Hidamari no Ki (A Tree in the Sun)

[SeijiSensei]

The folks at Aoi-Anime recently began subbing this series by Madhouse that was televised in the year 2000. I'm going to steal their description:

Set in the mid-1800’s, this story is about a young doctor who has been trained in Western-style medicine, and a young samurai, who tries to live up to the old traditions of his class and culture.

Two young men, Ibuya Manjiro and Tezuka Ryoan, live during the Second Year of Ansei (1855) in Edo’s Koishikawa. Ibuya is a low-ranking samurai who is a gifted swordsman and has straightforward and strong sense of justice. In contrast, Tezuka has a more carefree attitude. He has an eye for the ladies, but he’s passionate about becoming a doctor. These two men of opposite characters mature during the backdrop of the turbulent end of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868 CE).

The story is actually based upon real people – the doctor, Ryoan, was the anime creator’s, Osamu Tezuka’s, great grandfather.

[Description borrowed and slightly modified from Animenfo]

I've enjoyed all three episodes that have been subbed and look forward to seeing the rest as they become available. Hidamari no Ki does harken back to an older style of anime. I've not seen the manga, but I'm guessing the anime's style is true to its origins. The two main characters appear with caricatured faces, in stark contrast to the realistic beauty of the third side of the romantic triangle, the lovely Oseki. The males, particularly the hot-headed Manjiro, do yell quite a lot as well. It took me a while to move beyond the character models and voice acting styles to see the intriguing story this series tells.



At the outset Ryoan's father, who is also a doctor with an interest in Western, particularly Dutch, medicine, has been inoculating the local populace against smallpox. This places him, and later his son, at odds with the "medical establishment" of his day, Confucian healers who practice under the aegis of the Shogunate. The story of Manjiro, the samurai, is a bit less fleshed out through the first three episodes. He starts off joining a famous dojo, but his personality makes it difficult for him to conform to its fairly rigid style and hierarchy.

I became interested in mid-19th century Japan after watching Oh! Edo Rocket which also deals with the last-ditch efforts of the Shogunate to survive in the face of the challenges posed by Western technologies. For anyone else looking to learn more about Japanese history, I recommend following along with Hidamari no Ki.

As an added bonus, this show has a lovely musical score mixing piano and orchestra in a way that appropriately conveys both Japanese and Western themes.

I don't expect Shinkun to move along very quickly with these subs (and besides he needs to finish Mouryou no Hako first ), so this won't be a fast-paced thread. Still I hope I can attract a few other viewers to what looks like a very worthwhile anime viewing experience.

BTW, what are those lines on the male characters' cheeks supposed to represent? I notice that Oseki-sama has none.



Links:
Aoi-Anime project page
ANN Encyclopedia entry
Wikipedia entry

[Slice of Life]

I've seen the subbed episodes too and was impressed. I just hope Aoi-anime hasn't spontaneously combusted.

[SeijiSensei]

No, I don't think so. Shinkun's blog said he was on vacation.

[Shinkun]

Hi, I'm glad some people enjoy this series. At this point, it is more like to see more Hidamari no Ki subbed before Mouryo no Hako's final episode. The language in that ep is bit intimidating, besides, I probably plan to revise both 11 and 12 due to minor translation mistakes.

Anyway, next batch of 3-4 episodes this Winter / Spring.

[SeijiSensei]

Whenever you get to them, I'll be watching. Thanks!

[tyciol]

Is there a mod who could help out here? Currently the tracker is not displaying anything, but Aoi has trackers up for the first 3 of the 25 episodes right at the top here: http://www.anime-addict.info/tracker/

Specifically
http://anime-addict.info/torrents/[Aoi-Anime]Hidamari_no_Ki_01_[A8D0CA8E][H264_DVD].mp4.torrent
http://anime-addict.info/torrents/[Aoi-Anime]Hidamari_no_Ki_02_[BB8D75C6][H264_DVD].mp4.torrent
http://anime-addict.info/torrents/[Aoi-Anime]Hidamari_no_Ki_03_[1ED72035][H264_DVD].mp4.torrent

How do we add them?

[SeijiSensei]

Create a thread for the show in this forum.

[Shinkun]

Anyone with DVD raws, please stand up? >_>

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Shinkun

Anyone with DVD raws, please stand up? >_>

Nice to see you back, Shinkun.

However I can't seem to connect to the tracker at all. On your web site you point to a tracker at anime-addict, but when I click on the link I get a "domain not found" error. I encountered this before when I was trying to track down the Mouryou no Hako episodes you subbed. They no longer appear on the AS page for that show either.

Is there a new tracker? Where? I tried TokyoTosho as well.

Update: I'm downloading an episode four, but the group name is "Kiseki." Is that yours? Your signature links to the aoi-anime.info site which has no info on this series other than it being dropped. The old site that tlynnec had is way out of date. Color me confused.

[SeijiSensei]

A few months back the Orphan fansub group released all 25 episodes of Hidamari no Ki after all these years! I'm up to episode eleven where they try to deceive the American envoy Harris during his audience with the ailing Shogun. I was surprised not to see a curtain between the Shogun and the others in the room. Putting the Shogun behind a curtain would have solved a number of issues in this case. Would a curtain be used if Harris was meeting with the Emperor? (Harris's meeting with the Shogun shows the Americans had some understanding of how actual power was distributed in this period. An uninformed envoy might have wanted to meet with the Emperor, but Harris meets with the Shogun instead.)

This show is as intriguing as the first four episodes suggested. Well worth watching.

I'm always amused by how Tezuka draws nearly all the men in this story as ordinary-looking or even ugly. In contrast nearly all his women are stunningly gorgeous.

[Kanon]

I've been reading a bit of Tezuka lately so I'm interested in this. Looking forward to your final thoughts.

[SeijiSensei]

Oh, it's definitely worth watching. I rated it a nine at MAL. The issues around Western medicine subside, but the threats to the Shogunate, both internal and external, continue to grow. The second character of the main pair, the samurai Manjiro, is assigned to guard the American Envoy, Townsend Harris, when he arrives in Japan a couple years after Perry. This gives us an insight into the effects of the Americans' arrival and the growth of anti-Western sentiment. The story follows the events up through, I believe, the end of the Boshin War when the rebellious clans from Choshuu and Satsuma seize the royal palace.

Manjiro is blind to the problems within the Shogunate based on a pledge he made to his sensei to protect the Shogunate at all costs. Tezuka Ryoan is much better placed to see reality and tries to get his friend to see it as well.

I believe there is an homage to this show in the last couple of episodes of Dororo. There's large tree in some scenes which looks quite like the eponymous tree in Hidamari no Ki.

[Kanon]

Finished watching the show. It was rather refreshing to see a show focus on how western medicine came to be accepted in Japan. Of course, the show is not just about that, but it's the part I found the most interesting, especially since the fall of Bakufu is something we've seen in tons of anime before (they usually focus on the shinsengumi though). I still enjoyed Manjirou's side of the story, but I definitely found it weaker. Some things were a bit baffling, like Oseki's role. Remove her from the story and nothing is lost.

Ryouan was a great character, he and Okon were by far my favorites. You're right that all the women are beautiful, but there was a serious case of sameface syndrome. The only one I could tell apart from the others was Okon because of her mole, and then later Aya because she had a rather different hairstyle.

Anyway, really nice show that I wish more people would watch. Thanks for recommending it.

[SeijiSensei]

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote.

I'm always interested in shows that depict the arrival of the West, particularly America, in Japan. In that vein, the live-action Yae no Sakura from the NHK is a good watch.

[Kanon]

I recall being interested in Yae no Sakura but then I kind of forgot about it. I'll try to remember this time.