The anime manages to portray the human nature and human society themes and executes them together with the help of the characters and story . It’s divided in different story arcs written by different authors from the Japanese literature .Each story arc symbolizes an aspect from our society and each brings a different message for the viewer and criticizes the human society through the characters actions and experiences.The main message that this anime delivers is about the struggle of each author to improve his works, portrayed with the help of the characters and story from their respective literature pieces of art.
The first story is a autobiography of a famous author Dazai Osamu and his struggles to find his own identity as a human. He is a empty shell or a "ghost" as he describes himself and the anime portrays his sufferings and guilt.In the process of finding his own identity he relies on booze, women and drugs.The message is one disturbing and depressive too that the anime brings to the viewer. Its about betrayal, trust and the fact that you can't escape your past no matter how much you run from it.
The second story symbolizes another aspect from our society and human nature through the use of the symbolic meaning of sakura blossoms beauty. It’s beauty is portrayed with the help of a beautiful woman that can bring happiness or disaster in the life of a man. The author shows to the viewer what lies beside the beauty of a woman, her hearth and desire, the two faces of a coin. He portrays the woman’s desire with the help of a bird who flies to the sky into the darkness and light scenery meaning it’s endless. Also it portrays the human instinct called fear of loneliness and the fact that each human depends on a person , that person gives a meaning and purpose for our life.But it also criticize that dependence and trust comparing it with a demon that steadily and at a slow pace ruins your life.
The other stories portray other human nature theme aspects like the bond of friendship and tells the point of view from the perspective of each character. It shows their struggles and daily problems that they face through a beautiful allegory to the ancient greek legend Run Melos .
The anime also takes a look into the human hearth and the dark side of it , with the help of a famous author literature work called Kokoro. It shows the lust and desire for unrequited love and the sacrifices that our characters are faced . Again the story its told from the both perspective of our characters to make it more appealing and realistic for the viewer.
The last story is a more of a critic point of view on the hierarchy from our society . It shows what happens when an incompetent leader rules a country. It portrays also the struggles of a painting artist who needs to find his identity through his works and the sacrifices he is faced to achieve that. It’s a cruel and disturbing lesson about our human history that had many casualties because of many incompetent leaders who were blind about the truth that happens in the country they rule. All of this is conveyed to the viewer through the suffering, sacrifices and hell scenery(corpse burning, people buried alive) our painting artist is faced to create his ultimate piece of art. They say after you witness hell you become part of it and our painting artist becomes one with his ultimate painting creating a masterpiece . It’s a allegory to the fact you can’t make something of good quality be it art, literature or other domain without sacrifices.
In conclusion the Japanese literature is indeed a masterpiece and this anime portrayed the struggles , sacrifices , loneliness , human drama, human nature , human society , hierarchy , value of life and death through each piece of literature that different authors wrote to convey their thoughts and point of view about them . Each piece of literature it’s a mirror that shows what’s inside of their mind and heart of each author.
Captivating, amazing, fascinating , an anime that only Madhouse could made for the viewers with a dark atmosphere , a piece of art that symbolizes and delivers the message about the Japanese literature and human society.
Overall 10/10.
