I really do respect that you didn’t just resort to “Japanese creators are weird perverts.” You went out of your way to look up both the mangaka and the film’s creator, as well as presenting information that came directly from them rather than just your own interpretation. Whenever I see UA-camrs discuss controversial media from Japan, 90% of the time it devolves into “Pervy Japanese thing is bad and they should feel bad for making this.” It’s OK to be disgusted by content like Shoujo Tsubaki (and tbh, I’m pretty sure that’s the reaction they wanted) but assuming terrible things about the creators (and Japanese society entirely) is always one step too far for me. If you haven’t yet- I highly recommend checking out Belladonna of Sadness. It’s not nearly as controversial or gory as Shoujo Tsubaki. But it’s way more surreal and has some trippy sexual imagery. And it’s also pretty compelling and an excellent example of how diverse Japanese anime can be as a medium.
Well the reason a lot of people say Japanese creators are p3rverts because a lot of them make animated SA and CP fantasy content that doesn’t need to be brought to film there’s no reason for it and I don’t believe for a hiroshi for a second you don’t spend 5 years drawing children being violently SA’d, mutilated, and abused not to mention his other projects all center on women or children being either SA’d,violently abused, commiting s3lf harm or suicide, his next film after this is about a woman mutilating her face then going on the be a faceless pr0stitute who covers her face in bandages, then unaliving herself. His work shows he sees women as slabs of meat. You don’t sit down everyday for an hour drawing a child being SA’d because you got bullied in school also he says the theme of Midori is bullying and children can relate, and it’s supposed to break taboo or humiliation in Japan but didn’t even release in Japan because he refused to censor overly gorey stuff. There is no good or artistic value in this being made it’s just visualizing CP fantasy for ped0s to get off too it’s digusting.
As a victim of CSA; depicting it in a story doesn't mean you want it to happen. I write and draw about these things to show the brutal reality that some people can't see if you only hint at it.
Agreed, I feel like people like to label some media works as fetishization or just some I’ll intent because it is easier to stomach then the idea that this is something that actually goes on, when I try to speak about certain experiences in places that claim to be meant for CSA trauma, I’m told it isn’t productive and I shouldn’t share and it’s confusing
@@smileyface8057 That drives me up the wall. Not just with CSA, but SA in general. You get called a “downer” for opening up and making everyone “uncomfortable.” Of course, there’s a time and a place for things like that, but even in so-called safe-spaces, people who’ve gone through serious experiences basically aren’t allowed to because it’s too uncomfy for the people who just wanted to talk about how their parents are the worst for taking away their iPad.
This so much! You way too often see people starting witchhunts against creators of disturbing content online. But those people don't bother trying to understand the context, the message, whatever. They just see something they personally find yucky and decide that therefore, the thing should be banned forever. I saw commenters say that Japanese society loves to put topics of (C)SA under the rug, but in reality this is a widespread problem all over the world.
@@rubyy.7374 Exaclty!! There’s a difference in going to a safe space and people being freaked out about it, vs just randomly trauma dumping during an in n out run or something, it just really sucks sometimes
The one good thing the magician did in my opinion was giving Midori the vision of her family if they were still alive. It was something that he technically had no gains in doing, or perhaps it might have even driven her further away in the pursuit of trying to rebuild what she’s lost. He’s still disgusting, an asshole, and honestly horrendous, but in that single moment, I realized that he loved in her some twisted way. It was really sad.
idk about "no gains in doing" it could've been his way of making her trust him more, at least that's how I thought of it. It felt manipulative to me but I could be wrong since i didn't watch the movie and not planning to. Either way his character is still scum of the earth for even marrying a 12 year old child to begin with.
I’m kinda disappointed you completely left out the political themes in Harada’s work. He is a big-time left-wing activist and a dissident who likes to criticize the Japanese government and society in his art. Case in point, his first film The Death Lullaby draws parallels between the main character’s desperate attempts to fight back against the bullies and the riots against the appropriation of rural land for the construction of the Narita airport. I have also read an interview with him online where he talks about the lack of employee protection laws in Japan and the working conditions in the animation industry. He is an incredibly brave and determined man and I admire him.
I love the fact that you actually took this film seriously. It's an absolute masterpiece, and most people treat it like it was made solely for shock value. That said, I have some things to correct. 1. Maruo Suehiro's original manga is actually his take on the stock character of "The Camellia Girl", which dates back to the Shōwa Era in kamishibai (traditional Japanese paper theater). This is one of the reasons why there are so many panning shots and still frames in the film, as an homage to kamishibai. 2. Kanabun (puppy killer & receiver of eyeball licks) isn't a woman; he's actually a feminine teenage boy around Midori's age, making him 13 or 14. Many people claim him to have an intersex condition, but to my knowledge, this is unconfirmed. Kanabun's sex is revealed during a scene that you didn't mention in which Kanabun is urinating. He turns around and flashes his genitals at Midori before presumably raping her. 3. I wouldn't say that Midori is manipulated into the relationship with the magician. She's just so traumatized and abused that she views him treating her as a human being to be a sign of love. The relationship very much abusive, but the magician doesn't seem to be (intentionally) manipulating Midori. 4. It's implied that the story ends with Midori taking her own life after being (in her eyes) abandoned once more. The lyrics to the credits song in the film lends credence to this interpretation. 5. The implication is that Midori's mother succumbed to her disease and the rats began eating her corpse once she was already dead. I would recommend checking out more of Maruo's work, as he's a very important figure within the ero guro movement. Most of his work (including Shoujo Tsubaki) is deeply political and carries strong anti-war imagery, which fits in perfectly with his obsession with the Shōwa Era.
@grieveyou i doubt Kanabum did anything to Midori other than taunt her by flashing his penis. The scene just showed Midori's shock after seeing him do that imo. Dont forget, those two are like 12-13
I highly disagree with 3. The magician was an adult and to say he wasn't intentionally manipulating her is a ridiculous statement to say. That's like saying pedophiles should be absolved for their crimes because they "loved" their underaged victims. A normal functioning adult wouldn't even begin a romantic or sexual relationship with a child. You're making it as if the magician is completely faultless. Yes, you said it was abusive but the way you said it makes it seem you're sympathizing more with him than Midori. He sexually abused her, took advantage of her love for him and put her in a glass bottle after she stated she wanted to become a movie star and wished for a better life. How is that NOT manipulating her?
What's crazy is that I literally watched this anime yesterday, the first 15 minutes is definitely the worst. I found it when I was searching for the most messed up anime because I felt like watching something crazy. Within 15 minutes there is the MC's mother's p*ssy being eaten out by rats, r*pe, eye licking, mutilation and puppies having their bones/guts getting crushed and k*lled in disturbing ways. I had no idea the movie was based on real events, hearing that literally makes me sick to the stomach.
Yeah the film definitely isn't for anyone with a weak stomach. Thankfully i'm somewhat desensitized to seeing stuff like that but even so, some of the scenes were epsecially hard to watch
@@theorist it's wierd too because while watching this and Wendigoon talk about in his disturbing movie iceberg I kept thinking about The House That Jack Built
dude, i seriously applaud you for taking this movie seriously. a lot of people who watched it just because of an iceberg or a trend just label the movie as perverted or disgusting. i find comfort that the creator never sugarcoated a single part of abuse and i hate that no one cares about it
I really appreciate you talking about Shoujo Tsubaki in length, it's one of those pieces of media that people reduce to its most disturbing aspects. There is so much depth in the movie and in the comic, and both mediums have their own view on the themes of the story. That is to say Suehiro Maruo has been critical of Japanese imperialism and conformity, which is shown through the people in uniforms committing heinous crimes and also the appearance of the rising sun in the background. I highly recommend looking further into eroguro-nansensu works by Maruo Suehiro and Shintaro Kago. It can be difficult to watch, but it can also be silly, like Dementia 21 by Kago. What people often forget with the genre is that it is very political, even if buried under guts and gore.
I have so much appreciation for works like this one. I do feel like in spite of how popular horror is, people often try very hard to take the most important elements out. Companies reduce media down to whatever is least threatening to the status quo, and it pisses me off. I think everyone should become a little more comfortable facing society's glaring issues head on, so that we can successfully determine the best way to solve these problems.
I’m really happy that this film was made to call more attention to these issues in Japan. Because honestly, sexual assault and harassment is really bad in Japan and from what I heard (Take this with a grain of salt) Rape and sexual harassment is often glossed over and pushed under the rug in Japan, which is really sad. So even if this isn’t a very well known anime film, and even if it disgusts me beyond all hell, I’m happy that it exists to call more attention to these issues
This was a respectful and non-gratuitous video on this! When I watched the summary, I was sickened and confused. But when I listened to your analysis and the context behind it, it makes a lot lot lot of sense now. It's really something that people who've experienced such tragedy can only understand. And it's sad. It's really sad that such horror and sadness exists in the world, and that some people have lived to tell the tale. It's a sad, personal piece. I wonder how you'll react to Belladonna of Sadness.
Even though the horror movie "Freaks" isn't as insane as "Shoujo Tsubaki," I believe that the concept of having the misfits upfront was the main drive for both movies. Tsubaki just took it too far for shock value.
10:01 I'm not entirely sure if Kanabun is meant to be a woman, they're the same age as Midori and implied to be intersex/crossdress. At the end they cut their hair short and change how they dress.
Uh for those who don't know why there was eye ball licking, I can explain but it can be disturbing so you have been warned The licking is known as Oculolinctus which is basically eye ball licking for sexual gratification and it was very popular in Japan being known as Purei. This type of paraphilia, while popular, hasn't been very safe since it usually causes terrible eye infections due to the enzymes in the seliva coming in contact with the eye. Its possible that the use of this type of imagery was to further show the deep disturbing culture of Japan. After all, Japan did popularize this dangerous form of sexual gratification which in turn put over a 3rd of 12 year olds in eye patches at a school at some point.
At least with the thing about kids getting eye infections as a result of the “trend,” it ended up being a hoax, akin to the news coverage about it being a “trend” that all the youths were eating tide pods. Also I love how you act like Japan is the only place where weird fetishes happen when Deviantart shows otherwise.
Owhhh shiiiii I heard about this anime when Akidearest covered it, and hearing the audio already made me scared Edit: Now that I've finished the video and know the context behind the film, I think I realized the significance and relevance of it. I find it very interesting that this film was made to be the polar opposite of the mainstream during the 80s-90s, and the way it was received just shows how effective the film was in delivering its message. It disturbed the audience, which was the purpose of the film. Thank you for your analysis and interpretation! It really helped me further understand the meaning and importance of this film.
Im glad you enjoyed my analysis! I was worried about putting this out because I thought maybe people would think it's weird that I'm giving this film the light of day outside of just "its disturbing and gross". Glad everyone seems to enjoy my in depth look into it so far :)
i remember watching this when i was 12 and thinking i would be so cool for watching a disturbing film because all my friends at the time were between the ages 16-21. this film fucked me up so much because i’ve experienced some of the things that happened in it, but i didnt want to let them know how badly it disturbed me so i started doing drugs to distract myself and still am using today at 19. dont watch something if you have no background info in it and definitely dont watch something just to impress your asshole friends :/
I love your videos, did you know there was a arg base on jurassic Park. Taking ideas from the book and classic movies. That is still on going. It may fit your scene Edit: shoot the book it's self is disturbing. The baby scene is simple but horrific. There is a ton of death scenes that are like that. It leaves enough to the imagination, but tells enough to know the aftermath/effect.
Thank you for covering this. I've heard of this movie for ages but was never sure if I should watch it. I appreciated your willingness to try and be appreciative of it without sugarcoating. I am still unsure if I will watch this movie but I am glad to feel more informed about it.
After watching this my mind went to a short animated film I watched back in 2015. Last Days of Coney Island by Ralph Bakshi. Culturally different but similarly abstract and crude. And also loosely around a freakshow in 1960s NY.
Nice that you noted the connection with Death Lullaby. On twitter, Harada's company is posting behind the scenes of this and many more. A nice trivia that may interest you is that Shoujo Tsubaki was originally going to be a more liberal adaption with a clear political message a la Death Lullaby, and was going to have the length of a full feature film. A leftover is the DVD art of Midori holding the puppy, which comes from a poster of the film when it was basically Death Lullaby 2. There, Midori is surrounded by a crowd of people in a big city (something that never happens in the final OVA).
I watched the movie when I was like 13 or so and totally forgot about it, and now that I’m watching your video I realized it actually happened and not a fever dream
I have nothing against self expression and nothing against gore or disturbing art, HOWEVER. It's also true that the whole "all art is art and needs to be respected" discourse leads to a number of misconceptions. A lot of people sadly use this argument to feed their own kinks, instead of reading it for the social criticism the artist intended to make. I think artists should take into consideration that their hardcore stuff, when easily available and free to consume, will not always be used for the purposes they intended in society, sometimes it'll enable rapists and pedos. We aren't almighty just because we're artists. This movie kinda became a cult in those type of circles and was found in the harddrives of actual pedos. Everyone knows porn is "fictional", yet it influences people in thinking certain scenes you see are normal, resulting in hurting their partners when they try those things in real life. Many real women have been hurt and harassed both online and irl because, in the words of the harassers, they looked "like one those hentai manga protagonists" and they "looked like they wanted to get raped". Some rapists confessed they felt enabled to assault victims because "they saw that in porn videos". So let's try to think in deep for a moment and let's avoid generalisation like "fiction can't influence reality" because it's not ALWAYS true. There are several studied that connect violent sexual conducts to aggressive sexual fantasies. Another example is that the all encompassing "freedom of the artist" enables some fanartists to misconstrue the lore of canonically abused characters, whose story is about freedom and regained autonomy, to make fetish art of their past abuse. Art that has no reason to be there, as the only purpose is to show how "sexy" it is to be molested by your abuser. And here I'm not speaking about those who use kink as a cope mechanism but people who simply have a rape fetish. Like, i literally know artists who use this argument to justify their slavery kink and keep implying slaves are "in love" with their slaver, even when it's not canonically so. Now, as much as i don't think this could produce much damage in real life, it does speak a lot on how people are blind to media, they live to consume mindlessly until they can't anymore and it's just sad and disrespectful to the authors. Some characters whose story is about slaying your abuser have literally inspired people in real life to leave their own abusers and imo that's a better use of fiction than depicting them while getting railed/assaulted by their abuser only because it's "sexy".
Funny thing is that this was deemed to be the worst anime, tbh I can't blame those who think that, because it's true.But it is worthy of being analyzed.I don't believe that hiroshi's pervert for this, but the movie still didn't turn out well, but if you like it that's fine.
Jean Jean and the Hungry Hungry Nipples by Evil Cat is twisted but stays tolerable due to it's absurdity and humour. Other Evil Cat animations though are much more deeply unpleasant. I watched them hoping for more Evil Cat and Jean Jean but instead it was deeply disturbing things with an Evil Man trusted to be a Babysitter. I warn you now, I hated it, it pretty much has no merit such as societal commentary or artistic value. It may however be something that is vile enough to fit your criteria of review for it's shock value.
1920s Japan, and here we have someone annoyingly announcing, “manipulation.” Guess people just don’t relate because of the era selected in this movie. “I hear this sort of conversation and it makes no sense in a modern view when watching.
everything i used to figure as sappy makes more than dim sense again. psychopaths hate and do their best to make it hard to realize. and their "minions" make it hard to understand with the misunderstanding they believe for selfish/unchanging-for-figuring-difference-instead-of-figured-as-though-making-the-difference-as-themselves reasons.
I Rember watching it when I was in the 6th grade and honestly traumatized me to the point the disturbing scenes randomly pop up in my head bc of how young I was watching it. Plz Do Not watch It [in my opinion]
No, Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli is mentioned as an example of the opposite approach - showing Japan’s beautiful sides, things that the country wants to be known as (although that is too a simplification of his movies, I think), while this anime is showing the dark underground which Japan tries to hide, but its creator believes it should be visible in art and discussion as well
However yoy make take this movie , dont watch it alone since it might make you go insane . Actual insanity , ludicrous cartoons and child shows are used as torture like it was slighty for me .
I think these things SHOULD be hidden. These things aren't okay to happen in society and they shouldn't be okay to happen in the media either. The desensitization of people nowadays is so sad.
I am a pervert that goes on all genres an age (only when it comes to animated). Also i stick to my conviction to finish whatever i watch considering how disturbing it was.... Maybe that's why I've gotten immune to these kind of stuff. Just saying but i find anime to have a lot of serious and dark themes than cartoons or western animation does. I said this because I've seen your other video.
What i truly love is that you sacrifice your own morality by watching it and giving a detailed explanation so that we dont have to watch it to know what the hell is going on with this anime, love you bro!
I am proship and pro-kink, meaning I respect people's right to like and create whatever they want in fiction, but of all things, eroguro really disturbs me. It disturbs me more than lolicon, for fucks sake. Still, I wouldn't go bother people for making/liking eroguro, it's their right and it doesn't mean anything about their IRL morals, but personally I really don't understand it and it freaks me out
You giving more depth and summary into this film than any of the other reviewer. They always seem to "leave" something out outside the general gore fest. 👍
yeah i always had that "feeling" when watching other videos but I couldn't put my finger on it. I'm glad those interviews had been preserved on youtube, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get the information I talked about
The most disturbing detail about this movie imo is the character of Kanabun, the girl who kills Midori's puppies, which is the same girl who's Midori witnessed having s*x with Mr. Arashi (the circus manager). As disturbing as the s*x scene and the scene with the puppies is, The most fu*ked up thing is that Kanabun is not a girl at all, He's a young boy who's being manipulated by Mr. Arashi to be more like a girl by wearing girl clothing and having long hair. Which apparently is the only thing that could make Mr. Arashi se*ually excited. But you don't realize that until Mr. Arashi steals all the circus money and leaves Kanabun behind. This depresses him to a point that he cuts his hair which could be taken as him being released from Arashis influence.
Kanabun is an intersex person (a person who born with both male and female genitals, and yes people like that do exists in real life) but i do think that they were forced to dressing more like a girl while in fact they uncomfortable with that (as at the end they cut their hair short)
this anime is just raw trama stuffed in an hour long video. There are no happy scenes in it and that’s why its so realistic. real trama isnt censored nor is it softened for anyone. not even the victim. and in the worst cases there arent happy endings or recoveries either. people have to learn thats the case for so many people out there. people have to learn japan isnt all anime and cherry blossoms and neither is anywhere else in this world and people like midori exist.
There's also a 30s kamishibai play that the original manga is also based on, where instead of being abused in a freak show, the little girl Midori is forced to sing in a revue show. The kamishibai play also has a happy ending where she's reunited with her parents and pays off her father's debts.
Thank you for making this film! Finally I've heard more about motivation behind this movie other than portraying the author as f-ed up freak that made disturbing movie just for sole purpose of it being disturbing
I was curious about what Boku no pico is , then I watched snippets of it regretted it for life it was trash and not even in a good way it was disgusting at least Midori has a harsh realness to it !
It was disturbing as hell but it had a lot of meaning. Im glad to see people looking more into the backstory of why it was made instead of just covering the story. Because it doesnt have the same impact it has KNOWING the creators whereabouts as it does not knowing. Ive seen people call the creator creepy and a weirdo but this guy has a fucking point i was a victim of CSA (and ive seen some others in the comments) and though it makes me sick seeing it it gives me relief, its brutally honest and i dont get to see that much. Though i was a victim of Child on child S@ so my experiences are different from others.
Fun fact: the murder at the end wasn't random, it was actually the girl from earlier who shaved her hair, its subtle but you can see it in the hair and face
I've both read the manga and watched the movie maybe in 2017? I have genuinely seen worse. I don't even see how this is considered eroguro. I'm glad I stopped looking at that shit, it's disgusting, but this is so so so so far from the worse thing out there. I appreciate you giving this due respect. It's an important piece of commentary, in my opinion.
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thankyou for doing good faith and honest analysis of such media
No
I really do respect that you didn’t just resort to “Japanese creators are weird perverts.” You went out of your way to look up both the mangaka and the film’s creator, as well as presenting information that came directly from them rather than just your own interpretation.
Whenever I see UA-camrs discuss controversial media from Japan, 90% of the time it devolves into “Pervy Japanese thing is bad and they should feel bad for making this.” It’s OK to be disgusted by content like Shoujo Tsubaki (and tbh, I’m pretty sure that’s the reaction they wanted) but assuming terrible things about the creators (and Japanese society entirely) is always one step too far for me.
If you haven’t yet- I highly recommend checking out Belladonna of Sadness. It’s not nearly as controversial or gory as Shoujo Tsubaki. But it’s way more surreal and has some trippy sexual imagery. And it’s also pretty compelling and an excellent example of how diverse Japanese anime can be as a medium.
Well the reason a lot of people say Japanese creators are p3rverts because a lot of them make animated SA and CP fantasy content that doesn’t need to be brought to film there’s no reason for it and I don’t believe for a hiroshi for a second you don’t spend 5 years drawing children being violently SA’d, mutilated, and abused not to mention his other projects all center on women or children being either SA’d,violently abused, commiting s3lf harm or suicide, his next film after this is about a woman mutilating her face then going on the be a faceless pr0stitute who covers her face in bandages, then unaliving herself. His work shows he sees women as slabs of meat. You don’t sit down everyday for an hour drawing a child being SA’d because you got bullied in school also he says the theme of Midori is bullying and children can relate, and it’s supposed to break taboo or humiliation in Japan but didn’t even release in Japan because he refused to censor overly gorey stuff. There is no good or artistic value in this being made it’s just visualizing CP fantasy for ped0s to get off too it’s digusting.
As a victim of CSA; depicting it in a story doesn't mean you want it to happen. I write and draw about these things to show the brutal reality that some people can't see if you only hint at it.
Agreed, I feel like people like to label some media works as fetishization or just some I’ll intent because it is easier to stomach then the idea that this is something that actually goes on, when I try to speak about certain experiences in places that claim to be meant for CSA trauma, I’m told it isn’t productive and I shouldn’t share and it’s confusing
@@smileyface8057 That drives me up the wall. Not just with CSA, but SA in general. You get called a “downer” for opening up and making everyone “uncomfortable.” Of course, there’s a time and a place for things like that, but even in so-called safe-spaces, people who’ve gone through serious experiences basically aren’t allowed to because it’s too uncomfy for the people who just wanted to talk about how their parents are the worst for taking away their iPad.
This so much! You way too often see people starting witchhunts against creators of disturbing content online. But those people don't bother trying to understand the context, the message, whatever. They just see something they personally find yucky and decide that therefore, the thing should be banned forever. I saw commenters say that Japanese society loves to put topics of (C)SA under the rug, but in reality this is a widespread problem all over the world.
@@rubyy.7374 Exaclty!! There’s a difference in going to a safe space and people being freaked out about it, vs just randomly trauma dumping during an in n out run or something, it just really sucks sometimes
@@rubyy.7374omg you hit the nail on the head 😭
The one good thing the magician did in my opinion was giving Midori the vision of her family if they were still alive. It was something that he technically had no gains in doing, or perhaps it might have even driven her further away in the pursuit of trying to rebuild what she’s lost.
He’s still disgusting, an asshole, and honestly horrendous, but in that single moment, I realized that he loved in her some twisted way. It was really sad.
He was a nonce (a pedo) but he still wanted her to be happy y'know?
idk about "no gains in doing" it could've been his way of making her trust him more, at least that's how I thought of it. It felt manipulative to me but I could be wrong since i didn't watch the movie and not planning to.
Either way his character is still scum of the earth for even marrying a 12 year old child to begin with.
I’m kinda disappointed you completely left out the political themes in Harada’s work. He is a big-time left-wing activist and a dissident who likes to criticize the Japanese government and society in his art. Case in point, his first film The Death Lullaby draws parallels between the main character’s desperate attempts to fight back against the bullies and the riots against the appropriation of rural land for the construction of the Narita airport. I have also read an interview with him online where he talks about the lack of employee protection laws in Japan and the working conditions in the animation industry. He is an incredibly brave and determined man and I admire him.
I love the fact that you actually took this film seriously. It's an absolute masterpiece, and most people treat it like it was made solely for shock value. That said, I have some things to correct.
1. Maruo Suehiro's original manga is actually his take on the stock character of "The Camellia Girl", which dates back to the Shōwa Era in kamishibai (traditional Japanese paper theater). This is one of the reasons why there are so many panning shots and still frames in the film, as an homage to kamishibai.
2. Kanabun (puppy killer & receiver of eyeball licks) isn't a woman; he's actually a feminine teenage boy around Midori's age, making him 13 or 14. Many people claim him to have an intersex condition, but to my knowledge, this is unconfirmed. Kanabun's sex is revealed during a scene that you didn't mention in which Kanabun is urinating. He turns around and flashes his genitals at Midori before presumably raping her.
3. I wouldn't say that Midori is manipulated into the relationship with the magician. She's just so traumatized and abused that she views him treating her as a human being to be a sign of love. The relationship very much abusive, but the magician doesn't seem to be (intentionally) manipulating Midori.
4. It's implied that the story ends with Midori taking her own life after being (in her eyes) abandoned once more. The lyrics to the credits song in the film lends credence to this interpretation.
5. The implication is that Midori's mother succumbed to her disease and the rats began eating her corpse once she was already dead.
I would recommend checking out more of Maruo's work, as he's a very important figure within the ero guro movement. Most of his work (including Shoujo Tsubaki) is deeply political and carries strong anti-war imagery, which fits in perfectly with his obsession with the Shōwa Era.
My brain just did a backflip after reading that second one.
Number 2. Woah.
@grieveyou i doubt Kanabum did anything to Midori other than taunt her by flashing his penis. The scene just showed Midori's shock after seeing him do that imo.
Dont forget, those two are like 12-13
I highly disagree with 3. The magician was an adult and to say he wasn't intentionally manipulating her is a ridiculous statement to say. That's like saying pedophiles should be absolved for their crimes because they "loved" their underaged victims. A normal functioning adult wouldn't even begin a romantic or sexual relationship with a child. You're making it as if the magician is completely faultless. Yes, you said it was abusive but the way you said it makes it seem you're sympathizing more with him than Midori. He sexually abused her, took advantage of her love for him and put her in a glass bottle after she stated she wanted to become a movie star and wished for a better life. How is that NOT manipulating her?
What's crazy is that I literally watched this anime yesterday, the first 15 minutes is definitely the worst. I found it when I was searching for the most messed up anime because I felt like watching something crazy.
Within 15 minutes there is the MC's mother's p*ssy being eaten out by rats, r*pe, eye licking, mutilation and puppies having their bones/guts getting crushed and k*lled in disturbing ways.
I had no idea the movie was based on real events, hearing that literally makes me sick to the stomach.
Yeah the film definitely isn't for anyone with a weak stomach. Thankfully i'm somewhat desensitized to seeing stuff like that but even so, some of the scenes were epsecially hard to watch
@@theorist it's wierd too because while watching this and Wendigoon talk about in his disturbing movie iceberg I kept thinking about The House That Jack Built
*allegedly based on real events
dude, i seriously applaud you for taking this movie seriously. a lot of people who watched it just because of an iceberg or a trend just label the movie as perverted or disgusting. i find comfort that the creator never sugarcoated a single part of abuse and i hate that no one cares about it
I really appreciate you talking about Shoujo Tsubaki in length, it's one of those pieces of media that people reduce to its most disturbing aspects. There is so much depth in the movie and in the comic, and both mediums have their own view on the themes of the story. That is to say Suehiro Maruo has been critical of Japanese imperialism and conformity, which is shown through the people in uniforms committing heinous crimes and also the appearance of the rising sun in the background. I highly recommend looking further into eroguro-nansensu works by Maruo Suehiro and Shintaro Kago. It can be difficult to watch, but it can also be silly, like Dementia 21 by Kago. What people often forget with the genre is that it is very political, even if buried under guts and gore.
I have so much appreciation for works like this one. I do feel like in spite of how popular horror is, people often try very hard to take the most important elements out. Companies reduce media down to whatever is least threatening to the status quo, and it pisses me off. I think everyone should become a little more comfortable facing society's glaring issues head on, so that we can successfully determine the best way to solve these problems.
I’m really happy that this film was made to call more attention to these issues in Japan. Because honestly, sexual assault and harassment is really bad in Japan and from what I heard (Take this with a grain of salt) Rape and sexual harassment is often glossed over and pushed under the rug in Japan, which is really sad. So even if this isn’t a very well known anime film, and even if it disgusts me beyond all hell, I’m happy that it exists to call more attention to these issues
This was a respectful and non-gratuitous video on this! When I watched the summary, I was sickened and confused. But when I listened to your analysis and the context behind it, it makes a lot lot lot of sense now. It's really something that people who've experienced such tragedy can only understand. And it's sad. It's really sad that such horror and sadness exists in the world, and that some people have lived to tell the tale. It's a sad, personal piece. I wonder how you'll react to Belladonna of Sadness.
Even though the horror movie "Freaks" isn't as insane as "Shoujo Tsubaki," I believe that the concept of having the misfits upfront was the main drive for both movies. Tsubaki just took it too far for shock value.
10:01 I'm not entirely sure if Kanabun is meant to be a woman, they're the same age as Midori and implied to be intersex/crossdress. At the end they cut their hair short and change how they dress.
Kanabun is definitely a boy; he just likes to look feminine
Out of all the disturbing scenes, the part where the puppies are slammed on the ground still plays in my head every now and then
Uh for those who don't know why there was eye ball licking, I can explain but it can be disturbing so you have been warned
The licking is known as Oculolinctus which is basically eye ball licking for sexual gratification and it was very popular in Japan being known as Purei. This type of paraphilia, while popular, hasn't been very safe since it usually causes terrible eye infections due to the enzymes in the seliva coming in contact with the eye. Its possible that the use of this type of imagery was to further show the deep disturbing culture of Japan. After all, Japan did popularize this dangerous form of sexual gratification which in turn put over a 3rd of 12 year olds in eye patches at a school at some point.
At least with the thing about kids getting eye infections as a result of the “trend,” it ended up being a hoax, akin to the news coverage about it being a “trend” that all the youths were eating tide pods.
Also I love how you act like Japan is the only place where weird fetishes happen when Deviantart shows otherwise.
I’ve seen many many videos on Shoujo Tsubaki and yours is the only compassionate one, which is so very comforting as a victim
We appreciate your analysis. Japan's banned anime seems very intense.
You should see some of the other Suehiro Maruo stuff
Owhhh shiiiii I heard about this anime when Akidearest covered it, and hearing the audio already made me scared
Edit: Now that I've finished the video and know the context behind the film, I think I realized the significance and relevance of it. I find it very interesting that this film was made to be the polar opposite of the mainstream during the 80s-90s, and the way it was received just shows how effective the film was in delivering its message. It disturbed the audience, which was the purpose of the film. Thank you for your analysis and interpretation! It really helped me further understand the meaning and importance of this film.
Im glad you enjoyed my analysis! I was worried about putting this out because I thought maybe people would think it's weird that I'm giving this film the light of day outside of just "its disturbing and gross".
Glad everyone seems to enjoy my in depth look into it so far :)
i remember watching this when i was 12 and thinking i would be so cool for watching a disturbing film because all my friends at the time were between the ages 16-21. this film fucked me up so much because i’ve experienced some of the things that happened in it, but i didnt want to let them know how badly it disturbed me so i started doing drugs to distract myself and still am using today at 19.
dont watch something if you have no background info in it and definitely dont watch something just to impress your asshole friends :/
get well soon
Spooky Rice reviewed this graphic novel. It's quite disturbing and sad.
I knew about this for years but to hear to losely based on real events.... that is truly horrifying and disturbing.
I love your videos, did you know there was a arg base on jurassic Park. Taking ideas from the book and classic movies. That is still on going. It may fit your scene
Edit: shoot the book it's self is disturbing. The baby scene is simple but horrific. There is a ton of death scenes that are like that. It leaves enough to the imagination, but tells enough to know the aftermath/effect.
ill take a look into sometime this week. thanks for letting me know!
Thank you for covering this. I've heard of this movie for ages but was never sure if I should watch it. I appreciated your willingness to try and be appreciative of it without sugarcoating. I am still unsure if I will watch this movie but I am glad to feel more informed about it.
After watching this my mind went to a short animated film I watched back in 2015. Last Days of Coney Island by Ralph Bakshi. Culturally different but similarly abstract and crude. And also loosely around a freakshow in 1960s NY.
Nice that you noted the connection with Death Lullaby. On twitter, Harada's company is posting behind the scenes of this and many more. A nice trivia that may interest you is that Shoujo Tsubaki was originally going to be a more liberal adaption with a clear political message a la Death Lullaby, and was going to have the length of a full feature film.
A leftover is the DVD art of Midori holding the puppy, which comes from a poster of the film when it was basically Death Lullaby 2. There, Midori is surrounded by a crowd of people in a big city (something that never happens in the final OVA).
7:21 i don't think she was still alive when the rats ate her.
I watched the movie when I was like 13 or so and totally forgot about it, and now that I’m watching your video I realized it actually happened and not a fever dream
I hope we get a modern reboot of this childhood classic!
This would definitely not fly in today’s world
Well, it did get a bad live-action adaptation...
Fantastic video. I've got the film saved on a flash drive from a few years ago. Really got me into suihero maruos art. It's a classic.
I have nothing against self expression and nothing against gore or disturbing art, HOWEVER. It's also true that the whole "all art is art and needs to be respected" discourse leads to a number of misconceptions.
A lot of people sadly use this argument to feed their own kinks, instead of reading it for the social criticism the artist intended to make.
I think artists should take into consideration that their hardcore stuff, when easily available and free to consume, will not always be used for the purposes they intended in society, sometimes it'll enable rapists and pedos. We aren't almighty just because we're artists. This movie kinda became a cult in those type of circles and was found in the harddrives of actual pedos. Everyone knows porn is "fictional", yet it influences people in thinking certain scenes you see are normal, resulting in hurting their partners when they try those things in real life. Many real women have been hurt and harassed both online and irl because, in the words of the harassers, they looked "like one those hentai manga protagonists" and they "looked like they wanted to get raped". Some rapists confessed they felt enabled to assault victims because "they saw that in porn videos".
So let's try to think in deep for a moment and let's avoid generalisation like "fiction can't influence reality" because it's not ALWAYS true. There are several studied that connect violent sexual conducts to aggressive sexual fantasies.
Another example is that the all encompassing "freedom of the artist" enables some fanartists to misconstrue the lore of canonically abused characters, whose story is about freedom and regained autonomy, to make fetish art of their past abuse. Art that has no reason to be there, as the only purpose is to show how "sexy" it is to be molested by your abuser. And here I'm not speaking about those who use kink as a cope mechanism but people who simply have a rape fetish.
Like, i literally know artists who use this argument to justify their slavery kink and keep implying slaves are "in love" with their slaver, even when it's not canonically so. Now, as much as i don't think this could produce much damage in real life, it does speak a lot on how people are blind to media, they live to consume mindlessly until they can't anymore and it's just sad and disrespectful to the authors.
Some characters whose story is about slaying your abuser have literally inspired people in real life to leave their own abusers and imo that's a better use of fiction than depicting them while getting railed/assaulted by their abuser only because it's "sexy".
I didn't really like this movie just because of its themes, but I respect and appreciate the artistic expression
Man, this story is depressing. But thank you for taking a genuine look at it for our sakes. It's nice to see a point to it all.
This movie looks incredible. Shoujo Tsubaki is it? Incredible.
Funny thing is that this was deemed to be the worst anime, tbh I can't blame those who think that, because it's true.But it is worthy of being analyzed.I don't believe that hiroshi's pervert for this, but the movie still didn't turn out well, but if you like it that's fine.
Jean Jean and the Hungry Hungry Nipples by Evil Cat is twisted but stays tolerable due to it's absurdity and humour.
Other Evil Cat animations though are much more deeply unpleasant.
I watched them hoping for more Evil Cat and Jean Jean but instead it was deeply disturbing things with an Evil Man trusted to be a Babysitter.
I warn you now, I hated it, it pretty much has no merit such as societal commentary or artistic value.
It may however be something that is vile enough to fit your criteria of review for it's shock value.
I... I need a therapist
Another anime film I recomend checking out is Barefoot Gen
The creator was the only one who animated due to many rejections because the film was that bad
Finally some sense.
Just found your channel today, really great content man! Thank you and keep up the good vibes!
1920s Japan, and here we have someone annoyingly announcing, “manipulation.” Guess people just don’t relate because of the era selected in this movie.
“I hear this sort of conversation and it makes no sense in a modern view when watching.
The chicken part is probably part of her performance, since it’s a freak show
Shoujo tsubaki has a special place in my heart
"Wow, that movie was messed up."
Unit 731 has entered the chat
0:05
Japan jumpscare
I love stuff which goes against the grain, they have far more truth to them.
I saw this and there's a live action one as well. I find it very creepy, but has that artistic flare
she sell "flowers" on the street
I bet I'm not the only one who saw the complete film on UA-cam as a kid arround 2008
everything i used to figure as sappy makes more than dim sense again. psychopaths hate and do their best to make it hard to realize. and their "minions" make it hard to understand with the misunderstanding they believe for selfish/unchanging-for-figuring-difference-instead-of-figured-as-though-making-the-difference-as-themselves reasons.
12 year old Girl loses parents,kidapped,assaulted, married to old man,depressed, *end* 😮
That sounds amazing. Tarantino should adapt it.
I wish I came across your channel sooner
I would love a video about no longer human ! I really liked the book and would love to see your opinion, i like how you present things
Everyone exaggerates about how bad Boku no Pico is, but I've watched that as well as Shoujo Tsubaki, and the latter is way worse
Make more videos about underground stuff like this pls
I heard about this one.
Yes this movie is sick, but I do find it a great movie. I feel horrible for the writer, but I would watch this much more of it wasn't based of events
It's well made and the manga is nuts from what I heard
I would love to read it but it's way out of print
You know like one guy only worked on this anime
yeah! i actually talk about it quite a lot in this video!
And then there's Jeff lew he worked on everything for his movie Killer bean
I Rember watching it when I was in the 6th grade and honestly traumatized me to the point the disturbing scenes randomly pop up in my head bc of how young I was watching it. Plz Do Not watch It [in my opinion]
The girl who killed the puppies is actually a boy
where can i watch this movie
Loves this video
The man who made this Anime is evil.
Where can this be watched?
nah, that wasn't another girl the boss was with, that was the younger boy that looks like a girl of the group
I own the manga
Commenting to help with the algorithm.
I couldn’t watch 15 minutes of just this vid props to you for watching the Entire thing
hi
hola
question: is one of those two the maker/writer/something from studio gibly?
No, Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli is mentioned as an example of the opposite approach - showing Japan’s beautiful sides, things that the country wants to be known as (although that is too a simplification of his movies, I think), while this anime is showing the dark underground which Japan tries to hide, but its creator believes it should be visible in art and discussion as well
However yoy make take this movie , dont watch it alone since it might make you go insane . Actual insanity , ludicrous cartoons and child shows are used as torture like it was slighty for me .
crazy
And my parents took me to see this when I was young.....
Finally
Worse than Boku no Pico
I think these things SHOULD be hidden. These things aren't okay to happen in society and they shouldn't be okay to happen in the media either. The desensitization of people nowadays is so sad.
nah, the creator is fucked up
Ewwwww. I don't like licking.
:o
Eww
First
boo
I am a pervert that goes on all genres an age (only when it comes to animated). Also i stick to my conviction to finish whatever i watch considering how disturbing it was.... Maybe that's why I've gotten immune to these kind of stuff.
Just saying but i find anime to have a lot of serious and dark themes than cartoons or western animation does. I said this because I've seen your other video.
When will they they stop with these patronizing warnings... like we can't decide for ourselves...
What i truly love is that you sacrifice your own morality by watching it and giving a detailed explanation so that we dont have to watch it to know what the hell is going on with this anime, love you bro!
I am proship and pro-kink, meaning I respect people's right to like and create whatever they want in fiction, but of all things, eroguro really disturbs me. It disturbs me more than lolicon, for fucks sake. Still, I wouldn't go bother people for making/liking eroguro, it's their right and it doesn't mean anything about their IRL morals, but personally I really don't understand it and it freaks me out
You giving more depth and summary into this film than any of the other reviewer. They always seem to "leave" something out outside the general gore fest. 👍
yeah i always had that "feeling" when watching other videos but I couldn't put my finger on it. I'm glad those interviews had been preserved on youtube, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get the information I talked about
First
The most disturbing detail about this movie imo is the character of Kanabun, the girl who kills Midori's puppies, which is the same girl who's Midori witnessed having s*x with Mr. Arashi (the circus manager). As disturbing as the s*x scene and the scene with the puppies is, The most fu*ked up thing is that Kanabun is not a girl at all, He's a young boy who's being manipulated by Mr. Arashi to be more like a girl by wearing girl clothing and having long hair. Which apparently is the only thing that could make Mr. Arashi se*ually excited. But you don't realize that until Mr. Arashi steals all the circus money and leaves Kanabun behind. This depresses him to a point that he cuts his hair which could be taken as him being released from Arashis influence.
Kanabun is an intersex person (a person who born with both male and female genitals, and yes people like that do exists in real life) but i do think that they were forced to dressing more like a girl while in fact they uncomfortable with that (as at the end they cut their hair short)
this anime is just raw trama stuffed in an hour long video. There are no happy scenes in it and that’s why its so realistic. real trama isnt censored nor is it softened for anyone. not even the victim. and in the worst cases there arent happy endings or recoveries either. people have to learn thats the case for so many people out there. people have to learn japan isnt all anime and cherry blossoms and neither is anywhere else in this world and people like midori exist.
There's also a 30s kamishibai play that the original manga is also based on, where instead of being abused in a freak show, the little girl Midori is forced to sing in a revue show. The kamishibai play also has a happy ending where she's reunited with her parents and pays off her father's debts.
Thank you for making this film! Finally I've heard more about motivation behind this movie other than portraying the author as f-ed up freak that made disturbing movie just for sole purpose of it being disturbing
It is two in the morning for me but Lord help me if I don't watch a YET video the moment it comes out!
How is this anime banned but Boku no Pico isn't?
I was curious about what Boku no pico is , then I watched snippets of it regretted it for life it was trash and not even in a good way it was disgusting at least Midori has a harsh realness to it !
It was disturbing as hell but it had a lot of meaning. Im glad to see people looking more into the backstory of why it was made instead of just covering the story. Because it doesnt have the same impact it has KNOWING the creators whereabouts as it does not knowing. Ive seen people call the creator creepy and a weirdo but this guy has a fucking point i was a victim of CSA (and ive seen some others in the comments) and though it makes me sick seeing it it gives me relief, its brutally honest and i dont get to see that much. Though i was a victim of Child on child S@ so my experiences are different from others.
Fun fact: the murder at the end wasn't random, it was actually the girl from earlier who shaved her hair, its subtle but you can see it in the hair and face
There's no confirmation of that, and the character who shaved his hair is a boy, not a girl.
I've both read the manga and watched the movie maybe in 2017? I have genuinely seen worse. I don't even see how this is considered eroguro. I'm glad I stopped looking at that shit, it's disgusting, but this is so so so so far from the worse thing out there. I appreciate you giving this due respect. It's an important piece of commentary, in my opinion.
Probably caused it was released in theaters.
@@imretro2182what's worse ?
Not gonna lie. The thumbnail scared the shit out of me this early in the morning
I watched it this week- I couldn’t get halfway through so I’ve been waiting for someone to do like a review