Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki

Similar to the Japanese flag's rising sun, a sanguine star is setting upon a darkened forest of spruce. Suddenly troubling this quiet sight worthy of a naturalist etching, a shinobi bolts from within the tree line. Far from being on a mission, his endeavor is dashing to escape another ninja party, fiercely resolute to make an attempt on his life... It seems that the fugitive is facing overwhelming odds, but could it be that the prey turn into the predator, thanks to a well calculated gambit?
This immediately sets the tone of Yajikita Gakuen. One notices at once that the shadow warriors appear in their ... traditional imagery. Indeed, they have more in common with the historical Kotaro Fuma than Naruto Uzumaki. That is how it goes. Apart from the dramatically emphasized scuffles here and there, the vision Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki shows through of martial artists is classicist rather than fantasist...

But what exactly is Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki? Unknown in the West, the OAV series is adapted from a long running serial from 1984 to 1992, published in the Bonita comic magazine. The manga version appears as more Shoujo connoted, as the covers and the image album's illustrated pictures suggest. In itself, the manga was not completely created ex-nihilo, as it drew inspiration from Shank's Mare, a popular novel from the Edo period. However, it is noteworthy that the YGD anime significantly distances itself from the tone of this literary classic. Indeed, the revised Yaji and Kita of Ryouko Shitou do not match with the original Picaresque disposition of the duo. Here, they are more or less martial artists for hire, who never turn a blind eye to shocking misconducts, that being said. What is flagrant, is how they act as a neutral party interceding in conflicts, as they go about on a late Showa era Japan still torn between conservation of traditions and modernity. Rather than setting off to punish, their agenda is to bring common sense where there is mortal grudge. While determined to restore calm and justice, they never do so without compassion, in spite of their adversaries' sins. As such, we cannot stray as far from the typical Nekketsu vision as it gets: there is no climactic slaying of a one dimensional evil fiend nor anybody standing out as a clear victor. On the contrary, the antagonists whose honor is badly smeared, walk off, recovering from their inner turmoil. Their path is of the evasion of mortification and our two heroines simply give the push towards their catharsis. At the light of this interpretation, their concern is then to replace martial art as a tool of pacification instead of self serving worth. Which is also why we do not see them wield any weapon (Kita only hurls a kunai once at her target to test his dodging expertise), even though they face opponents set to exterminate any outsider standing in their way. Overwhelmed as they are by sheer number, this makes for more tense storytelling when things get nervous. At the same time, Yaji and Kita are not made the narrative's primary focus. The summary way they are fleshed out would usually be considered negatively, but as they're more or less cast in the background, it works in the benefit of the cases they investigate about. They feature tortured souls, misguided they are by their outdated codes of honor or passion. While the main characters are somewhat attaching, the underpinnings of this two parter OAV remain the lead villains. Personal favorite is the leader of the Shadow Military clan, who associates her fondness for gardening to a warlike disposition. The game of contrast between this gentle hobby and her brutal "no holds barrel to meet the result" mindset is simply awesome, in its staged subtlety. Likewise, the script is admirable, with inspirational dialogues that never sound too grandiloquent or preachy. Even the final catharsis of the second episode takes said game of contrast into account. It is this kind of gravitas that makes the conclusions bittersweet and yet rewarding.

This anime is not without its flaws though; the kind of writing it uses delivers best under the movie format. It is a little too short for OAV's. What makes for a dynamic pace is somewhat lost in scenario intelligibility. What is the connection between the fate legend and the leader of the Shadow Military Clan? How Kotetsu, Yaji and Kita's aide, find some of his crucial information? By the way, that Kouga ninja is problematic... Unfortunately, not as much employed as he should be, he is made into a plot mouthpiece rather than an organically woven character. Besides, what is with his whirlwind teleport? What seems to be the only super power in this anime is employed for rule of the cool appearances but is never shown or talked upon during other instances. Also, in the first episode, a ghost girl, directing Yaji's tracks, is seen at key points. These lone supernatural elements, on an otherwise grounded production design, are jarring. Going against certain of Knox's commandments, they undermine the crime mystery aspect in the process. Even then, YGD still makes up for it with its fine dramatization.

The art is fairly competent. Chara-design translates emotions well, overall, such as the majestic contempt in Yaji's face as an innocent student is about to get punched in the face or when the fearful chairman of the Martial Arts school, trapped on his car with sabotaged brakes, tries to mean he needs help even though nobody can hear his plea. Sometimes there are misses, such as this student nosing into the militaristic club's affairs, who seems more like he is beaten to a pulp than being on the verge of death. Animation is fluid as a whole. Action scenes being the most tricky part, the key animation does an alright job at staging dynamic fight choreography through the use of gyrating camera shots, parallax and other shortcut effects. As dated as they may appear, JC Staff and T-Up did a good enough job to not let it break spectator's immersion.
Soundtrack is an engaging blend of Japanese folk instrumentation, kinetic keyboard, and supporting electric guitar and violins for certain middle eights. It goes along smoothly with the unity of time and place of the OAV series. Sound design in the actual anime is not ill chosen as well: in the first episode, the opening is the tonally fitted Kaze ni Koishite and as a relief to a rather heavy conclusion an upbeat Ban Hana ra, which channels the more light-hearted roots of the Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige novel.

To cap it off, Yajikita Gakuen Douchuuki is a sensible tale articulated around the topoi of forgiveness, acceptance of fatality and allegiance to overly rigid codes of conduct. Its dregs make it a title only standing a Gi away from being psychological drama classic. Its relative obscurity is undeserved. If you are ready to overlook its slightly outdated production values, it is largely worth of the one hour and a half you give it. One can hardly go wrong with this old-styled item, if searching for something more cerebral than a run of the mill actionner. KingMenu gently fansubbed it in February 2017, check the forum discussion below to watch it in its entirety...
Praise be unto Sacred Geometry~

..| Colophon |..

This section is dedicated to content indication in order to inform audience in a practical way. On the next paragraph, the buzzwords offer hints about the title's strong suits and drawbacks.

Ketchup meter: Nothing too objectionable, there is bloodshed but no gore. YGD is an anime scarce when it comes to write on-screen death, which accentuates its seriousness.
xXx meter: With JC Staff behind the tiller, you would expect at least some Ecchi but surprisingly enough the staff showed discipline and modesty. Not even a voyeuristic intent behind the main protagonists outfits, as demonstrated with the presence of the long skirts, senior schoolgirls normally sport in Japan. The only titillation for the perverted spectator is a couple of panty shots lost in the screenplay, and even so they are barely discernible as the heroine counter an assault. Thus, they are not completely gratuitous. There is also a little yaoi bait tied to the boss of United Kanto Group but it does not go too far (in fact, it is played out for comic value), thankfully.
Fishing scene(s): None.


POSITIVE aspects:
+ A solid concept, balancing feminine cast's sensitivity with masculine cast's roughness
+ No tonal whiplash caused by disruptive comedy or romance
+ The brilliant dramatization, escalating towards the final catharsis
+ The brainy characterization of the antagonists

NEGATIVE aspects:
- Better fitted for a movie format with higher production values and more length
- Not as deft in handling crime mystery genre as psychological drama
- Too short of a series in regards of the promising production design

“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.