Death Valley Driver Anime Review #12 : Yawara - A Fashionable Judo Girl

In honor of Ryoko Tamura’s Olympic Gold Medal victory for Japan, The Death Valley Driver Anime Review proudly brings you the tale of Yawara Inokuma, a young naïve high school girl who becomes Japan’s greatest judo champion. Yawara is recognized as one of the best sports related anime/manga of the past 10 years and one of the most popular overall sports stories to grace the genre (Not the most popular though, that still goes to “Ashita No Jo”, a wonderfully brutal boxing story). Yawara was created by Urasawa Naoki and began its regular run in “Big Comic Spirits Magazine” in 1987 and finished in 1993. The animated series began airing in 1989, produced by the infamous Studio Madhouse (more well known for there dark supernatural anime such as “Wicked City”, “Jubei Ninpouchou” and “X 1999”) and distributed by Kitty Films, it was embraced as the sister show to the rising star of anime/manga at the time “Ranma ½”.
“Yawara – A Fashionable Judo Girl” is the story of Yawara Inokuma (hmmm, didn’t I state this already?) , a simple high school girl who just wants to get through school and find a good boyfriend (I she is lucky). The only thing standing in her way is her beloved grandfather Jigorou, a former Japan National champion in the sport of Judo, a master manipulator and all around comic foil. Jigorou’s plan for Yawara is quite different than what the young girl wants. His plan involves pushing Yawara into the national spotlight so she can compete in competitive Judo matches which will in turn lead to her becoming Japan National Champion and the Olympic Gold Medalist. The only problem is that Yawara doesn’t want to be involved in competitive Judo, she just wants to be a “normal high school girl”.

Things change in Jigorou’s favor after a young sports reporter named Kousaku Matsuda witnesses Yawara thwart a purse-snatcher from robbing an elderly woman on the street. Matsuda digs deeper and discovers Yawara’s identity. Realizing who her grandfather is, Matsuda sees the potential in Yawara to be the next big sports legend from Japan. Yawara wants nothing to do with this plan at all despite Jigorou’s constant prodding. Adding yet another ingredient in Jigorou’s stew is Sayaka Hon’ami, a spoiled rich girl who excels at every sport she has ever tried. After nearly running over Yawara and Jigorou by accident she is stunned to discover that neither of them were injured. Jigorou sees Sayaka’s competitive soul and determines she will be Yawara’s main rival and manipulates her into taking up Judo. After winning her first tournament she confronts Jigorou and boasts of her victory. Jigorou informs her that she is no match for Yawara. This leads every reporter in Japan to seek out the mysterious “Yawara”.
As or Yawara herself, she ties to handle the problems of being an everyday teenager. This isn’t easy as Jigorou constantly interferes in her life. When the captain of the school Judo club catches onto who she is, he challenges her to a match. Yawara grudgingly accepts the challenge. But the team Captain has other ideas, as he has challenges the girl simply so he can feel her up during the fight. Yawara, trained since she could watch in Judo, catches onto the plan and soundly trumps the pervert.

-Thoughts On Yawara-
Yawara is fun little show and I find it odd that no one in their right mind has picked it up for distribution. It is a story that has emotional highs and lows as Yawara doesn’t always win. Does she ever make it to Barcelona? Does she beat Sayaka everytime? Hell, I ain’t giving that much away. I will tell you this though, if you like a good sports story with a human edge than Yawara is a show you should like. It made me remember when I took Judo as a kid and has made want to start practicing.

A nice side note is that Ryoko Tamura, this years Olympic Champion in the 48 kilogram weight class, was nicknamed “Yawara-chan” by the Japanese press. She won silver medals in Barcelona and Atlanta but this year she finally did it, taking home the gold. Tamura made a special appearance in a Yawara TV Special, detailing Yawara’s trials in Barcelona. How can one not love a story that will make you cheer (as opposed to making you cry like the end of “Ashita No Jo” does) ?

-James’ Ranking On Yawara-
This baby takes home the Gold just like Ryoko did!! “Yawara – A Fashionable Judo Girl” is the tops !!

James