Kurenai Sanshirou

Exploring all the quirks of this anime never ceases to amaze me. You see commenting on Kurenai Sanshiro is like opening a Matryoshka, a Russian doll, every time you uncap a doll you find a smaller doll inside it and so on. Likewise for Kurenai Sanshiro, aka Judo Boy, each info leads to another and so on.

So this is no brief review but I humbly believe the anime deserves these clarifications.

First of all Kurenai Sanshiro was never licensed in USA, this might explain why English reviews about it are so scarce.

*** Edit: in 2019, 'Sentai Filmworks' obtained the license for ... Kurenai Sanshiro. The company made Judo Boy available with English subtitles (still no English Dub though) on their streaming services: HIDIVE.
Sadly the streaming ended on 2021. It seems like Sentai filmworks lost the rights to stream Tatsunoko animes (Gatchaman, Cashaan and Judo Boy). ***

However the anime aired in foreign countries under the name "Judo Boy" (France, Italy) or "El Rey del Judo" (Spain, Chile). Consequently there is no English dub for this anime. So I will mostly talk about the French dub. Now for the loyal readers who didn’t run away screaming ^^, let’s get to the meat of this review:

STORY

This is the tale of a young man on a quest to avenge his father. Sanshiro arrives too late at the crime scene only to find a glass-eye lying on the ground, near the body of his father. This is his only clue: Sanshiro knows the killer is a one-eyed man.

Needless to say Sanshiro will face a sizeable amount of baddies with eye-patches in those 26 episodes ; ). Remarkably for such an oldie, the anime is quite brutal. People die left and right in Kurenai Sanshiro, especially the weak. In other words Sanshiro has the Death’s Touch, often when he shows up in town you can sure bet someone will kick the bucket (friend or foe ^^).

ART & ANIMATION

Even though Judo Boy aired in Europe during the 80's, the original Japanese broadcast actually dates back to 1969. So don’t expect anything jaw-dropping or perfectly smooth. Still this is a Tatsunoko Production we’re talking about, so the Character Design and the Art Style truly stand out. Characters are full of life and their looks feel relatively realistic (their face, their clothing, etc). The anime displays vibrant colors which is surprising considering the age of the show.

DVD BOX SETS AND DUB

1- Japanese DVD Box Set: Japanese dub only, goodies included, mono sound.

2- French Simple Edition: French dub only, no goodies,

3- French Collector Edition: dual-audio Japanese-French, goodies included (illustrations, informative booklet). If you’re a Frenchie this is the recommended edition. Now a note on the French dub:

The French dub is legendary, ‘nuff said. First because the French voice cast was made of the most talented actors of the industry of the time (Philippe Ogouz, Francis Lax, Jacques Balutin, Gérard Hernandez, Georges Atlas, Daniel Gall, Claude Chantal, Amélie Morin…) Seriously the list goes on.

The undeniable highlight is late François Leccia who voiced Sanshiro. He has voiced a multitude of roles in his lifetime, but for French anime fans his voice will always be tied to the main characters of Judo Boy and Albator 84, aka Captain Harlock SSX. There’s a genuine sincerity in his tone which makes all the characters he voiced tremendously likable.

Finally there’s the French opening sung by Michel Barouille. Endowed with a superb baritone voice this singer delivered a very solemn/martial rendition of the song, which stayed engrained in the minds of an entire generation of French kids, just youtube it and try to remove it from your head if you can ^^,

MANGA

Kurenai Sanshiro is based on a manga of the same name drawn by Ippei Kuri. For the record Ippei Kuri was the brother of Kenji and Tatsuo Yoshida. The 3 brothers founded the anime studio Tatsunoko Production. As far as the drawing goes, the manga is nothing earth-shattering. There is a lack of dynamism in some pages that is typical of the era, but the narrative is effective.

In 2014 a quality edition of the manga was released in France by "Isan Manga" under the title Kurenai Sanshiro. This French-speaking collected edition (+370 pages) contains the complete story of Kurenai Sanshiro drawn by Ippei Kuri. Also as a bonus are added a few short stories of Sanshiro (unrelated to the main story) which were drawn by his brother Tatsuo Yoshida. Surprisingly the drawing of both brothers is quite similar.


ANECTDOTES/ORIGINS

1- "kurenai" means "crimson" (red),

2- The red jacket (uwagi) that Sanshiro wears when fighting was given by his mother. And when Sanshiro wears it he becomes almost invincible. On second look this gimmick is quite reminiscent of…Superman. Indeed Clark Kent too wears a red outfit -a red cape- when he turns into Superman. It was given by his mother too,

3- Sanshiro is not a judoka, he’s actually doing Jujutsu. So why this anime was translated as ‘Judo Boy’ in Europe for crying out loud? To find out please read the next anecdote ^^,

4- The whole anime is a tribute to the movie "Sanshiro Sugata", directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1943. To cut it short (I swear I’m trying hard ^_^) the main character named Sanshiro too, hehe what a coincidence, gives up on training Jujutsu only to learn Judo. And believe me the physical resemblance between the actor Susumu Fujita and Sanshiro from Judo Boy is totally stunning: the square jaw, the frank and inquisitive look and the bushy eyebrows, they totally nailed it. It was Akira Kurosawa’s first movie, it’s a decent watch but don’t expect anything of epic magnitude like "Seven Samurai" or "Kagemusha",

5- Akira Kurosawa being so idolized in Europe (for good reasons I feel) the people in charge of the European distribution of the anime probably made the link between Kurenai Sanshiro (the anime) and Sanshiro Sugata (the movie), this might explain why the anime was translated as ‘Judo Boy’ in those countries.

CONCLUSION

Kurenai Sanshiro is an old show that stands out, first visually then for his dramatic story. If you like animes where characters travel around then Judo Boy might please you: during his journey Sanshiro will visit quite a few places (Mexico, China, France, USA...) and each episode has a different storyline to keep viewers entertained. As a character Sanshiro is unforgettable, not only he’s charismatic but there is probity in him that makes him tremendously likable.

Now if you’re one of those anime fans who only swear by HD, then maybe this watch will cause you severe bleeding damage ^^. However if you care about the old stuff then by all means take a look, you might find it to your liking.

Now it’s time to close this review, 'cos if we keep on digging like this then we’ll probably trace back to Jesus or the Big Bang (but I truly could go on about Kurenai Sanshiro ; ) So this is goodbye. I sincerely hope you had a pleasant and informative read.

When I was a teenager, my dad and I used to go to kung-fu movie night. We'd grab some popcorn, soda and milk duds, and take a seat in the packed theater to watch "Iron Monkey" or "Five Deadly Venoms". Everyone would shout when somebody got clawed to death or there was a particularly cool stunt. It was awesome. The movies transcended an evaluation of "good" or "bad" and became something else. The best parts of Kurenai Sanshiro take me back to those days, to that hot loud room where I had so much fun.

Unfortunately, the show has some bad episodes too. The whole thing ... is so episodic that it's necessary to go one by one:

1. The Scarlet Wind: Off to a great start. It's fast paced, psychedelic, and has probably the craziest special effects in the whole series, from 3d models to bizarre camera tricks. There's even a part where they put an image of real steel over a drawing of a katana.
2. The One Eyed Man in the Skyscraper: Well directed, with interesting scenery and shot compositions despite its banal setting. It's got a solid plot and a great final duel.
3. Challenge of the Cat Demons: Lives up to its title. Enough said.
4. The Burning Plain: Uninspired, decently executed.
5. Wildman of the Wasteland: Sanshiro duels a guy with a spear peg leg and an extending flail hand in this one. It's also a western. Completely insane.
6. Assassinate! Kurenai Cross Constellation: The background plot is more interesting than most, and the culminating battle is excellent. I think Sanshiro fights a giant bat at one point.
7. The Tiger of the Sea, Harimao: Expands on the usual formula with a unique and not clever mystery plot. There's also a ghost ship. But none of that matters. What matters is that there's a shark karate chop in this episode.
8. Demon Superhuman Machine: Is a bad comic book. It's fun but really stupid. There are superhuman demon machines, so I guess it gets a pass.
9. Silver Confrontation: A great duel, on top of a ski lift during an avalanche. I don't remember anything else.
10. Mysterious One Eyed Emperor: One long LSD trip. The most creative episode of the entire show in terms of both its writing and visual direction. It's great.
11. Warriors of Kilimanjaro: Not racist, surprisingly. Nothing else stands out other than that Sanshiro fights a lion and which is cool I guess, but that's so obligatory that it's not particularly exciting.
12. Duel at Sunset: A mediocre episode with a completely over the top ending that kinda redeems it. Sideways motorcycle judo...
13. Kurenai Escape Mission: It's something new, and the formula isn't quite there yet. But it's interesting.
14. Killer Olympics: Drops the ball. Boring fights, boring plot.
15. The Dog Will Die For Revenge: It's mostly about the dog. I hate dog stories. They're so dull.
16. Sanshiro in Hell: I literally remember nothing about this and so cannot review it.
17. The One Eyed Demon General: This is more like it - pushing the formula as far as it can go. It's got a unique setup, bizarre storytelling and pacing, crazy fights and a frame that makes me laugh out loud whenever I see it. You'll know the one.
18. Out The Graveyard: A tight little ghost story with some fun characters and an extremely creative final duel.
19. Reward for a Betrayer: It's trying something new, but that something doesn't work. Episodic fast paced action shows and complex characters do not mix...
20 & 21. One Eyed White Tiger (Parts 1 & 2): ...except when you give them some time to develop, as this excellent two-parter proves. It also has the work's best villain, a menacing antagonist with compelling motivations. Who happens to be a giant tiger.
22. Magma Style Assassination Technique: Oh yeah. This is it. Underground civilizations. Teleporting wizards. Magma style.
23. Sanshiro in a Desperate Situation: When contrasted with some of the other titles on this list, this one sounds uninteresting, and unfortunately it is. "Sanshiro is accused of a crime he didn't commit" just isn't enough gas in the tank.
24. The Heaven and Earth Throw: Seriously underbaked. They could have done a lot more with the circus context. Give me gymnast Sanshrio. Judo on stilts. The deadly fire eating technique. Anything.
25. Wolf Man Death Arts: WOLF MAN DEATH ARTS
26. Beautiful Girl with a Hidden Sword: Introduces a foil to Sanshiro, and lets the story reach its predetermined conclusion from there... and then does something unexpected. A really good ending.

You should watch Kurenai Sanshiro, preferably with friends and snacks.