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Juzo, a simple tailor, has made a must-win bet: Upon coming to Edo,
he plans to bed the famous and notorious courtesan Komurasaki upon their
first meeting. It's only later that his master Yonosuke tells him
Komurasaki won't just meet anybody, and even if so, she doesn't go to bed
with every man who's willing to pay her - and Yonosuke should know, he has
a history of bedding prostitutes, both male and female, all over the
country. Now that's bad news for Juzo, a bit of a simpleton, because
nothing less than his manhood is at stake in the bet. Yonosuke feels pity
witht he guy and promises to accompany him to Edo, to at least give him a
chance to meet Komurasaki, so he doesn't lose face along with his manhood
... but what do you know, Juzo actually manages to bed Komurasaki upon
their first meeting. Yonosuke is puzzled and feels almost a bit
insulted, because even he wasn't allowed to have sex with Komurasaki until
their third meeting - until the courtesan sets his mind at ease: she has
known about the wager, and she just doesn't like the man who has thought
he had set Juzo up - so she saw to it that Juzo won the bet as only she
could ... Ok, the story of this film is so feeble it would only
support about 15 minutes of screentime, not 50+, and there is virtually no
character development here ... and yet, The Sensualist is a
fascinating piece of animated cinema, basically because it's incredibly
stylish, but not in a CGI-improved flashy sort of way, but by replicating
the look of Japanese art of the Edo period, which gives the whole thing a
dream-like atmosphere and almost iconic quality. Add to this a pacing that
allows the mood to properly develop, and the story's erotic undercurrents
to keep one interested beyond the mere visuals, and you have a pretty
interesting piece of film.
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