Tōma no Shinzō

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Tōma no shinzō


caption = Cover of the second volume of "Tōma no shinzō".
ja_kanji = トーマの心臓
ja_romaji =
genre = shonen-aiInfobox animanga/Manga
title = Tōma no shinzō
author = Moto Hagio
publisher = Shōgakukan
publisher_en =
publisher_other =
magazine =
first = 1974
last =
volumes =
chapter_list =
demographic = shoujoInfobox animanga/Manga
title = The Visitor
author = Moto Hagio
publisher =
publisher_en =
publisher_other =
magazine =
first =
last =
volumes =
chapter_list =
demographic = Infobox animanga/Movie
live_action = yes
title = Summer Vacation 1999
director = Kaneko Shusuke
producer =
writer =
music =
studio =
licensor =
released = 26 March 1988
runtime = 90 minInfobox animanga/Other
title = Theatre
content = Staged by the group Studio Live.

nihongo|Tōma no Shinzō|トーマの心臓| "The Heart of Thomas" or "Thomas' Heart" is a shoujo manga by Moto Hagio published in 1974. It is an early example of shonen-ai.

Plot

Set in an early 20th century all boys boarding school, possibly German. A boy named Thomas commits suicide, and he writes a letter to Juli, who Thomas has an unrequited love for. A transfer student named Eric, arrives, who looks just like Thomas. Eventually Juli comes to terms with his feelings and becomes a priest.

Characters

*Thomas Werner is a thirteen year old boy, he commits suicide at the beginning of the story, leaving a letter for Juli.
*Juli Julusmore is older than Thomas. He in fact loved Thomas, but as he had been sexually abused by his upperclassmen, he believed himself unworthy of love and pushed Thomas away.
*Eric a transfer student to the school who looks like Thomas.

Development

Although Hagio had previously been exposed to the gay lifestyle magazine "Barazoku", Hagio was inspired by "Les amitiés particulières" to begin The Heart of Thomas as a work for her own enjoyment, and soon afterwards wrote "November Gymnasium" as a work to be published. At one point, Hagio considered making the protagonists girls, and drew a few scenes in a sketchbook, but decided that the boys version was "smoother" and less "giggly".Thorn, Matt (2005) [http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/hagio_interview.htm The Moto Hagio Interview] "The Comics Journal 269]

Themes

In an interview, Hagio said that she felt the theme might be "When does a person learn love? When does one awake to love?"

Prequel

A prequel manga was written called "The Visitor" (訪問者).

Film

The film "Summer Vacation 1999" (1999年の夏休み) (released in 1988) was based on The Heart of Thomas, and the parts were played by girls as breeches roles, using male speech. The character in the film analogous to Thomas was renamed Yuu, and the analogue to Eric was renamed Kaoru, a gender-neutral name. The film was subsequently novelised. [Welker, James (2006) "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: "Boys' Love" as Girls' Love in Shōjo Manga" "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society" 31 (3): 851. doi|10.1086/498987]

tage

Studio Life, a Japanese all-male theatre troupe suggested, in approximately 1995, that they stage a production of The Heart of Thomas. As of 2005, it had been staged twice.

Reception

Matt Thorn considers The Heart of Thomas to be about a "spiritual or mental love", and that Hagio's later work "A Savage God Reigns" is the "adult version" of The Heart of Thomas.

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094595/ Summer Vacation 1999] at IMDB.com
* [http://www.shusuke-kaneko.com/f_graphy/filmography/1999sum.html Summer Vacation 1999 Official Website]
* [http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=QD88275X9NNC8HHREPCJ3DSLD3UDAQ44&ID=1217 Two Japanese Variants of the Absolute Transvestite Film]
* [http://www.studio-life.com/stage/toma/index.html Studio Life's Heart of Thomas page]