Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl

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For other uses, see Yawara (disambiguation).
Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
YAWARA!
(YAWARA!)
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sports
Manga: Yawara!
Author Naoki Urasawa
Demographic Seinen
Serialized in Flag of Japan Big Comic Spirits
Original run 1986 – 1993
Volumes 29
TV anime
Director Hiroko Tokita
Studio Kitty Films
Licensor Flag of the United StatesFlag of Canada AnimEigo
Network Flag of Japan NTV series
Flag of the Republic of China CTV
Flag of the Philippines QTV 11
Original run October 16, 1989 – September 21, 1992
Episodes 124

Yawara! (YAWARA! (やわら!)? a.k.a. Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl) is a manga series by Naoki Urasawa which ran in Big Comic Spirits from 1986 to 1993. In 1990, it received the 35th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.[1]

In 1989, Yomiuri TV (part of the Nihon TV network) began broadcasting an anime adaptation, which ran from October 16, 1989 through September 21, 1992 for a total of 124 episodes. Each episode ended with a countdown to the number of days remaining to the start of the Barcelona Olympics. AnimEigo licensed the TV series for North American distribution in August 2006.[2]

Contents

[edit] Summary

The story is about Yawara Inokuma, a young girl who aspires to an ordinary life but who, due to her innate talent, is forced to keep practicing judo by her authoritarian grandfather, Jigorou Inokuma, with the aim of achieving championship in Japan and the gold medal in the Barcelona's 1992 Olympic Games. Because of all the pressure from her grandfather, she has a generally bad attitude about judo, avoiding it as much as she can. However, as the manga continues, she begins to understand why her grandfather so loves judo, and she begins to appreciate it more.

[edit] Characters

Yawara Inokuma (猪熊 柔 Inokuma Yawara?)
Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi
Yawara is a young girl who aspires to an ordinary life but who, due to her innate talent, is forced to keep practicing judo by her authoritarian grandfather. She is always having romantic daydreams about an ordinary life, her biggest dream being to find a boyfriend.
Jigorou Inokuma (猪熊 滋悟郎 Inokuma Jigorou?)
Voiced by: Ichirou Nagai
Jigorou is the 7th-dan Judo Master and 5-time National Champion, his passion for judo is rivaled only by his love for Yawara and food. He has great expectations for Yawara's judo career, and is constantly pushing her to do her best and focus primarily on judo. His motto is "Judo was not built in a day". He also does work on the side as a bone-setting doctor.
Sayaka Honami (本阿弥 さやか Honami Sayaka?)
Voiced by: Yoshino Takamori
Sayaka is an extremely spoiled daughter of one of Japan's richest families, she has never failed to dominate any sport she's cared to try, and when Yawara shows her up, she decides to stop at nothing to defeat her and becomes her rival. She has a false tooth, which is a sore point for her, and one that Yawara keeps accidentally bringing up.
Shinnosuke Kazamatsuri (風祭 進之介 Kazamatsuri Shinnosuke?)
Voiced by: Akira Kamiya
Shinnosuke is one of the finest judo coaches in all of Japan, he idolizes Jigorou, and has been hired by Honami. Despite being incredibly shy, he is an unbelievable babe-magnet thanks to his good looks and caring personality. Unfortunately for him, for all the women in the world, and in particular, for Sayaka, the one girl he's got his eye on is Yawara.
Matsuda Kosaku and Kamoda
A reporter and cameraman team working for a sports paper, Matsuda's becomes convinced Yawara is going to be the next great sports superstar, while Kamoda seems to have a knack for taking "the perfect shot" for headlines.
Hanazono
Hanazono, the large, overly-emotional captain of the judo club at Yawara's high school, he becomes devoted to Yawara when she comes to his attention as an skilled judoka.
Sudoh
Sudoh is the resident bad boy at Yawara's high school, he begins to pester her when she starts making headlines, and acts as a foil to Hanazono. When Yawara becomes the high school judo club coach, he joins and is the only new member to withstand Yawara's rigorous training program.
Jody Rockwell (ジョディ・ロックウェル Jodi Rokkuweru?)
Voiced by: Miyuki Ichijou
Jody is the previous year's female judo world champion, she is a Canadian who comes to challenge Yawara to a match part way into the series, becoming a friendly rival and regular character.

[edit] Music

Opening Theme:

  • "Miracle Girl" (ミラクル・ガール Mirakuru Gāru?): Eps. 01 - 43
    Lyrics by: Yoshiko Miura
    Composition by: Kouichi Fuji
    Arrangement by: Takayuki Negishi
    Song by: Mariko Nagai
  • " ? " (雨にキッスの花束を Ame ni Kiss no Hanataba wo?): Eps. 44 - 81
    Lyrics by: Yuuho Iwasato
    Composition by: KAN
    Arrangement by: Jun Satou
    Song by: Miki Imai
  • " ? " (負けるな女の子! Makeruna Onnanoko!?): Eps. 82 - 102
    Lyrics and composition by: Yuko Hara
    Arrangement by: Takeshi Kobayashi
    Song by: Yuko Hara
  • "YOU AND I": Eps. 103-124
    Lyrics and composition by: Taizou Junouchi
    Arrangement by: Takayuki Negishi
    Song by: Mariko Nagai

Ending Theme:

  • "Stand By Me" (スタンド・バイ・ミー Sutando Bai Mī?): Eps. 01 - 43
    Lyrics by: Takashi Matsumoto
    Composition by: Wataru Yahagi
    Arrangement by: Mitsuo Hagita
    Song by: Rika Himenogi
  • " ? " (笑顔を探して Egao wo Sagashite?): Eps. 44 - 81
    Lyrics and composition by: Midori Karashima
    Arrangement by: Kei Wakakusa
    Song by: Midori Karashima
  • " ? " (少女時代 Shoujo Jidai?): Eps. 82 - 102
    Lyrics and composition by: Yuko Hara
    Arrangement by: Takeshi Kobayashi, Keisuke Kuwata
    Song by: Yuko Hara
  • " ? " (いつもそこに君がいた Itsumo Soko ni Kimi ga Ita?): Eps. 103 - 124
    Lyrics and composition by: LOU
    Arrangement by: Akihisa Matsura, LAZY LOU's BOOGIE
    Song by: LAZY LOU's BOOGIE

[edit] Cultural Context

The significance of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the story is that in the real world, this was the first time that Women's Judo would be a full competition event, and would thus see the awarding of the first ever Olympic gold medal for Women's Judo.[3]

Yawara! was very popular in Japan, so when real life Japanese teenager Ryoko Tamura won a silver medal for judo at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, she was seen as a real-life "Yawara" (her age, stature, and ability all being strikingly similar to those of the fictional character) and promptly nicknamed "Yawara-chan".[4] She was still known by this name eight years later,[5] indicating perhaps the enduring popular recognition of the series as well as that of Ryoko Tamura herself.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者 (Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  2. ^ See AnimEigo Picks up Yawara, August 17, 2006
  3. ^ Judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics
  4. ^ A Decade of Dominance | Sports and Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan
  5. ^ Olympic Glory | Sports and Fashion | Trends in Japan | Web Japan

[edit] External links