Aoi Bungaku | Blue Literature

Aoi Bungaku [Masterpiece]



Series Information

• Year of release: 2009
  
• Episodes: 12 (including two double episodes)
  
• Categories: Horror, Seinen, Tragedy
  
• Directors: Morio Asaka (eps 1-4) | Tetsuro Araki (eps 5-6) | Shigeyuki Miya (eps 7- | Ryosuke Nakamura (eps 9-10) | Atsuko Ishizuka (eps 11-12)
  
• Production: Madhouse
  

File Information

Group: Masterpiece
Video: 1280x720 (16:9) 23.976 fps H264/AVC (1500 to 2500 kBit/s, depending on episode)
Audio: Japanese 2.0 Stereo AAC (160 to 200 kBit/s, depending on episode)
b: English styled softsubs (ASS/SSA)
Comments: Per this forum post, both gg's and Masterpiece's versions will be allowed.


Description

The series consists of adaptations of six modern classics of Japanese literature: Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) & Run, Melos! (Hashire, Melos!), Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro, Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) & The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito), and Ango Sakaguchi's In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita).

Episodes 1-4: No Longer Human (by: Osamu Dazai) - A high school student becomes lost and alienated. Despondent and aimless, he falls into a cycle of self abuse, depression and drugs that taints his life for years. Each episodes deals with a different point in his life, and the final episode leaves him standing alone - an empty and hollow charicature of his former self.

Code:

Episode 1: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FFK0EKPX
Episode 2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9PEPXJJN
Episode 3: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NDNYJOKH
Episode 4: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JMMTJFAR

Episodes 5-6: In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom - A love story (and a horror story, too) about a 12th-century woman and a mountain bandit who abducts her.

Episodes 7-8: Kokoro - A 1914 tale of a young man's life journey during the Meiji era. The work deals with the transition from the Japanese Meiji society to the modern era, by exploring the friendship between a young man and an older man he calls "Sensei." It continues the theme of isolation developed in Soseki's previous works, here in the context of interwoven strands of egoism and guilt.

Episodes 9-10: Run, Melos! - An updated retelling of a classic Greek tale of the story of Damon and Pythias. The most prominent theme of "Run, Melos!" is unwavering friendship. Despite facing hardships, the protagonist Melos does his best to save his friend's life. The original myth is framed in a modern story about friendship betrayed and reclaimed.

Episode 11: The Spider's Thread - The Buddha Shakyamuni chances to notice a cold-hearted criminal suffering in Hell. But this criminal did perform one single act of kindness in not stepping on a spider in a forest. Moved by this selfless act, Shakyamuni takes the silvery thread of a spider in Paradise and lowers it down into Hell, but it falls upon the criminal to seize the opportunity and pull himself out - if he can.

Episode 12: Hell Screen - A famous artist is commissioned by the emperor to create a series of paintings depicting scenes from his country. But where the emperor beauty, the artist sees only corruption, evil, and death. Ultimately, the artist must pay an appalling price to maintain fidelity to his horrific vision.

[Adapted from AniDB to reflect the anime episodes, rather than the original stories.]