[Orphan] Animated Classics of Japanese Literature E07 - E08 - Botchan (DVD)

Orphan is redoing as many of the stories from the 1986 anthology series Seishun Anime Zenshuu (translated as Animated Classics of Japanese Literature for its English release) as we can find sources for, starting with the twelve episodes released in North America on DVD. We’ll be releasing the show as individual stories; today’s is a two-parter, Botchan, based on a 1906 autobiographical novel by Souseki Natsume. It has been adapted for film at least five times, and there's an earlier anime version, which Orphan subbed back in 2020. That version is longer, funnier, and HD, but this version will do for a straightforward adaptation.

After graduating from college, our unnamed hero leaves his old caregiver in Tokyo for Matsumaya in Shikoku to teach math.

He is arrogant, quick-tempered, and woefully unprepared to deal with the teasing from his students and the machinations of his colleagues:

Eventually, he figures out which way is up, administers some rough justice, and returns to Tokyo, a bit older and a bit wiser.

New encode from the R1 DVD. Translation checked script, with fixed timing and new typesetting. See this blog entry for more details.