"The Glass Mask" (aka "Mask of Glass," 1984) was a 23-episode Japanese animated TV series about an adolescent girl's dream of becoming an actress. It's the kind of animated series, about a young girl's life and struggles, told with all the requisite pain and emotion, that represents a long-running tradition in Japan that has never, unfortunately, made it onto U.S. television. American viewers should envision a combo of "Sailor Moon" and "Fame," with elements of FLASHDANCE thrown in, to get at least a vague idea of what this series is like.
"The Glass Mask" tells a grandly melodramatic story in broad strokes and sweeping flourishes and the result is quite gripping. Adolescent Maya Kitajima will do anything to study to become an actress even though she works long hours at her family's noodle shop and suffers the abuse of sisters, aunt and mother, all of whom deride her dream. Through an extraordinary set of circumstances, Maya meets Miss Chigusa Tsukikage, a one-time stage diva who'd been disfigured by a stage accident and now seeks to start her own theatrical academy, where students can live, work and study acting. The diva takes Maya in and puts the girl, along with other put-upon students, through an intense regimen that takes its toll on all concerned.
Emotional confrontations abound. Maya's mother comes looking for her and demands that Maya come back. Maya doesn't want to go and Miss Tsukikage refuses to let the mother take her. A pot of boiling water becomes a weapon. The acting exercises are pretty intense also. As Maya rehearses a scene and fails to reach the proper emotional state, Miss Tsukikage slaps her hard after each line reading until Maya finally gets it right. Needless to say, such tactics probably wouldn't go over so well under the U.S. legal system.
At the same time, the show takes the time to show a gentler acting exercise in its entirety as when Maya and a rival from another school engage in an improvisational routine in which Maya can only use the words, "Yes," "No," and "Thank you." Genuine suspense builds as the rival student does everything she can to get Maya to break, until Maya successfully completes the exercise to the relief of all her fellow students.
Much is made of the rival, Ayumi Himekawa, the beautiful, poised and supremely self-assured daughter of a famous acting couple. When Maya and Ayumi are both assigned the same role in an acting competition, one which will make or break Tsukikage's academy, Maya has a breakdown, knowing she can't possibly do it as well as Ayumi. Pressured by her teacher, fellow students and her own will to succeed, she eventually comes up with a solution.
Although the animation is stiff and the character design somewhat simple and stylized by today's standards, it is still extremely effective in telling this compelling story. The most important feature of the production, of course, is the superb acting by the Japanese voice cast, particularly the actresses who perform Maya, Ayumi, and Miss Tsukikage. Every change in emotion, every reaction, every inner drive of the characters is powerfully conveyed by the voice acting.
The series' supervising director was Gisaburo Sugii, who went on to direct NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILROAD (1985), TALE OF GENJI (1987), STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE (1994) and the TV series, "Street Fighter II-V" (1995). "The Glass Mask" was based on a popular "shojo" (girls) manga by Suzue Miuchi.
This kind of series is as common in Japan as it is rare (or nonexistent) in the United States, where it's dismissed as having no appeal to the all-important young male demographic. However, it's the kind of story that might gain a whole new constituency, outside the cartoon audience, among older girls and young women, including adults, who would conceivably watch it if they only got the chance.
"The Glass Mask" tells a grandly melodramatic story in broad strokes and sweeping flourishes and the result is quite gripping. Adolescent Maya Kitajima will do anything to study to become an actress even though she works long hours at her family's noodle shop and suffers the abuse of sisters, aunt and mother, all of whom deride her dream. Through an extraordinary set of circumstances, Maya meets Miss Chigusa Tsukikage, a one-time stage diva who'd been disfigured by a stage accident and now seeks to start her own theatrical academy, where students can live, work and study acting. The diva takes Maya in and puts the girl, along with other put-upon students, through an intense regimen that takes its toll on all concerned.
Emotional confrontations abound. Maya's mother comes looking for her and demands that Maya come back. Maya doesn't want to go and Miss Tsukikage refuses to let the mother take her. A pot of boiling water becomes a weapon. The acting exercises are pretty intense also. As Maya rehearses a scene and fails to reach the proper emotional state, Miss Tsukikage slaps her hard after each line reading until Maya finally gets it right. Needless to say, such tactics probably wouldn't go over so well under the U.S. legal system.
At the same time, the show takes the time to show a gentler acting exercise in its entirety as when Maya and a rival from another school engage in an improvisational routine in which Maya can only use the words, "Yes," "No," and "Thank you." Genuine suspense builds as the rival student does everything she can to get Maya to break, until Maya successfully completes the exercise to the relief of all her fellow students.
Much is made of the rival, Ayumi Himekawa, the beautiful, poised and supremely self-assured daughter of a famous acting couple. When Maya and Ayumi are both assigned the same role in an acting competition, one which will make or break Tsukikage's academy, Maya has a breakdown, knowing she can't possibly do it as well as Ayumi. Pressured by her teacher, fellow students and her own will to succeed, she eventually comes up with a solution.
Although the animation is stiff and the character design somewhat simple and stylized by today's standards, it is still extremely effective in telling this compelling story. The most important feature of the production, of course, is the superb acting by the Japanese voice cast, particularly the actresses who perform Maya, Ayumi, and Miss Tsukikage. Every change in emotion, every reaction, every inner drive of the characters is powerfully conveyed by the voice acting.
The series' supervising director was Gisaburo Sugii, who went on to direct NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILROAD (1985), TALE OF GENJI (1987), STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE (1994) and the TV series, "Street Fighter II-V" (1995). "The Glass Mask" was based on a popular "shojo" (girls) manga by Suzue Miuchi.
This kind of series is as common in Japan as it is rare (or nonexistent) in the United States, where it's dismissed as having no appeal to the all-important young male demographic. However, it's the kind of story that might gain a whole new constituency, outside the cartoon audience, among older girls and young women, including adults, who would conceivably watch it if they only got the chance.
