Ranked #2461

Porfy no Nagai Tabi

'Porufi no Nagai Tabi' (Porphyrus' Long Journey), is an anime that follows the traditions of the World Masterpiece Theatre series (a tradition of family-aimed anime that adapt 'Western' masterpieces). It's an adaptation of Paul-Jaques Bonzon's book 'Les Orphelins de Simitra' (The Orphans of Simitra). The actual story follows a boy, Porphyrus, separated from his sister after an earthquake desolates his town and kills his parents in the process. Porphyrus then travels across Europe on a quest to find his sister, forging acquaintances and friendships, and funding his travels by both the charity of others and by working. His sister, Mina, in turn travels with migrant workers and eventually achieves her childhood ambition career-wise. Thirteen episodes are however dedicated to the events before the earthquake- Porufi no Nagai Tabi is definitely a slow-moving anime that focuses on landscapes and the relationships of characters. Little tension or action is provoked in Porufi compared to emotional impact.

First, it's probably notable to say that Bonzon is likely a name you've not heard of before if you are an English speaker. Bonzon's work has received more attention in continental Europe, India, Thailand and Japan, than in English speaking countries. Few of Bonzon's novels are translated into English, and are often hard to find. Kozo Sakakibara's translations of Bonzon's work in Japan helped popularise him, and subsequently in 2007, when the studio Nippon Animation decided to reinstitute the World Masterpiece Theatre series after they had stopped in 1997 (they restarted partly because of MEXT initiative funding, partly because of the failure of their recent series which had been failures such as 'Fantastic Children' and 'Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge'), it was decided Porufi would be the second series, following an adaptation of Les Miserables.

Nearing the end of the year, Tomomi Mochizuki was contracted to direct the series nearing the completion of his project on 'Touka Getten'. Mochizuki is more commonly known as the director of The House of Five Leaves, Zettai Shounen, Kimagure Orange Road, and Ranma 1/2. He has over time become quite respected, even expanding his role recently to incorporate sound direction as found in Porufi, 'Shinigami no Ballad', and 'The House of Five Leaves'. His wife, Gotou Masako, has been responsible for much of his early success- contributing character design and animation direction in many of his projects- however, Masako's touch does not appear in Porufi.

Regarding the plot, and the adaptation, Porufi is somewhat interesting in what it does not present as well as what it does. The World Masterpiece Theatre series have always depicted positive stories, uplifting and heart warming. However, much of 'The Orphans of Simitra' is quite dark, and particular moments occur in Porufi that shockingly have not been made less ghastly- such as a haunting scene where a man tries to rape the twelve-year-old Mina. Simitra is a (fictional) small village in mid-west Greece. Set in post-war Greece, the true impact of the Second World War is rarely shown. Greece lost 1 in 14 people in the war, and much of its infrastructure was destroyed. Arguably, the only worse affected countries were Poland, Yugoslavia, and Russia. This period in Greece was not only a time of much economical hardship though, it also was a time of vicious civil war. The American presence depicted in Porufi belies much of this conflict, as does much of the commentary on Porphyrus' mother, who gave up her life in the upper class to elope with Porphyrus' poor (orphan) father Christiphore. Rarely if at all is this collective hardship and grief squarely shown or concentrated on in Porufi. Instead, The focus is of Mina and Porphyrus childhood and rites of passage, their friends and people they meet. The inclusion of a few more questionable scenes is doubtlessly part of Mochizuki's influence, as well as the newbie scriptwriter Kei Kunii- just as the preceding World Masterpiece Theatre series Les Miserables was coloured more comedic and romantic than perhaps expected by a Japanese family audience because of the directors experience with mainly comedy and lightweight romance, Sakurai Hiroki (such as 'Kaichou wa Maid Sama', 'Daa! Daa! Daa!' , and 'Cromartie High School').

Most of Porufi is thus presented by Porphyrus' viewpoint- highly naive, ignorant, innocent, and including the foibles of his mannerisms. Which there are quite a few of, as Porphyrus manages to be at times annoying, malevolent, and belligerent. The majority of development focuses on Porphyrus too, at the cost of the character development of Mina. And as per the long list of side characters, very few characters are focused on in Porufi adequately. Many of the decisions of these side characters stay limited to their character type. This is a point actually expanded upon in the anime, as this formula of character cameos is thought to fit well to a long running episodic construction (Porufi is a long 52 episodes).

However, I'd like not to cast too many aspersions upon Porufi no Nagai Tabi. At many points Porufi manages to be deeply touching- it really generates an authentic emotional response. Certainly this is what a kids/family anime is aiming for. The episode when the earthquake occurred and caused such problems for Porphyrus and Mina was so effective it made me cry even though I knew it was going to happen.

Regarding Porufi no Nagai Tabi's technical merits- there's quite a bit to say. The background artwork of Porufi is probably the most memorable property of the series. It's utterly comprehensive, providing detailed environments for each of the settings featured, and in a vibrant style that stays memorable. The vivid and cheerful palette is defined by Keiji Oohira (think Hungry Heart: Wild Striker) who did much of the colouring, and the actual construction of these backgrounds facilitated by Kenji Takahara collecting primary and secondary photography (he also did the photographic work for 'Kids on the Slope' for instance) with which the incredibly experienced Nobuto Sakamoto directed the process of animating the photos and sourcing any additional original artwork required.

Perhaps more interestingly however, is the character design and main animation. Shigeo Akihori is the main we have to thank for this. Enshrined as an absolute master of character animation, working freelance as key animation for many important films such as Arrietty, 'The Cat Returns', 'Metropolis', 'Memories', and more- Akihori is amazingly skilled. However, he has done the character design on only 3 anime; 'Mermenoid' in 1997, 'Texhnolyze' in 2003, and Porufi in 2007. Akihori's designs are fairly non-conventional. Many of his critics say that his best work was in the 90's. However, Akihori still facilitates an effective kinaesthetic sense of movement and a flowing set of expressions with his characters in Porufi.

There's also the music which again is of note. Here Mochizuki creates the demands upon the musicians. The result is an interesting mix of new and old, European and J-pop influenced. All of the songs have a similar kind of rhythm, and often the same beats-per-minute. This results in a soundtrack, that as per the 52 episodes, is repeated and thus feels homogeneous and can be somewhat annoying. Each of the pieces of music are used very obliquely too. It's often the music that tells you what is going to happen, the tone of interaction, rather than the content of Porufi itself. Though, over time, these pieces of music do kind of mesh to create a cohesive whole- something that very much instantaneously puts you in the mood for watching Porufi, and gives a kind of nostalgia when hearing the music later. So there is some success in this approach.

Overall, Porufi no Nagai Tabi is a well executed family anime. It does slavishly work to fulfil the World Masterpiece Theatre series conventions, which has both positive and negative effects; the divergences in these conventions primarily causing the negative effects. Porufi can feel repetitive, and it can be somewhat slow, but the payback is large. You really do barrack for Porphyrus and Mina, and feel their pain. Porufi is also very impressive technically. You will be very impressed by the backgrounds, the organic character movement. Over the 52 episodes you'll form a bond with Porufi, and I doubt you'll come out of it disliking this anime. read more