In Translation | "The Speckled Band" by Macoto Takahashi
When the king of shoujo turns to crime.
Welcome to part three of my translation of the influential Kage! If you missed the other two, here's one and here's two (but don't worry--they're all self-contained short stories so you can start here).
For the third story I'm covering, we've got a bit of a swerve. Takao Saito, Shouichi Sakurai, and Masahiko Matsumoto were all instrumental parts of the group that would create gekiga and the theories behind that new form of manga--one more adult and cinematic and boundary pushing and which demanded the medium be taken seriously as at art form--but today's artist, Macoto Takahashi, wasn't really a part of all that.
Notably going down a very different path than the others here, the year Kage published would find Takahashi instead establishing himself as one of the most important artists in the history of shoujo manga--manga for young girls.
His style, defined by saucer eyes, doll-like bodies, and often impressionistic flourishes, carries a palpable elegance and romance to it (look at the bottom panel of page 61 in this story, for example), and that refined romanticism would serve as one of the major aesthetic building blocks for the shoujo demographic to come. And while he only spent around a decade working within shoujo manga, moving on to focus on illustration, his style has continued to find popularity and love in Japan via a host of kawaii subcultures. He's an icon, and deservedly so! (This is a good chance to mention that I'm also one of those Takahashi faithful--his art is some of my favorite in the medium without hesitation.)
With that in mind, it's maybe not surprising that Takahashi chose to adapt a Sherlock Holmes story instead of craft some new noir. With a more classic style blending manga panels and prose, he adds a luxurious, romantic air to this classic mystery, seeped in that soft longing for Victorian past most all daydreamers have to be familiar with. Everyone here is perfect and beautiful even in death...
Anyway, here's "The Speckled Band". Enjoy!
Music of the Week | Oh, What a Night! by Kimidori
Banger EP from a short lived mid-90s hip hop group probably most known for their opening single here, the absolute scorcher title track which mixes heavy bass and furious rapping with a disco beat to like, dangerously addicting results. Not much quite sounds like that track and I loop it way too much, tbh. And that kind of sums up the other three tracks--genre mash-ups (like the second's nighttime moody atmosphere or the fourth's dub instrumental) used to back a group of guys having the time of their lives. It's goofy, it's full energy, it's got an all-timer cover art, and...I mean, it's just ridiculously cool.
Book of the Week | Guin Saga: The Leopard Mask by Kaoru Kurimoto
The beginnings of a quiet titan in Japanese fantasy lit, Guin Saga: The Leopard Mask follows the start of the adventures of an amnesiac man who wakes up in a world of fairies and ghouls with a leopard mask stuck to his face...adventures that have now lasted for over 150 books. Kurimoto's magnum opus of pulp has seemingly taken on a life of its own, a self-sustaining beast of magic and violence hiding within endless cheap paperbacks. Kentaro Miura was open about Guin Saga's influence on the dark fantasy manga Berserk, and reading it, you'd have to be blind not to see why. This book is drenched in atmosphere, the mystery of the self coming head to head with a barrage of horror-tinged gore. But it's also, most importantly, ultimately kind, written by somebody who really cared about people and made sure to let that compassion shine through the shadows of her world.
Movie of the Week | A Girl at Dojo Temple (dir. Kon Ichikawa, 1946)
One of the earliest directorial works from legendary chameleon Kon Ichikawa--and one long thought lost thanks to then censorship from the occupying US--A Girl at Dojo Temple is a 20 minute adaptation of a kabuki play...all done with marionette puppets. And while watching those puppets move with such vitality makes this worth seeking out on its own, Ichikawa also injects the story with masterclass directing, the camera gliding about to find impressionistic moments and close-ups so profound you'd think these wood creations are real. I guarantee you'll come out of this wishing every movie was made with puppets instead of people.
Have thoughts about anything covered this week? Got a recommendation you’re dying to share? Want to tell me how handsome and cool I am? Leave a comment below!
oh and here's a fantastic interview with musician Shoko Uehara