Everything about Nans Satomi Hakkenden totally explained
Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (南總里見八犬傳 or using simplified
kanji, 南総里見八犬伝) is a
Japanese 106 volume epic
novel by
Kyokutei Bakin. Written over a period of nearly thirty years and published from
1814 to
1842, Bakin had gone
blind before finishing the tale, and the final parts were dictated to his daughter-in-law Michi to be transcribed.
Plot summary
Set in the tumultuous
Sengoku period 350 years earlier,
Hakkenden is the story of eight
samurai brothers and their adventures, with themes of
loyalty and family
honor, as well as
Confucianism,
bushido and
Buddhist philosophy.
An earlier novel serial of Bakin's,
Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (椿説弓張月) had been illustrated by the famous
ukiyo-e artist
Katsushika Hokusai; however the two hadn't worked together well.
For
Hakkenden, Hokusai's son-in-law,
Yanagawa Shigenobu was employed as illustrator instead.
There is a complete reprinting in 10 volumes available, and various modern Japanese translations, mainly abridged versions. However, only a few chapters are available translated into
English, one by
Donald Keene and several by Chris Drake.
Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
Though hugely popular at the time, Bakin's work lost favour after the
Meiji Restoration, but came back into fashion again in the
20th century. There are numerous film adaptions, the first in 1938,
then a series in the
1950s, an influential
tv series Shin Hakkenden (新八犬伝) during the early
1970s, the 1983
Satomi Hakkenden, and the most recent: a made-for-TV two-part mini-series in early 2006. Perhaps the best known screen version in the west is the
1990s AIC two sequence
OVA The Hakkenden.
Other adaptations
There are
manga versions of the story by
Aomata Pink,
Yoshimura Natsuki and
Miyazoe Ikuo, and elements and themes from
Hakkenden can be found in a wide range of other work.
Trivia
In the video game Ōkami, the player must seek out the eight Satomi canine warriors, who are portrayed as the embodiment of the eight virtues of Confucianism.
This story is also related to a case in Detective Conan where a dog-lover uses this tale to present his will to his family. All of his dogs are named after the warriors in the story.Further Information
Get more info on 'Nans Satomi Hakkenden'.
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