Koushoku Ichidai Otoko

The OVA is based on incidents in the novel Koshoku Ichidai Otoko (The Life of an Amorous Man) by Saikaku Ihara (1642-1693).

The libertine Yonosuke has spent his life in quest of sexual pleasure. Disowned by his father when he is 18, 16 years full of changes and errantry begin for him. At the age of 34 he inherits great wealth after his father dies and forgives his son.

When Yunosuke is 57, one of his tailors named Juzo comes to see him before setting out for Edo. Juzo has unwisely made a bet with a rich merchant that he will sleep with Komurasaki, the most renowned courtesan in Edo, at the first meeting. If he succeeds he will win a villa, but if he loses he will lose his manhood. Yunosuke is astounded as he knows how hard the high rank courtesans are to get. The best courtesans, tayu, as well as being beautiful, were highly cultured, being educated in poetry, calligraphy, painting, tea ceremony and other arts. They would sleep with a client only on the third night, the other two nights being taken up with greetings and other social niceties. Humble men, to whom they were 'untouchable' looked up to them with adoration and respect.

Indignant, Yunosuke takes Juzo to Edo and enables him to meet Komurasaki. Juzo is a laughing-stock at the tea-house because of his nervousness, and soon becomes drunk. He clumsily spills wine over the courtesan's kimono. Unperturbed, she goes out and returns wearing a fresh, identical garment.

(Source: AniDB)

Yunosuke Main

Saka, Osamu Japanese

Komurasaki Supporting

Juzo Supporting

Tatsuta, Naoki Japanese

Okuno, Toshiaki Assistant Producer

Abe, Yukio Director, Art Director

Yamamoto, Eiichi Screenplay

Reviews

Sep 22, 2019

literaturenerd

Recommended

Overview:

A few years ago, I wrote a review for an avantgarde hentai called "Belladonna of Sadness". Earlier this year, I looked at the grotesque yet captivating Shoujo Tsubaki. Now it's finally time to complete the holy trinity of art hentai! This is "The Sensualist", the king of artsy hentai!

Background:

This film was written by the legendary Eiichi Yamamoto, who also wrote and directed Belladonna. This one dude REALLY wanted to make artsy hentai a thing, but nobody else wanted to ride that train with him. While I liked Belladonna, I still had a few issues with it. Here Yamamoto has improved his craft. The surreal visuals ... actually add meaningfully to the experience, whereas in Belladonna I just found them distracting.

The film is based on a famous Japanese erotic story called "Life of an Amorous Man". The author of this story was Ihara Saikaku, whose writing and poetry were considered "low-brow" during his own time, but influenced Japanese literature for centuries afterwards. Saikaku is credited with creating the "Floating World" Movement, which dominated Japanese literature for over 100 years. To get specific, Saikaku used a form of poetry called "Renku". These poems were often comedic and vulgar in nature, so his narrative poems were... pretty racy.

The following is considered a classic example of Renku from the 1400s. It's still taught to Japanese students today.

"The robe of haze is wet at its hem"
"The Goddess of Spring pisses while standing"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Earth, Chaucer and Dante were kicking themselves because they didn't write that.


Plot:

Our hero is Yunosuke, who was born the son of a wealthy silver merchant and a high ranked courtesan. This is the tale of the horniest bastard to ever live! He lost his virginity at the age of 7 and by the time he died at age 60, he had slept with 3,742 women and 725 men. One day, Yunosuke encounters a buffoonish merchant named Juzo, who while drunk had been tricked into accepting an outlandish bet. Juzo has to sleep with the highest ranked geisha in the city on the first meeting with her, or else he gets his dick and balls cut off. This particular geisha is very classy, so she doesn't sleep with anyone before the 3rd meeting and even then only the wealthiest and most sophisticated clients. Yunosuke feels deep contempt for the man who fooled the hapless Juzo and agrees to help him.


Art:

Here is the highlight of the film. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous. The art style is heavily inspired by Ukiyo-e painting. I'm a fan of that art style, so I loved it in Mononoke and I loved it here. Isao Takahata loved this film and was so impressed with the visuals that he paid homage to the ending in Ponpoko. Yes, there is a visual allusion to a hentai within a Ghibli film!

Sound:

Very classic Japanese music. It's what you would expect from a Kabuki play or Jidaigeki film.


Overall:

An artsy hentai certainly sounds like an oxymoron. Hentai by its nature is quite possible the crudest and least dignified of all anime genres. However, this short film actually managed to pull off the impossible. Bravo Yamamoto-san!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by literaturenerd (384)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Sep 14, 2011

BikeJones

Recommended

This was a very interesting little film. Based off of a novel from the Edo period, it does well at capturing the atmosphere of the time. The art style was far and beyond almost anything I've seen before. It took a traditional, almost Ukiyo-e style of Japanese art and animated it into a consistently beautiful thing to look at. However, art style alone can not support a film. While the story certainly had nothing wrong with, it truly wasn't anything special. While somewhat suspenseful, occasionally amusing and amounting to an interestingly bizarre ending, the plot never really immerses the viewer as much as its art ... initially takes the viewer into the setting.

I recommend it, even if only for the art style. It does have a relatively interesting story, just don’t expect anything too gripping.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by BikeJones (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 16, 2019

Krunchyman

Mixed Feelings

“He slept with every famous courtesan, attaining the very zenith of sensuality.” — Narrator

“Damn! Those Chinese herbs must be powerful as hell to prevent all those STD’s.” — Krunchyman

In the days where internet porn did not exist (let alone a nudie mag), amorous old men peeked through tiny slits of doors while their soft-headed friend(s) slipped their trouser snake into a prestigious courtesan’s delicate — albeit used — flower. It’s not the most decent way to get your clam sauce out, but not everyone can sling dick with 3742 women and 725 men (like Yunosuke).

The Sensualist (Koushoku Ichidai Otoko) is not so ... much a story, as it is an artistic representation of Yunosuke’s — various — sexual encounters. Symbolic imagery is a vital component to understanding the words that are never spoken. The crane, for example, could be a reference to a hand-job or doggy-styled position in which the man grabs the women’s arms and pulls them back. Numerous fish are shown during the acts of lust, which is known as a “pesce” in Italian (slang for Italian penis). In addition, Fish are natural swimmers, meaning that the imagery could have been a reference to Yunosuke’s swimmer’s (i.e. sperm); or, perhaps, it was an acknowledgment of the “fishy” smell some women have in their vaginal region (but that seems rather crude for a visual metaphor).

Intense shades of red are used to enhance the passion-filled scenes and exemplify the predilection of most men towards women dressed in red — hence the name, red-light districts. And, of course, the abundance of flowers represents all the women (i.e. vagina’s) Yunosuke has been with over the years/decades. If you don’t believe me, just look at a Georgia O’Keeffe paintings.

While the artwork and associated symbolism were certainly impressive, the lack of a compelling story prevented The Sensualist from being a title worth remembering. Essentially, the central message is that sex-starved individuals, who are subservient to the female form, should look for an island of sexy ladies when their youthful looks wither away to father time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Krunchyman (110)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Poll: Koushoku Ichidai Otoko Episode 1 Discussion Arrvilja - Jul 20, 2013

17 replies

by MiniMoose-kun »» Jun 18, 2023 8:40 PM