When one hears the phrase “blue literature,” one might first believe that the phrase describes literature with a lot of inappropriate humor. However, the adjective blue or “aoi” in this context refers symbolically to youthfulness. Aoi Bungaku or Blue Literature then refers to stories considered evergreen classics within the Japanese canon, and this is what the series contains.
Aoi Bungaku is an anthology anime series that adapts five stories from famous Japanese authors. While the most well-known segment in the series is the adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human (which was later re-cut into a film version), the two episodes I feel like are most appropriate for this little October project of mine are the final two episodes, which adapt the stories “The Spider’s Web” and “Hell Screen,” both written by Ryuunosuke Akutagawa.
In “The Spider’s Web,” a bandit named Kandata is killed and ends up in Hell. However, one of his last acts before his death was to spare the life of a humble spider, which turns out to have been an avatar for the Buddha. The spider rewards Kandata by sending a slender spider’s thread down into Hell, allowing Kandata to pull himself up to Heaven. However, the other denizens of Hell also see the thread and are soon hot on his heels. Kandata panics and begins to fight the others for his spot on the thread, proving the type of person he really his. This act, in turn, causes him to fall back down into Hell.
In “Hell Screen,” the artist Yoshihide is commissioned by the King to paint the inside of the King’s mausoleum with an image depicting the greatness of his country. However, Yoshihide can only feel the pain and suffering of the commoners within the King’s realm after he and his daughter Mitsuki witness its horrors, and he becomes obsessed and tortured over the task. Knowing that the King is likely to have his head, Yoshihide begins one final horrific depiction, in which Mitsuki sacrifices herself by burning alive to provide her father the inspiration he needs.
I think what I find most interesting about these stories is that they have sort of a different take on morality than what we in the West might be used to. In the case of “The Spider’s Web,” I think the common and more uplifting version of the tale might have Kandata learning some moral lesson and escaping up the spider’s silk; instead his one moment of kindness toward another in life isn’t enough to offset the type of person he’s become from his other bad actions and choices. Compare that to many interpretations of Christianity, in which simply accepting Jesus Christ as one’s savior is enough to offset an entire lifetime of even the most horrible of sins.
Likewise, as beautiful as “Hell Screen” is as a piece of art, it’s difficult to understand both Yoshihide’s and Mitsuki’s willingness to sacrifice their very lives in order to send what’s essentially a middle finger to a despotic, cruel leader. And yet, the piece is horrifying and fascinating in a way that I believe transcends one’s ability to understand its cultural context.
This entire series is an interesting watch, especially if you’re familiar with some of the source material. It’s these episode in particular, though, that reveal a different kind of moral horror that I think is a nice change of pace if you’re in the mood for unorthodox horror anime.
Aoi Bungaku is currently unlicensed in the US and seems like an unlikely pick-up from any current licensor, unfortunately. It seems to be otherwise available around the typical places that I will not speak of in detail, however, so if you’re interested in watching it (and I would recommend the entire thing despite the fact that the adaptations are somewhat uneven) I’d recommend looking around.