This is pretty much the final gasp of the Yawara! project: the live action movie. It was actually released in 1989, less than half way through the manga's run, and a few months before the anime started. It abridges the first half of the manga, introducing all the principal characters - Jigoro, Matsuda, Honami, Kazamasturi, Hanazono, Fujiko - but rushes through the plot. It ends abruptly, with Yawara and Matsuda on a romantic getaway to Barcelona, where the Olympics will be held in 1992.Because the principal roles are played by actors, the judo had to be carefully staged and shot at a distance with stunt doubles. Consequently, the matches get less air time, compared to the interpersonal comedy, than in the anime. After more than a decade of work on the Yawara! anime, I find the movie less satisfying, but it makes a nice pendant to the project.The cast included: Yui Asaka (Yawara) was a singer and actress. She also sang the title song, "Neverland." Keiju Kobayashi, (Grandpa Jigoro) was a veteran actor. His career began during World War II. Hiroshi Abe (Matsuda) was a model and actor. He seems impossibly tall and good-looking to play the disheveled Matsuda, and indeed, his height (over six feet) limited his ability to find acting roles.Riki Takeuchi (Kazamatsuri) was an actor. He appeared in many yakuza-themed movies.Kouji Nakamoto (Kamoda) was primarily a comedian.The movie was directed by Kazuo Yoshida.The staff was drawn from the "old anime kairetsu":Translation - kokujin-kunTiming - sangofeEditing - CollectrTypesetting - kokujin-kunQC - Ayanami-, TougeWolfEncoding - anonymous The source is a Japanese laserdisc, ripped on the Domesday Duplicator. The movie has never been released on digital media.This is not quite the end. (The project never seems to end.) While the revised episodes of the anime have been released individually, the batch torrent won't be out until early next year. I've bought all the music from the movie, but it will take a while to get it ripped and shaped up for release. Still, it's the last Yawara script I will ever edit, so it's a milestone.So here's the Yawara! movie. Yawara-chan's first journey off the printed page is available from the usual torrent site or from the Saizen IRC bot in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.
Dec 28, 2025 • Subscribe
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