Botchan (1986)

Seishun Anime Zenshuu (translated as Animated Classics of Japanese Literature for its English release) is a 1986 anthology series that retold well-known stories from modern Japanese literature. It's very much in the mold of its contemporaries, the World Masterpiece Theater series. Most of the 34 episodes were standalone, although there were a few two- and three-parters. The show was licensed by Central Park Media, but the English version was left incomplete when CPM went bankrupt. Only twelve episodes were released on DVD:

• Episode 1: The Izu Dancer by Kawabata Yasunari. 
• Episodes 2,3: The Sound of Waves by Mishima Yukio.
• Episodes 7,8: Botchan by Souseki Natsume.
• Episode 10: The Dancing Girl by Ougai Mori.
• Episode 14: Growing Up by Higuchi Ichiyou.
• Episode 16: Kaidan: The Song of Hoichi by Lafcadio Heran.
• Episode 20: Season of the Sun by Ishihara Shintarou.
• Episodes 25,26: The Harp of Burma by Takeyama Michio.
• Episode S1 (33): Student Days by Kume Masao.

This time, we're releasing a two-part adaptation of Botchan. It's based on a wildly popular 1906 autobiographical novel by Souseki Natsume. The novel was adapted for the movies at least five times. It was also adapted as an anime in 1980; Orphan released that version in 2020.

The protagonist is a Tokyo resident and a recent college graduate. He is not named; his faithful old servant, Kiyo, calls him "Botchan" (young master). He accepts a job teaching mathematics at a boarding school in Matsuyama, Shikoku, which is about as far away from Tokyo as you can get in Japan.

He immediately gives all his colleagues nicknames:

• The slippery principal is "Tanuki"
  
  
  
  
  
• The flannel-wearing vice principal is "Red Shirt"
  
  
  
  
  
• Red Shirt's obsequious hanger-on, Yoshikawa, is "Buffoon" (nodaiko, field radish)
  
  
  
  
  
• The bluff head math teacher, Hotta, is "Porcupine" (yama arashi, which also means "mountain storm")
  
  
  
  
  
• The timid English teacher, Koga, is "Unprepared" (uranari, unripe gourd)

and so on. Botchan has had no training as a teacher, and his students tease him for his Tokyo accent, his gargantuan appetite, and his love of hot springs. 

When they place locusts in his futon, Red Shirt lies to him and tells him Hotta instigated the prank. 

Our hot-headed hero promptly breaks off relations with Hotta.

Later, Botchan finds out the truth: Red Shirt is a conniving liar. The vice principal has stolen Koga's beautiful fiance and is trying to get rid of Hotta. 

He even frames Botchan and Hotta when they try to stop a fight between their students and the normal school students. The two conspire to expose Red Shirt's hypocrisy by catching him in flagrante delicto with a geisha. Ultimately, they deliver rough justice to the vice principal and leave town. 

Botchan returns to Tokyo and the comfort of his old retainer, Kiyo.

I've already worked on this story once, and I liked the 1980 TV special better than this one. It has better character designs, livelier animation, and a lot more comedy. This version of Botchan is straightforward, almost pedestrian, like all the adaptations in the Animated Classics series. It is also much shorter; it omits the story of the protagonist's life before he leaves for Matsuyama.

A couple of translation notes.

• Localization of the nicknames can be iffy. The R1 subs used "Weakling" for Koga, which seems rather harsh. Uranari connotes unripe or not ready; hence, "Unprepared." The kanji for Hotta's nickname actually precludes "Porcupine," but it was used in older translations. Orphan's earlier version used the romanized Japanese.
• Normal schools (shihan gakkou) were teacher training schools that eventually became broad-based educational institutions.

The voice actors include:

• Yasuhara Yoshito (Botchan) played Scarecrow in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (TV), Ranze's father in Tokimeki Tonight (which Orphan finished), and Louis XVI in The Rose of Versailles. He starred as Kyousuke in Techno Police 21C and played the Black Night in Tobira o Akete and Yoshito in King Fang. All three are Orphan releases..
• Iizuka Shouzou (Hotta/Porcupine) played the Captain in The Sound of Waves and appeared in Yamato 2025, the What's Michael? OVAs, Neko no Midori, Rain Boy, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases. He played Lestrade in Sherlock Hound, Jumba in the Stitch! franchise, the wizard in The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz, and Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland.
• Nakamura Tadashi (Red Shirt) played Ahmad in Macro Polo no Bouken, Tetsuhara in the Kyojin no Hoshi franchise, and Quincy in Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 1940.
• Kamiyama Takuzou (Principal/Tanuki) appeared in Manxmouse, Bagi, and Prime Rose, all Orphan releases. He also played Greg Gates in Area 88, Shalulu in Castle in the Sky, Dracula in Dororon Enma-kun, Werewolf in the Kaibutsu-kun properties, Dayon in Osomatsu-kun, and Tinman in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
• Hase Sanji (Yoshikawa/Buffoon) played Shuunen in the Ikyuu-san properties, Kazuo in The Kabocha Wine, Nanako-san in the Kinnikuman franchise, and Cyborg 006 in Cyborg 009 (1979)
• Ogata Kenichi (Botchan's first landlord) played Yamada in It Rained Fire, a paper merchant in The Izu Dancer, the put-upon father in Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, Chichi's father in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, the business chief in Okama Hakusho, Tadinori Tachimi, the Terayama family lawyer, in Asatte Dance, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
• Kyouda Hisako (Kiyo) played Minuet in Bremen 4, the Witch in Adachigahara, Yoshiko in the Black Jack segment of Kyoto Animation Theater, and the maid in Lunn Flies into the Wind, all Orphan releases. She also played Sawa in Mermaid Forest, Tama in Mushishi, Obaba in Nausicaa, Darkness in Peter Pan, Yoshi Tamazaki in Showa Monogatari, Rin in the Stratos 4 properties, and Magno Vivan in Vandread.
• Hayashi Kazuo (Koga/Weakling) played Yasuo Nanbu in the Yamato franchise and Gije Zaral in Space Runaway Ideon.
• Takizawa Kumiko (Madonna) played Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (movie). She  played Elena in Techno Police 21C, Kanako's mother in Boyfriend, Susan the gangster in The Green Cat, and appeared in Raiyantsuuri no Uta, Fumoon, Makoto-chan, and Scoopers, all Orphan releases.
• Hanagata Keiko (Mrs. Hagino, Botchan's second landlord) appeared in Belle and Sebastian, Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz, A Little Princess Sara, and Shounen Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The director, Kondou Eisuke, also directed Gonbare Gonbe.

The original subtitles are from CPM's R1 release. Perevodildo translation checked. ninjacloud fixed the original timing. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and Nemesis QCed. The encoder for the series wishes to remain anonymous. CPM's mastering includes hardsubbed translations for some of the Japanese credits. They are incorrectly timed and don't line up with the Japanese credits, but as hardsubs, they can't be fixed. 

As I've already said, I think the 1980 version of Botchan is better, but this one is a lot shorter, so if you want to get the gist of the story, this version might be for you. You can get these episodes from the usual torrent site.