User:Nabu/Fujiko

Fujiko's Bizarre Worldly Wisdom Analysis

Themes: Sexuality, pornography, relevance of pornography in art, importance of art, religion, enlightenment, sexual revolution?, to feel good, the power of art

Title Analysis

"Fujiko's Bizarre World Wisdom" Fujiko is the title character Fujiko is the most important character Fujiko has a worldy wisdom/secret of success in life What is Fujiko's wisdom?

Cover Analysis

Cover of Jolyne, Fujiko behind in the shadows. Painting frames in the bg Fujiko framing Jolyne with her fingers.

Theme of art. What Jolyne represents. Implication of Fujiko in the shadows, hidden, forgotten.

Fujiko's Personality

• Fujiko is a withdrawn woman who prefers to stay isolated from others in order to draw.
• Fujiko has a lot of respect for the erotic genre, saying that pornography is "just as essential to human beings as food and sleep" and using the fact that erotica can be found anywhere throughout history and cultures as a proof of its importance.
• Fujiko becomes extremely attracted to Jolyne over the course of the story. She begins by being merely interested in Jolyne because she's heard a story about Jolyne being caught touching herself and thus feels that she is "honest" about her desires. When she meets Jolyne, Fujiko also appreciates Jolyne's physical beauty, focusing on details such as her lips to her chest. However, it is when Jolyne praises Fujiko's art and tells about its soothing effects that Fujiko started feeling truly infatuated with her.

Analysis

Surface level: the plot

One day, Pucci discovers Fujiko and her drawing talent. He gives Fujiko a Stand, Bad Romance, which has "total control over the emotions of anyone who receives a drawing". He lets Fujiko make contact with Jolyne to control her mental state and thus weaken her through Fujiko's art. Fujiko successfully gives Jolyne a sketch. However, Jolyne praises Fujiko's sketch for its quality and also because it makes her feel good and puts her at ease. Consequently, Fujiko is deeply touched and falls in love with Jolyne. Pucci then watches Fujiko drawing, but sees that it's becoming religious art. As it seems to be granting spiritual strength to Jolyne, Pucci realizes that he's miscalculated the risks and he quickly takes away Fujiko's Stand and memories of Jolyne. Jolyne has felt her libido increase but then reached some sort of enlightenment.

This one-shot lasts 29 pages, cover included. From a plot point of view, the story is quite simple. Pucci sought to control or weaken Jolyne, but a random act of kindness causes Pucci's plan to backfire because now Fujiko loves Jolyne and he has to stop Fujiko's power and make her forget Jolyne. That was Pucci's miscalculation.

The one-shot isn't an exciting Stand fight, or a moving story, and is more of a fun, light-hearted sketch. However, even a simple and short light-hearted comedy story can be densely packed with subtext and messages. As a one-shot, Sho Aimoto has had the opportunity to think every detail thoroughly and everything that is shown, told and drawn in the one-shot is there because it reflects Aimoto's beliefs, whether she wanted to make a statement or just because it felt right to her.

So let's dive and see the themes and messages that are more or less hidden in this underrated one-shot.

The value and power of art

Araki once said in his "Manga Technique" book that he likes titles that include the main character's name as it shows that the manga artist cares about their protagonist. It seems like Aimoto has followed Araki's opinion on this, as the one-shot Fujiko's Bizarre Worldly Wisdom is centered around Fujiko Fujiyama, the title character, and not Jolyne as one may have expected.

Fujiko Fujiyama is at the core an artist. Her life revolves around the act of drawing. Through Fujiko's character, Aimoto focuses on a number of themes around art, developing the one-shot into an apology of art.

Art is not necessary and yet is needed

In page 12 of the one-shot, Jolyne says this when she gladly buys Fujiko's sketch:

“

It's little things like this that truly make you feel good about yourself and put you at ease. I think that being able to enjoy stuff you don't need is a sign of great mental composure. Maybe that's why I need it now more than ever.

”

—Jolyne

This phrase encapsulates what is the value of art. Art is strictly speaking not needed to survive, but can ease the mind. Art is not something that humans use to survive, but to thrive. Through this, Jolyne and Aimoto defend art and praise those who can appreciate it. In fact, Fujiko reacts positively and Pucci's attack begins to backfire from this point on. This statement saves Jolyne, in a way, in a karmic fashion. By understanding the value of art, Jolyne manages to save herself. Contrast this with the landlord who once told Fujiko to "stop wasting time with drawing and go study". As Pucci explains, Fujiko reacted badly and stabbed him. Although this is of course excessive, this is still meant to be a sympathetic moment for Fujiko. Drawing is not just a hobby for Fujiko, it is her passion and she's obviously worked hard to reach her current level of drawing so of course a stranger dismissing her life's work would make her angry.

Interestingly, the one-shot still shows the realities of a life as an artist. Fujiko calls herself a shunga artist and she makes a living drawing erotic commissions for other inmates, and thanks to Fujiko's short interactions with her client, Aimoto shows some of the practicalities of an artist as a gag, which contrasts nicely with Jolyne's behavior.

What does the client do?

• She's commissioned a Spiderman x Deadpool pairing for money
• She is impatient and demanding
• She gives Fujiko extra money so that she can her get art quicker (a good fantasy for any online artists)

How does Jolyne behave:

• She pays for a mere flattering self-portrait on her own volition
• She understands the value of art
• She respected Fujiko as an artist

Through Fujiko's client, we see that art is also a trade. Artists of course sell their skills and sometimes have to create stuff themed around things they may not be interested in to make a living and have to deal with less than ideal clients at times. Jolyne is at least aware of the spiritual value of art connecting people. Both the client and Jolyne enjoy their respective drawings, but Jolyne and Fujiko connect through their appreciation for art.

Art triggers powerful emotions

Art is indeed valuable, but it is precious precisely because it can trigger extraordinary emotions simply by being exposed to it. This is what the one-shot's Stand, Bad Romance, embodies. Bad Romance, has "total control over the emotions of anyone who receives one of Fujiko's drawings!". Bad Romance is a literal representation of what art does to people, only exaggerated.

Fujiko's usual trade showcases the power that art has over people. Her erotic drawings excite the inmates enough that they become popular and people are ready to pay a lot of money for Fujiko's drawings. Fujiko's art is strangely presented as an addictive thing, with prisoners dying to get their "fix" of porno.

Moreover, as Whitesnake says, "As Fujiko pours her heart into her art, [Fujiko's victims] pour their hearts out for her". Through this, Aimoto reveals the existence of the emotional link that art creates between the creator and their audience. Art is not just single beautiful objects that are skillfully made, but another means of communication between people (the artist and their audience). Artists invest and represent ideas and feelings through their art, and their audience resonates with these ideas and feelings.

In the one-shot, this resonance is felt through Fujiko and Jolyne's relationship, which we are going to explore later.

Art touches the divine

“

It is said that Buddha overcame his afflictions and attained enlightenment by sitting under the bodhi tree. Could this Stand have given Jolyne that same kind of spiritual power?

”

—Enrico Pucci

Near the end of the one-shot, we kinda shift from a portrayal and apology of art to a full glorification of art. In here, art is connected with the divine, the sacred. Fujiko begins to depict Jolyne in what Whitesnake calls religious drawings, in a very positive, even overpositive light. This phenomenon seems justified by the mix of Fujiko's skill but also the genuine inspiration she gets from her love for Jolyne. Jolyne has become a muse to Fujiko, and in fact, the Muses were also divinities that presided over arts. The imagery obviously is religious and evokes Heaven and its angels. Jolyne wears a pure white robe, sparkles surround her, she has angel wings, and is surrounded by cherubs. From a plot point of view, it can just be explained as Fujiko starting to adulate Jolyne. Still, it ties with the message that art allows one to reach a superior plane, a divine plane.

As a consequence, Jolyne funnily reaches a light state of enlightenment. As the guard explains, yoga was a means to reach enlightenment but then through Fujiko's art and their connection, Jolyne is able to perfectly complete the yoga poses. She also happens to sparkle as well as feel good and refreshed. It is implied that it could have gone further, but Pucci puts an end to it, out of fear for this power he doesn't understand.

Sexual liberation

What has become the most infamous aspect of the one-shot is its open depiction of the characters' sexuality. In the story, Aimoto makes a quite interesting and nuanced portrayal of sexuality in general that is worth looking into. It is actually quite fitting that Jolyne, one of the most libertine characters in the series and yet not reduced to that sexual aspect, would be the subject of a few messages about sexual liberation.

Sexuality isn't shameful

On one hand, Aimoto does show that sexuality in excess can also be a bad thing. In a light-hearted way, Fujiko's demanding customer could be seen as a bad example of people "hooked" on pornography, which does represent a risk for one's mind.

However, Aimoto also presents sexual urges in a funny, not shameful nor just titillating way. In a way, sexuality is presented as yet another trait meant to develop the characters. For instance, we get the obvious "Jolyne masturbates". Gwess also seems to have her fantasies beyond being a double-faced shrew, and so do a good number of prisoners. Fujiko's client seems to be excited by the Spider-Man x Deadpool pairing (okay this one is ridiculous, but at least is funny). It is also all but stated that Fujiko is lesbian. However, they're all "dirty secrets". People are embarrassed to talk about these things, which are personal, naturally.

This contrasts with the antagonists' attitude towards sex. There are two antagonistic forces in the one-shot. The first in the guard overseeing the yoga session. She notably says this:

“

Yoga was originally created as a way to push people toward enlightenment. By harmonizing the mind and body through meditation, it's though to expel evil spirits and control foolish and lustful desires. It's also pretty good for exercise.

”

—Guard

The guard talks about "foolish and lustful desires", denigrating sexuality and implying it is just an obstacle towards enlightenment. Likewise, Enrico Pucci has the same low opinion on sexuality. For starters, Pucci is a priest and furthermore a priest who feels no sexual desire. In this one-shot, Pucci tries to weaponize art and sexuality against Jolyne, trying to indirectly control her just like Fujiko's usual customers become addicted to the pornography Fujiko produces. Both antagonists have a low opinion of sexuality, thinking it something that is degrading, that simply reduces women otherwise Pucci wouldn't be using it against Jolyne. However, sexuality is being legitimized in Aimoto's story.

Fujiko says that "sexual desire" is one of the three most important human needs and it was present since ancient times. In short, it is a human trait, just as natural as one's need to eat. Fujiko appreciates that Jolyne is "open" to her desires. The one-shot consciously subverts the original tale of Buddha's enlightenment. According to tradition, Buddha fought off his sexual desires by remaining in a state of meditation under the Bodhi Tree. However, in the story, the arousal Jolyne feels is but part of the path she goes through until she reaches her own enlightenment. Funnily, Jolyne reaches enlightenment after being plunged into a state of extreme arousal. Unlike Buddha who resists his urges by himself, Jolyne is losing against her libido. And yet, because of Fujiko's opinion of Jolyne shifting from simple lust to a form of adulation, this actually saves Jolyne. Sadly, we don't see the transition of Jolyne's state of mind.

Going back to Fujiko, we initially see her being sexually interested in Jolyne, on a physical level. However, she falls in love and is actually aroused not by Jolyne's body but by her words too and this is the catalyst for Fujiko's love mixing with her art to attain the divine. In this, Aimoto seems to acknowledge sexuality as a part of love and thus gives it respectability.

Despite what the guard says, sexuality is not an obstacle but a natural part of life and something that can lead to positive things too. There is a certain irony as the yoga session guard finally tells everybody to do what Jolyne does.

It's acceptable to make erotic art

“

Sexual desire is one of the three most important human needs. Pornography is just as essential to human beings as food and sleep.

”

—Fujiko

As Sho Aimoto wants to defend sexuality, she also defends erotica and pornography through Fujiko. In the one-shot, Fujiko explains the cultural relevance, longevity and universality of sex-themed art, adding in the background a number of famous lewd pieces of art from various times and places. In short, pornography is ancient and connected to prestigious highbrow cultures, from ancient Chinese culture to ancient Egyptian culture, to of course the modern era. As the story treats sexuality with respect, it also treats pornographic art with respect. When Jolyne notices Gwess's lewd drawing, she also acknowledges the quality of the drawing and thus the work that Fujiko had to put to make it.

Art provokes emotions and arousal is one of those emotions, being as legitimate as the sadness felt from a tragedy, the fear from a good horror film or the excitation of a good JoJo fight. Lewd art comes from and answers to one of humanity's most ancient needs and even if you happened to be merely aroused by it, it would still be art. Well, Araki himself is excited by art. It's true, look it up.

Wisteria

Wisteria plants have been grown in places like Japan, Korea, and China for well over 2,000 years. They arrived in the United States in the mid-1800s as ornamental plants. First referred to as the “blue vine,” these plants were named by botanist Thomas Nuttall.

Practitioners of Feng shui:source of encouragement during moments of doubt. In Japan, wisteria are seen as durable/resilient.

Jodo Shinshu Shin Buddhist sect: humility to the sect. symbol of prayer.

In Victorian culture: warning against over passionate love.

What Does a Wisteria Symbolize? The wisteria represents love, fertility beauty, creativity, and long life, patience and honor. symbol of everlasting wisdom. searching for new knowledge. longevity and endurance. Pink wisteria usually symbolizes romance. White wisteria flowers spirituality, purity, and innocence. Blue wisteria symbol of a new beginning.

Japanese Kabuki theater: Love, Sensuality, Support, Sensitivity, Bliss and Tenderness.

In the Kabuki drama “Fuji Musume” 藤娘 of the 1820s meaning “The Wisteria Lady”, a young woman waited for her lover under the wisteria vine. The Wisteria maiden is seen in a painting holding a wisteria branch until she falls deeply in love with a young man and steps out of the painting just so she could grasp his attention.

Unfortunately, her attempts were futile, her love was unreciprocated and she goes back into her painting dejected. This context juxtaposes the long-life, durability and resilience of the wisteria to the woman’s endurance in the face of heartache.

Misc.

• Yoga, enlightenment, is about posing so JoJo pose of course, link with buddhism
• Pucci, priest, no sexual desires himself, seeks to weaponize art against Jolyne,
  • is offended when Jolyne is depicted religiously
  • expected shunga, got religious drawings
  • feared the power of Bad Romance
• Bodhi tree. Is a fig tree. Fig come to represent wisdom, have significance in Budhism. In western christianity, fig represent knowledge and intelligence.