Atakku No.1/Attack No.1
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_No._1)
(TV Version: https://youtu.be/kNUYWEIosfE)
“If you don’t remember this anime, you are not Japanese.” This TV anime was that popular in late 60’s to early 70’s in Japan. “Sain-wa V,” which showed up earlier in one of my Wednesday’s Blogs, and “Atakku No.1” were big competitions on TV in those days, dealing with volleyball.
Originally, this was started by Chikako Urano, a cartoonist, in a girls’ magazine called “Margaret” and became very popular. Contrary to “Sain-wa V,” this manga stayed as manga/animation on TV.
(Comics Version)
While a grown-up woman was the main character in “Sain-wa V,” Ayuhara Kozue, the heroine, started out as a middle school student and ended up as an adult volleyball player playing for a business corporation. That is, this manga – ’12 volumes’ was the record for girls’ comics in those days! – lasted so long that it depicted Kozue’s growth as a human being through volleyball. During her long journey as a volleyball player, she loses the man who understood her most and spiritually supported her in a real sense.
(Middle School Girls)
This TV episode of his death was truly memorable. I don’t really remember any other episode of this TV show clearly, but this one hasn’t gone away from my mind for even a second. The original manga deals with this man totally differently from TV version, which depicts him a lot more dramatically and which made a tremendous impact on Kozue’s life later on. Ichinose Tsutomu, who was one of her relatives, couldn’t go to high school for a financial reason. One day, Kozue was notified that Tsutomu was killed in a car (a truck) accident – The truck he was driving for his business fell from the cliff in the mountains.
(High School Girl)
Even in those days, the fact that Tsutomu couldn’t go to high school was pathetic enough. In addition that, he got killed when he fell from the cliff while driving his truck. This, no doubt, became one of the biggest traumas in Kozue’s life, which she finally overcame long after the accident. Tsutomu’s support meant a lot to Kozue, which she realized when she lost him as a true friend. Meanwhile, he had kept journals on Kozue’s strength and weakness – both as a human being and as a first-rate volleyball player – for a long time. Who, in the world, could have been that mature at the middle school and high school age? Later on, Kozue took full advantage of his journal so she could fix her problems and improve her performance in many ways.
(Tsutomu and Kozue)
Friendship of this kind is NOT turning in the direction of a shallow sex-oriented love story at all. Amazingly, comics and TV anime dramas made in Japan in those days dealt with universal virtue for every human being, not limited to the Japanese. Looking back, I am really impressed with this fact. And I am proud to be Japanese.
Reading comics version of “Attack No.1”
will tremendously help you understand
Japanese virtues for sure!
I am happy to help YOU!
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