Obscene Anime (Atsushi Ohara's Animagedon)
Translation by: Harley Acres
"I want to talk about naughty anime."
"What is it? Is this a continuation of the previous article, "Nonsense Anime"? If so, it would be Belladonna of Sadness (released in 1973), the ultimate in eroticism. [1] It is set in a medieval French village that was struck by the Black Death, so it is perfect for today. A gigantic phallic demon, voiced by Tatsuya Nakadai, pulses through the heroine's body as if tearing it apart."
"Naah, not that artistic stuff. Something more mundane, more trivial." "Then it's Interspecies Reviewers (airing in 2020). [2] In a fantasy world, we'll be reviewing prostitutes of various different races, such as fairies, beastmen, and demons. It was a wandering late-night show, with some local stations canceling broadcasts and others saying, "Well, we'll try it." My favorite episode was the seventh episode which dealt with egg laying.
"I thought that was too much and no longer erotic, but the winged maid Lee who works in the bar - well, no, no, not that kind of 'targeted' erotica, but the kind that caught me by surprise and 'stung' or 'awakened' me."
"I think you are talking about "embarrassing anime" rather than "disgusting anime" because it is a personal experience or memory. For example, you became horny from Captain Bokko in W3 (broadcast from 1965 to 1966) and became a "kemono fan" who was attracted to the sexiness of animal characters, or you woke up as a "shota" and loved cute boys because of the bomb robot "Bem" in Astro Boy (broadcast from 1963 to 1966)'s "The Last Day on Earth". I love cute boys." [3]
"These examples are old-fashioned. This is the era of black-and-white animation. Bem is more erotic in the original manga, in which it is completely naked, than in the anime version, in which it wears a diaper-like garment. If you look at Osamu Tezuka's works, yes, One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book (broadcast in 1978) was very erotic." [4]
"Tezuka conceived, composed, and directed this feature-length animation, as well as did the original drawings, for the first broadcast of NTV's 24-Hour TV program, "Love Will Save the Earth. Its purpose was serious, and I don't think an anime broadcast during Sunday morning tea time could be that erotic."
"Heh heh heh, don't underestimate Osamu Tezuka. There is a scene in the beginning where Bander, the boy who was born on Earth and raised as a prince on the planet Zobi, secretly loves his sister, Princess Mimuru, whom he is not related to, and they lie down on the beach at night and kiss... I felt palpitations in my heart that I had never felt before."
“Well, how old were you at that time?”
"Stop it! Don't look into that!"
"Well, I was really excited. Are there other things like that?"
"I think there's Little Meg-chan the Witch (broadcast from 1974 to 1975)." [5]
"It's very "that's-what-Showa-kids-were-like". There are a lot of so-called service cuts, such as panty shots, underwear, and shower scenes. There was also a lewd old man character who loved peeping."
"But the most memorable scene was the final episode, where the main character Meg and her rival Non have a grappling fight. Since it's a show aimed at girls, I hadn't watched all the episodes, so the final episode left an even stronger impression on me, I guess. I remember seeing something truly amazing."
"Well, it's a catfight that'll go down in Japanese anime history."
"Devilman (broadcast from 1972 to 1973) comes to mind as being produced by the same Toei that brought us Meg. [6]
"Because it's an original work by Go Nagai, the female characters of the enemy demon tribe are bewitching and glamorous. Creatures like Sirene and Lafleur... Do you like the silly character Lala by any chance? There were often scenes in which she was hung upside down her miniskirt."
"Lala's a good character. She's annoying at first, but then she becomes cute and makes me cry at the end. But it's Iyamon from episode 8, "Iyamon and Bauu," that makes me think, 'Maybe I was feeling erotic at that moment?'
"She had a devil-like character. The scene where she crawls on the ceiling of the classroom, extends her long tongue, and sucks out the spirit from the neck of the heroine Miki was scary."
"Then, Devilman ties up Lyamon and hangs her up, and tortures him with a whip, telling him, 'Tell me how to get Miki back!' The camera focuses on her yellow-skinned bust, and the whip makes a sound! Lyamon is in agony. (Kumon)'s expression was 'Aaah!!' *whack* 'Aaah!!'"
"Yes, yes"
"The perversion of a righteous hero (though he's a devil) torturing a weak girl (though she's a devil) left a great impression on me. Man, it was dangerous, it was dangerous."
"What was so dangerous about it?" The seventh episode of Devilman, "The Terrifying Puppet Emissary Zool," was also quite harsh. Ichiro Nagai's mysterious performance was also exceptional." [7]
"If he's playing a pervert he's top notch. Of course he would be great in a subdued role, too."
"So, is this the end of our discussion of 'obscene anime'?"
"We have to have 'stupid' and 'nasty' things in our lives, but being stabbed in an unexpected place or being awakened to something you don't really understand is a valuable experience that can only be experienced at a certain time in your life, right?"
"Manga artist Keiichi Tanaka said in an interview that Tezuka manga's Apollo's Song was like this. There is a scene where the queen of the future world takes off her clothes and says 'Love me!' When I was in elementary school, this woke me up." [8]
"Tatsuhiko Yamagami said that in a picture book based on Andersen's fairy tales, his heart was beating out of his chest when he saw the thighs of a prince in tights who was imprisoned in a prison or somewhere." [9]
"Keiko Takemiya, was it the torture scene in Yokoyama Mitsuteru's Iga no Kagemaru?" [10]
"Rumiko Takahashi read W3 as a child and loved Bokko so much that she thought, 'I want as many Bokko as possible in one frame!'" [11]
"What does that have to do with eroticism?"
"I don't know. So, it seems that there is no end to the stories about my penis, but this is the end of the story for now."
Footnotes
- [1] Belladonna of Sadness (哀しみのベラドンナ/Kanashimi no Beradonna), an erotic, art-house anime directed by Eichi Yamamoto (山本 暎一) from Mushi Production. The film's poor faring at the box office caused the bankruptcy of Mushi Productions.
- [2] Interspecies Reviewers (異種族レビュアーズ/Ishuzoku Rebyuaazu) is a manga and anime following a group of friends as they visit brothels in a fantasy world and rank the various interspecies prostitutes.
- [3] "Kemono" (ケモノ derived from kemono (獣) "beast") refers to fans of human characters with animal ears/features. Osamu Tezuka's Wonder 3 (W3 or ワンダースリー) is from 1965 and deals with three aliens masquerading as a rabbit, horse and duck. Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム/Tetsuwan Atomu), perhaps Tezuka's most famous work, follows the adventures of a boy robot. Bem is an androgynous robot that has no declared gender in the series, but disguises itself as a girl at one point, and is usually characterized as a girl in later adaptations.
- [4] One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book (100万年地球の旅 バンダーブック/Hyakumannen Chikyu no Tabi Bandaa Buuku) was the first two hour animated television special in Japan. It aired as part of a special 24 hour programming block called "Love Will Save the Earth" (愛は地球を救う/Ai wa Chikyuu o Sukuu) the anime was not erotic by any traditional standards.
- [5] Little Meg-chan the Witch (魔女っ子メグちゃん/Majokko Megu-chan) is a 1974 magical girl anime that served as a predecessor to series like Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン/Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon).
- [6] Devilman (デビルマン), one of Go Nagai's (永井豪) most famous manga follows Akira Fudo who gains demonic powers and battles against creatures from hell.
- [7] Ichiro Nagai played Alphonse Louis Steinbeck III and Zool, the primary demon of episode 7. In Takahashi's works he played Cherry in Urusei Yatsura, and Happosai in Ranma 1/2.
- [8] Keiichi Tanaka (田中圭一) is a close friend of Kentaro Takekuma and was a student of Kazuo Koike's in Gekiga Sonjuku, though he states he did not get along well with Koike and was "excommunicated". Tanaka's drawing style mimics Osamu Tezuka's, but he can also mimic the style of Shigeru Mizuki and other mangaka.
- [9] Tatsuhiko Yamagami (山上たつひこ) is best known for his series Gaki Deka (がきデカ), which Rumiko Takahashi has often mentioned as a favorite of hers. "Andersen's fairy tales" refers to the work of Hans Christian Andersen.
- [10] Keiko Takemiya (竹宮惠子), is a member of the important "Year 24 Group" of shojo mangaka. Her best known work is Toward the Terra (地球へ/Tera e...). She was also one of the special designers (alongside Rumiko Takahashi and many others) on the Crusher Joe anime in which she designed the outfits Joe and Alfin wore on their date. Iga no Kagemaru (伊賀の影丸) by Mitsuteru Yokoyama (横山光輝) is a appeared in Shonen Sunday 1961 to 1966. The story follows Kagemaru, a ninja, during the Edo period.
- [11] Rumiko Takahashi discusses this in the Three-Way Interview.
Atsushi Ohara (小原篤) born in Tokyo in 1967. Joined Asahi Shimbun in 1991. In 1998, he began reporting on anime and manga at the Tokyo Head Office's Curatorial Department (currently the Cultural Affairs Department). Since 2007, he has been serializing the column "Atsushi Ohara's Animagedon" in Asahi Shimbun Digital (updated every Monday). In 2012, Nippon Hyoronsha published Today's Top Story is About Robot Anime: Atsushi Ohara's Animagedon (一面トップはロボットアニメ 小原篤のアニマゲ丼/Ichimen Toppu wa Robotto Anime Ohara Atsushi no Animagedon). He is a member of the Japan Animation Association.
