Book Identity
TITLE : Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi (Japan)
Josee, The Tiger and The Fish (English)
KANJI : ジョゼと虎と魚たち
AUTHOR : Seiko Tanabe
COUNTRY : Japan
LANGUAGE : Japanese and English
GENRE : Romance
PUBLISHER : Kadokawa Shoten
PUBLICATION : June 1984 (Short story collection)
December 25, 2020 (Novel book and Anime Adaptation)
PAGES : 228 pp (short story collection)
ISBN : 978-4-04-872409-8
This romance novel entitled Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi or Josee the tiger and the fish is the work of Seiko Tanabe and was first released in 1984. However, it got a remake in the making in 2020 by a new writer. Seiko Tanabe himself feels happy and proud that his work is able to be redistributed and able to touch it in a different era. During his lifetime he is known to have won many prestigious awards including the honor of being a Person of Cultural Merit in recognition of his contribution to the world of literature.
Maybe if you just look at the title, this novel actually seems like a fable that talks about animal life. However, Seiko Tanabe as the author of this book is very very intelligent in interpreting a person's life with the twists and turns of his life with examples of animals, namely a tiger and a fish. There is nothing wrong with this novel being a romance genre, even though the title looks more like a fable, and also discusses life. The author was able to wrap the story he made with a romantic spice in it, even though this original work was far from 1984, but in 2020 at that time, the reader was able to capture the storyline and also the correlation between eras could still be built. For more details about this novel, here is a brief synopsis of the contents of Josee's novel, The Tiger and The Fish.
SYNOPSIS
This novel tells the story of Tsuneo Suzukawa (Taishi Nakagawa), a student who works part-time at a diving equipment shop with his friends. Despite the lack of money, Tsuneo, who is studying to become a marine biologist, dreams of being able to go diving in Mexico.
And one night Tsuneo has a dramatic encounter, where a girl loses control of her wheelchair and descends a steep hill. Luckily his fall can be prevented by Tsuneo. Finally Tsuneo knows the girl's name, her name is Kumiko (Kaya kiyohara). Although he prefers to be called Josee like the name of a character in one of his favorite books.
'Josee, the Tiger and the Fish' or in its Japanese title Josee to Tora to Sakana-tachi tells the story not only about romance but also, most importantly, has a message and theme about chasing dreams.
Other version
It is undeniable that this work by Seiko Tanabe is a masterpiece, in fact after receiving the remake of the novel in 2020, the following year the same studio, Kadokawa, immediately made an anime adaptation with the same title directed by Kotaro Tamura. Josee The tiger and The fish is made into an anime movie that will air in mid-2021 with screenings not only in Japan but also in several Asian countries and even Europe. In this anime adaptation, Bones and Kadokawa studios were able to display very epic visuals in making this anime movie. The uniqueness of the novel about this story can be visualized almost perfectly. Accompanied by good music, sound, and background music, this anime version is perfect for viewing.
The next adaptation is different from the previous one, this time Josee The tiger and The fish was adapted through a big screen or live-action film with the title Josee. the film was released towards the end of 2020 in theaters and became one of the year-end viewing recommendations.
Interestingly, the film directed by Kim Jong-kwan stars Nam Joo-hyuk whose name is currently popular after starring in the Start-up drama as Nam Do-san. Nam Joo-hyuk plays Lee Young-seok. He collided acting with Han Ji-min who played Josee. From this live-action adaptation, the main actor even won an award for "best actor" and also this live-action adaptation was able to bring home 5 awards.
Character and characterisation
Both Josee and Tsuneo each have different beautiful dreams and have their own challenges to make their dreams come true. Tsuneo is described as someone who is passionate and diligent and has high aspirations but is experiencing financial difficulties in order to achieve his dreams.
On the other hand, Josee is described as an angry and introverted girl. Josee, who is said to have been paralyzed since birth, spends most of his time at home under the strict supervision of his grandmother. He actually aspires to become a painter but experiences deep “doubts”, including one due to his physical limitations.
The two young people did not get along at first, their relationship was like a cat and a dog. But by spending more time together, they learn more from each other not only their hopes but also their dreams. And especially Josee who began to slowly open up not only to Tsuneo but also began to dare to explore the outside world. In addition, slowly but surely feelings of love began to develop between them.
Plot
This romantic novel has a well-organized plot, where the scenes that take place are connected to each other quite smoothly. Although a bit predictable and cliche in some chapters.
Evaluation
If the reader reads the original version of the novel or the novel published in 1984, the reader may feel some differences or gaps in the depiction of social, environmental, such as infrastructure, communication tools and so on. And for the original version, the author is impressed to the point in his writing, the author doesn't seem to want to explore further than every character in the story. So maybe the reader's feeling when reading the novel is that the story feels fast. But all these things can be overcome with the existing remake, some points that are felt to be lacking in the new version can be overcome and even surpass the original version.
Recommendation
This novel entitled Josee The Tiger and The Fish is 100% highly recommended for readers to read. The real proof that this novel has quality is that a remake version, an anime adaptation version has been made, and it has even been made into a Korean film drama. This novel does have a romance genre, but romance here does not necessarily discuss about couples and their love stories. In this novel, romance is only a spice in the presentation of the story, there are many things that can be taken by the reader when reading this one novel. This novel is able to arouse the passion and enthusiasm of someone who has a dream. This novel gives an encouragement to the worth of a dream and the struggle to achieve it.
In it the reader can also take the lesson that life is not always happy and beautiful, in several chapters in this novel it displays a very deep sadness and is able to make the reader weep bitterly about the problems and hardships of life they live. But in the end, this novel also teaches a lesson that getting up and fighting is the only way. Readers are also finally able to see that each person's point of view or perspective is different, and must respect each other. In the end, Josee The Tiger and The Fish is one of the good novels, it deserves to be read by readers and from there there will be many insights that can be taken and applied.
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