Lord of Chaos: The Cinema of Sono Sion (2011)

Lord of Chaos: The Cinema of Sono Sion

Il signore del chaos: Il cinema di Sono Sion

In December, the 29th Torino Film Festival (TFF, 25 November – 3 December 2011) honoured Sion Sono by featuring his oeuvre in their Rapporto confidenziale(Confidential Report) section.  This annual programme aims to take note of emerging auteurs, genres, and other trends in international cinema. 

In honouring Sono, TFF describes him as an “eccentric and mesmerizing Japanese poet, novelist and director” whose works had never before been screened in Italian cinemas.   They go on to call him a “visionary” and a “provocative and dynamic filmmaker.  .  .  [who] mixes mixes psychoanalysis and Grand Guignol, melodrama and pop culture, horror and politics, serial killers and dark ladies.” (source)

In addition to presenting almost all of Sono’s films, TFF teamed up with the Italian blog Sonatine: Appunti sul cinema giapponese contemporaneo (Sonatine: Notes on contemporary Japanese cinema) to publish a book of essays and film reviews called Il signore del chaos: Il cinema di Sono Sion (Lord of Chaos: The Cinema of Sono Sion).

The book is edited by Dario Tomasiand Franco Picollo and features the writing of not only the editors but also Claudia Bertolè, Matteo Boscarol, Luca Calderini, Giacomo Calorio, Emanuela Martini, Grazia Paganelli, and Fabio Rainelli.  The cover features a photograph of the director taken at TFF.  The book includes a complete filmography with titles in Japanese/romaji/English/ Italian

For non-Italian speakers, I recommend checking out the Sonatine website using Google Translate.  As Italian sentence structure is very similar to English it is quite readable – unlike the bizarre world of Google JP to EN!!  Check out the following reviews on Sonatine:

1984   Rabu songu (Love Song)

1985   Ore wa Sono Sion da! (I Am Sono Sion!)
1986   Ai (Love)
1986   Otoko no hanamichi (Man's Flower Road) 

1988   Kessen!Joshiryō tai danshiryō (Decisive Match! Girls Dorm Against Boys Dorm)
1990   Jitensha toiki (Bicycle Sighs) 
1992   Heya (The Room)

1997   Keiko desu kedo (I Am Keiko / It's Me Keiko)
1998   Dankon - The Man (Dankon: The Man)

2000   Utsushimi (Utsushimi)

2002   Jisatsu sākuru (Suicide Club)

2005   Yume no naka e (Into a Dream)
2005   Kimyōna sākasu (Strange Circus)

2006   Hazard (Hazard)

2006   Noriko no shokutaku (Noriko's Dinner Table)

2006   Kikyū kurabu, sono go (Balloon Club).

2007   Exte (Exte: Hair Extensions)
2009   Ai no mukidashi (Love Exposure)
2009   Chanto tsutaeru (Be Sure to Share), 2009

2010   Tsumetai nettaigyo (Cold Fish)

2011   Koi no tsumi (Guilty of Romance)

2011   Himizu (Himizu)

Catherine Munroe Hotes 2012 

Departures (おくりびと, 2008)

In the modern world we have become quite estranged from the natural process of death.  When my grandmother was growing up in rural Ontario death was accepted part of life and bodies were laid out on the dining room table to be cleaned and dressed before being laid in a simple coffin in the living room for visitation.  Today, when loved ones die strangers take care of preparing the body for funeral services.  People who work in funeral services are often stigmatized for it, as was revealed on the US program The Bachelor when a beautiful young funeral director vied for the prize.

In Japan, the stigma is even greater because of the history of people who worked with the dead being ostracized as burakumin(untouchables).  The descendants of the burakumin are still the victims of oppression in Japan and people who work with the dead still risk being stigmatized in their community as “unclean.”  Yōjirō Takita’s Oscar-winning film Departures(おくりびと, 2008) tenderly explores this issue with the tale of Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a young cellist who suddenly loses his job in a Tokyo orchestra.  He decides to return to his home town in Yamagata prefecture with the support of his wife Mika (Ryōko Hirosue) to look for work.

Soon after their arrival, Kobayashi answers an advertisement in the newspaper for a company looking for someone to assist with “tabi” (旅) which he interprets as “travel”.  However, the “travel” that is meant in the ad is not to do with a physical journey but a spiritual one and Kobayashi finds himself employed as the apprentice of a man called Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) who ceremonially prepares the dead for their journey into the next life.

Okuribito Sheet Music for Piano and Cello

The pay for this work is generous so Kobayashi gives it the old college try, but it takes some getting used to and his emotional turmoil is amplified by the fact that he is afraid to tell his wife the truth about what his new job entails.  It turns out that Kobayashi is an ideal candidate for the job because he understands what it means to suffer loss.  His father walked out on his family when he was six and he missed the funeral of his mother two years earlier because he was too busy to return home.  The film follows Kobayashi’s acceptance of his new work as his vocation with warmth and depth and his story is bolstered by cleverly written subplots concerning his lost father, the family that runs the local bath house, and Kobayashi’s co-workers. 

Okuribito Original Soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi

Cinematically, the film does not really stand out from the crowd, which is why it was such a shock to many that it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film over the Israeli animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008).  In terms of subject matter, it was very brave of the filmmakers to take on the taboo subject of preparing bodies for death.  The strong storyline and superb acting is complemented by the glorious location shooting in Sakata, Yamagata.  If I were still living in Japan I would be immediately planning a getaway to the region for some hill walking. I am also quite partial to the violoncello and the score by Joe Hisaishi is beautifully written and performed (available from cdjapan).

I watched the German DVD release of this film Nokan: Die Kunst des Ausklangs which has a 16 minute interview with Takita as an extra.

The DVD is also available in the US, the UK, and elsewhere.

Paradise Kiss (パラダイス・キス, 2011)

Things have been quiet here on Nishikata Film the past couple of weeks because I have been ill.  When I am under the weather and sofa-bound, I turn to what for me is the movie equivalent of chicken noodle soup: romantic melodramas.  2011 has been so jam-packed for me with work that I have not had the free time to indulge in the guilty pleasures of a cheesy romantic drama.

First on my list was the live action adaptation of Ai Yazawa’s popular manga series Paradise Kiss (パラダイス・キス, 1999-2003).  I am a huge fan of Yazawa and have been suffering from withdrawal since she abruptly stopped writing her Nana (2000 – hopefully ongoing) manga series in 2009 due to illness.  Paradise Kiss is a standalone sequel / spin off of Yazawa’s Neighbourhood Story (1995-8).  The manga tells the story of a high school student called Yukari who gets discovered by some fashion students who want her to model the designs of their studio "Paradise Kiss" at their school's end of year fashion show.  Yukari is torn between her desire to give modelling a go and pleasing her mother, who puts a lot of pressure on her to succeed academically and go on to a good university.

Like Nana, the fashion in the manga is influenced by British punk, Vivienne Westwood, and the Harajuku alternative fashion scene.  The character of George Koizumi, for example, is based on the character of Brian Slade as played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the film Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998).  In addition to the avant-guard look of the manga, the central character has a strong coming-of-age storyline.  Yukari (called Caroline by the Paradise Kiss fashionistas) does not yet know who she is as a person or what she really wants to do with her life and she is struggling not only with the intense pressure her mother puts on her, but is also having to deal with confusing feelings of sexual desire for the charismatic fashion designer George Koizumi.  The manga also has a very strong supporting cast of characters with their own subplots – Isabella, a transgender woman and childhood friend of George, and the love triangle between childhood friends Miwako (whose sister was the central character in Neighbourhood Story), Arashi, and Hiroyuki.

The live action feature film Paradise Kiss (パラダイス・キス, 2011) is adapted from the manga by Kenji Bando and directed by Takehiko Shinjo.  Shinjo is known for directing romantic TV dramas and sentimental feature films like Heavenly Forest (ただ、君を愛してる, 2006) and I Give My First Love to You (僕の初恋をキミに捧ぐ, 2009).  To put it plainly: Shinjo has basically given the story a TV-dorama makeover that guts the original story of its edginess.

To begin with, the feature film is woefully miscast.  In the manga, Yukari/Caroline is taller and more sophisticated than most girls her age and really stands out in a crowd.  While she is undoubtedly a beautiful young woman, actress Keiko Kitagawa is of average height.  Ordinarily, height would not be much of an issue except that Yukari’s height and body type are the reasons why Arashi picks her out of the crowd in the opening scene of the manga.  Kitagawa’s average height might not have stood out so much if it weren’t for the fact that Miwako, played by Aya Omasa, towers over her.  Miwako is meant to be a petite “kawaii” girly girl – so tiny in the manga and anime as to be doll-like.  Also miscast is Osamu Mukai who is much too sweet to play the charming but predatory George Koizumi.    

I knew I was going to be deeply disappointed right from the opening credits, which seemed more like an advertisement for nail polish than the engaging, up-tempo montage opening of the anime.  The music throughout is simpering J-pop ballads, which pale in contrast to the funky up-tempo music of the anime adaptation (IE Tomoko Kawase’s “Lonely in Gorgeous” and Franz Ferdinand’s “Do You Want To”).  I am no fashion expert, but the clothes looked more mainstream than avant-garde – instead of hiring Vivienne Westwood to design the costumes (which would have been a lovely tribute to Ai Yazawa), the clothes seemed calculatedly selected with an eye to fashion magazine and store tie-ins. 

Now I know that practically speaking the limitations of time for a feature film meant that much of the subplots had to be excised.  Even the TV anime adaptation with its 12 episodes found itself scrambling to fit everything in towards the end.  However, the substantial cuts to the subplots in the feature film meant that all the supporting cast were rendered one-dimensional.  Isabella’s gender identity only gets passing references – there is no depth to her relationship with George.  Speaking of which, George’s sexuality is much less ambiguous than in the manga/anime.  Even worse, Arashi comes off as a creeper and Miwako as promiscuous.  

What made Yukari special in the original manga was the fact that her story was messy and complicated.  Her friends also led messy and complicated lives.  There were no simple answers to problems and her romantic feelings towards George and Hiro-kun were confused – just as it is in real life.  By over simplifying Yukari’s story, the filmmakers have just turned it into over-polished Disneyesque schlock for teenaged girls.  I don’t mind a fluffy sentimental romance now and then, but Paradise Kissshould have been more Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink (John Hughes, 1986) and less Sandra Dee circa late 1950s.  This "happy ending" version of Paradise Kiss may have been enough to please the target audience of the film (IE adolescent girls), but to fans of the original manga it is simply lacking. 

Cast

Keiko Kitagawa as Yukari 'Caroline' Hayasaka

Osamu Mukai as Jōji 'George' Koizumi

Yusuke Yamamoto as Hiroyuki Tokumori            

Shunji Igarashi as Isabella

Kento Kaku as Arashi Nagase                   

Aya Omasa as Miwako Sakurada            

Natsuki Kato as Kaori Asō           

Hitomi Takahashi as Yukino Koizumi      

Shigemitsu Ogi as Joichi Nikaido

Michiko Hada as Yasuko Hayasaka

Available from cdjapan:

Paradise Kiss [Regular Edition]

Paradise Kiss Premium Edition [Limited Edition]

Coffee Break (コーヒー・ブレイク, 1977)

Coffee falls into the stomach … ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop … the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters, similes arise, the paper is covered with ink …

-          Honoré de Balzac (オノレ・ド・バルザック, 1799-1850)

Mornings are the most productive time for me.  I usually wake with a fresh perspective on whatever project I am working on and as soon as the kids are off to school, I begin to write.  By mid-morning; however, my brain clouds over and things that seemed so clear when I first woke jumble together and lose focus.  The remedy to this situation is coffee.  Coffee has the remarkable ability to bring order to the chaos of the mind, and to stimulate the imagination when one’s imagination is ready to curl up and take a catnap.

Taku Furukawa encapsulates the ability of coffee to inspire a weary mind in his 1977 animated short Coffee Break (コーヒー・ブレイク).  In the film, a man sits working busily away at his desk – typing into his typewriter, comically scratching his behind, talking on the phone, having a smoke, leafing through a book.  It is a minimalistic line drawing scene with just the man and his desk and door drawn in thin black lines on white paper.  The man - likely a caricature of the animator himself - then makes himself a cup of coffee and as the cup approaches his mouth we hear the sound of a countdown to a rocket launch.  As the coffee pours into the man’s mouth, the screen explodes into a colourful multi-layered image of food floating in the air like debris in outer space.  The floating objects transform from food into animals, then into vehicles, buildings, and people until the sound of the rocket ship is replaced by the wail of an electronic guitar that brings home the nirvana of the experience of drinking a good cuppa Java.

In just three short minutes, Coffee Breakdemonstrates all the qualities that make Furukawa such a genius of his craft: his ability to transform a simple concept into a thought-provoking work of art, his playful nature, and his limitless imagination.  Earlier this year, in celebration of Furukawa’s 70^thbirthday, two of his former students, Tomoyoshi Joko and Hiroco Ichinose, created an homage to Coffee Break entitled Coffee Tadaiku (コーヒータダイク, 2011).  The newly married animation team of Joko and Ichinose studied animation under Furukawa at Tokyo Polytechnic University and work under the name Decovocal – a name that was suggested to them by Furukawa (see JMAF 2010 Symposia Report). 

Joko and Ichinose emulate Furukawa in their use of simple line drawing animation to create highly imaginative works.  Coffee Tadaiku mimics the original Coffee Break right down to the style of the opening credits.  “Tadaiku” refers to Furukawa’s given name Furukawa Tadaiku 古川肇郁 – a name which only appears in the credits of his mentor Yoji Kuri’s films.  When the international version of Kuri's Au Fou! (殺人狂時代) was released in 1967, Furukawa’s given name was shortened to just one kanji 古川肇 in the credits and by the time he left Kuri’s studio he had adopted his katakana nickname  古川タクas his official nom de plume.

In this updated version of Coffee Break, Furukawa is depicted typing away at a computer instead of a typewriter – but he still pauses comically to scratch his bottom.  Joko and Ichinose then depict a series of images that they associate with their sensei: a bespectacled Furukawa working with a pencil on an animation table, Furukawa as a baseball fan enthusiastically watching the game on a tablet computer, filing his nails at his desk, watching one of his wind-up toys on the floor (Furukawa is a collector of White Knob wind-up toys), and so on.  Instead of a closed door, Coffee Tadaiku features an open door to a staircase with a small dog quietly sitting in front of it.  When the caricature of Furukawa drinks the coffee, the scene explodes into a sky full of floating objects associated with celebration: cake / champagne / red snapper / onigiri / flowers.  The electric guitar comes in much sooner in this tribute to the animation master ushering in an image of Furukawa drinking coffee as the numbers 7 and 0 float around him followed by Happy Birthday wishes.  


A brilliant tribute for a brilliant animator. 

Watch it for yourself on Youtube.

Coffee Break appears on Takun Films (1998) which can be ordered from Anido.

Catherine Munroe Hotes 2011

TAKU BODA (タクボーダ/Nice to See You Re-Mix, 2009)

 One of Taku Furukawa’s most admirable qualities is his enthusiasm for playing with technologies both old and new.  His Annecy Special Jury Award-winning film Phenakistiscope (1975) brought the 19^th century optical amusement into the 20^thcentury and he was one of the first alternative animators to experiment with computer animation with his films Mac the Movie (1985) and Play Jazz (1987).

TAKU BODA (タクボーダ/Nice to See You Re-Mix, 2009) combines the animation genius of Taku Furukawa with the technical wizardry of video game producer and CG animator Noriyuki Boda.  It is a remake of Nice To See You (1975), a wonderful little abstract film that Furukawa made on 16mm.   TAKU BODA starts and ends with the original film which was almost monochrome – just black and green – and had no soundtrack.  The re-mix flips the original film on its head by injecting colour, lively music, and three dimensional CG movement.  The shapes and movement of the original film are placed onto the sides of cubes which roll across a grey on white grid.  The animation is as visually engaging as the accompanying music, with lots of variety of patterns and shape size. 

Nice To See You conveyed a message about how we interpret images; that sometimes we need to change our perspective to see the bigger picture.  A similar message is conveyed by TAKU BODA, but with the added caveat that great art is created not just through exploring the world from different perspectives, but also from being open to new methods and tools.  There are few films that blend old and new animation practices with such harmony as TAKU BODA.

TAKU BODA appears on Takun Films 2, a new release by Anido Films.  The original version of Nice to See You appears on Takun Films 1.  Do encourage Anido to release more gems of Japanese indie animation by shopping in their online shop.

Catherine Munroe Hotes 2011

Masaaki Yuasa at Japan Media Arts Festival Dortmund, Part IV

Film Talk with Masaaki Yuasa at Japan Media Arts Festival Dortmund
Dortmunder U, September 11, 2011

Part I: Masaaki Yuasa at Japan Media Arts Festival Dortmund

Part II: Masaaki Yuasa at Japan Media Arts Festival Dortmund

Part III: Masaaki Yuasa on Kaiba and working for Madhouse

Part IV: Morimoto, Mind Game and more

Noiseman Sound Insect (音響生命体ノイズマン, Kōji Morimoto, 1998)

This 16-minute animated short was the first time that Masaaki Yuasa collaborated with Kōji Morimoto whom Yuasa calls a “free thinking director.” He was called by Morimoto himself – which shocked Yuasa because he is such a star in the animation world [having worked on such animated classics as Tomorrow’s Joe 2 (あしたのジョー2, Toshio Takeuchi, 1980-81) and  Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (アキラ, 1988) before directing his own films].

Morimoto told Yuasa that  he wanted to work with him. Yuasa laughingly said that Morimoto later realized that he had had something quite different in mind than what Yuasa ended up giving him – though that was not  necessarily bad thing. It was during the making of Noiseman that Morimoto showed Yuasa Robin Nishi’s manga Mind Game. Yuasa said that through working together Morimoto and Yuasa realized that they are very different from each other. He again laughed and said that it really wasn’t until they went out drinking together that they realized that they had a few things in common. Though they may have artistic differences, Yuasa spoke earnestly of his deep admiration for Morimoto.

Mind Game

It took a long time to complete Mind Game. The storyboards themselves took at least 8 months and animating it took about 2 years. The project started off small with only 3 to 4 people involved. Yuasa did all the storyboards himself. As production for the film got under way, more and more people joined the team.

The beginning and ending of Mind Game appear to be very similar, but the viewer should notice small differences. If they do, then Yuasa feels that he has succeeded as a director. Many criticized the film for not having a clear story, but he disagrees with this view. In contrast to TV series, which have certain story constraints, everything is allowed in films.

On commercial pressures:

Especially for TV, there is a lot of pressure for the characters to be kawaii and for the story to be easily understood. He has been criticized by financial backers for having difficult to understand storylines. At one point while making Tatami Galaxy, the financial backers wanted him to change everything and Yuasa said that he refused. When asked what effect his refusal had, he replied that they just stopped bothering him after that and they didn't fire him.

Yuasa has noticed that he often does the opposite of what others expect of him. When people ask him for something soft, he gives them something hard. When they say something should be complicated, he makes it simple. He likes for people to see his work on a big screen – they should enjoy it like a trip to Disneyland. The story should be simple but powerful.

Does Yuasa see himself as an artist?

“I am an anime person,” responded Yuasa, “I don’t really know what art is, but I find it interesting.”

TV Series vs. Films

As a kid he loved TV series, but film is different. There is more attention to detail. You watch it in the dark on the big screen. A lot of talented people come together to make an anime series and this is something Yuasa enjoys. He thinks that most people enjoy working freely and on their own. He would like to make another film at some point because he thinks he can go deeper into subject matter and be more individualistic in that medium.

As a freelancer, where does he like to do his storyboards? At the studio or at home?

Yuasa likes to go into the studio so that he can feel like he’s going to work. That being said, he actually draws everywhere: on the train, on the shinkansen, in cafés.

Is he still considered a freelancer?

He is still a freelancer and has never been anything else. There are not many permanent jobs in the anime industry; most people are freelancing from job to job. Yuasa enjoys the freedom that freelancing allows him.

What are Yuasa’s future plans?

He wants to make another film. He’s seen some scripts but he would really like to do his own original idea. Failing that, he’s quite happy to do an advertising campaign or music videos until the right project comes along.

How did the March 11th earthquake affect Yuasa and did he notice any effects on the animation industry in Tokyo?

The severity of the quake was such a shock and Yuasa thought that it would mean the studio he was working at would have to close for a short time – but all the meetings went on as usual as if nothing had happened. His producer said to him: “Even if there has been a disaster, our deadline hasn’t changed”

This event was recorded on video by a Japanese crew, so there is the possibility of it turning up online at some point. This is not a transcript of the Film Talk with Masaaki Yuasa but a writing-up of the notes that I took during the event. There are a few points that I know I missed because occasionally the simultaneous translation from Japanese into German occasionally caused my brain to go into melt down. As the conversation between Stefan Riekeles and Masaaaki Yuasa did not follow a chronological order, I have for clarity’s sake assembled my notes on Yuasa’s responses in thematically.

To see photos from this event, see my Google Plus profile or the Nishikata Eiga Facebook page.

Order works by Masaaki Yuasa:

MIND GAME (English Subtitles)

Kaiba 1 [DVD+CD]

The Tatami Galaxy Vol.1

Japanese Animation at Anifest 2011

Japanese animation will have a strong presence at the 10th annual Anifest in Teplice, the Czech Republic.  The festival runs this year from April 26th until May 1st.  The festival will feature a retrospective of the career of Shinichiro Watanabe (渡辺 信一郎, b. 1965). Screenings will include Samurai Champloo (TV anime, 2004-5), Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (2001), and the OAV collaborative anthology The Animatrix (2003).

Watanabe’s favoured composer, Yoko Kanno (菅野 よう子, b. 1964) will also be performing at the festival. In addition to Watanabe’s works she also works closely with directors like Yoshiyuki Tomino and Shoji Kawamori writing the scores for a wide variety of popular anime including Macross Plus (1994), Turn A Gundam (1999), Escaflowne: The Movie (2000), Wolf’s Rain (2003) and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002).

The festival will also be holding a special screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo (2008).

My favourite part of Anifest is the competition, which always brings out the best in world animation.  Here are the Japanese shorts competing this year, as listed in the online programme:

In a Pig’s Eye (Atsushi Wada, 2010)

A giant pig is lying in front of a single-family house. Everyone in the family knows of its existence and the pig is aware of the family's life. Yet neither can understand the way the other perceives things. The film's dreamlike atmosphere combines with the characters' bizarre behaviour.

Two Tea Two (Hiroco Ichinose, 2010)

As the alarm rings, a woman wakes up and decides to enter into her own past. Yet becoming one with one's own former self is not the right solution. Indeed, there is a whole new image. This "fluid" felt-tip drawn animation reminds viewers of a dream just before an awakening.

Omokage/Remains (Maki Satake, 2010)

Grandfather died ten years ago and left a series of photos. Travelling to the places where they were taken, the film becomes a journey through time back to childhood. This film combines the pixilation of a real-life environment with old photographs.

Kuchao/The Gum Boy (Masaki Okuda, 2010)

Kuchao is a first grader, but he is not part of anything that goes on at school. He even stands aside while others go and have fun releasing balloons. But when he starts chewing gum, he enters the world of his own imagination and his balloon changes into anything he can think of.

Tatamp (Mirai Mizue, 2010)

This abstract animation visualizes the relationship between music and different shapes. Each shape produces a tone or a tune - the louder the sound gets, the greater the individual structures grow. Here comes chaos, hand in hand with astonishing musical tunes.

Summer Days with Coo (河童のクゥと夏休み, 2007)

After more than twenty years in the anime business, Summer Days with Coo (Kappa no Coo to Natsu-yasumi, 2007) was Keiichi Hara’s break out independent animated feature. This was a bold and risky move for an animator in his mid- to late-40s who was already comfortably at the top of his career directing popular and award-winning anime for the Crayon Shin-chan franchise. The risk paid off, with Summer Days with Coo winning critical acclaim including the Grand Prize at the 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival Best Animation Film and the Mainichi Film Concours.

The central figure of the film is a creature out of Japanese folklore known as a kappa (河童). These water sprites are the size of a child and stand upright as people do but with frog, reptilian and turtle-like features. They swim well and inhabit the rivers and wetland habitats of Japan. Their most unique feature is the indentation on the top of their head which holds water and is said to be the source of their power.

The film begins in the Edo period with the young kappa protagonist Coo and his father in their wetland habitat by the banks of the Kurume River (today known as Kurome River). They have heard rumours that the swamp that they inhabit will be drained and converted into rice paddies. The kappa father decides to ask the local samurai to reconsider destroying their natural habitat. Kappa are renowned for their extreme politeness, but this does nothing to calm the nerves of the drunk and startled samurai who overreacts to the kappa's appearance and slices Coo’s father to pieces. He then goes after Coo, but an earthquake intervenes, and Coo falls into a giant crack in the earth.

The folkloric cast of Summer Days with Coo: a  zakishi-warashi, a dragon, a kappa and a kijimuna

After the opening credits, the scene shifts to modern Higashikurume where the land on which the Kappa’s swamp once stood is now a residential neighbourhood. Our adolescent hero, Kōichi, is walking home with classmates and enduring their taunting. They toss his shoe down to the banks of the river Kurome before running off. When Kōichi jumps down to retrieve the shoe, he discovers a large egg-shaped rock with what appears to be a fossil inside of it. He take it home with him to examine it, and while cleaning it the water magically brings Coo the kappa back to life.

Kōichi’s family and his dog adopt Coo – much to the chagrin of Kōichi’s younger sister Hitomi who dislikes attention being taken away from her – but they keep the kappa’s existence a secret from their community. Despite their efforts to make Coo feel welcome in their home, Coo longs for his native habitat and as it is summer vacation, Kōichi’s parents allow him to take Coo north to Iwate prefecture in search of other kappa. The trip solidifies the friendship between Kōichi and Coo, but a chance encounter with a zashiki-warashi (座敷童/座敷童子/a spirit said to live in beautifully kept old houses in Iwate) reveals that no kappa have been seen in the region for over a hundred years.

When they return to Tokyo, rumours about the kappa’s existence have begun to leak out to the press and the family becomes besieged by journalists. It soon becomes apparent that the kappa’s existence is seriously threatened by humans – even those with the best intentions. Coo faces the difficult decision of trying to co-exist with humans or to continue his search for his natural habitat and hopefully other kappa who have survived into the modern era.

In many interviews, Hara (原恵一, b. 1959) has cited Hayao Miyazaki’s work as having had an influence on his decision to go into animation. Like Miyazaki, Hara has turned to children’s literature for inspiration. The film is based on the novel The Amazing Journey of a Kappa (かっぱびっくり旅, 1980) by Masao Kogure (小暮正夫, 1939) which Hara discovered in the late 1980s. The story is the second in a trilogy of books about a kappa named Coo. The Kappa Uproar (かっぱ大さわぎ) had been published in 1978 and the final installment, Coo, Tengu, and the Great Kappa King (クウとてんぐとかっぱ大王) was published in 1985. In his spare time over the years, Hara slowly developed ideas for a possible animation project based on the material. When he seriously decided to develop the book into a screenplay more than a decade later, he met and discussed the project with Kogure and learned that this was the first time that someone had approached Kogure about animated his work. The film borrows story elements from the first and second books in the trilogy but also adds many original elements including new characters (ie Kōichi’s younger sister Hitomi and his love interest Kikuchi) which in turn adds new story elements (someone who initially dislikes Coo; someone who identifies with Coo’s status as an outsider).

The foregrounding of an environmental message and the use of the Japanese spirit world are also comparable to the feature films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, but that is where the comparisons end. Despite having a spirit as a central character in the film, Keiichi Hara uses a more realistic aesthetic than a Studio Ghibli film. The faces of the human characters are more angular and less polished, and the target audience is definitely not children. While older children would enjoy the film, it has very mature themes and I would advise that parents watch the film first before allowing their children to watch it so that they can prepare themselves for the very difficult ethical issues the film presents. In addition, there are some very brutal scenes such as the graphic murder of Coo’s father just five minutes into the film. While this may be upsetting to some viewers, Hara is not interested in sugar-coating the realities of human interactions with the natural world.

Another major difference between a Miyazaki film and this film is that the young female characters are not the heroes. The central relationship is between Coo and Kōichi. Kōichi’s younger sister is a spoiled brat for much of the film, but is depicted in a fairly realistic way for a girl of that age. The film does have positive female characters in the form of Kōichi’s mother, who becomes quite protective of Coo once she gets over her initial revulsion, and Kōichi’s love interest Kikuchi who, despite her outsider status, is a warm, intelligent, and compassionate girl.

Realistic settings including Kamaishi shore and train station - both badly hit by tsunami last month.  Clockwise from top left: Iwate, Tokyo Tower lobby, view from Tokyo Tower, Okinawa garden, Kamaishi station, Kamaishi seafront

The style of the animation in Summer Days with Coo is unique. It is not at all like Crayon Shin-Chan or any of the other mainstream anime that Hara worked on in his career. It looks like a mixture of traditional hand-drawn animation techniques, 2DGI and possibly manipulation of photographs. The rivers in particular sometimes look like photographs of real water that have been digitally enhanced or painted over – as does some of the architecture in scenes inside recognizable public places like train stations. The view Coo sees when he climbs Tokyo Tower is particularly spectacular, with much attention paid to getting the details of the architecture right.  My impression is that Hara uses whatever techniques are necessary, be they traditional or modern, to produce the kind of look he desires.

The contrast between the folkloric central character and the very real locations is fascinating. The animators have clearly travelled to these locations in order to portray them so authentically. On the journey north to Tōno, Kōichi must change trains in Shin-Hanamaki which allows Hara to bring his favourite author Kenji Miyazawa into the plot (read more about Kenji Miyazawa and anime here). Tōno also has famous associations with popular literature being the home of Kunio Yanagida, the collector of folktales of the region. Many of these tales involve the kappa, who are said to live in the stream called Kappa-buchi. I was quite moved by Kōichi taking Coo to see the sea at Kamaishi – the seashore is depicted very beautifully in the film but one cannot but help thinking of victims of the March 11 tsunami there.

The film has certainly merited the critical claim that it has received thus far. If I had any criticism for the film, it would be that the editing could have been tightened a bit. The film is quite long for an animated feature at 130 minutes and one does feel it dragging in some scenes. However, as this is Hara’s first time enjoying the freedom of working outside of a franchise anime I think he has earned the right to be a bit self indulgent with scene lengths. It has clearly been a labour of love and I enjoyed Hara’s take on folkloric creatures - some of which are rarely seen in mainstream anime.  In addition to the kappa and the zashiki-warashi, an Okinawan kijimuna (キジムナー) and a dragon flying around Tokyo Tower also make cameo appearances.

Summer Days with Coo [Blu-ray]

© Catherine Munroe Hotes 2011

Anime Adaptations of Kenji Miyazawa Stories and Poems

Night on the Galactic Railroad cameo in Summer Days With Coo (Keiichi Hara, 2007)

Kenji Miyazawa has been on my mind quite a lot of late. After watching  Isao Takahata’s adaptation of  Gauche the Cellist and hearing Keiichi Hara speak of his admiration for Miyazawa’s writing, I started seriously thinking about the relationship between Miyazawa and animation. As Ben Ettinger had written compelling about Miyazawa adaptations he enjoyed on Anipages back in 2009, I was not moved to write something myself until the weekend before last when some guests arrived at our home from Japan.

One of our guests was from Iwate and grew up near Miyazawa’s hometown of Hanamaki. As an omiyagi, Koji gave us a noren with the famous Miyazawa poem Ame ni mo Makezu (雨ニモマケズ) written on it. On the day of the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Koji was travelling south from Iwate and had a choice to make between taking the coastal route or the inland route. We are thankful that he took the inland route and thereby avoided being caught in the path of the tsunami that day. Reading it in the wake of this disaster, the poem Ame ni no Makezu (Be not defeated by the rain) reminds us that we should put others before ourselves and be empathic to the needs of others.

Our Miyazawa noren awaiting ironing and a pole on which to hang it.

With this in mind, I have written this post in honour of the people of Iwate and its sister prefectures in Tohoku. The news from Japan currently focuses almost entirely on the fears of nuclear fallout, but we should not forget that people are still suffering and in need of our assistance on the northeastern coast of Honshu. I urge my readers to give generously to the Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund, which has pledged to ensure that 100% of funds raised will go directly to organizations helping those in need. In Germany, I am supporting Nippon Connection’s efforts in raising money for Japan via the Aktion Deutschland Hilft program (Stichwort: Nippon Connection hilft.)

Update 17 April 2011:  Iwate poet's work inspires many following Great East Japan Earthquake (Asahi Shimbun) 

Iwate has inspired many writers from Basho, who wrote about the region in Oku no Hosomichi (奥の細道) to the contemporary writer Jakucho Setouchi (formerly Harumi Setouchi) who was the chief priest at Tendaji Temple from 1987 to 2005. Miyazawa is Iwate’s most famous son, and the region’s culture and landscape influenced him greatly.

There have been many films and TV specials of his work – especially around 1996 and 2006 in honour of his 100th and 110th anniversaries of his birth. Most of these are animated. There are many reasons why Miyazawa’s work lends itself well to animation. He is particularly famous for his children’s stories and children’s literature is a popular source of inspiration for animators. The poetic nature of Miyazawa’s work also pairs well with animation – particularly the fantastic elements of his stories like the talking animals in Gauche the Cellist, the surrealism of The Restaurant of Many Orders, or the train travelling through Northern Cross and the Milky Way in Night on the Galactic Railroad.

The first three films on this list of animated adaptations of Kenji Miyazawa’s work are the three best in my opinion. All three won the Noburo Ofuji Award for their innovative animation techniques. The rest of the films/OAV/TV specials are listed in no particular order.

The Restaurant of Many Orders

(注文の多い料理店, Tadanari Okamoto/Kihachiro Kawamoto, 1991)

This adaptation of the short story of the same name was Okamoto’s final project before his death. His close friend Kawamoto finished the film as a tribute. The animation was designed to resemble copperplate engraving and its look was deeply influenced by the artistry of Reiko Okuyama.

Gauche the Cellist

(セロ弾きのゴーシュ, Isao Takahata, 1983)

Image and music are beautifully interwoven in this poetic adaptation of Miyazawa’s short story. One of the great masterpieces of the Oh! Production animators. Studio Ghibli released this film on DVD in 2006 for the 110th anniversary of Miyazawa’s birth. (Read more here)

Night on the Galactic Railroad

(銀河鉄道の夜, Gisaburo Sugii, 1985)

This ingenious adaptation of Miyazawa’s novel altered the story so that the main characters are depicted at anthropomorphic cats. Esperanto is used throughout the film in a nod to Miyazawa’s interest in the language.

The Night of Taneyamagahara

(種山ヶ原の夜, Kazuo Oga, 2006)

Based on the play of the same name by Miyazawa that he wrote for his students in 1924, this was background artist Kazuo Oga’s first time working as a director. Studio Ghilbi released this adaptation on DVD in 2006 for the 110th anniversary of the author’s birth.

Gauche the Cellist (セロ弾きのゴーシュ, Yoshitsugu Tanaka, 1949)

Gauche the Cellist (セロ弾きのゴーシュ, Kenjiro Morinaga, 1953)

Gauche the Cellist (セロ弾きのゴーシュ, Matsue Jinbo, 1963)

These three are rare shorts, which are only available in archives/libraries in Japan. Tanaka is famed as an animation pioneer for his silhouette animation Perrault the Chimney Sweep. Jinbo was a pioneer of puppet animation at Gakken and she went on to produce many well-loved anime TV series in the 1980s. Pictured here is the Morinaga adapation, which may actually be a puppet drama rather than an animation. Studio Nova has posted a photograph from the making of this short film.

Miyazawa Kenji Collection - The Acorns and the Wildcat

(宮沢賢治作品集 どんぐりと山猫, Toshio Hirata, 1988)

OAV of a children’s story by Miyazawa.

Matasaburo the Wind Imp

(aka Matasaburo of the Winds, 風の又三郎, Rintaro, 1988)
 OAV of a popular story by Miyazawa. A rare treat for fans of Rintaro.

The Life of Gusko Budori

(グスコーブドリの伝記, Ryutaro Nakamura, 1994)

Yukiwatari

(雪渡り, Setsuko Shibuichi, 1994)

Oppel and the Elephant (Part II of the Three Tales)

(新しい動画 3つのはなし-オッペルと象-, Keiko Kozone, 1960)

The Three Tales is famous as being the first domestic anime televised. It is an experimental anthology with parts 1 and 3 adapted from stories by Hirosuke Hamada and Mimei Ogawa.

Kenji's Trunk (賢治のトランク, 1996)

This is an omnibus of short films that includes The Twin Stars (双子の星, Ryutaro Nakamura), The Cat's Office (猫の事務所, Hiroshi Fukutomi), The Coat of a Glacier Mouse (氷河ねずみの毛皮, Setsuko Shibuichi). The omnibus was made as part of the celebrations surrounding the 100th anniversary of Miyazawa’s birth.

Allusions to Miyazawa in anime:

Pom Poko

(平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ, Isao Takahata, 1994)

In addition to being layered with references to Japanese fairy tales and legends, there are many references to Kenji Miyazawa in this animaton. Pictured above is the famous goblins’ parade where you can see a visual allusion to Night on the Galactic Railroad in the night sky. The twin girl spirits in Pom Poko come from Miyazawa’s children’s story Twin Stars (双子の星).

Galaxy Express 999

(銀河鉄道999, Rintaro, 1981)

The steam train running through the stars in Miyazawa’s novel Night on the Galactic Railroad inspired Leiji Matsumoto to write the original manga on which this anime adaptation was based.

Spring and Chaos: The Life Story of Kenji Miyazawa

(イーハトーブ幻想〜Kenjiの春, Shoji Kawamori, 1996)

This TV anime special was produced to mark the 100th anniversary of Miyazawa’s birth. The Japanese title cites “Ihatov”, which is a famous fictional setting in Miyazawa’s books, while the North American title is derived from Miyazawa’s poetry collection Spring and Asura. Miyazawa and the other characters in the film are depicted as anthropomorphic cats in a nod to Sugii’s adapation of Night on the Galactic Railroad.

For more on many of these Miyazawa anime adaptations, head over to Anipages.

Update 17 May 2011: Recently discovered that Atsushi Wada has also done an adapation of a Miyazawa poem called Dancer of the Vermicular (蠕虫舞手, 2004).  Here's a screencap:

© Catherine Munroe Hotes 2011