Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki

Similar to the rising sun on the Japanese flag, a blood-red star sets over a darkened spruce forest. This quiet scene, worthy of a naturalist's etching, is suddenly disturbed when a shinobi bolts from within the tree line. He is not on a mission, but rather, he is dashing to escape another ninja party that is fiercely resolved to take his life... The fugitive seems to be facing overwhelming odds. Could the tables turn, however, thanks to a well-calculated gambit? This immediately sets the tone for YAJIKITA GAKUEN DOUCHUUKI. One notices at once that the shadow warriors appear in traditional attire. They have more in common with the historical Kotaro Fuma than with Naruto Uzumaki. That is how it goes. Apart from the dramatically emphasized scuffles here and there, YAJIKITA GAKUEN DOUCHUUKI's portrayal of martial artists is classicist rather than fantasist. But what about this OAV series? Unknown in the West, it was adapted from a serial that ran from 1984 to 1992, published in the Bonita comic magazine. The manga version appears to be more shōjo in spirit, as the covers and illustrated pictures in the image album suggest. The manga was not entirely original, as it drew inspiration from Shank's Mare, a popular novel from the Edo period.However, it is noteworthy that YAJIKITA GAKUEN DOUCHUUKI as an anime significantly distances itself from the tone of the literary classic on which it is based. Indeed, the revised Yaji and Kita of Ryouko Shitou do not align with the original picaresque disposition of the duo. As a result, the tone of the tales does not deviate significantly from the gravity of the subject matter. Here, they are essentially martial artists for hire who never turn a blind eye to shocking misconducts amidst academic environment. What is striking is how they act as a neutral party, intervening in conflicts as they travel through late Showa-era Japan, a country still torn between preserving traditions and embracing modernity. Rather than punishing those involved, they aim to reconcile parties caught up in mortal grudges. They are determined to restore calm and justice, and they do so compassionately, despite their adversaries' sins. As such, they diverge from the typical Nekketsu narrative. There is no climactic slaying of a one-dimensional evil fiend, nor is there a clear victor emerging from the soul-draining conflict. Instead, the antagonists, whose honor has been smeared, walk off to recover from their inner turmoil. Their path is one of evading mortification, and our two heroines simply push them towards catharsis. In light of this interpretation, they seek to replace martial arts as a tool of pacification rather than as a means of castigation. This is also why we don't see them wield any weapons, even though they face opponents who are set to exterminate any outsider who stands in their way (Kita only hurls a kunai at her target once to test an antagonist's dodging skills). The overwhelming number of enemies the two heroines fight against makes for more intense storytelling as the pace picks up. At the same time, Yaji and Kita are not the primary focus of the narrative. The way they are fleshed out is usually considered negative, but since they're more or less cast in the background, the cases they investigate are brought more to the foreground. They feature tortured souls who are misguided by outdated codes of honor or passion. While the main characters are somewhat likable, the focus of this two-part OVA remains on the lead villains. My personal favorite is the leader of the Shadow Military clan, who equates her fondness for gardening with a warlike disposition. The contrast between this gentle hobby and her brutal, "no holds barred" mindset is awesome in its staged subtlety. Likewise, the script is admirable, with inspirational dialogue that never sounds too grand or preachy. Even the final catharsis of the second episode takes this contrast into account. This kind of gravitas makes the conclusion bittersweet yet rewarding. However, this anime is not without its flaws. The type of writing used works best in a movie format. It's too constrained to fully work on an OAV series. The dynamic pace is somewhat lost in the scenario's lack of intelligibility. What is the connection between the Fate legend and the leader of the Shadow Military Clan? How do Kotetsu and Yaji, with the help of Kita, find crucial information? And by the way, that Kouga ninja is problematic... Unfortunately, he is not employed as much as he should be. Instead of being an organically woven character, he is made into a plot mouthpiece. Also, what is with his whirlwind teleport? It seems to be the only superpower in this anime, used only for "rule of cool" appearances but is never shown or discussed during other instances. Also, in the first episode, a ghost girl directing Yaji's movements appears at key points. These supernatural elements, in contrast to the otherwise grounded production design, are jarring. By going against certain of Knox's commandments, they undermine the crime mystery narrative somewhat. Nevertheless, YAJIKITA GAKUEN DOUCHUUKI makes up for it with its fine dramatization. The art department is executed fairly competently. Minoru Yamazawa's character design effectively conveys emotions, such as the majestic contempt on Yaji's face as an innocent student is bullied or fear on the chairman of the martial arts school's face as he tries to signal for help while trapped in his car with sabotaged brakes. There are sometimes misses, such as the scene where the student who noses into the affairs of the militaristic club gets confronted. He looks more beaten to a pulp than on the verge of death. Nevertheless, Yamazawa, who is also credited as an animation director, ensures that the animation remains consistent. The action scenes are the most challenging animation aspect to work around, and the key animators do a decent job of staging dynamic fight choreography through the use of gyrating camera shots, parallax, and other shortcut effects. Although they may appear dated, JC Staff and T-Up gave their best shot to avoid breaking the spectators' immersion. The soundtrack is an engaging blend of Japanese folk instrumentation, kinetic keyboard play, and supporting electric guitar and violins in certain sections. It smoothly complements the unity of time and place of the OAV series. The sound design in the anime itself is also well directed: the opening of the first episode is the tonally fitting "Kaze ni Koishite," and the upbeat "Ban Hana ra" provides relief from a rather heavy conclusion, channeling the more lighthearted roots of the Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige novel. To top it off, Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki is a sensible tale centered on the themes of forgiveness, acceptance of fatality, and allegiance to overly rigid codes of conduct. It's a title that stands only a notch from being a Psychological Drama classic. Its relative obscurity is widely undeserved. If you can overlook its slightly outdated production values, it's well worth the hour and a half you'll spend watching it. If you're looking for something more cerebral than the average action film, you can hardly go wrong with this old-styled item. The series' brevity is unfortunate, as it makes the experience feel less longer than it could have been... I personally revised the subtitles of KingMenu from February 2017. The final product is available on my YouTube channel if you would like to give it a watch. And that concludes the review by your host, Ziusudra, who has run out of things to discuss. Stay tuned for more comprehensive takes at obscure subculture pieces! ..| Colophon |.. The purpose of the Colophon is to provide practical information to the audience about objectionable content. .. Violence: There is nothing too objectionable. There is bloodshed and implied death, but no gore. YAJIKITA GAKUEN DOUCHUUKI is scarce when it comes to onscreen deaths, which accentuates their seriousness. .. Grap…

“Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki” (which I would loosely translate as “Record of Yaji and Kita’s School Journeys”) is a 2-episode Shoujo OVA with decent character designs and a solid voice cast, but plot-wise it’s a confusing mess, and every other aspect about this title is mediocre. The gist of the overall story is that Yaji and Kita, two high school girls proficient in a variety of combat techniques and who belong to some sort of martial arts-centered organization at their home school, act as martial artist mystery solvers for hire of sorts, transferring into schools upon request to solve their ninja-related problems. Each episode presents a self-contained story about a different school. Even if you can accept the premise that this these stories are built on — that it’s relatively common for high schools in modern Japan to have secret ninja group infestation problems, and that two high schoolers can solve them — the plots’ execution leaves a lot to be desired. The first episode is the more coherent of the two, but even in that one, a lot of the developments just don’t make sense. I was left wondering why Yaji and Kita were even hired to do the job in the first place, seeing as they don’t put up much of a fight when attacked, and conduct very little of the intelligence-gathering themselves. That is left to the plot device—er, ninja named Kotetsu, who is also a part of their organization and keeps popping in out of nowhere at the most convenient times to do most of the heavy lifting. The second episode is incredibly confusing. To start off with, one would be forgiven if they thought that the girl at the beginning, who cuts her hair in a revenge request offering, and the antagonist are one and the same, because they look similar. But no, the unnamed female student is a different character, apparently voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, no less. The synopsis of episode 2’s story makes you jump through a bunch of logical hoops for it to even marginally make sense. A girl’s boyfriend has been expelled from her school because of actions that his brother did as the leader of the school’s martial arts club. In order to enable his return (which he didn’t ask for, by the way), she decides to head up the club herself, turning it into a “shadow military organization” of trained ninjas. Her group attempts to murder the school’s chairman, who has been trying to stop them, which gets Yaji and Kita involved. And there’s a mysterious entity known as “the Punisher” at that school, who will, in exchange for the requester’s student ID books and their departure from the school, exact punishment on (beat up) whomever the requester asks. This entity has been targeting the ninja organization’s members lately, so they are trying to uncover the entity’s identity and fight them. Episode 2 is filled with blatant exposition dumps (characters approach Yaji and Kita at just the right time, explain everything, and then leave), undeveloped or even just-introduced characters who appear to be important but we aren’t really told who they are, some sexist dialogue, and a nonsensical ending which involves flowers, prostrating oneself in the direction of a prefecture, and crying. Regarding technical aspects, the animation gets the job done and is not noticeably subpar, although it is limited during action scenes, where stills are often used. The character designs are nice, but some characters look too similar to one another (as touched on above). The opening and two ending themes, as well as the background music, are all mediocre. The voice acting is solid — there are a lot of major voice actors in this, including in minor roles. As for objectionable content, there’s some violence, but little blood, and no one dies except in flashbacks. There’s also a bit of sexist dialogue here and there that is played off as being funny. Overall, while this show does have a nice aesthetic to it, the incoherent plot, poor story structure and underdeveloped characters make it a difficult OVA to sit through, particularly when it comes to the second episode. Thus, I would not recommend this OVA to anyone unless they have read the manga, which may give a fuller understanding of the plot and characters.