Wata no Kuni Hoshi
Wata no Kuni Hoshi ( Japanese綿 の 国 星, translated as "The Star from Cotton Country") is a manga series by Yumiko Ōshima , which appeared from 1978 to 1987 and was also implemented as an anime film. It was originally drawn primarily for young girls, so it can be assigned to the Shōjo genre. On more than 900 pages, the manga describes the world of thoughts of a kitten who is represented as a person with cat ears and tail.
action
The two-month-old kitten Chibineko (チ ビ 猫) speaks his thoughts, but is not understood by the people around him. They do not notice their words and wishes and instead hear meowing.
After Chibineko is left behind by her owners, eighteen-year-old Tokyo finds the cat girl. Although Tokyo's mother has a cat hair allergy and a great fear of cats, she agrees to keep the kitten because she fears that her son could become a recluse or suicide if he stops socializing.
Chibineko has fun with Tokyo and falls in love with him, but he is in love with a human girl. Chibineko wants to become a person herself so that Tokyo can fall in love with her. The kitten is convinced that many people were once cats and have transformed. A seasoned tomcat, Raphael, shatters her dream of a human body by telling her that it is impossible. Raphael also tells her about a paradisiacal place, the "cotton country", and confesses his love for her.
Chibineko runs away to travel with Raphael, but does not find the cat. After experiencing some adventures, she finds her way back to Tokyo's house. Tokyo's mother finds her and overcomes her fear of the kitten.
Publications
Wata no Kuni Hoshi appeared in Japan from 1978 to 1987 chapter by chapter in the monthly manga magazine LaLa . In the magazine, which at that time had a circulation between 300,000 and 500,000 per issue, Ryōko Yamagishi's Hi izuru Tokoro no Tenshi was published , for example .
The Hakusensha publishing house published the manga in seven paperback anthologies shortly after it was first published in LaLa . Later new editions appeared in other book formats; for example in 1994 a four-volume edition as a bunkoban .
Reception and effect
The manga was the final breakthrough for Yumiko Ōshima, who had previously focused on short stories and hereby presented her longest work. In 1979 he won the 3rd Kōdansha Manga Prize in the “Shōjo” category and the metaphor for the “young girl thrown back on herself” as Kemonomimi (or “Catgirl”) has been used repeatedly in other mangas since Wata no Kuni Hoshi .
Masanao Amano stated: "It is by no means just a nice animal story, rather psychological and mental sensitivities are presented in an extremely differentiated manner."
filming
An approximately 90-minute cartoon film based on the manga series was created in the animation studio Mushi Productions . While Shinichi Tsuji was directing, Masaki Tsuji wrote the script with Yumiko Ōshima. The music is made up of piano pieces by Richard Clayderman , which, according to Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy in their Anime Encyclopedia , would strike "just the right note in this maudlin romance ."
The film was released in Japanese theaters on February 11, 1984. In March 2004 it was released on DVD.
Web links
- 綿 の 国 星 作品 紹 介. Mushi Productions, archived from the original on September 28, 2007 ; Retrieved on February 2, 2014 (Japanese, page of the production company with pictures for the film).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Helen McCarthy, Jonathan Clements: The Anime Encyclopedia. Revised & Expanded Edition . P. 113.
- ^ Editions of Shōjo magazines from 1979 to 2000 ( Memento from December 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Masanao Amano: Manga Design . P. 134.
- ↑ Jaqueline Berndt : Phenomenon Manga . edition q, Berlin 1995. p. 111. ISBN 3-86124-289-3 .