Aoi Bungaku Series

society treats unique individuals with such prejudice that leads to hatred, isolation, and then suicide. it was quiet interesting seeing a navigator giving you a brief summary about the author who wrote those classic stories you're about to watch. it makes you look at it in a different aspect, makes you admire the author and sympathize with what they've gone through. this is no fun in the park kind of anime.. it's depressing, dark, and has a Gothic theme to it. You have to watch it with the right mind set to get through it masterpieces are depressing.. but the authors were quiet creative

I studied Psychology and still fascinated with it so it is given that my most favorite genre is psychological based stories. One of my greatest fascinations would also be episodic type of stories. And so with this anime that brings those two together is already a sure jackpot for me. After watching the first story, though it is episodic I am expecting the rest to be somewhat like the first story but for my surprise, every story is so different from the others. I didn’t see it coming but I just love how they are so different. Every story comes in different forms and approach with psychology. Some are tragic and dark, others are scary and horrifying, while some are touching and inspiring. But if there’s one thing that all of them have in common, all of them are such sad stories. Well, psychological genres are always a sad story. Why? For the obvious reason that having a psychological problem itself is a sad thing. Having a mental instability is a sign of human failure and weakness. This compilation of different stories shows the tragic side of life that leads to having psychological instability which makes us human beings. But what I love about them is that after seeing those horrifying experiences of different people, you learn something from it and sometimes get inspired by their story. And because it is episodic you get a new different kind of excitement while anticipating the next story. Of course with an episodic type of series, there are so many very different characters. Some are really pitiful and some are inspiring. Like I said you learn a lesson or two with their story. Every chapter comes with different style of animation. There are stories with a more realistic approach and others with more on how the mind sees world which sometimes in a dream-like situation. It is very rare for a psychological type of story to be accompanied by an episodic styled series so I definitely enjoy it a lot. Every chapter is absolutely amazing and worth to watch.

Aoi Bungaku... Never before has an anime made me feel not only depressed, but empty. To me, the only part of the series worth talking about is The No Longer Human section (episodes 1 through 4). Don't get me wrong, the other sections are great, but none of them stand out any where near as much as No Longer Human, so that's why this review will be centred around that. The story is fantastic, being told from the eyes of a highschool student who's always been alienated from society, never fit in with anybody or had any real friends. I don't want to say much about the story because spoiling it for people should be a crime for such a masterpiece. It's animated by Madhouse. Need any more be said? The animation is incredible and first the dark nature perfectly. The soundtrack is brilliant, it's strange, dark and depressing, fitting the tone of the anime perfectly. The characters... Good fucking god the characters. You're following the story of a depressed, suicidal sociopath and the character is incredibly well developed in just four episodes. I've never related to an anime character so well, despite how twisted the main character is. Overall, this is one of my favourite anime of all time. It's a brutally realistic portrayal of humans that will make you hate yourself and your fellow man, and for that, it's a masterpiece.

Apart from being a fan of anime, I'm also (and to a much bigger degree) a fan of literature. And when I heard that there was an anime based on classical Japanese literature, I nearly fell off my seat. I finished the anime with mixed feelings. I was happy to see something on a deeper level altogether (and it is deep), I was happy to recognize some of the stories, and so on. But, I also realized that literature isn't made for anime. Most anime is based directly on a corresponding manga, written specifically to accommodate various desires. Literature is not. So naturally, an adaption comes out slightly grotesque, and clumsy. This conclusion leads me to the following: while the anime is no doubt "good", fans of literature are recommended simply to read the stories, fans of anime will most likely find it too weird. So, while I enjoyed it, I find "Aoi Bungaku"'s existence not necessary. Feel free to watch it, if you so wish, but I strongly recommend the originals instead.

Aoi Bungaku Series is not for everyone, obviously. This anime is disturbingly great. Watching the conclusion to the very first short story "No Longer a Human" left me mentally disturbed. The stories overall are pretty amazing to be honest. It has brilliant narrative and the flow of these stories never feels rushed or too slow. My favorite story of this series was easily "Run Melos". I don't want to talk too much about these stories but yes they are really good. Art of this series is mind blowing. The art fits the stories and the genre so perfectly. Never I felt in any scene that a specific detail was out of order. So top marks for the Art. Sound was good to an extend. The voice acting is great but other than that something just feels left out and at times overdone. I hope you are understanding what I'm saying here, like if there is a scene with a person standing in a train station then you will obviously hear the sound of the train but the rest of the environment is not very detailed in sound than it is in the art. So a bit sloppy in the sound direction. Character designs are brilliant. Firstly if you don't know, the character designs are by Tite Kubo (The creator of Bleach). The characters obviously were written by their respective authors but their looks and their design and their voice is amazing. There is really not much to complain here. I personally enjoyed this anime but I wanted to finish this series quickly because of how disturbingly realistic it was. I have not ever seen something like this. It is unique without a doubt and very enjoyable.

I will keep this brief this series is low investment in terms of time of exemplary enjoyment as each of the short stories has it's own elements to offer. That being said the series is not for everyone as it can be quite grim at times, so for those of you who love big action spectacles where the hero always comes out on top look elsewhere. But if unhappy ending are your heroin these short stories will after one episode have you craving more, after two have you hooked, and by the end of the first short you will be begging on the street corner for just one more hit of the beautiful agony that is Aoi Bungaku.

I would have to say that this anime speaks to me. Now granted, only two of the anime's in the series really spoke to me and that was of course kokoro and ningen shikakku. I have both books and read them several times, and watched those two series over and over again and to put it bluntly: they are simply amazing. If you are even halfway intelligent you will be able to feel a relation and sort of empathy for the characters. Their stories make you think about life and maybe even your own life. I can tell you that no longer human(ningen shikakku) the anime, and the novel by osamu dazai, has greatly influenced my life. The background to the two stories is amazing as well, as both the others, osamu dazai, and natsume soseki(kokoro) led troubled lives. Osamu himself, tried unsuccessfully to kill himself over 3 times, until he finally did, shortly after the book was published. Over all the series is amazing, and the music is quite riveting as well. However, it does not have an ost, which is something of a shame.

I have not really thought much about the animes I watch. There are some I loved, some I just liked and some that I just found A-OK. I mean, all were meant to entertain and I appreciate every single one of them. Now, how I wish all of them would be as good as this one. Aoi Bungaku is divided into 6 stories and each one of them has its own charm. Each has its own style of art and it makes the story unique on a different level. Story #1 : No Longer Human - This may be the darkest of all the stories, and is the longest one. It revolves around a man who just cannot seem to find his true purpose (well, at least that's how i see it). Story #2 : In The Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom - At first, I thought that it was a comedy/musical of some sort. It is the least serious of all the stories but it is as thought provoking as the last. Story #3 : Kokoro - The lovestory with a very interesting approach to it. Its unconventional storytelling is what makes it so moving. Story #4 : Run, Melos - The usual story about friendship told in a not-so-usual way (seems like a story is encompassed within a story) Story #5 : The Spider's Thread - Bloody and Jigoku-Shoujo-kind of creepy Story #6 : Hell Screen - Somewhat connected to #5 --- Eye-Opening Art indeed! I will not go to lengths and over-analyze. All I can say is that this is highly recommended and I would leave the others to just see it for themselves. Personal Preferences: Kokoro (best story) and Run, Melos (best art) "They are evergreen because they are masterpieces." --- and I don't doubt that they are...

My score is a lie.. As someone who aspires to be a writer, I am truly fascinated whenever a "literary" work is adapted—regardless of the final outcome or quality. So, you could say this score comes with a bit of a "sugar-coating." Throughout my life, I’ve watched a vast number of anime—whether original works or adaptations—but when it comes to the literary side of things, the last title that really sticks in my memory is *Hyouka* by Honobu Yonezawa. I’ve never claimed that manga is bad in any way—after all, I love anime; surely everyone knows that by now. The thing is, for someone living outside Japan—relying entirely on subtitles or translations—there’s always a sense that something is missing. That’s why I’m so satisfied to have had this new experience; it made me feel much closer to the original work. People might say the first four episodes were the best and forget the rest, but have you ever stopped to think... could you write something like that? Not everyone can become a legend; most people just get by with ordinary jobs. How can we truly savor the sweetness of fruit once we’ve experienced the addictive taste of chocolate?. Anyway just enjoy and have nice day.

This whole show has had some interesting aspects. Whole show is a compilation of six stories, by 4 authors. Each one with quite the interesting backstories as well as state of minds they were probably in when writing these stories. Supposedly, each author has quite a bit of merit to their names as well as their works being quite important to Japanese literature from what I have learned of. Story 7/10: Each story was fairly unique and had common cases of introducing death. I'm no literature freak nor do I know much of the original sources so I was not able to appreciate these arcs nor did I have the troubles of being in angst to see several of these arcs be butchered from their original material. Each story reflected themes of humanity and society as well as reflected the authors themselves. No Longer Human Being the longest arc as well as the most packed I feel. Again, I am no literature buff so I am merely scratching the surface but seeing the conflicts happen to Oba is quite exhilarating. From what I have seen on the wiki of No Longer Human, several parts seem to have been omitted, however, I felt the idea of fitting into society and the meaning of humanity were interesting and the use of topics like drugs and suicide were quite interesting. Reading Dazais background makes it evident the character quite parallels to Dazai. In the woods underneath the Cherry blossoms in full bloom One of the...weirdest adaptations in the whole show considering this def felt the most anime-ish and lighthearted compared to the first story with its bleakness. however, this does incorporate some rather dark moments despite the weirdly placed modern items such as the character, the Mountain Bandit, chewing gum and listening to music on earbuds. There is some story I felt may have been left out considering he had seven ex-wives, not sure why but ok. But the part that really found its horror is the newly acquired wife. This woman manipulates the mountain bandit to commit these criminal acts such as murder of immense magnitude, all to please her desires. But, slowly, he loses his love as we see he feels different towards society. he cannot meet the norms of society and wishes for the quietness of the wilderness and the different of standards. However, he takes his wife back with him and in a paranoid state, sees her for what she truly is and murders her. The show like I said, had some animeish things such as a talking boar for some reason, as well as the other such as a monk to just try to power up for some reason. Despite the anime-ish feels, the songs and stage like segments of the show during the mountain bandits murderous acts or quite chaotic. Kokoro Perhaps the worse adaptation I am assuming yet I still hold it in high regards. This arc spans 2 episodes and centers around the two friends, one known as Sensei and the other known as K. From what I gathered, the original story was told in 3 parts and includes the sensei older as well as a narrator/university student. This work instead adapts the last part of kokoro which is the senseis past and the 2nd ep tells the story of K, however, this was never part of the original work so some may feel conflicted about it. First half of the show focuses on Sensei and his perception of K. He sees K as friend until he invites him to the house he is staying at where K slowly takes a liking towards the homeowners daughter which Sensei also loves. Sensei slowly feels threatened by K as he sees him as a villain and becomes wary of K, causing their friendship to shift. In the end, the homeowner marries the daughter to sensei as she does not want K to have her. Sensei is pleased by this and K, in supposed sadness, commits suicide. The narrator marries his love but feels like he lost to K. The interesting yet messy portion is the 2nd half. It is the retelling of the story from the first part but from K's side. In this, we actually see K's thought process as a shy person and not a villain. Instead, we see from K's perspective that Sensei emits the presence of a cold and dark individual. We see a new side to the homeowners daughter who in fact is looking for excitement and sees it in K. Despite the retelling of the same story, several events and pieces of dialog are changed. This leads some to wonder which side is telling the truth. However, some may find this frustrating as the 2nd half, like it was mentioned, was not part of the original work. Despite that, it was quite the dynamic to see their perspectives of each other. Run, Melos! In terms of direction, this story was quite interesting as it utilizes a greek play of A man sentenced to death, using his friend as a substitute as he may visit his sisters wedding, however, the man is racing to meet his friend so that his friend does not die instead of him. The story uses this play to parallel the struggle a playwright has. The playwright original had a close relationship to a friend in High school. Someone that saw his talent and supported him. The friend urged the playwright for both of them to leave for Tokyo to pursue the friends acting and the playwrights writing. However, the friend does not show up and instead, the playwright leaves and becomes infuriated as he sees his friend near the rails just watching the playwright leave. The playwright is tormented by this play as he feel betrayed by his own friend. However, he learns that the friend is suffering from an illness and may dies soon. Similar to the character in Run, Melos, the playwright is rushing against the clock to meet with his friend and is able to reconcile with him. Compared to the prior stories, this was the most lighthearted and animated quite well, however, the story felt a bit predictable. It may had to do with seeing something similar of ending to other works but I was not as astounded by the story. The Spiders Thread A bandit who is on a killing spree. He kills many people without any remorse. He recieves his karma as he is stabbed by someone whom he killed their mother and he is sent to the execution block. Because of his crimes, he is sent to hell, where he is tortured from his own crimes of killing or of the disturbing scenery. However, a spider he had saved from when he was alive, decides to drop down a thread of silk. Seeing it as his salvation, the criminal climbs it.However, when he climbs, so too do other sinners and he soon kicks people off as he is more focused on his own salvation over the others. The thread breaks and he falls with the other sinners back to hell. The story feels more shallow compared to the others. Maybe because it was because it was originally made for children, however, it still is a nice story and more understandable. The story itself relies more with the depiction of the hellish landscape. Hell Screen This is another weird adaptation as it takes place in the same world as Spiders Thread and we see the painter view the execution of the bandit in the prior ep. However, this adaptation is much more different as the original source focuses on the Artist having the job of depicting hell and inflicts torture on apprentices and in turn, has his daughter killed. The artists finishes his Hell screen and proceeds to kill himself. However, the anime version is different. It instead has the artist go down the route of madness. He is deemed a great artist but does not see the beauty of the land and is forced to create a painting for the king for when he dies. The artist see the true nature of the nation as well as the kings nature. People burned from the plague, people killed for being crushed by the kings boat, and people entombed in the walls as structure for the wall or as an example to the slaves. The artist depicts hell and the King is angered. however, the artist needs more vision and asks for a maiden to die. The king abides but has the artist daughter die. The artists watches his daughter die in a moment of obsession and the king dies from the greatness of the flames. In the end, the …

Ok, so since this anime is a collection of short stories, I'm gonna be rating them individually and later calculating the average score for the entire show. So, without further ado: Ningen Shikkaku - 8 This was the opening story and I thought it was well executed. It showed the darkness of the human heart and mind living with disregard for its own life. A very real depiction of depression, as you will. Not only that, but a very sad representation of Dazai Osamu's own convoluted life... This one was the longest (with 6 episodes), but it didn't felt dragged out. It's one the largest novels of the bunch, anyway, and the most recognizable. Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita - 4 Definetely the worst of the bunch... I haven't read all of the books these short stories were based on, but this was the one that made little to no sense to me. From beggining to end the tone was all over the place, with over-the-top comedy and serious f'ed up murder, the story and characters made little sense, and even what I could gather to understand of it seemed to be told in a very "Meh" kind of way, with no cohesion to it. Maybe, for people who have read the book, the story it's actually good? Who knows? But I didn't like it, and the great soundtrack didn't managed to save it. Kokoro - 8 People I know who read the book claim this wasn't very faithful to the original story or, at the very least, was missing a lot of details, which made the overall understanding and message of the story very partial and incomplete. But, besides all of that, I still enjoyed the "Kokoro" short story and how it was done with two different perspectives towards something similar. The characters may be a little shallow since we don't get much background like in the book, but it was incredibly enjoyable seeing it as a tragic love story. Run, Melos! - 10 Definetely the best of the bunch. It was extremely well made and not even one of the others could top it... The characters were great, the music was great, the visuals were great, the setting was great, and the storytelling was superb. This was astonishingly visually telling, with an incredible setting of performing arts in a very believable theatre environment. And it also showed a cheerier side of Dasai Osamu's Life. Truly, a masterpiece! Kumo no Ito - 8 Really liked this one. It revolves around a simple concept: "everyone deserves a second chance to do good, but they have to choose to". Great symbolism, nice music, and a very pitiful character... Loved what they did in such a small time. Jigokuhen - 6 It picks up as another story from Ryunosuke Akutagawa, but this time it tells a more complex, and historical, story than in Kumo no Ito (apparently). I loved the visuals during this one, but that's mostly it for me. The story was nice, but it felt convoluted and I didn't really pick up the symbolisms by the end. But, even with all of that, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. So, all in all, it comes down to a 7.3, so I'll give it a 7. It was a pretty enjoyable experience. I recommend you watch and get your own conclusions, and I hope you'll enjoy it.