Chapter 16: Manga and Film

The original Usagi Drop manga comprised fifty-six main chapters and six bonus chapters.
It tells the story of a salaryman, Daikichi, who accidentally discovers that his deceased grandfather left behind a six-year-old illegitimate daughter, and then raises the girl alone.
The original was serialized in Shodensha’s FEEL YOUNG, a magazine aimed at adult women.
Since it was adult + female-oriented, the content’s scale naturally wasn’t too small.
Indeed, while both the anime and film adaptations highlighted a soft and cute aesthetic, the original Usagi Drop manga’s style was actually very gritty and realistic.
The female lead suddenly becomes a high school student roughly halfway through the manga’s plot, and entering puberty, she naturally faces adolescent problems, such as falling in love, competing for men, and eventually marrying her adoptive father, the male lead, etc.
In short, it sparked a considerable amount of controversy.
However, those details weren’t particularly important.
Anyway, Seiko only planned to adapt the first twenty-five chapters, like the anime and film of her previous life, keeping the female lead in her kindergarten phase.
But the manga still encountered some difficulties in its initial creative stage, mainly because of manga artist Unita Yumi’s strong personal style.
Seiko, being completely clueless about drawing, couldn’t articulate what that art style was like.
Miyazaki Yū drew over a dozen versions, but Seiko felt none of them resembled the original much.
So, she eventually had to tell Miyazaki, “Never mind, just draw it in your own style.”
After a dozen revisions, they were back to square one…
Miyazaki was so angry she mentally killed Seiko over a dozen times, then, pouting, she picked up her pen again.

A few days later, Seiko received the manuscript for the first chapter.
Miyazaki’s art style was indeed vastly different from Unita Yumi’s.
Unita Yumi’s manga was fresh, warm, and soft, with a watercolor-like haziness, often sacrificing many details.
But Miyazaki’s drawings were very beautiful and meticulous.
Not only did she love to draw details, but she even liked to insert individual panels depicting seemingly irrelevant things, such as an extra pair of shoes in the entranceway, a steaming teacup, or a peeled but unfinished candy…
She was like an energetic, un-deadline-driven teenage manga artist.
Oh, Miyazaki was one; so, no problem there.
Such information-sparse panels actually suited the leisurely narrative pace of a slice-of-life manga like this.
Both art styles were quite suitable for a slice-of-life manga like Usagi Drop.
Seiko didn’t know which was superior, so she decided to leave it to professionals to judge.
So, after Miyazaki finished the first three chapters, Seiko sent the manuscripts to FEEL YOUNG, the original publisher of Usagi Drop in her previous life, and to Margaret, a female-oriented magazine under Shueisha.
Margaret‘s positioning was actually more geared towards shojo.
Its flagship work during the bubble economy era seemed to be Hana Yori Dango—yes, the Hana Yori Dango with Tsukushi, Domyoji Tsukasa, and Hanazawa Rui.
Seiko thought Margaret might not appreciate Usagi Drop, which had a soft and cute exterior but contained an adult story, but she sent it anyway.
The reason was simple—Margaret‘s manuscript fees and sales were higher than FEEL YOUNG‘s.

Having sent the manuscripts, Miyazaki, temporarily resting, sat by the window with a copy of In Search of Lost Time on her lap, occasionally frowning, occasionally lost in thought as she read.
Coupled with her knitted sweater and suspender skirt, she indeed exuded the air of an artistic girl.

“Alright, stop pretending. Let’s watch a movie.”
Seiko snatched the brick-like In Search of Lost Time from Miyazaki’s hands.

“What do you mean, pretending?” Miyazaki said, annoyed, “Give me back my book; I’m still reading it!”

“You’d only read twenty-some pages when school started, and now it’s almost two months later, and you’re still on twenty-some pages,” Seiko mercilessly exposed her, “If you can’t understand a book, don’t force yourself? You’d be better off flipping through your textbooks and passing your Japanese literature exam.”

“I can understand it…” Miyazaki mumbled softly, still annoyed, but knowing she’d been caught, she quickly changed the subject, “What movie are we watching?”
Saori, while putting the videotape Ōmori Ryō had just delivered into the player, showed the packaging box to Miyazaki: “Bubble Witch’s new art film.”

“Bubble Witch? Art film?” Miyazaki thought for a long time, then frowned, “How do those two words go together?”

“Stop talking nonsense and just sit down and watch the movie,” Seiko pressed Miyazaki down in front of the TV, “Tell me your thoughts after you finish.”
The item Ōmori Ryō sent was naturally the finished sample print of Guilty of Romance.
If Seiko found no issues after watching, Ōmori Ryō could then send Guilty of Romance for Eirin (Film Classification and Rating Organization) approval.
At this time, Japanese cinema had not yet implemented a rating system, and film approval was relatively simple, involving only two stages: before and after filming.
Before filming, one registered with the local film commission.
After filming, the sample print was sent to Eirin for review, and once approved, it could be screened.

The film began with a scene of the female detective and her lover having an affair in the bathroom.
The Bubble Witch crew displayed their “professionalism”; the female detective’s ample chest bounced like rabbits with her movements.
Even for girls, those two white mounds were eye-catching.

“This is an AV, isn’t it?” Miyazaki questioned.
Not long after, there was the plot where the writer’s wife is lured by an agent to become a nude model.
The writer’s wife, coaxed, stripped more and more, gradually becoming completely bare…

“This is an AV!” Miyazaki concluded.

“Can’t you just watch properly?” Seiko glanced at her.

“I don’t even like watching AVs…” Miyazaki mumbled softly, but still watched patiently.
When the lines about “the housewife and the garbage truck” were spoken by the director through the mouth of a junior police officer, Miyazaki finally understood the intellectual depth of Guilty of Romance.
Sion Sono might not have made a film about awakening, but he certainly noticed the plight of Japanese women.
From this perspective alone, he was indeed an excellent cult film director.
Of course, this didn’t prevent Sion Sono from being a pervert…

Coincidentally, the actress who played the writer’s wife in Sion Sono’s original Guilty of Romance was Sion Sono’s wife.
And in this Bubble Witch version of Guilty of Romance, Seiko had just found out that the actress playing the writer’s wife, Haruka, happened to be Ōmori Ryō’s wife!
Sion Sono had filmed his wife’s ample naked body in countless works, generously sharing it with audiences worldwide.
Ōmori Ryō… well, there was no need to mention it.
After learning this, Seiko had only one thought: ‘Ōmori Ryō, this film should indeed be made by you.’
The three female protagonists took turns descending into depravity, contributing numerous intimate scenes to the film.
Bubble Witch’s professionals filmed these scenes to be exceptionally captivating.
Seiko watched, even beginning to wonder, ‘Could this truly be an AV?’
Who knew, Miyazaki’s eyes turned red as she watched.
When the writer’s wife killed the university professor in the throes of passion, Miyazaki actually choked up, moved.

“It’s so well-made; this is a rebellion against fate and an accusation!” Miyazaki said, excitedly sniffing, “This is how one should fight! Even if one withers completely in the struggle.”

“You think it’s very good?” Seiko confirmed.

“Yes,” Miyazaki nodded.
Seiko was satisfied.
Those who wanted to see AV could see AV, and those who wanted to see intellectual depth could see intellectual depth.
This was Bubble Witch’s best transitional production.

“Seiko! Miss Yamagami? Are you home?”
Murakami Eishi’s slightly anxious shouts came from the genkan.

“Oh, yes, I am.” Seiko quickly got up to respond.
Saori reacted swiftly, snap, and turned off the TV.

“Why did you turn it off? We haven’t finished watching yet?” Miyazaki asked curiously.

“It wouldn’t be good for others to see the three of us girls hiding in the room watching an AV, would it?” Saori said with a sweet smile.

“Didn’t you say this wasn’t an AV?” Miyazaki eyed her suspiciously.
Seiko saw Murakami Eishi, his forehead sweating, in the living room: “Uncle Murakami, is something the matter?”

“Our people clashed with the Takada-gumi!” Murakami Eishi said, clearly in a hurry.