Sometimes the world turns out to be a surprisingly tight place where very different people are destined to collide. So, a long time ago, two people met in Japan: Inu-o and Tomona. The first was cursed at birth and given such a terrible body that he is forced to always walk around in tight clothes and a mask made from a gourd. And the second lost his sight while still a child. Inu-o is the son of a brilliant dancer: the father rejected the creepy child, so the boy had to learn the choreography on his own. And Tomona, like many other blind people in Japan, became a biwa-hoshi, a wandering storyteller who plays the biwa (Japanese stringed musical instrument). The fateful meeting of the musician and the dancer opened a new page in the old story, changing the lives of the heroes forever. And not only them.
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Frame from the anime “Inu-o: The Birth of a Legend”
For Science SARU, Inu-o: Birth of a Legend marks the second entry into the territory of the most influential work in Japanese history, The Tale of the House of Taira. In 2021, Naoko Yamada released the series Heike: The Tale of the Taira House, which can be seen as a kind of prequel to Inu-o. The work of the founding father of the studio, Masaaki Yuasa, tells regarding the events of subsequent events and the very oral tradition that formed the basis of the Tale, to put it mildly, freely referring to the original source.
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Frame from the anime “Inu-o: The Birth of a Legend”
Thanks to the approach chosen, it is not at all necessary to know the ins and outs of Japan: it is enough to be aware that there was a whole class of wandering blind monks who sang songs with historical plots for a living. Everything else “Inu-o” will convey to the viewer on its own: musical numbers, of which there are many, as expected, will retell important scenes from the “Tale of the House of Taira”, setting a certain context, and during the development of the plot, the audience will at the same time get acquainted with how history is written.
For Yuasa, however, it is not the events of the past that are important, nor even their possible interpretation. The author of A Beautiful Mind and Devilman: Crybabies is primarily concerned with the personalities behind the story and which path they take for themselves. Therefore, in the center of “Inu-o” is not only the hero, whose name is placed in the name, but also his friend and partner Tomona, without whom the fate of the dancer would have been completely different. The meeting changes both beyond recognition: Inu-o gets a chance to get rid of the curse, and Tomona, in turn, finally finds her own voice, ceasing to imitate her mentor. At the same time, both get true freedom in creativity: Yuasa, who works in an unusual style, was afraid at the beginning of his journey that he would not be able to become an animator, so this story must have become very personal for him.
Both heroes defy tradition: Tomona, in opposition to the statute of the monks, grows long hair and behaves like a rock star, igniting the crowd and performing to the accompaniment of other musicians. Inu-o, taking traditional dances as a basis, comes up with his own numbers, which have little in common with what is associated with a strict and almost prim Japan, deeply mired in conservatism. The great audacity of the renegades is presented as a counterbalance to the granite block of the usual flow of things.
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Frame from the anime “Inu-o: The Birth of a Legend”
In Inu-o, Yuasa’s writing style finds its content perfectly: expressive drawings, sometimes more like sketches, accurately convey the rebellious mood of the anime. At the same time, as always, the external simplicity of the drawing is very deceptive and hides the really meticulously done work, which is clearly visible in the details. The director is famous for his attention to detail, and the novelty is no exception in this regard: an attentive viewer will definitely notice small movements that enliven the dance, and numerous traditional patterns on fabrics, and rich elaboration of backgrounds, which many will envy. Special mention is made of inserts made in a different style – historical digressions and moments shown on behalf of the blind Tomona. The latter are especially interesting: the expression reaches its peak when the screen is flooded with a riot of colors and shapes.
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Frame from the anime “Inu-o: The Birth of a Legend”
And, of course, one cannot fail to note the musical accompaniment of “Inu-o”, which provides the lion’s share of the anime’s charm. Instead of using traditional music, Yuasa went further and took the bold step of blending the sound of classic biwa with modern rock. The contrast can be heard right in the cartoon itself: if at first Tomona plays within the framework of traditional melodies, then over time he finally discards them. And to complete the picture, modern vocals are also used: Tomona is voiced by a professional dancer and actor Mirai Moriyama, but the case of Inu-o, whose voice was given by the rock singer Awu-chan, herself accustomed to ostracism since childhood, is much more interesting. At school, Ava-chan was constantly called “hafu” (Japanese term for children of mixed marriages) by other children because of her dark skin, which left a certain imprint on life.
But Yuasa wouldn’t be himself if he ended the story on the rise of the renegades, so other mechanisms come into play. Perhaps the most interesting of them are reflections on freedom of expression and the price of success, which become especially important towards the end. Each of the heroes eventually finds a unique path, which they adhere to the end – and even longer.
“Inu-o” is a beautiful work that hits many key points at once: someone will be satisfied with excellent music, someone will admire the bright and imaginative animation, and someone will be fascinated by the plot. Someone, perhaps, recognizes himself in the main characters. Stories, in general, do not change, and many stories that happened a long time ago, alas, remain relevant today.
