Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Ep. 25 Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe, Volume 1 by Hirohiko Araki vs. Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (2019)
Ever wondered how an anime adaptation can offer a fresh spin on its manga counterpart? Join me as I navigate the mystical universe of "Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan," comparing the unique touches of the 2019 miniseries with the original stories in "Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe, Volume 1" by Hirohiko Araki. From the consistent backdrop of a cozy café in the anime to the deadly perils faced by Rohan and his friends, I'll walk you through my journey from screen to page. Discover how the anime honors its source material with only minor variations and why these changes add an unexpected flavor to the storytelling.
In one particularly gripping chapter, I break down a hair-raising scene where Rohan must battle the mysterious weight of abalones to save his friend, only to be aided by an octopus in a puzzling twist of events. Through a vivid analysis of Rohan's Heaven's Door ability and the enigmatic resolution, I'll leave you questioning the fate of the characters and eager for more supernatural escapades. Wrapping up, I reflect on the parallels between the manga and its adaptation, especially the final episode, which might just surprise you! Stick around as I share how you can support the podcast and join our growing community of listeners.
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Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question is the book really always better than the movie? And today we will have a special episode of Book vs Miniseries. As I discuss Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibi Volume 1 by Hirohiko Araki and its 2019 adaptation. Thus Spoke Kishibi Rohan. Hi everyone, so I am talking about a manga and an anime. This is my first time talking about either one of these things on here, so I am excited. And I also want to preface this by saying that this is a spinoff of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, which I've never seen before. So I knew nothing about this manga or this anime series before watching it. So, yeah, how did I end up reading this, you might be asking. So I read I mean, I watched the anime first, can stream it on Netflix, and I kind of just found it. I have a list of like a to watch, list of things I want to check out, or some things I've heard of, some things I've never heard of. But I have a list of like what to watch because, you know, we have so many streaming services, we've cut them down and now we're just paying for one at a time. Well, orlando pays for one and then I pay for the other one. But yes, so at the time, we have like so many streaming services and I was like I keep watching the same things over and over again and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. They are our comfort watches for a reason. But I was like I feel like I need to expand my horizons and see what these things have to offer. So I started like creating a watch list of, like different things that are offered on different streaming services. This is one of them. That's how I ended up watching the anime.
Speaker 1:I've never been huge into anime. I don't mind it, I like it, but it's definitely not something that I gravitate towards. The only anime really I watched growing up and really, really enjoyed was Pokemon, and oh, there was three Pokemon Digimon and Dragon Ball Z. But otherwise, like I couldn't get into the original Dragon Ball, I couldn't really get into Dragon Ball GT. I know like my cousin and a lot of my friends loved Sailor Moon. I couldn't get into that. Oh, I also liked Hamtaro, but that one was hard for me to watch because of when it came on, and Hamtaro was mainly because the hamsters were really cute and I've always been a sucker for cute animals. That's how this anime in particular ended up coming into my radar, and so I was like all right, so I've watched it, let me read the manga and see how I can bring this to the podcast. So that is exactly what I am doing. So let's go ahead and get started.
Speaker 1:Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe by Hirohiko Araki follows Rohan Kishibe. He was introduced, as I said, in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. This is a spin-off of that manga. Rohan Kishibe is a manga artist himself, and he explores any supernatural tips that he comes across as he searches for inspiration for his manga. Thus spoke Kishibe Rohan. So, if you were paying attention, the names are switched. So the manga is Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe and the adaptation is Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. Again, that is just a cultural thing in Japan, unless you really really know the person, you say first name. I mean, you say last name, first name, and then, once you're really close to them, then you can say just first name. But in Western culture, since we say first name, last name, the name of the miniseries is first name, last name. So Thus Spoke Kishibe Roh is a 2019 miniseries about a popular manga creator who becomes enmeshed in all sorts of paranormal events as he conducts research for his manga. So yeah, I mean, this is a very faithful adaptation.
Speaker 1:There isn't really much to say. There is one, well, two well, one of them isn't even a major difference, but I'll talk about it. But there is one major difference which I am going to talk about at length. So the first difference, like I said, this one is a minor difference. It doesn't really alter the adaptation in any shape, way or form, but the format of the anime episodes are all the same.
Speaker 1:So we start off with Kishibe Rohan at a cafe with some friends. He starts telling a story and then by the time we end up back at the cafe with Kishibe Rohan. There's usually other characters that did not start off sitting at the table, just sitting there like wow, that's amazing, and it's always just like where the hell did you come from. So that was just like a fun little detail. But that's amazing, and it's always just like where the hell did you come from. So that was just like a fun little detail. But that's the format it follows in the actual manga. Only two of the four stories start off that way and only one of them ends at the actually. No, none of them end back at the cafe. Two of them start off at the cafe, but then, when the story's over, we just have an author's note from Hirohiko Araki about the little chapter that we just read. So obviously, like I said, that doesn't affect the storytelling in any shape, way or form, it doesn't matter. The first chapter in the manga it starts off with Rohan Kishibe speaking to us, the readers, directly, and then it goes into the story and then, as I said, the next two we start off at the cafe and then the last one he starts off at a restaurant talking to a chef. So yeah, like I said, that minor detail, because it doesn't really affect the storytelling in any shape, way or form. I really liked that detail in the anime that he would start off at the cafe with just one friend and then by the time we got to the end of the story, there'd be like these people we had no idea who they are just sitting at his table, completely enthralled by a story. So that was a really, really fun detail.
Speaker 1:So all the chapters in the anime are I mean, in the manga are the same as they are in the anime. So there's four episodes in the anime, there's four chapters in the manga. The only one that's different is the last one in the manga. The only one that's different is the last one. So the first episode slash chapter is all about Rohan's trip to Rome where he ends up inside a confessional at a church and this man ends up confessing the worst thing he's ever done. And obviously Rohan Kishipee is not supposed to listen to this, but he's just too interested to hear what happens. So that's the first one. It's him listening to a confession.
Speaker 1:The second story is all about a ghost who haunts this particular mountain range in Japan, and this is an unusual ghost. Since the episodes are so faithful, I don't really want to spoil it in case you want to check it out, but it does follow a ghost. And then the third episode slash chapter is about a mysterious millionaire village in the middle of nowhere. There's no roads to get to it. The only way you can get to it is if you live there. You can fly in on your helicopter, but otherwise there's no way to get there other than hiking through the mountains to get to this village.
Speaker 1:So those are the three episodes and the anime. It's pretty much like frame by frame what you see in the manga. There are like a few minor changes, but for the most part what you see in the anime or the manga is what you get. Actually, I should say pretty much what you see in the manga is what you get in the anime. There's really no deviation from that, except for the fourth story. There is a volume two which I might check out later, but that one would just be for fun at this point because there's no second season of this anime. So I'm curious if the fourth episode of the anime is in volume two of the manga and, if it is, why they chose to bring that story into the anime as opposed to the story that's in the manga.
Speaker 1:And the reason I say that is because, like I very vividly remember the first three episodes and the fourth one, I was like what was the fourth episode? Like, as I was preparing to read the manga, because I saw the anime first and I was like wait a minute, what was the fourth episode again? And then I could not remember. And then, as I was just skimming through the manga, I was just looking at the chapter titles and I was like, all right, first three match. The fourth one is obviously very, very different, just based on the title. So what was the fourth episode in the anime? And I just could not remember Again. I skimmed through just the last chapter and I was like well, maybe the name is just very, very off, but it's the same story. It was obviously a much, much different story. So I was still like what was the fourth episode? And then I eventually just had to look it up and I was like all right, right, right, that's what the fourth episode of that was about.
Speaker 1:So the fourth episode of the anime was about Kishibe Rohan and this like model and like their manly egos come out and they're both competing to see who's like the most manly, like they're at the gym and they're like they end up getting in like all these different competitions to see who's the fastest, who can lift the most weights, and it's just like this big ego competition essentially. So yeah, I think that's why I didn't remember it. I was just like it's a bunch of like egotistical men. I don't really care about their. Which dick is bigger competition. So I think because even when I started reading the fourth chapter of the manga, I was like wait, what was that last episode again? And I had already looked it up and I was like what was it like? It was just not a memorable episode to me and I think it was just that just fact that it was essentially which dick is bigger? Competition was just like. I don't care about your both your egos, guys. I really really enjoyed the first three episodes, but that last one was kind of forgettable to me.
Speaker 1:The last chapter of the manga tells the story of a chef. He is this very famous Italian chef. If you've seen Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, he was apparently in that as well. I haven't seen it, so I didn't recognize the chef. But he's like this very famous Italian chef that lives in Japan who comes to Rohan Kishibe and is like I need your help. My lady has a tumor and the only thing that can cure her are these abalones. I want to make sure I tell you Let me look it up really quick I know they're kind of seafood. Yeah, they're oysters, oh, okay, so abalone is a kind of mollusk that I know you can eat, but anyway. So he's like I need you to help me go poach these abalones. He's like obviously they're poaching, so what they're doing is illegal, but these abalones are supposedly have properties that will heal his love interest and the tumor will go away. So they have to go that night because where the abalones are they are guarded 24-7 and no one can go there. But there is a blind spot in the security cameras and tonight is the only night they can go. If they don't go tonight, they'd have to wait, like a whole other year, for the security camera blind spot to become available. So where the abalones are, perfect conditions, the water will only be five meters deep and it's in a blind spot for the security cameras. So they can go poach these abalones for his love interest. And they go and they find the abalones and they're very excited.
Speaker 1:And then, at one point, like Rohan Kishipee, looks around and he's like where did my friend go? And he sees that his friend has sunk to the bottom of the sea and again, this water is only five meters deep, which is because I myself don't know. So it's about 16 feet. They made five meters deep, which is because I myself don't know. So it's about 16 feet. They made five meters seem a lot smaller in the manga than it is, mind you, 16 feet. If you know how to swim, that's not deep Like I mean, it's deep, but it's not like scary deep. You know how to swim, you can swim that just fine.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I don't know why I was thinking, like when I saw that he sank to the bottom. I was thinking because the plot twists, so spoilers coming up, but the way they were walking on the water and the way he like swam to like save his friend, when he saw him at the bottom it just seemed like not 16 feet, it seemed like 10 feet at most. Anyway, that's not the point. So, yeah, so he sees his friend down at the bottom and he tries to like get him out. But his friend just feels so heavy and he's like why does my friend feel so heavy? Like we're underwater, I should be able to drag him out, like nothing. And then he sees like three different abalones stuck to his friend and he's like these abalones, they don't weigh a lot. Like three abalones stuck to him should not be weighing him down to the point where I can't lift him up out of the water.
Speaker 1:And then an abalone sticks to Rohan Kishibe's leg and he can't drag his friend out. So he sees a rope up at the surface of the water. So he's like I'll tie the rope around my friend and I'll pull him out using the rope and he finds it all of a sudden, his leg, where the abalone is stuck, it feels very, very heavy and he's having a hard time swimming to the surface. So, whatever magical properties these abalone have, it might be illegal to poach them, because so they see that the abalones are on the property of like this big, like important person's property or this big business property. So it's like oh so they're the ones that don't want you fishing the abalone.
Speaker 1:And it's like well, is it that? Or do they know that they're trying to protect people from meeting their untimely death? Because a few more abalones attach to his back and he just starts sinking and no matter how much he tries to swim to the surface, like they're just so heavy. So he like removes his wetsuit and he's able to swim more, but he still has the one attached to his leg. So he's like swimming to the surface and then eventually he gets tired because this abalone is just weighing him down so much that he's getting tired. So he starts like sinking to the bottom as well out of exhaustion. And this abalone stuck to his leg and he sees like bodies, hundreds of bodies that were clearly all caught by the abalone and never made it out alive. So he was kind of like oh, people spread the legend of the abalone to get them to meet their death. So, rohan Kishipee, hold on, give me one moment. Voldemort wants to be put down. I think he's on my bed, but he wants to get off. Oh, be free. Sorry about that. So yeah, he sees all these bodies.
Speaker 1:Rohan Kishibe has this ability called Heaven's Door, which is that he can open people up to read them like a book. So this helps him get out of trouble a few times because he can read them like a book, like I said. So he can see ulterior motives that people are hiding. He has like a pen that he can use to change things in people. So, yeah, so he has the ability to open people and creatures up and read them like books and write things to alter their fates or whatever.
Speaker 1:So this was one part that I did find a little bit confusing and that was like he says oh, octopus are the natural enemies of abalone, so there's like a few octopus nearby that he's like go eat the abalone, but he like opened the octopus up using Heaven's Gate ability. And I didn't quite understand if he told the octopus to attack using the Heaven's Gate ability or if that's where he was, like I'm going to write down that they're the natural enemy of the abalone so that they'll eat the abalone and we can survive. But he does something like that and the octopus like assumingly saves him and the chef by attacking the abalone and eating them. But it was just a very abrupt because, like we see the octopus like swim towards him and then, as he's sinking to the bottom, he just says like no, and then we flip the page and he and the chef are alive and safe and sound at the chef's restaurant. So only thing that I found confusing was just that whole sequence, because I was like, wait a minute, what did he write in the octopus? And why are we all of a sudden in the chef's restaurant, especially because, like, he calls on the octopus to help him and then we flip the page and he's alive and well at the chef's restaurant eating an octopus. So I'm just like, did you just eat the octopus that saved you? Is that what happened? Or is this a completely different octopus? And if you're eating the octopus that saved you, is it because he ate the abalone and since he ate the abalone, now he has the healing properties of abalone for the chef's love interest.
Speaker 1:That whole sequence I found very confusing, but that was, like I think, the most jarring thing, that it's like, bro, this octopus just saved your life and we're just seeing you eat, eat him. Like listen, I love octopus. Octopus is probably my favorite kind of seafood. Love me, some octopus, love it. But I don't know that I could eat the octopus that just saved me. So I don't know, like I got the feeling it was the octopus that, or maybe because that's the last image of the octopus we saw and we never saw any other octopus. But I was just like you just ate the octopus that saved you. Like that's dick. Like as much as I love octopus, like if an octopus saved my life, like he's gonna be my friend, like I'm saving him from potential poachers, I'm not saying I'm going to give up octopus completely, just being honest. But I'm not eating that guy, he's my friend and I'm going to make sure he lives till he's a very old age. So yeah, that was just very, very jarring for me.
Speaker 1:So that was the only major difference between the manga and the anime and, as I said, I don't know if the fourth episode in the anime is featured in one of the chapters of volume two of the manga. As I said, I'm down to read the manga, volume two. I'm not sure that I probably wouldn't discuss it, just because they're two completely different things, except for one chapter, possibly at this point. So this is a very different art style than I'm used to, for both the anime and the manga. I think all of us are kind of familiar with the typical anime and manga art styles. They're very like, if you've seen most animated, like Studio Ghibli films or like even the ones I grew up with, pokemon, dragon Ball, like there's things that make them distinct, but the way that the faces are, that's like what you think of when you think of anime. This anime was not like that.
Speaker 1:The art style is very I'm going to call it ugly, not because I think the art itself is ugly, but just like you saw some of these characters and the way they were drawn and it's like, oh gosh, like you are not an attractive looking character. Like they were I don't want to say realistic, I guess they would, except for the hair. They're drawn a little bit more realistically than like typical anime and manga, but the imagery this is. It falls in the horror category. It's not like full horror, but it's definitely like supernatural and it would be categorized as horror. So, like some of the imagery is very dark, like there's this one man that's like he comes back as like a demon and he possesses one of the character's daughters and like he's possessing the daughter but like his face is on her tongue. So it's just like this really like grotesque, almost like imagery. So it has like that kind of look to it. So yeah, so it's not like my favorite anime or manga art style, but it is very. It works very, very well for the horror genre that it's in. So yeah, so I really really enjoyed the art style, even though it was kind of grotesque and kind of gross, is really cool.
Speaker 1:And there were so many moments again, orlando and I were not familiar with this at all before we started watching it, so there were a lot of like what the hell? Moments, like when he first used the heaven gates ability and like just when some of the characters made their appearance were like oh okay, they're not very attractive. Definitely watch the original Japanese. I know that a lot of people don't like watching the English dub version. Some people can't do subtitles so they watch the English dubs. But, like I know that a lot of like hardcore anime fans and purists will always tell you to watch the original Japanese version, I will stick by that. I tried watching it in English for one episode because Orlando was doing something and he wasn't going to be able to be reading along to the subtitles, so I put it in English just so he could hear the dialogue and I wouldn't have to be like reading it for him. And we could not do it. We had to take it off the voice actor. It's not that he was bad, but we just were kind of annoyed by the voice that he gave Kishibe Rohan.
Speaker 1:But yeah, if you really like anime, if you like manga, if you have not checked it out at this point, I highly recommend it. If you're into really weird Japanese horror, I think you'll really like it. Yeah, I oddly liked both a lot and this is like, not my genre. This is not something that I usually go for. As I said, I like anime. I'm not like a huge, huge fan, but there are some animes that I enjoy and this ended up being one of them. So, that being said, I rated the manga four stars and I rated the anime four stars, but don't worry, this is not another tie.
Speaker 1:I watched the anime first and it really caught me off guard, but I was really oddly into it, so I rated it four stars. And then I read the manga and I rated it four stars as well, mainly because it didn't feel right to give it a lower rating than the anime series. But I didn't want to change my rating for the anime series either. But I do have a winner and that winner is the manga.
Speaker 1:I do think the manga is better than the anime and the main reason for that is that last chapter slash episode. Like I said, the last episode is just very unmemorable to me. It still kind of had like those weird horror elements to it. But I thought the story from the manga was interesting, except for, as I said, he ate his octopus friend at the end. But otherwise I just found the story more interesting, more engaging, the final chapter in the manga as opposed to the final episode of the anime.
Speaker 1:But that being said, if you like the manga, you will more than likely like the anime. As I said, the anime is the manga minus that last episode. So who knows, maybe you'll find you'll enjoy that last episode a lot more than I did, but anyway, that is it for this episode. I do not know what I will be talking about next time, and if you love this podcast, please get. Leave it a rating, a review, and please tell all your friends about it. It'll really help me get the word out. I do everything involving the podcast by myself, and it would really mean the world to me if more people came across it and loved it just as much as you do. So please leave a rating and a review and I will see you next time. Bye.