Jack The Ripper In Manga and Anime

[Madam Red]

Recently, I read "A Life Less Ordinary: The Victims of Jack The Ripper on the Big Screen" by Jennifer Pegg and Don Souden (http://www.casebook.org/dissertation...-ordinary.html), and I was impressed. I want to follow up with a response to this editorial, exploring the treatment of this case in Japanese comics and animations, but I'm uncertain of what the proper submission procedure is on this website. Can anyone help me?

I also would like to expand my list of literary pieces to study.
What animes/mangas does Jack the Ripper plays a role or is referenced in?


Thank you.

[DarkTaleProductions]

Hey Madam Red, Just finished watching the links you gave me, (Kuroshitsuji).

Now I know where you got your name from, :P

I thought the episodes were pretty good. I mean I'm not a fan of anime with the exception of "Death Note" which in my opinion is one of, if not the greatest anime series ever created.

But anyhow, I did like Jack the Ripper (Madam Red)'s motive for committing the murders. It was an interesting take. Thanks for sending the links.

[Steelysama]

There is a website called TV Tropes which is a treasure to anyone who loves media. If you like to follow the threads of different trends - tropes - in media or you like to find similar shows/manga/comics/etc to what you already enjoy, this site is excellent.

They have a page dedicated to JtR and it lists some anime/manga which include references to him.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JackTheRipper

Enjoy.

[Madam Red]

There is a website called TV Tropes which is a treasure to anyone who loves media. If you like to follow the threads of different trends - tropes - in media or you like to find similar shows/manga/comics/etc to what you already enjoy, this site is excellent.

They have a page dedicated to JtR and it lists some anime/manga which include references to him.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JackTheRipper

Enjoy.

Thank you so much, this really does help a ton.
I was struggling to find another list with more titles.

My friend in Holland was saying the other day that Japan seemed obsessed with the Ripper, but I was having difficulty finding evidence to back that up.

I wonder, does this site lists the medias which feature Victorian England?

[Madam Red]

Hey Madam Red, Just finished watching the links you gave me, (Kuroshitsuji).

Now I know where you got your name from, :P

I thought the episodes were pretty good. I mean I'm not a fan of anime with the exception of "Death Note" which in my opinion is one of, if not the greatest anime series ever created.

But anyhow, I did like Jack the Ripper (Madam Red)'s motive for committing the murders. It was an interesting take. Thanks for sending the links.

Ha ha, well you caught me, Mr. Lusk.

I'm a huge nut for manga and anime that are set in historical settings, especially those eras that I already have an invested interest in. Such as, of course, Jack the Ripper and Victorian England. Actually, it was when my sister told me that the Ripper case shows in these series that I became hooked with Kuroshitsuji and Earl Cain.

I really did enjoyed Yana Toboso's (the author) take on the Ripper case as well. Unless you count the royal conspiracy theory that's so popular with our media, you don't often find a story where the culprit is actually more than some lone wolf. It's a refreshing change.

Although I noticed that Kuroshitsuji continues a rather common trend. The Japanese seem to prefer the "Jill the Ripper" theory, that the murderer was either a woman or a man disguised as one. And there's usually some connection with the supernatural.

How accurately would you say Toboso portrayed the Jack the Ripper mystery?



Yeah, Death Note has become quite a recent classic, whether one is in hardcore anime circles or isn't used to this type of storytelling. I guess it's because plot focuses on the gray areas between good and evil. By the way, did you ever hear about the "Manga Murder," a crime committed in Belgium in connection with the series? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_Murder

[DarkTaleProductions]

How accurately would you say Toboso portrayed the Jack the Ripper mystery?

Well, if I remember correctly, and I've been quite busy with my film and my mind has been all over the place, haha, so please don't nail me if I get this wrong... but it seemed that Toboso's Ripper only killed two. Polly Nichols and Kelly.

I could be wrong though, but if I'm not, I would say the Ripper mystery isn't portrayed very accurately in the anime. Which isn't uncommon, a lot of media portrayals of the Ripper case are usually very inaccurate, (From Hell -- for example). But regardless, it was enjoyable to watch.

I've also, always been a fan of the "Jill the Ripper" theory. So I liked this because it went with such theory. But I've never really believed in the theory. It makes great stories, but I doubt it was true. But it is liberating to see this theory presented in the media and not the usual, "He was a doctor" or "He was with the Royal Family" nonsense I always hear people tell me.

By the way, did you ever hear about the "Manga Murder," a crime committed in Belgium in connection with the series? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_Murder

I heard about this, and it made me scared to get a replica death note and hang it on my wall. If Police saw that, they'd probably want to check it out. Haha. But yeah, I believe I've heard that before. I also heard that a few students were suspended in other areas around the world for writing names on a Death Note. Pretty crazy stuff.

[Madam Red]

*Cracks knuckles* I love debating...

Yana Toboso did quite extensive research while writing the Ripper arc, as I'll explain below.



I apologize that I couldn't post the picture which shows what's actually written on the note, seen above.

The paper was suppose to contain a list of names. Now, the animators could've acted lazy and just scribbled lines to make it look like writing, but they decided against it. Instead, when I zoomed in on the pic with my computer, I saw that they had included the names of actual Ripper victims, whether from the Canonical or Suspected List.

It read:
Mary Ann Nichols
Annie Chapman
Elizabeth Gustafsdotter
Katherine Eddowes
Mary Kelly
Annie Millwood
Fairy Fay
Rose Mylett

Notice how she uses the victims' real names. Although the inclusion of some victims is highly argueable, such as Rose Mylett and Fairy Fay.

Fairy Fay shows up in one of Madam Red's flashbacks. I recognized the woman as Fairy Fay because of her final scene, where she's murdered on her way home. Fairy Fay was the only victim described as walking home. I think why Toboso used her as the cause of Red's mental break was because this victim is actually fictional, and this gave the author more freedom to represent this prostitute in any fashion she fancied without the fear of disgracing a dead person.

Mary Kelly's living quarters was portrayed inaccurately, which bothered me a little.

Now, the manga and anime versions differ from each other when they portray Kelly's crime scene. In the original (the manga), all you see of the crime scene is this: http://www.onemanga.com/Kuroshitsuji/9/11/. The glimspe is of a darkened room with blood splattered everywhere. We do not see the body, but we do see the reactions from the main characters. Ciel, though a small boy, is suppose to have extreme nerves of steel, but at the sight of the body, he shakes uncontrollably and vomits. Sebastian remarks that the murderer really over did it, whose meaning is pretty obvious. While Toboso doesn't show the mutilation of Mary Kelly's corpse, she also avoids being inaccurate.

However, in the anime, this vision is modified. Instead, you see a sihouette of Kelly's body on the floor. It's an extremely inaccurate respresentation. We all know this, we've seen the crime scene photos. For one, Kelly was in her bed. Two, her face had been sliced off. Of course, everything had to be toned down for television.




Even though I hardly could believe in the "Jill the Ripper" theory, I enjoyed Kuroshitsuji's take on the Ripper case. It's the most accurate that I've seen so far in manga or anime. Even the clothing was close to what Victorian fashions were.

[DarkTaleProductions]

Hey Madam Red, just finished "Time Eliminator". Quite good, especially since it uses Joseph Barnett (My favorite suspect). I did also like that they made Mary Kelly quite pretty, but then again they made all the victims pretty

[Madam Red]

Ah, so you're into the Joseph Barnett theory. Intriguing...

While I normally dislike stories that have people go back in time to change the past, I'm happy that at least in one story, the victims were all saved.

[DarkTaleProductions]

Haha, yeah. I hate stories about time traveling, as well. A friend of mine asked me to do a film like that with the Ripper (where the Ripper comes to Present Day and kills). I'm sure there's already a story about that. Plus like I said, I hate stories dealing with time traveling. So decided against.

But regardless, I liked the manga.