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You know, there's always this one anime that just makes your mind blow. You have a lot of things to say about it, either in a good or a bad way, that you can't say anything. Well, Aoi Bungaku Series is one of those animes. And you either like it or hate it, there's no in between. In my case, I pretty much liked it.

The whole concept of an anime that adapts six modern classics of Japanese literature is already original; I don't think I've ever seen something like that before.

Since the anime is divided into 6 arcs that are totally unrelated, I'll be ... reviewing every arc's story individually.

STORY:

- No Longer Human (episode 1-4) : The fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas; an artist who lost hope in humanity and himself, trying to find a purpose of his life.

The story is outstanding. You can feel more emotions during four episodes than you do in an anime of 12-24 episodes. The whole psychology contest in "No Longer Human" causes you to focus and connect to Oba (the protagonist) rather than the environment or even the whole purpose of the author by writing that novel that got turned into an anime.


- Under the Full Bloom of Cherry Blossom Forest (episode 5-6) : A bandit finds a beautiful maiden in the forest and how he does anything for her and takes her to be his wife, while he already got other wives, but this woman isn't an ordinary woman.

That was probably the longest two episodes of the series. They were so weird. Although I knew there was supposed to be some kind of message behind it, the story plot made it hard to understand and I think it was the only story I disliked in Aoi Bungaku. It felt like it was all about how easily the human being can be blinded by love and be manipulated.

- Kokoro (episode 7-8) : The story of young man who lives with a widow and her daughter, invites his childhood friend known as "K" (I guess) to live with him. This last falls in love with the widow's daughter and the young man gets jealous of "K".

The best part of this story is its message. The story is in two different points of view, and we can understand that it is important to know every part of whatever story we hear about before we judge it whatsoever. Also, jealousy is the main purpose of Kokoro.

- Run, Melos! (episode 9-10) : This story deals with friendship, love, insecurities, betrayal and trust. It's about a playwright who is asked to write the scenario of a theater play based on "Run, Melos!". The play is related to the playwright's life and feelings in some way.

It is written by Dazai Osamu, the same man that wrote No Longer Human. I think this is my favorite story in Aoi Bungaku. It is unique, kinda predictable but I enjoyed it anyways. The ending was more or less satisfying; I personally was in tears at the end of the 10th episode. Friendship can be beautiful and it's never too late to do anything. It may sound cliché but I don't think it really is.

- The Spider's Thread (episode 10) : An evil person meets death and lands in hell. The one good thing he had done in his whole life was to not kill a spider he met in the city. He just didn't kill her although he killed whoever was in his way numbly.

This story made me uncomfortable but no matter how you look at it, whether you believe that Kandata deserved to rot in Hell for all eternity or not, this is a story that is not easy to forget. A mind blowing story that leaves you with many, many unanswered questions about yourself, about life, hell and human stupidity. Unfortunately, it is too short to be considered a masterpiece

- Hell Screen (episode 11): The story of A feudal lord who ordered an artist to make paintings that describe scenes of Buddhist hell. The painter couldn't, since he's never seen the hell of his eyes. But the Lord, unhappy, made him discover it.

A simple story with a successful atmosphere. As brilliant as he was, the painter was also bizarre and inhumanly cold; nothing could stand between him and the perfection of his craft. What are we willing to sacrifice to complete our masterpieces? Everything. A story on how truth will conquer all, culminating in the fate of the Lord himself.

ART:

I don't think we can say anything about the art. It is well done. Neither the style nor the quality changed during the six arcs, which is awesome in my point of view. The shades of color differed from arc to arc which was enjoyable.

SOUND:

The special effects were S U G O I. Just amazing. Every episode starts with a narrator that talks about the classic novel is original, amusing and you start getting in the arc easily. The fact that there was no opening doesn't even need to be considered. The ending was really good and fitted all six stories.

CHARACTERS:

Every character was so different from another, yet some had a few similarities. And I think that Oba from No Longer Human was the best out of them, his improvements, his attitude... it has to leave a mark on you. I don't even know what to say more about it. Plus, most of the stories focus more on the themes and the messages. And since there is so many casts, I don't think it is necessary to talk about the supporting ones.

ENJOYMENT:

As I said from the start, you'd either like it or hate it, there is no in between. It is a very, very remarkable work of art that I'm not ready to forget about it soon. I don't think I'll ever will. It even made me want to read the novels although I'm not really into classics. I'd definitely re-watch it someday.

Overall rating : (8/10)