In these disastrous times since the 2016 US election, I've taken solace in watching (and endlessly rewatching) The Great British Baking Show. One highlight that sticks in my memory is when Mary Berry, the "Queen of British Baking," was viewing a squat loaf made out of all kinds of healthy ingredients. She made a little frown of distaste and said, in an upper-crust British accent of disappointment, "It looks like it's going to be rather good for me." That's a bit how I feel about Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den (The Heroic Elegy of Confucius). It's serious, informative, and intellectually nourishing, but sometimes, I would kind of prefer a trifling bon-bon. Well, we've already released Elf 17, and in the end, Koushi-den is very moving.
Confucius was one of the great philosophers of human history. He lived in the chaotic Spring and Autumn period in China, more than 2500 years ago, when endless warfare among numerous warring states was the norm. His thinking emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, and sincerity: departures from the norm so radical in their day (or even today, for that matter) that his philosophy was suppressed until the victory of the Han Dynasty more than 300 years later. His beliefs continue to be influential to the present day, and his descendants constitute the longest recorded pedigree in the world today.
Confucius is a westernization of Kong Fuzi (Master Kong). He was born in the state of Lu as plain Kong Qiu, the illegitimate son of Shuliang He, then aged 60, and a younger woman, Yan Zhengai. His father died when Kong Qui was three, and his mother when he was 15. He wanted to pursue a career in academics, but his birth was considered too lowly. He then took all sorts of jobs to survive - shepherd, trumpeter, babysitter, funeral assistant, bookkeeper - and married at 19. Yet despite these unpromising beginnings, Kong Qiu learned not only to read and write but to understand the complex rites and rituals that already governed Chinese life. By the age of 27, he was already teaching and gaining recognition as a scholar. From then on, he combined a life of scholarship and active political work, attempting not merely to teach but to demonstrate by example how government should work. His insistence on proper actions often got him into trouble with local nobles, and he migrated from state to state throughout his life. However, he also gathered an increasing number of disciples, who eventually codified his teachings in The Analects. He never succeeded in convincing the rulers of his day to abide by principles, but his thoughts influenced rulers through most of the history of Imperial China.
Confucius was one of the great philosophers of human history. He lived in the chaotic Spring and Autumn period in China, more than 2500 years ago, when endless warfare among numerous warring states was the norm. His thinking emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, and sincerity: departures from the norm so radical in their day (or even today, for that matter) that his philosophy was suppressed until the victory of the Han Dynasty more than 300 years later. His beliefs continue to be influential to the present day, and his descendants constitute the longest recorded pedigree in the world today.
Confucius is a westernization of Kong Fuzi (Master Kong). He was born in the state of Lu as plain Kong Qiu, the illegitimate son of Shuliang He, then aged 60, and a younger woman, Yan Zhengai. His father died when Kong Qui was three, and his mother when he was 15. He wanted to pursue a career in academics, but his birth was considered too lowly. He then took all sorts of jobs to survive - shepherd, trumpeter, babysitter, funeral assistant, bookkeeper - and married at 19. Yet despite these unpromising beginnings, Kong Qiu learned not only to read and write but to understand the complex rites and rituals that already governed Chinese life. By the age of 27, he was already teaching and gaining recognition as a scholar. From then on, he combined a life of scholarship and active political work, attempting not merely to teach but to demonstrate by example how government should work. His insistence on proper actions often got him into trouble with local nobles, and he migrated from state to state throughout his life. However, he also gathered an increasing number of disciples, who eventually codified his teachings in The Analects. He never succeeded in convincing the rulers of his day to abide by principles, but his thoughts influenced rulers through most of the history of Imperial China.
The anime is a straightforward biography. Confucius himself is portrayed as a thoroughly good man whose intentions are repeatedly frustrated by the foolish rulers he attempts to serve. Beyond the main subject, the anime has an enormous number of characters, places, incidents, and ideas, crammed into 90 minutes. You can't tell the players without a program. Except for the seductive Lady Nanzi and the supremely loyal Zigong, there isn't enough time to develop any of the subordinate characters or make them very memorable. So here are some references:
- Zigond, a disciple
- Zengzi, a disciple
- Shuliang He, his father
- Yang Hu, a vassal of the Jisun clan in Lu
- Viscount of Tan, a formative influence
- Yang Yin, a ruler
- Zixia, a disciple
The voice cast includes:
- Kazama Morio (Confucius) played Genji in the Genji Monogatari movie, Susanoo in Wanpaku Ouji no Orochi Taiji, and the elder Satomi in The Wind Rises.
- Genda Tesshou (Zigong) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman, and "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors. He also played Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, Jim Hyatt in AWOL Compression Remix, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate and Meisou-ou Border, Dog McCoy in Dallos, Hebopi in Wild 7, rebel leader Oosukune in Izumo, and Rikiishi's trainer Kuroki and Kirishima in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
- Ebara Mahashi (Zengzi) played Might Guy in Naruto, Bolt Crank in Eat-Man, Alastor in Shakugan no Shana, Sebastian Viera in Nodame Cantabile, and Hamegg in Metropolis. He also played the referee in Blazing Transfer Student, Tanzou in Akai Hayate, and Ishizu in Mikeneko Holmes, all Orphan releases.
- Ootsuka Akio (Zilu) played the title roles in all of the Black Jack properties, Ambassador Magma, Blade, and Montana Jones. He also played Gozo in the Aika franchise, Batou in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, the villain All for One in Boku no Hero Academia, and Nyanko Big in one memorable episode of Tada Never Falls in Love. He played George in Condition Green, the narrator in Fire Emblem, Nobunaga the boss crow in Ultra Nyan 2, and Black Jack in Tezuka Osamu Disappears, all Orphan releases. He is still active and appeared in the recently completed Vinland Saga.
- Ikeda Masako (Nanzi) starred as Maetel in the Galaxy Express 999 franchise. She played Perrine's mother in Perrine Monogatari, the phoenix in the Hi no Tori movies, sister Nadoka in Ranma 1/2, and Reiko in Ace wo Nerae.
The project started when Iri saw a used LD of the anime on a Japanese second-hand site. He had not heard of it before, and indeed, at the time, it didn't appear in most the western anime databases. He bought it and sent it to Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions. Erik ripped and released a raw, which enabled Iri to translate and rough time the show. Yogicat fine timed, I edited and typeset, and BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. All this took time, and in the interim, Erik acquired a Domesday Duplicator. I asked him to rerip the show, which he graciously agreed to do, but then the press of other projects prevented him from finishing the work. He sent the raw Duplicator rip to our Intrepid Media Maven™ in Japan, who completed the decoding and encoding to produce the final raw.
Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den sheds a warm and positive light on one of the great thinkers in human history, one much less well known in the west than his near contemporary, the Buddha. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net
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