by Dustin Kramer

The Sensualist is a 1991 animated film from Studio Grouper based on The Life of an Amorous Man, the 17th century novel by Ihara Saikaku. The movie should presumably tell the story of Yonosuke, a clothing store proprietor and titular amorous man. However, the film’s actual narrative has little to do with Yonosuke but rather a foolish tailor by the name of Juzo. You see, Juzo is in a bit of a pinch. He made a silly bet with some jerk-off that he could sleep with famed courtesan Komurasaki at their premier meeting, so now he’s off toward the capital city of Edo to make good on his wager. Problem is, Komurasaki is a very classy lady and doesn’t just invite any old joker into her futon. In fact, she doesn’t serve working class patrons at all, and even if she did, she doesn’t kiss on the first date. Like I said, a very classy lady. It looks like Juzo’s going to lose his bet, so what’s on the line anyway?

Not much–just his penis.

Lucky for our hapless tailor with the doomed dong, merchant class hunk Yonosuke has a bit of a history with the high-class hooker. Feeling bad for poor Juzo, the shop owner sets up a meeting with Komurasaki so the guileless gambler will at least have a shot at saving his manhood, but it is still a long-shot.

The Sensualist is an obvious labor of love by director Yukio Abe, who has found quite a bit of success in the anime industry as an art director (Colorful), background artist (The Dagger of Kamui), and audio engineer (Battle Angel). Those up on their Japanese film history should recognized the name of screenwriter Eiichi Yamamoto, frequent collaborator with the late “god of manga” Osamu Tezuka. The movie is short, clocking in at a brisk 55 minutes that is spent jumping back and forth between the central story with Juzo and the aforementioned backstory of Yonosuke, including his past encounters with Komurasaki. The easiest complaint of the film is its uneven script. The flashbacks should ideally serve to illuminate Yonosuke’s motivations in helping Juzo, but they only ever denote the ostensible protagonist as a lifelong libertine. The end result is a main character whose development feels told rather than shown. Furthermore, Yonosuke’s eventual success with Juzo’s conflict ultimately has little to do with his past and is quickly explained away in the penultimate scene with Komurasaki.

But where the movie falters in story it makes up for in aesthetics.

The movie is visually striking, summoning motifs from the ukiyo-e paintings of Edo period Japan to fill its frames. Many shots entirely abandon depth for super flat images that more closely resemble the antiquated art form. The depiction of water as undulating white lines against a dark field is especially reminiscent of the renowned woodblock prints. The male characters are drawn with a slightly more modern sensibility, but the female characters–especially Komurasaki–appear to have stepped right out of “Three Known Beauties” or “Beauty and Attendant.” The animation is limited by its resources, but there is no doubt that each frame was painstakingly fine-tuned to Abe’s meticulous vision, resulting in a piece that feels handmade, human, and brimming with graphic information.

Pervasive sexual symbolism adds a layer of artistry to the erotic depictions in the film–everything from the lotus flower as a time-honored vaginal metaphor to the somewhat hokey, phallic turtle’s head breaking into frame before revealing itself to be but the shelled amphibian. More esoteric imagery conveys the act of sexual penetration in evocative, beautiful ways–lightning strikes, orange flames against a backdrop of ocean waves, and even a series of red lines suggestively folding into one another.

Despite its technical limitations, The Sensualist is certainly a gem that has been forgotten by time. As one of only four projects that Grouper Productions had a hand in and a crew with this as their sole credit to this day (I couldn’t even find a cast list), this bit of direct-to-video art seems to have left no mark whatsoever on the world of animation, and that’s a shame. Those trying to track this down on home video will likely only dig up the Japanese DVD release of director Yasuzou Masumura’s live-action adaptation from 1961. As far as I know, The Sensualist has only seen life on home video as a VHS release. If you have the opportunity to see this little movie in any form, I highly recommend you take advantage of it.