Shōjo Tsubaki- the vintage anime that went viral on TikTok

Over the past 24 hours, the new craze among Gen Z and the weeb community is a vintage anime that is banned in Japan named “Shōjo Tsubaki”. I opened my tiktok and everyone on my for you page was doing a challenge to watch the first minutes without freaking out. Everybody said not to watch it, so I went ahead and watched it.

Set in early 20th century Japan, this story highlights the misdeeds that occurred in circus camps when they were popular. From things such as murder to exploitation of workers, everything is portrayed explicitly.

The story follows a protagonist Midori, who’s life changes drastically after her mom dies. To give you an idea on the genre of the film, Midori comes home to find her mother’s lifeless body being eaten by rats through her lady parts. Shortly afterwards, she joins a local circus.

Aside from all the gore in the film that is very unsettling and not for the faint of heart, this anime is a master piece in many ways.

I would say that the reason this film has so much discourse around it is that the psychological bit of it is much, much deeper than we think and leaves a long lasting impression on the sub conscious minds of watchers. The entire film feels like a nightmare within a dream. And one of the things that stood out to me was Midori’s transformation.

Midori our innocent and wholesome protagonist just happens to be a magnet for darkness and all things- excuse my language- all things fucked up. In the real world, people like her are prime targets for narcissistic projection, provocation, physical and psychological abuse. The typical Midori archetype learns to keep everything inside and sort of dissociate from reality by avoiding all sorts of confrontation. She is an empath who has no outlet. An empath who is surrounded by only destructive and negative energy.

With each unsettling event in the film, trauma piles up inside of her. Forming structures in her psyche that torture and torment her. Finally, these psychological structures begin to warp her sense of reality. Creating a mental state that constantly shifts and renders her as disturbed as everybody else in the film.

Such is the nature of life itself. This film portrays the questionable nature of mankind, whereby we crave for things and people pure and innocent but seek to destroy and antagonise those very things and people, simply because they irritate the demons inside us.

There is just too much to say about this anime. It is simply a masterpiece, heavily influenced by ancient Japanese art. I think as a community we need a reanimation or atleast a part two.

Disclaimer : this anime is actually very horrifying and one should take precaution before watching it.

Originally published at http://kerensarahobara.com on November 22, 2020.