Usui Yoshito

[Aaron Gerow]

Just a note that the body of Usui Yoshito, the artist of the popular  
manga Crayon Shin-chan, was found at the bottom of a cliff in Gunma  
Prefecture. Usui had gone hiking last week but had not returned; after  
a search, they found the body two days ago and identified it  
yesterday. Whether it was an accident or suicide is not clear. Some  
have speculated that it might be suicide given how the tone of the  
manga has changed over the last year or two (it has at times taken on  
terrorism, the death of characters, and suicide in serious ways).

I mention this not only because Crayon Shin-chan was often a good  
manga, but also because the movie versions, especially the ones  
directed by Hara Keiichi, were often masterful. While the TV episodes  
have showed a bit abroad, the movies have been largely ignored. (I  
wonder if this does not have something to do with the image of "anime"  
that foreigners have created of Japanese animation, one which the Shin- 
chan films don't quite fit.) Otona teikoku no gyakushu is one of the  
more interesting ruminations on 1970s Japan and Sengoku daikkassen was  
so good they just released a live action version of it (now in  
theaters under the title Ballad). There's even a book out there on  
Hara Keiichi's work: Animēshon kantoku Hara Keiichi (Tokyo: Shobunsha,  
2005).

I hope these DVDs come out abroad some day.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432