Movie: Midori / Chika Gentou Gekiga: Shōjo Tsubaki

When I was a kid, anime had this stigma of coming from the weird side of Japan. Running through the aisles of Blockbuster back in the mid to late 90's I saw VHS sleeves to titles like Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, and Akira, all of which were a bit too mature for my child sensibilities. Since then I've come to appreciate the weird, sexy, and even gorey sides of anime, however, I don't think I was ready for Chika Gentou Gekiga: Shōjo Tsubaki, or, Midori, as it's known in the West, which is a type of weird all to its own.

The basic plot revolves around a poor girl who is tricked into working for a traveling circus / freak show. The 14 year old named Midori quickly is engulfed by the violent and sexual nature of the adult world, being raped and forced to live and travel alongside diseased, mamed, and troubled performers who are barely getting by as it is. Her plight and outlook change, however, when a magician who has learned tricks from The West joins the group and not only begins to rake in the money, but also falls in love with the young girl, giving her hope of a life outside of the freak show. Oh, if only it were that simple...

To be honest, I had never seen, heard, or even was aware that this movie existed, that is until my girlfriend one day was like, "hey, have you ever seen... Midori?" That's all it took for us to sit down and watch it together. But before I begin writing down what I think of it I figured I'd jot down a few notes of what its origins are and what makes it such a unique experience.

From the research and information I gathered I found that Midori's roots date as far back as the 1920's during the Showa Era of Japan. In those times, kami shibai artists would set up on street corners and use illustrated boards to tell stories, name to children and any passerby who wanted to be entertained. These "paper plays" were quite popular and could be likened to slideshows nowadays, and it is here where the origins of Midori first appear.

Apparently, a popular kami shibai artist would share the story of the Camelia Girl, a poor girl who sold flowers and was tricked into joining a freak show. Not a lot of information is known about the original paper play version but it's at least a starting point to how this story first came about. Fast forward to the late 80's and Hiroshi Harada wanted to adapt the comic book version which had been turned from a cautionary tale to now one of sex, perversion, and violence. Hirada would then go on to spend his life savings producing and animating the movie himself due to no publisher wanting to have anything to do with his vision for the film. 

What's interesting about the movie itself isn't so much its subject matter, but more how Hirada's ambition created something out of sheer will and creativity. As a young artist himself he no longer wanted to be boxed-in and being forced to draw what others told him to draw. After coming up with his own independent studio and releasing a few of his own films he had now desired to adapt Masou's erotic-gore manga, Shojo Tsubaki, but without any financing for the project Hirada felt no choice but to pay for it himself. Not only that but the man even ended up drawing every frame of the movie all on his own. To say this is the work of determined man is an understatement. After 5 years of working on his project, Chika Gentou Gekiga: Shōjo Tsubaki was unveiled to the world in 1992.

Another aspect of Midori that separates it from the pack is Hirada's use of marketing, or what some today might even attribute as "viral marketing", to get people interested. You see, after its debut, Hirada took his show on the road. Subsequent showings of the movie were done through elaborate methods which were not limited to people requiring reservations, obtaining residential maps, following signage on where to go, and eventually being led to dark basements where the movie would be shown. It later was internationally screened in France in 1994 but it's been said that parts of the movie were cut after the Japanese government intervened, deeming some scenes to not only be too graphic, but depicted illegal activity (which to be fair, the movie already had scenes of child rape, dogs being crushed, humans exploding from the inside out, among other grotesque acts that were not cut).

As for the movie itself? While not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination it offers a look into the weird, the unforgiving, and sheer greed for entertainment, pleasure, and acceptance of those who identify as human. The dark and violent imagery throughout the film only underscore how far the character of Midori is away from the safe confines of an innocent childhood. Her so-called fellow troupadores are anything but welcoming and it's that very innocence that draws their ire toward her, jealous of her youth and beauty while they are difficult to look at or even be mocked.

And so at every opportunity they crush (figuratively and literally) the small joys that Midori finds, whether it be a litter of puppies she likes playing with, to making her their personal sex slave, forcing her to either engage or watch their depraved sexual acts (no kink shaming intended). But it all comes to ahead when she is given a means to leave this horrific world behind her, however, everything comes at a cost and the smallest glimmer of hope is taken from her. It's perhaps then that in a non-surprising turn of events she is forced to accept that she will never find happiness and it's from here on that we as the audience only can witness as she wanders aimlessly through an empty world of repetition. 

Could the movie be a metaphor for Japan's status as a once pure and proud country only to be forced into a capitalist economy by the charms of the West, and the inability to ever find her own identity again, forever trapped in a world they cannot control? Or is it a deeper dive into the view of humanity itself, and how we are not the masters of our own fates; that some of us, by sheer bad luck, are born into unfortunate life situations and whenever we find any sort of happiness it seems as if we are being mocked, our dreams raped and stolen, and we're thrown back into our prison or cage to think about what we may never have?

It could be neither. It just could be some weird anime from Japan and it's just the sort of stuff my mom warned me about when I was a kid, but anything that forces you to look at the things that make you turn away may actually be the best way to appreciate what you have because you can always think in the back of your head, "Man, at least my life isn't as bad as Midori's!"