Shōjo Tsubaki

Shōjo Tsubaki (少女椿, "The Camellia Girl") was a stock protagonist of kamishibai during its revival in early Shōwa period Japan attributed to a creator known as Seiun, though the plagiarism and retelling in sundry variants that was the norm for popular-proving tales make its origin uncertain. Generally speaking, the character is a stereotypical adolescent or preadolescent ingénue, a daughter of a penniless family who goes from selling camellias on the streets to being sold, forced to perform in a revue show.

Shōjo Tsubaki
少女椿
GenreBody horror, eroguro
Manga
Written bySuehiro Maruo
Published bySeirindō
English publisher
Blast Books
ImprintMelon Comic
MagazineMonthly Melon Comic
DemographicSeinen
PublishedSeptember 1984
Anime film
Chika Gentō Gekiga: Shōjo Tsubaki
Directed byHiroshi Harada
Produced byHiroshi Harada
Written byHiroshi Harada
Music byJ. A. Seazer
StudioMippei Eigeki Kiryuukan
ReleasedMay 2, 1992 (1992-05-02)
Runtime52 minutes
Live-action film
Directed byTORICO
ReleasedMay 2016 (2016-05)
Runtime90 minutes

The character is known to western, and indeed contemporary Japanese, audiences predominantly by way of Suehiro Maruo's ero guro reinterpretation in comics including a graphic novel of the same name published in English translation as Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show and Hiroshi Harada's film based on Maruo's version, screened at film festivals and released on DVD-Video with English subtitles as Midori. The graphic novel is considered a classic of Maruo's 1920s-inspired brand of ero guro and its out-of-print English edition has become much sought-after; the film is also infamous in itself and for the elaborate expanded cinema presentations it was originally only shown in, though it has been allowed to screen in conventional movie theaters and even released on home video outside Japan. A live action film adaptation of the manga was released in Japan in May 2016.

Comics

The comics and film's version of the story follows the misadventures of a girl called Midori who, after losing her mother, joins a funfair freak show. She is harassed, abused and humiliated by everyone else in the show, until the appearance of a dwarf magician-hypnotist.

Anime film
Cover of the 2006 Ciné Malta DVD of the film

Midori (地下幻燈劇画 少女椿, Chika Gentō Gekiga: Shōjo Tsubaki, roughly "Underground Projected Dramatic Pictures: Maiden Camellia") is a 1992 Japanese independent ero guro adult horror film by Hiroshi Harada, based on Suehiro Maruo's comic version of the kamishibai standard. The film, which Harada scripted and directed under the pseudonym of Hisaaki Etsu (絵津久秋, Etsu Hisaaki)[1] and whom he presents as a lost filmmaker he worked on it under,[2] consists primarily of paintings and cels of drawings by Harada held, panned or zoomed over with music, sound effects and voice acting and occasional touches of traditional animation.

In 1994, a censored version of the film was produced for future screenings at the request of Eirin, the Japanese film censor board. This version optically censored nudity, sexual assault, and violence towards animals, while removing discriminatory language from the audio track in the form of audio muting. The 2006 Ciné Malta DVD release of the film contains the original 1992 version, albeit with two short sections intended for audiences at live screenings omitted.

For many years, a videotape transfer of the film was all that was known to exist of the film, aside from censored post-1994 film prints screened at various international film festivals. In 2013, the original 16 mm negative of the film was rediscovered in an IMAGICA warehouse. A new print and digital master were made from this negative, and began to be screened in digital format in Japan numerous times. Harada’s production company plans to release a restored Blu-ray of the new master of the film in 2020.

Production

The film was single-handedly created by Hiroshi Harada. Given the subject matter, Harada had found it impossible to gain sponsors. He then used all of his life savings to make the film over a five-year period. Over 5,000 separate sheets of animation were hand-drawn by Harada.

Screenings

The film was for many years very rare to see at all as Harada will only screen Midori in Japan if the venue is presented as a carnival freak show. From 1994 to 2006, outside of standard definition videotape transfers of the original master, the film was only available in the form of prints with visual and audio censorship in place. In 2006, however, a region 2-locked, PAL-style DVD-Video of the film with subtitles in French, English, Spanish, Italian and German was released in France by Ciné Malta, containing the original uncensored version of the film.

Live action film

A live action film adaptation of the manga directed by TORICO and starring Risa Nakamura was released in Japan in May 2016.[3] Other cast members include Shunsuke Kazama, Misaki Morino, Takeru and Daichi Saeki.[4]

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See also
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō – another manga and anime franchise with its origins in kamishibai
  • Belladonna – an earlier erotic Japanese film using still paintings and animation

References
  1. http://www.kinejun.jp/cinema/地下幻燈劇画%E3%80%80少女椿
  2. http://zipangufest.com/films/2010/midori-the-girl-in-the-freak-show
  3. "Midori/Shōjo Tsubaki Horror Manga Gets Live-Action Film Starring Risa Nakamura". Anime News Network. February 11, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  4. 少女椿(2016). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
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