Laughing TargetDid you ever have someone so fixated on you that it seemed like they were...possessed? Laughing Target is a supernatural psycho-thriller anime adapted from the manga of the same name--part of the "Rumic World" series--by the acclaimed Rumiko Takahashi. It deals with a high school boy named Yuzuru Shiga who learns that his cousin, Azusa, has become orphaned and is coming to live with him in the city. As children, their parents engaged them to be married, yet Yuzuru has all but forgotten about this, and is in a relationship with a fellow archery club member named Satomi. Once Azusa discovers that Satomi is standing in the way of marrying her intended, chaos ensues.
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Despite being a relatively short film, Laughing Target manages to convey a complete and thrilling story from start to finish, one where the supernatural aspect is more or less incidental. The film opens with a child Azusa walking in the middle of the night--perhaps sleepwalking--through her vast (almost castle-like) home in the countryside. The Shiga clan is a dying one, survived only by Yuzuru, Azusa, and their parents. Azusa's mother is in charge of the clan; she seeks her missing child in the many rooms in the estate, calling out for her daughter. Azusa appears to have wandered into another dimension, forced to navigate a haunting, demonic world, where red embers waft alongside mystical smoke amidst a barren, crag-ridden hellscape. Something reaches out to her, and when Azusa's mother finds her daughter, she has a vision of Azusa dissolving into smoke with slug-like "hungry ghosts" crawling all around her. When the vision fades, her bubbly daughter comes racing toward her, laughing. From this prologue, Laughing Target isn't coy about establishing Azusa as being possessed by a ghost or demon--something dreaded. But putting the supernatural aside, it wouldn't be at all difficult to envision the story as something akin to Fatal Attraction, where it is Azusa's singular fixation on Yuzuru that causes her to threaten Satomi out of jealousy. The demonic component just gives her a terrible edge as she lashes out, recalling Jacques Tourneur's Cat People (1942). Even from a few scant scenes, it's evident that Azusa lived a lonely and secluded existence, with her mother as her only companion. Who knows if Yuzuru--or any other family member, for that matter--ever came to visit the matriarch of this dying clan and her child in the ten years since the engagement. All Azusa has for companions are monsters. Another flashback shows that, as a child, Azusa was nearly raped by a school boy. He chases her through the woods, her clothes already in tatters, and just as he is about to overpower her, she is filled with an unearthly fury. Her eyes glow, and she grabs a rock, bashing his head in. The hungry ghosts then come to dispose of the evidence, devouring the would-be rapist's flesh. Subsequently, Azusa's mother comes to understand that Azusa has been possessed. Her horrific answer to this revelation was to attempt to strangle the sleeping Azusa. And so the teenage girl's hungry ghosts come once again to "save" her, devouring her mother, which explains the rumors surrounding her "unusual death". With only a faint glimmer of hope at a happy future with Yuzuru to stabilize her, she places all of her happiness on the prospect of escaping her dark past by wedding her betrothed. That he has found love with another must seem like just one more betrayal in a string of betrayals. For a demonic antagonist, it's not hard to sympathize with Azusa.
What's striking about Laughing Target is how it depicts a certain disconnect between modern living in the city versus that of the remote countryside, is as much as Yuzuru and Azusa's differing attitudes about their "promise" to marry is concerned. Yuzuru has forgotten about the arranged marriage--otherwise he would be a cad for stringing along Satomi. Yuzuru isn't too complicated; in fact, he's pretty bland. His saving grace is that he is an expert marksman with the longbow, not to mention a natural talent with it; in other words, he's a bit of a jock. He is also a bit dense about the feelings of others, such as when he tells his girlfriend that his "fiancée" will be coming to live with him. (She understandably slaps him.) Nevertheless, Yuzuru is a good person who barely even appears to consider the thought of abandoning his relationship with Satomi, even after he discovers that Azusa has blossomed into a beautiful young woman. Azusa, however, is almost devoid of emotional intelligence, and wraps herself around Yuzuru as he goes to school, giving everyone--especially Satomi--the wrong impression. It would have been simpler for Yuzuru to make it clear in no uncertain terms that he does not want to marry Azusa, and that the arranged marriage made for them as children was a mistake. It's a little vague as to whether he is trying to spare her feelings or if he is too inobservant to see just how this is hurting Satomi (and Azusa). It takes Azusa's repeated threats and attacks on Satomi before he finally figures out the gravity of the situation. One wonders that if he had been more sympathetic and more understanding whether Azusa might not have met with so tragic of an end--if it could have been prevented. Yet Azusa's insulated upbringing is also a factor. For the head of the Shiga clan--fading away into nothingness and irrelevance--the implication in Laughing Target is that Azusa's mother should have involved her child with more children or at least not have brought her up to define her happiness based on the promise of a marriage proposal made as mere children. It's interesting that the castle that makes up the residence of the Shiga clan appears to have itself been another reason for Azusa's possession. Has there always been a curse on the clan, and Azusa's corrupted soul is merely the culmination of some evil forever bound to it? Even Azusa seems shocked at her behavior at times, as though she is constantly fighting to contain this darkness within her. This marks Azusa as a victim, but not just of the curse--of an upbringing that has warped her perception of reality. Yuzuru takes it for granted that Azusa will give up her fixation on marriage and find someone else instead, since they barely know one another anyway. It's when she doesn't abandon her promise that things start to become strained between her and Yuzuru, splintering this bizarre love triangle. It's easier to look at things from Yuzuru's perspective in Laughing Target, but to consider it from Azusa's means to understand that promises mean nothing, suggesting that any constant companion is a good companion...even if they are hungry ghosts.
Recommended for: Fans of a clever and concise psycho-thriller that works just as well with the added supernatural dimension. Laughing Target appears to be one of those all but "lost" anime movies from the Eighties, one that deserves a rerelease--as many of them do. Seek this out on YouTube for now, and let's hope that great companies like Discotek Media pick up this forgotten gem.
What's striking about Laughing Target is how it depicts a certain disconnect between modern living in the city versus that of the remote countryside, is as much as Yuzuru and Azusa's differing attitudes about their "promise" to marry is concerned. Yuzuru has forgotten about the arranged marriage--otherwise he would be a cad for stringing along Satomi. Yuzuru isn't too complicated; in fact, he's pretty bland. His saving grace is that he is an expert marksman with the longbow, not to mention a natural talent with it; in other words, he's a bit of a jock. He is also a bit dense about the feelings of others, such as when he tells his girlfriend that his "fiancée" will be coming to live with him. (She understandably slaps him.) Nevertheless, Yuzuru is a good person who barely even appears to consider the thought of abandoning his relationship with Satomi, even after he discovers that Azusa has blossomed into a beautiful young woman. Azusa, however, is almost devoid of emotional intelligence, and wraps herself around Yuzuru as he goes to school, giving everyone--especially Satomi--the wrong impression. It would have been simpler for Yuzuru to make it clear in no uncertain terms that he does not want to marry Azusa, and that the arranged marriage made for them as children was a mistake. It's a little vague as to whether he is trying to spare her feelings or if he is too inobservant to see just how this is hurting Satomi (and Azusa). It takes Azusa's repeated threats and attacks on Satomi before he finally figures out the gravity of the situation. One wonders that if he had been more sympathetic and more understanding whether Azusa might not have met with so tragic of an end--if it could have been prevented. Yet Azusa's insulated upbringing is also a factor. For the head of the Shiga clan--fading away into nothingness and irrelevance--the implication in Laughing Target is that Azusa's mother should have involved her child with more children or at least not have brought her up to define her happiness based on the promise of a marriage proposal made as mere children. It's interesting that the castle that makes up the residence of the Shiga clan appears to have itself been another reason for Azusa's possession. Has there always been a curse on the clan, and Azusa's corrupted soul is merely the culmination of some evil forever bound to it? Even Azusa seems shocked at her behavior at times, as though she is constantly fighting to contain this darkness within her. This marks Azusa as a victim, but not just of the curse--of an upbringing that has warped her perception of reality. Yuzuru takes it for granted that Azusa will give up her fixation on marriage and find someone else instead, since they barely know one another anyway. It's when she doesn't abandon her promise that things start to become strained between her and Yuzuru, splintering this bizarre love triangle. It's easier to look at things from Yuzuru's perspective in Laughing Target, but to consider it from Azusa's means to understand that promises mean nothing, suggesting that any constant companion is a good companion...even if they are hungry ghosts.
Recommended for: Fans of a clever and concise psycho-thriller that works just as well with the added supernatural dimension. Laughing Target appears to be one of those all but "lost" anime movies from the Eighties, one that deserves a rerelease--as many of them do. Seek this out on YouTube for now, and let's hope that great companies like Discotek Media pick up this forgotten gem.