Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review

In the film, there several questions arise while thinking of human relations. It is a mystery to oneself how human bonds works actually. While there are many explanations regarding that matter, many questions are left unanswered. Like - 

'Why is it so difficult to understand someone?',

'What makes it hard to look from another person's perspective?'

Even if we do not find an absolute answer, we can try to answer them ourselves. It is complex. The lack of sympathy due to less personal experience influences our minds to act that way. It is not easy to look at someone else's perspective. As the sense of sympathy does not come naturally to everyone. That is why I am writing Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review.

Josee the Tiger and the Fish is an anime film that depicts the ideology of perspective through the two characters - Josee and Tsuneo. As I dig deeper into the plot, I cannot refrain but mention spoilers throughout my blog. So I would suggest you watch the film before reading my entire article.

Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review (Plot) 

Josee and Tsuneo come across each other unexpectedly when Josee is caught in the middle of the air by Tsuneo after her wheelchair goes out of control down the hillside of the road. After that interaction, Grandmother invites Tsuneo into Josee's house, where they offer him dinner. It could is fate that the two met because then Tsuneo gets a job to take care of and manage Josee. While Josee's grandmother took a small break as it was getting harder for her due to her coming of old age. It was the perfect opportunity to make spare money as Tsuneo was trying to save enough money to study abroad in Mexico. He pursued his dream to pursue a career as a diver. It is his dream to witness a rare fish that people can find along the oceanic coast of Mexico. Even though Josee and Tsueno were humans living in Japan, they had different lifestyles. Tsuneo was a typical college student in Japan who spent the majority of his time studying oceans and sea mammals as it was a part of his major. As for his main interest, he frequently went diving with his crew that he worked with at a nearby diving shop. It is all to explore the ocean and to further his career. On the other hand, Josee was a girl who spent almost all of her time inside or in her wheelchair due to her paralysis.

I did not know the terminology relating to Josee's medical condition. So I will mention it as paralysis throughout my blog. Her paralysis involves her down torso malfunction. She cannot function her muscles, resulting in her incapability to walk. Most of the time, she crawls to reach certain areas around the household or outside. Compared to Josee, Tsuneo had all the freedom to do as he desired. For physical movement, he had no disabilities that prevented him from controlling his leg. However, Josee was not like Tsuneo(Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review). She had no freedom to do whatever she wanted. It often prevented her from leaving the house. It was because Josee learned that everyone was like tigers. For that, she often judges people to be fearsome and mean. It made Josee's personality a bit rebellious. Josee wanted freedom and wanted things under her control. But the only way to do so was to disobey her grandmother at times - such as leaving the house secretly with Tsuneo to explore the world.

Tsuneo's dream was to dive in Mexico to see the rare fish. Like Tsuneo, Josee has a dream. But it was not to necessarily go abroad to study in Mexico but to feel the freedom of the ocean. She wanted to swim along with the sea animals in a manner that didn't have to require someone or something to help her move(such as her grandmother and the wheelchair). Josee yearned for the ability to move freely. It was as if Josee and Tsuneo were breathing the same air but in different worlds. Simply understanding someone is different when showing sympathy or feeling sympathy. You can understand how someone may feel; due to the problems that they are experiencing. But without going through the in-depth perspective change, you can not truly understand the pain that the other is going through. It is the lack of sympathy. One must be able to view the problem from the perspective of the other to reveal the pain or hidden emotions that someone is secretly feeling in themselves.

Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review (Analysis)

A common problem that the film attempts to highlight through Josee and Tsuneo is the ideology revolving around sympathy. Tsuneo initially thinks that he understands the pain that Josee is going through. And he tries to lessen the burden for her by offering to take her to places without taking her grandmother's permission. In doing so, Tsuneo does not fully understand Josee. It means he only commits to his actions because he feels guilty for Josee. Cause she can not move and do things on her own. However, when Tsuneo gets injured in an attempt to save Josee from a potential car accident, Tsuneo temporarily loses the ability to walk due to the injuries that he receives. In return for saving Josee from the injuries, his hope to go to Mexico slowly fades away. Cause the administration decides that they may find a better candidate in the meantime. It turns out Tsuneo was on the verge of losing his dream that he had already guaranteed to have achieved. That was when Tsuneo realized the gravity of losing the freedom to walk(Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review). The inability to function in his body has taken away his right to achieve his dream. The perspective that Tsuneo had before he was injured versus when he was injured was different from his vision. He did not truly understand how Josee felt until he was in her's shoes where Josee was when it came to physical body control.

Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review (Message)

One can find the film's lesson by comparing Tsuneo's life before being injured versus being injured. The anime teaches us that placing yourself in another's perspective is the only way to understand how the other feels. Because simply understanding someone without thinking from their perspective or viewing it from their eyes is hypocritic. To define sympathy but rather an excuse that is nowhere close to being authentic. There is a plot highlight in Tsuneo getting injured. It implies that Tsuneo is viewing things from the perspective of Josee. It allows Tsuneo to understand what Josee felt. He was trying to figure out the complications going through his mind.

I liked another thing about this anime film. It is that it tries to show the audience about being selfless. It is common for people to be selfish. People are born selfish, and people act selfishly in different ways. They want to be successful over others and would often put themselves before others. Cause they feel that their success is more important than someone else's success or well-being. It is partially true because you do not often gain anything from someone else's success unless you are part of that success. However, the point is not about being successful over others but not always being selfish. If one tries to be selfless, it requires devotion, mental confrontation, and the will to care for another.

The Freedom Josee wants

In the film, we see Josee crossing the road after she has a small argument with Tsuneo. After seeing an oncoming car and Josee's wheelchair stuck along the road, Tsuneo forgets about everything in his mind and pushes Josee to safety while risking himself with the car accident(Josee the Tiger and the Fish Review). Fortunately, the accident of Tsuneo does not end up taking his life. Yet he is injured and loses the ability to walk. The courage that Tsuneo had to take before deciding to save Jose was applaudable. He did not contemplate whether he should save Josee or not. His instinct made him quickly decide what he needed to do. Something about it brought to my mind a thought. It is that not many people in our reality would commit to doing such actions. Cause there is a chance of life risk. But that does not mean people have not done so in real life. The moral is that being selfless requires courage, and you need to be able to care for people in the world other than yourself. People need others to survive because no one yearns to be lonely. Communities are what make people strong. Being selfless may require bravery. But the film teaches you never to be afraid to care for someone else. Putting others over yourself should be the mentality that you should live with. That does not mean you have to do it, but by possessing that mentality, you can live for a better future.

This film was on my watchlist for a long time, and I finally completed it. It is these simple moments and experiences that keep me going. Watching and reflecting on the morals and messages these creations give are the elixirs that keep me going in real life. If you haven't watched this film and still completed reading my blog, I should salute you for your fearsome attitude and for not being worried about spoilers. Yes, it is still watchable. There is more to it than this little blog post. So go and give the film a try. My journey with Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish ends here. But it starts a journey for self-realization that may influence my life too.