Urotsukidōji
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Urotsukidōji was created by Toshio Maeda, in 1986 and is an early example of hentaimanga and anime. Before creating Urotsukidōji, Maeda had become infamous for his clear and frank depictions of sex and violence in his work. Maeda himself claims to have grown tired of the cliché-ridden world of early erotic manga, and sought to take the genre into new directions and levels of taste. Maeda says, "I almost changed my out look on life when I wrote this. Women almost seemed, well, womenlike." He recounts how he began developing new ideas in this interview with bigempire.com:
At that time, I was dealing with manga for an adult magazine. I really wanted to create something different, but the editor wanted me to create some regular manga for adults - like a typical type of salaryman falling in love with an office lady ... such type of boring story. But I just wanted to make something different. The chief editor - he was against my idea, but I insisted.
One idea that Maeda brought to the manga world was an almost archetypal image of a tentacle, which became a staple in his later work. Below, he explains the meaning behind this idea in the same interview:
At that time, it was illegal to create a sensual scene in bed. I thought I should do something to avoid drawing such a normal sensual scene. So I just created a creature. [His tentacle] is not a [penis] as a pretext. I could say, as an excuse, this is not a [penis], this is just a part of the creature. You know, the creatures, they don't have a gender. A creature is a creature. So it is not obscene - not illegal. (In Japan, it was illegal to depict genitalia.)
Fame and fortune soon came his way after Urotsukidōji was published. His work was picked up by Central Park Media and West Cape Corporations and they adapted Urotsukidōji from page to the big screen. The film of Urotsukidōji, and its later sequels, became immediately infamous, not just in Japan, but in the rest of the world as well. Maeda also went on to create more perverse tentacle work such as Demon Beast Invasion, Adventure Kid, and La Blue Girl. Urotsukidōji is regarded as Maeda's best work and is, according to The Erotic Anime and Movie Guide, the most recognized adult anime in the world.
Legacy
Urotsukidoji has become one of the most infamous anime ever made and frequently given the title of the sickest animated film ever - though this is disputed quite frequently. Many see it as a turning point in anime history due to its storyline, characters and impact; though (due to its controversial nature) others immediately dismiss it as 'just another hentai'.
It is known to have brought anime as an actually recognized form of entertainment in the UK along with numerous other anime of its time (1987), but unfortunately cemented the idea in the public consciousness that it was representative of ALL anime, all but destroying the anime and manga industry in the UK until the worldwide interest in the genre beginning the late 1990s finally revived it at the turn of the century.
This film is infamous as one of the first to be released outside Japan that explored the tentacle rape theme. It is part of a genre of hentai that is best described as erotic horror, or ero-guro ("erotic grotesque").
It was released in edited form in Australia, US, UK (where parts 1 & 2 of Chapter IV were banned entirely), and numerous other western countries. It was one of the first ultra-violent hentai anime.
There is a theory among some anime fans, possibly first espoused by The Erotic Anime Guide, that the series is an elaborate cautionary tale about teenage pregnancy. Alternately, it can be seen as a cautionary tale against blind faith or, possibly, a metaphor on AIDS.
In the UK TV documentary The 100 Greatest Cartoons The Legend of the Overfiend came 72nd.
The beginning of "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag" and "Thrust!" by heavy metal band White Zombie contain samples from Urotsukidoji.
In their album "Low", Testament had an instrumental piece with heavy sampling from the anime series. In fact, the piece is titled "Urotsukidoji".
In the Batman: The Animated Series two-part episode "Heart of Steel", some of the villainous robots crawl around like the demons in Urotsukidoji. This fact was brought to light in the episode commentary on the Vol. 2 DVD.
Urotsukidoji is referenced in an episode of Dave Lovelace's Retarded Animal Babies.
A scene in the series is cited as having inspired the final scenes in the film adaption of Silent Hill.
