1982-05-24 and contains 10 volumes.

It has been turned into a play, an anime series, a live-action movie, and a ballet. The author, Riyoko Ikeda, is working on the libretto of an opera version of her story as well. The play adaptation of the manga is also the longest-running show by the Takarazuka Revue.
In 1981, the first two volumes of "The Rose of Versailles" were translated in English by Frederik L. Schodt for the purpose of teaching English to Japanese speakers and released in North America by the North American branch of Sanyusha. "The Rose of Versailles" was the first commercially translated manga to be available in North America.

Movies

Lady Oscar is a 1979 film, written (screenplay) and directed Jacques Demy, with music composed by Michel Legrand. Lady Oscar is a French-Japanese co-production, and was shot inFrance.

Inochi arukagiri aishite is a 1987 film that summarizes the whole anime.
La Rose de Versailles will be the next movie based on this manga/anime, and will be produced by Toei Animation.

Musicals

The Poster of 2006 Star and Snow Production of Rose of Versailles, featuring stars from not only Star and Snow, but also from Flower and Moon Troupe.
Rose of Versailles has also being dramatized for Takarazuka Revue by Shinji Ueda . The show's role in Takarazuka history is particularly notable as it established the "Top Star" system that remains in place to this day. Rose of Versailles also triggered a large surge in the revue's popularity, commonly referred to as the "BeruBara Boom" (ベルバラブーム, Berubara Buumu.
From 1974 to 1976, all four Takarazuka troupes staged The Rose of Versailles, drawing a total audience of 1.6 million. In 1989, it was restaged drawing an audience of 2.1 million.The most recent shows will be the upcoming gaiden adaptations to be performed in mid-to-late 2008 by Snow troupe (led by Natsuki Mizu), Flower Troupe (led by Sei Matobu) and Star Troupe (led by Kei Aran). The scenarios for these new side-story adaptations were developed by Riyoko Ikeda specifically for the Revue.

Reception

Rose of Versailles is currently 14th on the list of all-time best-selling shojo manga, having sold a grand total of 15 million volumes worldwide and 12 million in Japan only.In terms of circulation per volume, it is in fourth place with an average of 1,500,000 sales per volume. It is not well-known in North America due to its age and lack of publicity, but remains a treasured classic in Japanese manga. So far, the manga and anime have been translated into Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Indonesian and Chinese.

Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe)

2008-03-24T05:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow's Joe (Japanese: あしたのジョー Ashita no Jō) is a critically acclaimed boxing manga created by Tetsuya Chiba and Asao Takamori in 1968 that was later adapted into an anime series and movie. It is most commonly referred to as Ashita no Joe. Outside Japan it is also referred to as Rocky Joe or Joe.

Story

The story begins with a troubled orphan named Joe Yabuki who ran away from the orphanage walking in the Tokyo slums until he met up with former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe soon takes up Bantamweight.
Joe eventually fights against his greatest rival Rikiishi whom Joe accidentally kills during a boxing match at the end of first story.

The second part of the story picks up where the first part ended. It shows flashbacks of the match between Joe and Rikiishi as a distant memory. Joe was still shaking up from that match, both mentally and physically. Eventually, he returns to his old club and starts training again. Soon after, during matches, Danpei, Joe's trainer, figures out that Joe is having a serious problem when boxing. He is not giving shots to the face. Obviously, Rikiishi's death was more shocking than what he had expected. This took Joe quite some time to get over. He has finally conquered his fears when he faced the globally #6 ranked Carlos Rivera. It ended with a draw. Yet, this fight gave Joe tremendous fame and respect around the world; especially since Carlos Rivera was going to face the World Champion Jose Mendoza in his next match.
The story continues with Joe starting to climb the ladder after his amazing match with Carlos and finally defeating the Asian/Pacific Champion and capturing the title. After that, Joe had several successful title defense matches and won all of them. In the end, he has been given the chance to face the unbelievable World Champion, Jose Mendoza, who defeated Carlos Rivera with a KO punch in the first round, costing him his boxing career.
The anime as well as the manga ends with Joe slumped on a chair in his corner on the ring, tired and bruised but with a smile on his face after his greatest title match against the World Champion, Jose Mendoasa. Joe has fought relentlessly in that match without giving up, no matter how many punches Jose hit him with. It was a great match that went back and forth, in which Joe was able to knock down the champion more than once. In some instances, becoming the newly crowned World Champion was within reach. To Mendoza, he saw the ghost of other boxers whom he destroyed throughout his career in Joe's eyes.
The match goes all fifteen rounds with Jose getting the judges' decision as the winner. He looked fragile and old (his hair turned white). Joe was sitting on his chair in his corner waiting for the verdict. He took his gloves off and gave them to Youko Shiraki, who confessed her true feelings for him before the match. Joe died on that chair when the verdict was announced. He was smiling as if he has found the match that he was looking for his whole life. He has become "white ash", exactly what he said that he was fighting for.

Concept

The series debuted as a manga in Weekly Shonen Magazine at a time when considerable economic and social upheaval was transforming Japanese culture in the late 1960s. Joe was essentially the tragic hero representing the struggle of the lower class. His trial and sacrifice to the sport was a semi-reflection of the will of the people he was representing. By the 1970s, manga readers and college students across Japan would turn the character into an icon.

G.T.O (Great Teacher Onizuka)

2008-03-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

Great Teacher Onizuka (グレート・ティーチャー・オニズカ, Gurēto Tīchā Onizuka), officially abbreviated to GTO, is a shōnen manga, anime, and live-action series created by Tohru Fujisawa. It is the story of Eikichi Onizuka, a 22 year-old ex-bōsōzoku member, and his quest to be the greatest teacher in Japan. GTO is a continuation of Tohru Fujisawa's other manga series Shonan Junai Gumi (lit. "Shōnan True Love Group") and Bad Company. It won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen.
Both the anime and manga have been licensed in North America by Tokyopop.

Story

While peeping up girls' skirts at a local shopping mall, Onizuka meets a girl who agrees to go out on a date with him. Onizuka's attempt to sleep with her fails when her current "boyfriend", her teacher, shows up at the love hotel they are in and asks her to return to him.

The teacher is old and unattractive, but has enough influence over her that she leaps from a second story window and

lands in his arms.
Onizuka, seeing this display of a teacher's power over girls, decides to become one himself. In his quest, he discovers three important things:
He has a conscience and a sense of morality. This means taking advantage of impressionable schoolgirls is out...but their unusually attractive mothers are a different matter.
He enjoys teaching.
He hates the systems of traditional education, especially when they have grown ignorant and condescending to students and their needs.
With these realizations, he sets out to become the greatest teacher ever, using his own brand of philosophy and the ability to do nearly anything when under enough pressure:
Taking a standardized test in one hour instead of the normal five, while having three bullet wounds because he used the other four hours to rescue the daughter of a famous government official from the yakuza.
Hired as a long-shot teacher by a privately operated school to tame a class that has driven one teacher to a mysterious death, one to nervous breakdown, and one to joining a cult. He embarks on a mission of self-discovery by breaking through to each student one by one, and helping each student, ranging from the busty bimbo to the oedipal rebel, to learn to genuinely enjoy life.

Live-action

A 12-episode live-action Japanese television drama was aired, based loosely on the manga. Takashi Sorimachi stars as Onizuka, and Nanako Matsushima as Azusa Fuyutsuki. It is directed by Masayuki Suzuki, with music composed by Takayuki Hattori and the opening song, "Poison", sung by Sorimachi himself. There are several drastic changes from the manga to fit the 12-hour format of the live-action.Nevertheless, the changes in the live-action accomplishes to capture the spirit of GTO very well. According to Tokyopop, the final episode was the most watched television program ever in Japan.

Anime

As a result of the popularity of the manga and live-action series, an animated adaptation was developed. It was directed by Noriyuki Abe and Naoyasu Hanyu of Studio Pierrot.
The anime closely follows the manga plot up to volume 14. However, it ran past the story arc of the manga, resulting in a new ending. The main characters are similar to their manga counterparts, but side characters become underdeveloped; some did not appear in the anime at all.[citation needed] Nudity, violence, and perversion were toned down for the anime.[citation needed]
The facial expressions that Onizuka makes were modeled after Sorimachi

Nana

2008-03-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

Nana (ナナ, Nana) is a shōjo manga series by mangaka Ai Yazawa, serialised in Cookie published by Shueisha. There is an anime adaptation, as well as two live-action films. The first twelve volumes of the manga series have cumulatively sold over 22 million copies.The manga derives its title from the name of the two main characters, both of whom are called Nana. What sets them apart, however, is the stark difference between their lives. One Nana comes from a small town, following along with her friends and boyfriend, looking for a goal to obtain, while the other Nana's goal is set on making her dream and band, Black Stones, among the best. The two Nanas are brought together in what has become a major success for Ai Yazawa and the shōjo genre.[citation needed]
Nana is presently being released in North America by Viz Media. It ended its serialization in the August 2007 issue of Shojo Beat and was replaced by Honey and Clover. It will continue, however, to be released in tankobon (graphic novel format). The manga has also been adapted into a highly successful live-action film with a sequel released on December 9, 2006, and an anime adaptation that premiered on April 5, 2006. The anime adaptation has subsequently been announced as licensed for release in North America by Viz Media. In 2003, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo.
There are currently nine volumes available in the United States. The tenth volume has a May 6, 2008 release date scheduled.

Plot synopsis
Nana Osaki is a punk singer who wants to debut with her band as soon as possible to leave her ex-boyfriend, Ren Honjo, behind. Nana was the lead vocalist in their old band with Ren, and they lived together as lovers. When Ren is offered a chance to debut in Tokyo as a replacement member of the popular band Trapnest (TraNes for short), Nana chooses to cultivate her own band, Black Stones (BlaSt for short) instead.
Nana Komatsu, the other Nana, is called Hachi (after Hachikō) as she has weak mental characteristics that resemble a puppy. With a habit of falling in love at first sight, Hachi has always depended on other people to help her. When her friends and then boyfriend leave for Tokyo, she decides to join them a year later after having saved enough money.
Nana and Hachi meet in a train by chance, both on their way to Tokyo. After a string of coincidences, they come to live together in an apartment numbered 707. Despite having contrasting characters and ideals, the Nanas like and respect each other.
While the Black Stones begin to gain popularity at live gigs, other issues need resolving, especially in the areas of romance. The story of Nana revolves heavily on the romance and relationships of the two characters as one seeks fame and recognition while the other seeks love and happiness.

Characters

The characters in Nana have complex personalities and their own histories, which sometimes intertwine with one another. The importance of each character grows in the manga as the story progresses to many dramatic heights and falls. The two main characters in particular, Nana O. and Nana K., support each other greatly, as evidenced both in the story and in the narration, which is done by either Nana at the beginning and end of each volume.
Other important characters include Hachi's friends and ex-boyfriend, who she followed from her hometown to Tokyo, the members of Nana O.'s band (Black Stones), and the members of the band Trapnest.

Film

Nana has been made into a film which was released on September 3, 2005. The film stars Mika Nakashima as the punk star Nana Osaki, and Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi (Nana Komatsu). The DVD edition was released on March 3, 2006. The film did quite well at the Japanese box office, grossing more than 4 billion yen, staying in the top 10 for several weeks.

Nana 2, the sequel to the first film, was announced right after the first debuted. However, on August 4, 2006, Toho stated that shooting would begin mid-September and that the film was to be released on December 9, 2006. Aoi Miyazaki and Ryuhei Matsuda were not be reprising their respective roles as Nana Komatsu and Ren Honjo; as such, their roles were assigned to Yui Ichikawa and Nobuo Kyou, respectively.
Two new singles were released under Nana starring Mika Nakashima and Reira starring Yuna Ito.
However, the sequel was a let-down for fans and company, it only peaked #4 at the Japanese Movie Rankings, and had much more bad press than any good.
The film had its international premiere in New York City on December 15, 2006. It opened for a single showing at the IFC in Soho. Both Mika Nakashima and Yui Ichikawa were present.

Anime

Nana has been adapted into an anime series, directed by Morio Asaka and animated by the studio Madhouse. The first opening and third ending songs are sung by Anna Tsuchiya for the band Black Stones as Nana Osaki, and Olivia sings the second opening and first and second endings for the band Trapnest as Reira Serizawa. The first DVD release was on 2006-07-07. The anime series was intended to be equal to the manga and it was adapted until the 12th tankoubon to avoid original anime fillers. Accordly to Junko Koseki (editor of Nana in Shueisha) and Masao Maruyama (president of Madhouse) a second season is probably going to be aired once the manga series is finished.