#jigoro inokuma

[roseillith]

yawara op 2 dir. hiroko tokita

[ikuhara]

[shinhonkaku]

[smbhax]

Yawara! (PC Engine Super CD-ROM²)

Thanks Rudie at selectbutton.net for the game summary and links!

[saikaberry]

[307] Jigoro Inokuma from Yawara!

[choujinx]

JIGORO! (1994) by urasawa naoki

[haruosaki]

[chibiranmaruchan]

Original drawings for the exhibition.

[crescentplanet]

[307] Jigoro Inokuma From Yawara!

[roseillith]

[ikuhara]

[shinhonkaku]

[puchicroft]

Making my contribution to the almost non-existent Yawara fandom.

[thedigitalpen]

Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl! - Anime

There are times when a particular show will grab me like a demon and refuse to let go until I’ve watched all of the episodes to its completion. Yawara! is exactly that sort of demon, and here’s why...

Yawara! tells the story of a young high school girl named, well, Yawara (Inokuma Yawara to be exact), who just wants to be a normal girl, i.e. go to school, go to college, find a job, find a boyfriend, get married, have kids etc. So to make that happen, she like to cook in her spare time and enjoys going shopping for new clothes and outfits. She also has a crush on a guy at school and has a few close girl friends too. All in all, a pretty normal girl as far as appearances go. But appearances can be deceiving because there is a secret that Yawara refuses to share - and that is that she’s actually a judoist and a genius judo player at that with natural talent that she inherited from her grandfather.

Her grandfather, who she lives with, is obsessed with training Yawara to become an international judo sensation and has been training her since she was 3. His objective: to have her compete (and win) Olympic gold at Barcelona (1992 Olympics) and earn herself the Japan national achievement award. Although it seems like these are goals which are meant to be for her benefit, most of the time it just seems like he’s having her achieve these goals for his own benefit! Although Yawara wants to be a normal girl, her grandfather attempts to thwart her plans at every turn! 

While grandpa believes that judo is the only thing in life, Yawara’s feelings about it are slightly more complicated. While she does her daily training (usually out of habit), if she had her way she would leave judo behind. And that’s because she feels that judo is the reason why her family has been split apart. Her father, also a judo player, left home to continue his independent training and hasn’t been home since. He also hasn’t told anyone where he is, which has prompted his wife (Yawara’s mother) to go in search of him whenever she gets a lead about his whereabouts. That’s why it’s been up to her grandfather to raise her in their absence. 

While it might be complicated, it’s not all bad because judo is the thread that binds the various elements of Yawara’s life together, even if she refuses to acknowledge it. It’s through her judo skill that she meets many and befriends many of the people in her life. The first one being a “3rd rate sports news reporter” named Matsuda. He sees her taking out a robber on the street one day using her signature judo move called an ippon zeoi. Although the only thing about her that he manages to get a picture of is her uniform (and panties), he takes the initiative to find out who this girl is and why she’s so good at judo. Although he initially starts off as a bit of a stalker, he eventually becomes one of her greatest supporters and allies - both concerning judo and life in general. 

She also meets another guy named Kazamatsuri by chance on a bus. But it turns out that they have something in common - judo! He’s actually a judo coach for a girl that is destined to become her rival, Honami Sayaka. So just when she thinks that she’ll never see this guy from the bus again, judo brings them together and keeps him in and out of her life for quite a while since they’re always meeting at competitions etc. Not to mention that he has major designs on Yawara too!

As Yawara passes through the various phases of her life (going from high school to college and a little beyond that), she comes into contact with a lot of people that have an impact on her life and vice versa. And it’s these relationships that play the biggest role in how she progresses as a judo player. Most of the time, she plays for the sake of those around her - such is her kind nature - but at the end of the day, it’s her natural talent that shines through as she goes from strength to strength with each tournament she plays. 

Yawara! is sort of like a mix between a sports and a shoujo anime but manages to maintain the balance between the two quite effortlessly. There are a couple of filler episodes here and there about her grandfather’s times, but other than that, the show manages to keep moving forward at a steady pace and doesn’t mind moving out of the high school phase to college and even to the point where Yawara gets a job. In this way, the “scenery” changes, as too do the characters that she interacts with. Some characters are loveable, some not so much and others are the type that are alright in small doses. One of my favourite characters, apart from Matsuda, was Kazamatsuri - his facial expressions and the way he’s so “smooth” with the ladies etc. just had me laughing endlessly. And, realistically enough, it’s the friends she makes at college who are the ones she remains in close contact with. All of this serves to make watching the whole season (all ~120 eps worth) a rather pleasant experience rather than a chore.

The shoujo aspect of things, I will admit, is a bit on the slow side if you’re one for faster developments and, in fact, your patience is only rewarded in the movie that follows on from the series. But for some reason, I never really felt dissatisfied about it because there are a number of dramatic moments shared between Yawara and her potential interests that will have you shouting at the monitor or saying “aww...” to yourself (like a crazy person - as my mother tells me). 

The humour is also worth mentioning because it’s got a bit of an old school feel about it - crashing into things, nose-bleeds, ippon zeois and the like - but I had a good laugh at some of the gags... Like nothing was funnier than when the cockroach flew! (If you want to know what I’m talking about then go watch the show).

There is also a more serious element to the show as well because while we do enjoy watching Yawara make her way to the top of the judo world, we’re always reminded why Yawara is so averse to the sport in the same place. To be honest, the guys in her family are way too much. Her grandpa can be rather overbearing at times (even if he thinks he’s doing the best for her) and her dad.... Well he’s just something else.. I wouldn’t want to give too much away here, but it’s easy to see why Yawara is so sensitive to those around her. Some emotional damage for sure.

Overall though, Yawara is a great story with good balance and timing and is considered a classic at this point. It also became pretty famous at the time of the Barcelona Olympics because that was the year that female judo was officially allowed as a sport and the Japanese representative got a silver medal at the games and became knows as Japan’s very own Yawara-chan!  It’s a long haul and does require time investment to get through all the episodes, but I have no regrets about it and, if you enjoy old school shoujo-type anime, then I doubt you would either.  So if you’re looking for something with a bit of fun, humour and heart then I would really recommend watching this (as well as the movie for the conclusion).

[choujinx]

JIGORO! (1994) by urasawa naoki

[haruosaki]