Shojo Tsubaki - Tumblr Posts
Shojo Tsubaki and Anime Exploitation
The stage is set in the 1920s of Japan. Midori is without parents and selling flowers is her only source of income. Poor and destitute, Midori readily accepts Mr. Arashi's offer to join his circus; completely unaware of the horror to come.
Shojo Tsubaki is a story thoroughly drenched in controversy. You'll hardly find a conversation that doesn't revolve around how disturbing and grotesque it is. It's not unwarranted seeing as how the bulk of the story is about Midori suffering. The girl seriously has it rough: Dead parents, dirt poor, deprived peers, added alliteration. Seriously messed up stuff. Any moment of happiness she finds is quickly eclipsed by another traumatic experience.
This is essentially an exploitation film in anime format. Some will argue that " Shojo Tsubaki is actually super deep and it's a reflection of the darkness of humanity!" And that's where I call bs. You could make that argument about literally every piece of torture porn under the sun. If the purpose was to expose humanity's darkness, the manga shoots itself in the foot by being so voyeuristic about everything. Suehiro Maruo's involvement with the eroguro movement provides the clearest perspective on what this manga was about. He's simply the type of man who loves to combine the macabre with heavy sexual themes.
Midori truly is one of the most pitiable manga heroines out there. She suffers abuse throughout almost every moment of her narrative and the tale ends with her completely alone in the world. It was as if the universe itself conspired to torment her. One positive to come out of this tragedy is Tokuriji Muchisate. He's a despicable rapist like the other circus freaks but his character design is just so striking. It's a simple yet effective take on mummies and the traditional Japanese military uniform.
In essence, Shojo Tsubaki is not a fun read or watch. I usually enjoy the surreal works of Suehiro Maruo but he really dialed the nihilism up to 11 with this one.