One of Osamu Tezuka's most adult and sexually charged works, Barbara (1973-74) was originally serialized as a follow-up to Ayako (1972-73) in Big Comic from July 1973 to May 1974. Originally thought not possible to be made into a live-action film, it was and now Third Window Films are releasing it on Blu-Ray.
Barbara is an adult-orientated fantasy tale filled with love and the occult from Osamu Tezuka's reimagining of The Tales of Hoffmann. Its story deals with the erotic and bizarre experiences of a famous and troubled novelist called Yosuke Mikura whose life is tossed upside down by a mysterious girl named Barbara as he discovers she has some kind of power over him and he can create
A controversial story, recently published in English, French, Spanish, and German about various subjects classed as taboo such as forbidden love, scandal, eros, and occultism was said to be cinematized at the time that this was originally published, but creator Osamu Tezuka's son Macoto Tezka made it into a live-action movie for the 90th anniversary of his father's birth. It's truly a fascinating watch and a must-see for Asian movie fans.
The region-free Blu-Ray has a behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes, alternate ending, and interviews as the extras which are really good too.
Certainly worth checking out, and an interesting introduction to Asian Adult movies.
Tezuka's Barbara is rated 18 and available as a Blu-Ray /DVD combo on 28th June.