May 15th is the 152nd birthday of L. Frank Baum, who we all know as the creator of the Oz series of books. There were several comic book adaptations, one of the best of which can be witnessed
here. Japan has
manga-nificently done a few of their own versions, one of which was scanned by yours truly. What else I discovered a while back is that there is another version of the book. I'm not going to scan the whole thing like I did
last time, but I will show you the highlights. Compare them to that link, why don't you?
オズのまほうつかい (
Ozu no Mahoutsuka) The top book is the previously scanned one, first published in 1986. The lower one is the subject of today's post and was written 13 years later.
In this parallel universe, ドロシーDorothy is freckled with red hair as opposed to rosy cheeks and auburn locks. おばあさん エム (
obasan Emu or Aunt Em) & おじいさんヘンリー (
ojisan Henri or Uncle Henry) are decades younger than their counterparts as well.
Our silver shoe bearing witch is a much older, dumpier version and there are NO Munchkins in this book.
When we first meet our かかし (
Kakashi or Scarecrow) friend, he isn't being plagued by crows, but is still crucified.
Here he is displaying his lack of gray matter and looking more like Beaker than a
Kakashi.
The ぼくも人 (
Bokumo Hito or Tin Man) is looking a bit besotted but once oiled up is taller than his tin-twin.
Our Cowardly ライオン (
Raion or Lion) is looking more leonine and fairly ferocious...
But soon reverts to his Dandy-lion ways.
In the other book, they need to cross a chasm, in this version it's a river.
Our Woodsman clears a forest to make a raft, whereas before he felled a tree to make a bridge. But in both versions, it was our Brainless Scarecrow who came up with a gameplan.
Coming across an ominous poppy field, Dorothy dozes off before being confronted by a spooky looking creature.
Their counterparts fought the chimera-like Kalibah, while this troop meets a ヤマネコ (
Yama-neko or mountain-cat = puma) who is confronted by our newly brave Lion.
A close up of the felonious feline.
A nice shot of the エメラルドのみやこ (
Emerarudo no Miyako or Emerald City) at the end of the yellow-brick road.
Once inside, they meet up with a fiery apparition commanding them to kill the まじょう (
Majou or witch) in order to have their requests granted.
This particular witch is purple and looks more elvin in appearance than your stereotypical wart-nosed green
majou.
The とぶサル (
Tobu-saru or flying monkeys) have bat-wings instead of feathered ones and don't wear Robin Hood caps.
They swiftly capture Dorothy, the Lion and Toto.
Our Tin Man and Scarecrow are left the worse for wear with some lovely Xs for eyes.
A barefoot Dorothy makes a splash with our Witchie-poo who melts away soon after.
Our reunited quintet celebrate with a dance.
トト=Toto uncovers the Man Behind the Curtain who looks more like Ben Franklin than Tweedledum.
Scarecrow gets stuffed with a brain, Tin Man gets his heart and Lion finds his courage in a bottle.
A befuddled ex-wizard is stumped as to a method to send Dorothy home.
Our previously haggard witch from the beginning of the story appears young and beautiful, bearing a Starry S!
Dorothy bids farewell to her trio of companions...
And safely arrives home to an ecstatic Em & Henry.
I like this version much better. It's a little spookier and the characters look more realistic. One of these days, I'll treat you to
Ozma of Oz!
When you read this...
and see this...
or especially this...
you expect something in the order of otaku-awesomeness. Imagine my disappointment, when it did not contain a cute maid-figurine, but a bunch of cookies. Even worse, cookies with English lessons on them! What nerd actually goes into a Maid-cafe to learn English?
To make matters worse, the only treat of any merit were some pictures of cuties but again, recapping the very same lessons I just learned: eg, "What is the meaning of nerd?"
At least the answers have a real-life example. "Looking at you, I've begun to think that I'm not such a nerd after all!"
