

Copyright © Urasawa Naoki / Madhouse / Kitty Animation Circle 1987-92







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by Roderick Lee
In 1989, Kitty Animation Circle, in conjunction with Nippon
TV, debuted two animated versions of SHONEN
SUNDAY manga titles, both destined to run for
over a hundred episodes each. One of those titles is essentially a
household name to English language fandom, and its sponsoring company even
claims it is the most popular English language title. Meanwhile, the sister
show, YAWARA! A FASHIONABLE JUDO GIRL, exists in
relative obscurity despite
the fact that it scored top ten and top five ratings in Japan over its more
well-known sibling, RANMA 1/2.
Inokuma Yawara is, at heart, a typical high school senior. When not
preparing for her entrance exams, she wants to shop with her friends, cook,
and most of all, find a boyfriend. However, she is also a judo prodigy,
having been trained by her grandfather, Jigoro, since she was very young.
The early episodes of the series deal with the struggle between Yawara and
her grandfather over judo. Yawara is finding that the rigorous judo routine
is infringing on her quest for a "normal life," while Jigoro single-mindedly
views everything that is not judo as a distraction from Yawara's training,
much to Yawara's chagrin.
Jigoro is a seventh-dan judo master and five time national champion; he
also authored what is recognized worldwide as the definitive guide to judo. And
his plans for his granddaughter are even greater: he wants to guide Yawara
to a gold medal at Barcelona (Remember, the series begins in 1989, three
years before the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.) and the National Medal of
Honor which would inevitably follow. Yawara's protests largely fall on deaf
ears. For example, when she says she wants to find a boyfriend, her
grandfather replies that when she is a national sports hero after winning
the gold medal, she can have any man she wants. But Yawara does not want
to wait till she is twenty. When her interest in judo flags during the
second episode, Jigoro falsely concludes that her lack of interest is from
the absence of a suitable rival and decides to create one, quite obviously
not what Yawara wants.
Honami Sayaka is the spoiled only daughter of the very rich Honami
family and a child sports star. She has achieved top ranking in tennis,
gymnastics, and equestrian riding, but now she is bored. After a freak
near-accident (Sayaka, out of boredom, grabs her driver from behind and
obstructs his view of the road.) in which Yawara and her grandfather are
almost run down by the Honami car, Sayaka invites them back to her family's
estate in apology. Once there, it is only a matter of time before Jigoro,
seeing the array of Sayaka's sports achievements, exploits her superiority
complex and piques her interest in judo. Like it or not, Yawara now has a
rival.
The first character the series actually opens on is the sports reporter
Matsuda Kousaku. As a sports reporter, he has great interest in sport
idols and when he sees Yawara take down a purse thief on the street with a
perfectly executed judo throwdown, he immediately recognizes her talent and
sets off to discover the identity of this hidden judo talent and future
sports idol.
Matsuda must contend with both Yawara's reluctance as well as Jigoro's own
plans for Yawara's debut, which do not include a surprise scoop article from
some third-rate newspaper. It does not help that his first encounter
results in a racy photo of Yawara throwing the purse thief, but also
includes a glaring shot of her panties.
Later, Matsuda becomes Yawara's confidante and ally, sometimes sacrificing a
sure scoop to help her. He also becomes enamored of her later in the
series, though most of his attempts to ask her on a date end up being
interviews instead. Meanwhile, Yawara has eyes for Kazamatsuri
Shinnosuke, whom she first meets on the bus home from school. What neither
knows at first is that Kazamatsuri is Sayaka's judo coach. Naturally,
Sayaka cannot stand it when Kazamatsuri pays more attention to Yawara than
her.
All the major players are in place already by the end of the first
LD; the
author wastes no time in exposition and lets character background surface
over the course of the series. Both of Yawara's parents eventually show up,
and viewers get some insight on why Yawara is ambivalent to judo. She
continues to try to live a normal life from high school to college and on,
while at the same time preparing for Barcelona. At some point, she even
begins to work for it out of her own desire rather than her grandfather's;
and all along the way a frustrated Sayaka continues to try to best her. One
cute touch is that the end of each episode features a countdown of days till
Barcelona. The first episode is 1006 days away.
The artwork is reminiscent of the style and production level of
TV shows of
that time, perhaps a little bit better than RANMA. The
character design is a very good representation of the original manga art.
Yawara is not a flashy beauty like Madoka or Kyoko, but she does have an
unassuming cute attraction like URUSEI YATSURA's Shinobu.
The OP/ED themes
are catchy and poppy, especially the first OP,
"Miracle Girl," a danceable tune
which conveys the lightheartedness of this series.
Viewers do not have to be judo or martial arts fans to find charm in this
series. While this is of course a sports title and the central focus is
obviously the road to Barcelona (There is even a later series closing theme
of that name.), the integration of this quest with "real world" events make
this series accessible to all. And while judo is obviously more commonplace
in Japan than outside of Japan, that is not sufficient to explain its
winning ratings during its broadcast days. However, these are easily
explained when one considers its attractive and interesting characters,
decent artwork, pleasant music, and engaging
interwoven collection of
storylines. 
First Box: JVLA 1-37
¥60000
Second Box: JVLA 38-99
¥90000
Third Box: JVLA 100-124
Available Now
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