Yawara!

High school student Yawara Inokuma lives a completely happy and ordinary life. She aspires to an average lifestyle as a delicate young lady with a handsome boyfriend in the near future.

Unfortunately for Yawara, she has an undesirable prodigious talent in Judo, a modern martial art that is neither feminine nor fashionable. Moreover, Yawara is the only granddaughter of the seventh dan Judo master Jigorou Inokuma, who expects her to become a Japanese Judoka superstar of the '90s.

Yawara cautiously hides her strength from everyone to maintain a normal reputation but is often pushed to situations when she must exercise her Judo skills. Observing Yawara's immense potential from the shadows, Kousaku Matsuda, a sports reporter from a substandard paper, is willing to do everything he can to bring her into the limelight.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Inokuma, Yawara Main

Minaguchi, Yuko Japanese

Inokuma, Jigorou Main

Nagai, Ichiro Japanese

Matsuda, Kousaku Supporting

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Itou, Fujiko Supporting

Kawashima, Chiyoko Japanese

Yugoslavian Taxi Driver Supporting

Matsuo, Ginzou Japanese

Hikage, Kyoko Supporting

Touma, Yumi Japanese

Honami, Sayaka Supporting

Takamori, Yoshino Japanese

Hanazono, Kaoru Supporting

Sugawara, Masashi Japanese

Soviet Coach Supporting

Kakegawa, Hirohiko Japanese

Polnareff Supporting

Ueda, Toshiya Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tokita, Hiroko Director

Urakami, Yasuo Sound Director

Okamura, Tensai Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Reviews

Aug 23, 2018

kekekeKaj

Recommended

Naoki Urasawa's an interesting fellow. An award winning mangaka, he's probably best known in the English anime fandom for "Monster", a dark, psychological manga from which sprung an anime of the same name, an anime that critics often trot out when compiling their "Best Anime" lists. (Disclosure: it's also on mine, though whether I count as a critic is debatable.) Given Urasawa's crendentials, you probably wouldn't expect him to have also written a manga that gave rise to a bright and chirpy long running sports anime adaptation about a young girl doing judo. That anime is "Yawara!", or to give it its full title, "Yawara! ... A Fashionable Judo Girl!"

Wait! Come back! Before you dismiss "Yawara!" on the basis of its silly title and sports premise, remember this is Naoki Urasawa we're talking about! While he did write "Yawara!" early on in his career, you don't need to look hard under the hood to see the interesting details that distinguishes "Yawara!" from a typical lengthy sports anime.

In many ways, "Yawara!" is a subversive take on the sports genre. A typical sports anime would start off by introducing some total n00b that gets attracted to some sport, and it would turn out that The N00b(TM) is immensely talented in the said sport. Early on, The N00b(TM) would meet a rival who is far ahead in terms of skill level, The N00b(TM) would be inspired to work very hard to catch up with The Rival(TM) and they would form a rivalry that runs throughout the show. Etc.

Well, "Yawara!" mostly dumps this formula on its head.

Yawara, the titular character, just wants to be a normal girl. Unfortunately for her, she comes from a family of elite judo athletes. While both her parents are alive (which theoretically puts her in a better position than most anime protagonists), they're both AWOL so she's being raised by her grandfather (which effectively puts her in the same position as most anime protagonists). Her grandfather, being a famous judo champ, has trained Yawara hard from a young age in the hope that she'll also be a champion some day and even win an Olympic gold medal. But Yawara would much rather go shopping and date boys than do judo, and the story essentially revolves around her grandfather and a bunch of other people pushing Yawara towards greatness in spite of her reluctance.

The first thing to note is that this is not a zero-to-hero story: despite not having participated in any tournaments, Yawara's power level at the start of the show is well beyond even those of a typical rival character in a sports show. Rather amusingly, the show then proceeds to find a n00b rival who has to catch up to Yawara! You can even say that "Yawara!" is a sports show in name only: it takes about five episodes before we even see the protagonist participate in a proper fight. And while the matches are well animated and executed in their action sequences, they're often over quickly, rarely dragging its feet across multiple episodes as sports anime are wont to do. To top it off, the protagonist doesn't even like judo, and spends most of the series trying to get away from it.

So what do you call a sports anime that's not very sporty? In the case of "Yawara!", I'd probably call it a sitcom. Like all good sitcoms, "Yawara!" provides good entertainment value and comfortable viewing; its comedy brims with warmth and its characters quirk and charm. I find Yawara's grandfather Jigoro to be especially amusing: a lot of the show's running jokes involve him, such as his habit of inflating his judo rank and his tireless and shameless promotion of his book. What tickled me the most is how unexpectedly far the anime managed to take his habit of ending all his sentences in "ja". Amusements aside, many characters of "Yawara!" are also infused with depth, with "Beanpole" in particular going through an incredible amount of development in the course of the show.

Unfortunately, the generally strong and endearing cast of characters only ends up highlighting Yawara herself as rather unlikable. Her constant rejection of judo is taken so far that the show can be teeth-clenchingly frustrating to watch. That said, it does end up providing a lot of food for thought: for the longest time, I couldn't make up my mind whether the anime's views about women are progressive or outdated. After all, not only does Yawara harbour no ambitions of becoming a champion, her own lofty dreams consists of going shopping, finding a boyfriend etc, and one of the reasons she rejects judo is because she thinks it makes her less feminine. Also, considering Japan isn't exactly a shining beacon of progress when it comes to attitudes on women's role in society, and it's easy see "Yawara!" in a cynical light. On the other hand, the female characters of "Yawara!" tend to be more successful than their male counter parts, and it's the men who are playing the supporting parts. For an anime to make this role reversal in the 80s - or arguably even now - it has to be making a pretty powerful feminist statement, right? Is Yawara's lack of ambition perhaps meant as a critical reflection on a society that nurtures women to do nothing beyond dress prettily and start a family? Whatever the anime's intentions, this is the aspect of "Yawara!" that fascinated me the most, and I find myself continuing to ponder back on it long after I finished the show.

"Yawara!" also has other aspects that sets it beyond a light-hearted sitcom. Not dragging out judo matches means that the show actually ends up covering a lot of ground in its characters' lives over the course of its 100+ episode run. Yawara starts the the show in school, then goes to college, then ultimately graduates into the job market. Along the way, the anime takes its characters down surprisingly mature routes such as job hunting and parenthood. Judo may be the topic, but "Yawara" is at least as much about its characters' hopes and fears, dreams and ambitions, and general lives. However, with so much development going on in so many areas, I was all the more frustrated with the fact that the only notable aspect of "Yawara!" that settles into the status quo is the main romance.
Don't get me wrong: Yawara's romance thread isn't exactly bad, and there are even pockets of tenderness worthy of a great romance anime. The problem though, is that in the big picture, the main romance is locked in a boringly familiar dance of two step forward, one step back, then one step forward, two steps back, never quite going anywhere significant. This displays in stark contrast against other side characters' love stories, which, like the general trend in "Yawara!", go further and faster than what you would expect. 

It's a shame, really: the main strength of "Yawara!" is built on its quiet, thoughtful, delightful unconventionality. But the few aspects that remain conventional is what holds "Yawara!" back, and ultimately those are what end up preventing the show transcending from merely being very good to being great.

Personal rating: +1.5 (very good)

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 9, 2017

faisal_awesome

Recommended

Hi, let's start by saying I am a big classic anime fan and Yawara is one of the best ones I watched. The review will cover all Story, Animation, Sound, Character, and Enjoyment.
Story 9/10
The Story talk about "Inokuma, Yawara" a 3rd-year high school girl, She has been practicing Judo since childhood with her grandfather. However, she never played a real judo match ever, so no one knows about her. Until one day a reporter called "Kousaku Matsuda" for the Daily Sports Newspaper discover her talent by accident, and he wants her to play judo and won a gold medal in the Olympics. In the ... other hand, Yawara does not like to judo, she wants to be a normal girl, having a normal friend's normal job and most importantly normal love. So the story is about Yawara's life between judo and having a normal girl life.
Animation 6/10
The anime aired at 1989, at that time this is the best you can get, however, we are in the present now so it pretty old, the animation is not amazing, however in few episodes you will get used to it, the girls' characters are not that cute the guys are not so handsome. However, I have to give some credit to the amazing judo fight spatially for Yawara's fights are so exciting and fun to watch.
Sound 7/10
The sounds are good, it is an ok sound for both voice acting and the music. The voice acting was done perfectly for the main characters and somewhat fine for the supporting characters. The music is all classics, and it fit the anime moment so much, the opening and the ending were ok, nothing is so amazing but it works.

Characters are the main strong point for this anime, all three main Characters "Inokuma, Yawara", "Inokuma, Jigorou" and "Matsuda, Kousaku" are well developed throughout the series, Yawara changed a lot in the anime from an average teenage girl to a wonderful woman the you will feel so attached to her. And the way the main love interest in the anime developed was fantastic. When it comes to The supporting characters there are the really good ones that have a great development, and some bad annoying and useless ones.
Enjoyment 8/10
The main enjoyment of this anime is not the judo but getting to know the characters and seeing their life throughout the series, yes it is a Slice of Life anime that focus on Yawara's life and how every step she makes lead to a happy or sad outcome. The attachment to Yawara's life, her school life her friend's life, her love life is what makes this anime so fun to watch. So if you looking for a good slice of life anime with some romance Yawara is for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 7, 2013

lilithilk

Not Recommended

This is not a sports anime really. The story is about a Judo prodigy named Yawara, who doesn't really like the idea of doing Judo. But it is sort of the family trade and she doesn't have the - I am going to go with the word backbone here for the lack of a better description - to put her foot down so she does Judo even though she strongly dislikes the idea. But hey, everybody else seems to love the idea that she does it, so she does it.
Story:
This is the whole plot of this anime. It is said in the description on ... many websites that it is a sports anime but in my opinion it is a shoujo'ish slice of life anime with the touch of sports in it. The plot moves along the same track over and over in an eternal loop, "She dislikes Judo, she is going to stop, something happens, she does it, and she wins." Then the circle starts again. The sport Judo is not the focal point, it is the reason. At the end of 124 episodes you are left with the impression that she doesn't hate the sports that much anymore but that is it. That is all the real satisfaction you get out of the whole plot of a 124 episodes long anime.
Art:
The art reminded me a little of Itazura na Kiss. I am not a giant fan of that style but I don't hate it either. At least they do have "real" bodies and no matchstick limbs with watermelon sized chest area and giant heads with triangular noses. All the characters are distinguishable and no two characters look the same.
Sound:
All I can say is, it didn't bother me. There was nothing outstanding for me, no piece of music I started tapping my foot to or started mumbling the words unconsciously.
Characters:
If I tell you they annoyed the hell out of me to the point where I started assembling assassination plans for imaginary drawn people, it is an understatement.
Inokuma Yawara: Is the main protagonist. She is a whiny, indecisive, weak and a not very smart girl who wants to have a boyfriend and thinks she cant have one unless she doesn't do Judo. She gets older but does not really evolve in my opinion during the whole 124 episodes.
The Grandfather Yawara: A manipulative old Judo "God" whose only objective is to gather certain medals through his grandchild. Said grandchild could be Male, femaie, plankton or alien. He is not really prejudiced. As long as that holy Judo family genes and -name bearing being practices Judo. To meet his objectives he is not above or below anything that could help this purpose. Admittedly he does provide a comedic relief now and then.
The mother and the father: Each a piece of work. Father up and left. We really do not know exactly why, even though there are two theories, both Judo related. Apparently he is a wimp and a wuss and a sore loser. He left, either because a five year old bested him once or he lost a practice match to one of his friends/rivals. ONCE. After that, he left his wife and daughter and vanished. He is like yeti, they hear stories about him but he is always elusive. And the mother is the yeti hunter. Whenever there is a story of the yeti-father the mother runs to check it, and doesn't come back until she knows more. This could be a day, a month a year. Who knows. We don't.
Love interests.: There are two. One is a playboy, the other is a fan-boy. The playboy gets engaged to the rival. And lo and behold, the Miss goodie 2shoes-protogonist doesn't really see anything wrong still going out with an engaged man and hanging on to him. The fan-boy gets at some point a bo..bie-wonder attachment, a co-worker who decided they are in love. The guy doesn't really like her. He says he likes Yawara, but doesn't really tell the annoying co-worker off, they go on dates, but hey, the guy likes the main character. Same goes for the playboy by the way. But at the end of the day they are both very lukewarm in their pursuit of the girl.
Friends are more or less interchangeable. the main rival is annoying and repetitive at best. And there is no real tension in the air, because she is too mediocre and too lukewarm to be a real villian and yet she is too villainous to become a friend. Oddly enough the only characters that evolve in my opinion are the ones from the judo clubs. Both High school and the College one. But the main characters and the first string supporting characters are always the same. Yawara is whiny, Grandpa is manipulative, mother is a doormat, father is, well, I don't have a polite word to describe him. So think your own words. The rival and the lover-boys also are always the same. Really, I could go on this raging negative review for 50 pages and I would still be annoyed. And this is coming form somebody who actually got over middle-aged looking middle school boys with supernatural tennis shots and glowing, flying bodies for over 178 episodes with giant plot holes.

In episode 1 Yawara is in high school. She doesn't have a boyfriend, but she has a few friends. She is real good at Judo and she wants to quit Judo. 124 episodes later: Yawara is in college, she doesn't have a boyfriend, but she has a few friends. She is real good at Judo and she is kinda sorta maybe ok doing Judo. 124 episodes. And that is all that there is.
Altogether, this is NOT a sports anime. This is a shoujo, slice of life, useless personal angst and drama anime, where sports play a role. I am guessing at the time they were trying to create a hype for the upcoming Olympics in Barcelona but apart from a countdown and an honorable mention at the final arc (About 30 days before the Olympics they START training to join the team. Yes you read it right. I said 30 days and start)

That all said, before I got this anime I checked all around and there are more glowing reviews of this anime than not. I am apparently odd ball out here. Still, if you are searching for a sports anime, watch the first couple of episodes before obtaining the entire series. You know, just to be on the safe side.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Yawara! Episode 1 Discussion jacobpaige - Mar 5, 2011	14 replies	by Tsukasa_Rio »» Oct 7, 5:02 AM
	Poll: Yawara! Episode 105 Discussion Lorezhno - Oct 20, 2017	3 replies	by Kuruna_Dagurasu »» Sep 10, 7:39 AM
	Poll: Yawara! Episode 101 Discussion Lorezhno - Oct 19, 2017	3 replies	by wolfwood90 »» Aug 31, 11:15 AM
	Poll: Yawara! Episode 70 Discussion Alcoholicide - Oct 1, 2014	6 replies	by Inter_anime »» Jun 18, 1:13 PM
	Poll: Yawara Episode 53 Discussion hellogoodbye - Sep 18, 2010	5 replies	by Inter_anime »» Jun 9, 6:27 PM