Art is Only About the Results. 'Screw You, Critic' / Examining Esper Mami 5

'Screw You, Critic' "Manga-kun" June 1977 Issue / Complete Collection Vol. 1 (Episode 6)

This is the fifth installment of "Examining Esper Mami," where I carefully examine each episode from the start of the series. In the previous four installments, I discussed the events leading up to the revelation of the basic settings of "Esper Mami." A key point among them was that Takahata-kun mistakenly believed he was the one with psychic powers, and the question was when and how this would be resolved.

In the previous work 'Friendship Vanished with a Sneeze' (Episode 5), Takahata learns in the worst possible way that Mami is the one who is an esper. Because of this incident, things become awkward between Takahata and Mami, and it seemed their relationship might end. However, Takahata tells a lie he hates, and the crisis is averted. This work, 'Screw You, Critic', is the story that follows immediately after.

For previous examinations, I highly recommend you click on the INDEX below and give them a read.

First, before getting into the content of this work, I want to emphasize that this is one of the finest masterpieces in "Esper Mami." There are four key points:

① Takahata becomes Mami's powerful collaborator
② Mami's psychic powers blossom with the introduction of the teleportation gun
③ First appearance of partial teleportation
④ What is criticism, and what is expression?

I would like to look at these one by one.

① Takahata becomes Mami's powerful collaborator
Disappointed that he was not an esper, Takahata changes his perspective. He leaves behind words that sound like a declaration of resolve to Mami, so let me quote them.

“I’ve been thinking since then. It’s a shame that I’m not an esper myself, but I don’t think it would be so bad to be an esper coach, drawing out and nurturing the abilities sleeping within you.”

Takahata offers support from the background rather than the front lines. Takahata had originally wanted to work for the sake of the world and its people as a player, but even if that could not be realized, he thought that he could contribute to the world in the form of being a coach.

The intellectual Takahata is naturally well-suited to be the one giving advice. There is a scene where he teaches Mami, and Mami is surprised that she can solve problems fluently because of it. To this, Takahata makes the typical remark of a smart person: “Studying is just about grasping the key points.” Mami comments that Takahata is a genius at teaching and should become a champion teacher, and indeed, Takahata is well-suited to be an educator.

Takahata gives Mami a teleportation gun made from a modified heart-shaped brooch. It is heart-shaped, inspired by Mami's initial M, and when you press the button on the back, it is a device that fires Jintan pills hidden inside the brooch. Judging by this, Takahata seems to be a technician who has an aesthetic sense and does not mind detailed work. Takahata has high craftsmanship skills, such as building a pitching machine for teleportation practice.

As the story progresses, Takahata comes up with the idea of partial teleportation as a way to remove the gun from the critic Ken-shi. Mami would likely not have thought of this on her own. Starting with this work, "Esper Mami" establishes a style where Mami and Takahata team up to solve cases.

② Mami's psychic powers blossom with the introduction of the teleportation gun
The teleportation gun made by Takahata is an invention that utilizes the property that teleportation is triggered by the energy of colliding matter. This allows her to teleport continuously, anytime and anywhere. There is no longer a need to jump onto Konpoko. This is a clear improvement in Mami's mobility and also expands the scope of the story. And this brooch also becomes Mami's visual trademark.

When handing over this brooch, Takahata reveals some new information about Mami's teleportation ability. The first is that the distance she can teleport at once is currently 600 meters. The second is that Mami is equipped with a sense like a radar or compass, meaning even if she teleports down an unknown road, she won't bump into anything.

And the depiction of her using the brooch to teleport repeatedly for the first time is something I admire no matter how many times I see it. In "Esper Mami," psychic powers are depicted as a continuation of daily life, which may be why the degree of longing for them is so strong.

③ The First Appearance of Partial Teleportation
In this work, the psychic ability called partial teleportation is used for the first time to remove Eisuke Tsurugi's cancer cells. This ability, which includes things like teleporting urine from one's bladder to a friend's bladder or performing blood transfusions by sending blood, appears at key moments thereafter. It seems to be a very convenient ability.

③ What is Criticism, What is Expression?
This is the biggest theme of this work. The many famous quotes from Tsurugi and Mami's dad, which are woven into the story, can be taken as messages from Sensei F about what creation is.

The whole thing starts when art critic Eisuke Tsurugi's review of the "Juro Sakura Exhibition" is published in the April issue of "Art World." The Juro Sakura Exhibition refers to the solo exhibition held in Ginza in "Masterpiece (?) and the Demon Hag" (Episode 4), two episodes prior to this one.

Speaking of solo exhibitions, in the first episode of Esper Mami, "Who is the Esper?", Dad was painting Mami as a model for his solo exhibition. Given this fact, the general ideas for this work might have already been solidified from the time the first episode was written. Incidentally, I plan to cover the ins and outs of the Juro Sakura Exhibition in the next analysis.

Let's first write out Mr. Tsurugi's review of the Juro Sakura Exhibition.

“I saw the Juro Sakura Exhibition. As always, the paintings are like something out of an old-fashioned picture book... the depiction is superficial, with nothing to sharply appeal to the viewer... I am particularly fed up with the literally girlish and sentimental sweetness of the series 'Girl'...”

That is a harsh critique. The series 'Girl' here refers to the group of works modeled after Mami.

Mami reads this and gets furious, feels depressed, and decides she must firmly protest to Mr. Tsurugi. However, upon hearing this story, Takahata-kun says this nonchalantly.

“That’s pointless... Because that person felt that way, so he wrote it that way. He’s not going to correct it just because you protest...”

Using the teleportation gun she got from Takahata, Mami jumps directly into Mr. Tsurugi's room to protest the review. Mr. Tsurugi is surprised by her lack of common sense.

Mami takes this opportunity to appeal to Tsurugi. “How much passion did my dad pour into this? He painted without even sleeping. And yet, you show no mercy,” she says. Tsurugi's response to that is sharp and direct.

Point one: Mercy and leniency have nothing to do with criticism. Point two:
In art, only the result matters. Even a painting done while drunk and humming a tune is a masterpiece if it is a masterpiece. No matter how much heart and soul you pour into it, a bad work is a bad work.

Mami, whose father's painting was judged as a bad work, cannot contain her anger and uses telekinesis to scatter the manuscript Tsurugi was writing all over the garden. Mami feels refreshed by this small act of revenge.

However, when Mami returns home and calls Tsurugi a villain to her dad, her dad denies it and states a very important perspective as someone who is being criticized.

“Regarding published works, everyone who sees them has the right to criticize them freely. No matter how much you are put down, you cannot stop it. If you don't like that, don't show it to anyone.”

When Mami asks back, “Weren't you just furious a moment ago?”

"If Eisuke Ken has the right to criticize, then I have the right to be angry!! He disparaged it! I got angry! And that's the end of this matter!!"

Let's organize the arguments of Juro Sakura and Eisuke Ken up to this point.

The critic, Ken, expressed a policy that art criticism is something performed on the expressed output, and does not question the creator's production attitude or whether effort was put into the completion. He isn't saying it's bad because it's Juro Sakura. He is focusing on Juro Sakura's work and judging it as a poor piece. In a sense, you could say this is a fair way of thinking.

On the other hand, Juro Sakura, as a creator, has the resolve that as long as he presents his work to the world, he must also accept being disparaged for the work he created by pouring his heart and soul into it. However, since he was disparaged, he argues that the person being disparaged also has the right to be angry. If the work is not evaluated, the only thing to do is use this as a springboard to prove them wrong next time. At the end of this work, Juro Sakura expresses his determination to create a wonderful painting that cannot be disparaged.

Although Ken and Juro Sakura have different positions, their views on works and criticism seem to align. That is the stance of properly facing a single work. It means that it is important to have the vectors from the opposite directions of the creator and the critic collide at the central point of the work. That is also a tense dialogue between the creator and the critic.

It is dangerous to think that one understands all of Fujiko F. Fujio's creative theories from this work alone, but one can understand that he holds the view that the published work itself is the object of appreciation and criticism.

In the story, he has Ken say that a masterpiece is a masterpiece even if drawn while drunk, but this is both his true feelings and a facade. Even if a work looks like it was drawn just to make ends meet, if it's interesting, it wins. Fujiko-sensei lives in such a world. And just because you put in effort doesn't mean a good work will be born.

However, in reality, masterpieces are not born from being drunk. Masterpieces are created only by pouring one's heart and soul into them. F-sensei surely thinks so.

Continuing to draw manga by pouring one's heart and soul into it. I strongly feel such a stoic will at the root of F-sensei's creation.