They always say that otakus only see Chinese monkeys of two styles: voluptuous or kawaii. Most people—even fans—forget that, ultimately, adapted narratives are a cultural product of Japan, and there are a-thousand things involved in it. There are many types of adaptations, a very important one is that of classics from literature to anime.
Anime is far from being just basic entertainment, it permeates the political, historical, social, cultural and even economic context of Japanese society. In this way, otakus can also become quite cultured -nuanced, haha-.
Japanese literature is vast and very particular. Few, in the West, consume or like the detail of the oriental narrative, which is usually quite “naturalistic”, with focus and with a unique and beautiful development of everyday life.
Japan cultivates its formal literature brilliantly; in the country of the rising sun was where the fictional long narrative emerged, considered the first contemporary novel in the world—or the essential embryo—. We talk about Genji’s story —Genji Monogatari—, which narrates the life and affairs of Prince Genji, is set in the Kyoto court during the 10th century.
Also, Genji’s story was written by Murasaki Shikibu, a court woman.
We must not forget that the sequential narrative with image is part of the spectrum of ways of telling stories, as is literature, only that the birth of manga had its roots in the East and makes use of more tools than classical literature.
Nevertheless, Japanese classical literature achieves a special projection according to its own cultural landscape. In Japan, great classics of literature have been adapted to anime, and the result is surprising.
Not only do they manage to consolidate the facts in images, but they also manage to encapsulate the sensations with the same rigidity or fraternity —whatever is necessary— literary, although you will only understand these correspondences when you read the works.
On this occasion, We present adaptations of Japanese literature classics to anime.
Heike Monogatari: 2021
The most current is Heike Monogatari that, through landscapes, colors and sounds tells the story of a little girl who has a special power and who lives a turbulent stage in Japan. The adaptation was in charge of Science Saru and was directed by Naoko Yamada.
Heike Monogatari is a classic of Japanese literature, it is a historical epic from the 13th century that chronicles the rise and fall of the Taira clan.
Aoi Bungoku: 2009
Second we have Aoi Bungoku Series which, through a mini saga of episodes, exposes several of the great Japanese literary classics. The most beautiful thing about this anime is that each literary installment has a unique stroke style at the graphic level, it was adapted by Madhouse.
This anime adapts:
Unworthy of Human Being/ Ningen Shikkaki by Osamu Dazai.
Run, Melos/ Hashire, Melos also from Osamu Dazai.
Heart/ Kokoro by Natsume Soseki.
The Screen of Hell/ Jigokuhen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
The Spider’s Thread / Kumo no Ito by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
In the forest under the cherry blossoms/ Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita by Ango Sakurachi.
Growing up
On the other hand we have grow from Higuchi Ichiyo, an author who died very young but bequeathed very important literature. She wrote about the social classes and the miserable environment of a Japan that suffered and formed red-light districts. There is a super old adaptation of hers classic Growing upyou can find it — with some effort — on YouTube.
It narrates the childhood of several little ones who have marked destinies.
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Other fictions from literary classics to manga
Also, there are other manga fictions that use classic literature references to create and later adapt it to anime. Bungo Stray Dogs It is one of the most ingenious works that manages to combine fiction and writers, even showing their basic works.
Bungo Stray Dogs shows a whole catalog of writers: Osamu Dazai, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Atsushi Nakajima, Junichiro Tanizaki, Rampo Edogawa, Akiko Yosano, and even some “foreigners” like Fitzgerald and Dostoyevski.
These adaptations of literary classics to anime are quite educational, the best thing is that because they have a lot of detail, they manage to recreate a new artistic piece.
If you haven’t read the novels, and even if you intend to, you should give these anime a try, as they let you taste a new and unexpected essence of narrative formality.
You see, we otakus know how to read and appreciate art through anime.
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