[Orphan] Animated Classics of Japanese Literature E20 - Season of the Sun (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 Season of the Sun, based on a 1955 novel by Ishihara Shintaro. See this blog entry for more details.

The story focuses on the hedonistic post-war youth culture, dubbed (by the author) the "Sun Tribe." Tsugawa Tatsuya is a college student and amateur boxer. He meets and sleeps with Izumi Eiko. She is more serious about the affair than he is; he tries to get shot of her in various ways, including "selling" her to his brother. Eventually, Eiko becomes pregnant, leading swiftly to the tragic conclusion.

Everyone who worked on the show disliked it. YMMV.