Author: LIAR/Anitama Cover Source: The movie "The Young Lady Is a SchoolBoy!" 》
"The young lady is a schoolboy! It is a popular children's literature that released 20 volumes and sold more than 3 million copies between 2003 and 2013, and its TV version ended on September 22, and the theatrical version was officially released in Japan on September 21. In June 2018, it was selected for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and the animation received high praise when it was officially released.
The supervisor of this work is the painting supervisor of Ghibli works such as "The Hidden Spirit of Spirited Away", the original painting Takasaka Hitaro, and his directing of "Eggplant and Andalusian Summer" and "Eggplant Migratory Bird with Suitcase" also has a very high quality, "The Young Lady is a SchoolBoy!" " is a supervision work by Shotaro Takasaka for 11 years, and it is his first theatrical work. The script was written by Reiko Yoshida of The Cat's Reward, Leeds and the Blue Bird, and The Maiden and the Chariot.
Unlike the ANIMATed TV version, the theatrical version compresses the 20 volumes of the original work into one, and adds original chapters that are not in the original work, and stuffs content that can be enjoyed by both men, women and children. Before the theatrical release, Anime! Anime!, dmenu interviewed Mr. Kitaro Takasaka and asked about the charm of the game, its differences from the original, and other production secrets.
As we all know, Shotaro Takasaka is a full-fledged bicycle enthusiast, and the encounter with the original work is also strongly recommended by the same bicycle enthusiast Gu Dong, who is the president of the animation studio DLE, DLE is also one of the production companies of this work, and when planning, Gu Dong hopes to hand over this work to Takasaka.
Takasaka thought that he had almost no connection with children's literature, not to mention that this was still a work for little girls, which was a bit repulsive at first, but after picking up the original work, he was deeply attracted by the world view of the original work, and lamented that it was "worthy of being a best-selling work". The first volume of the original work has all kinds of wonderful ideas, "it is possible to stuff all these elements in one work", and Takasaka was also impressed by the original work.
The most attractive thing about Takasaka is the background of the hotel as the stage, and in such an essential "hotel management" theme, it is cleverly stuffed with fantasy elements such as ghosts, and the dialogue between the play and the personality of the traveler is also very interesting, and it can make people cry from time to time. Such a subject matter is rare today, and the depictions in the book that only a little girl can embody are particularly fresh to Takasaka. There are also many dialogues that adults can't do, and standing in the position of elementary school students can transcend this boundary, and Takasaka has also developed a strong interest in such clever dialogue.
When it came time to adapt the original into an anime, Takasaka naturally thought it would be a good fit for a TV anime. At that time, Gu Dong said to Takasaka, "TV is going to do it, and I support it over there." The film is also going to be done, but I'm going to ask you to supervise it. "Since you want to make a theatrical version, where should you start and what kind of configuration you will adopt, which is also what Gu Dong wants to see." After hearing Gu Dong's words, Takasaka began to suffer. The original work has 20 volumes, and how these chapters should be selected to string together the whole story, and finally Takasaka decided to focus on the most subtle part of the original work, that is, the growth of the heroine, and the performance of the growth from the beginning of volume 1 to the beginning of volume 20 was combined into a coherent work.
The original rarely involves the important element of "double death of parents", which is mainly due to the consideration of the age group of the readers it is facing, and as a theatrical version of the work, a movie, its object layer is much larger than the original work, and there are many children who watched the original work are now grown up, so Takasaka decided to use this element as the entry point of the movie, and to overcome the death of the parents into the protagonist Koori's growth story.
When it comes to the charm of the original, it is the great responsibility of the innocent little weaving. How to put the painful past of the death of both parents into the play, the balance between this is extremely difficult to grasp. At the test screening, Takasaka was worried about whether some readers of the original work would ask, "This look and feel is too different from the original work, right?" The protest, sparing himself the almost "undebilitating impression of the original" sound he heard. Takasaka also laughed at himself, maybe all he heard was polite words, after all, he couldn't say bad things in front of his own people.
Takasaka said that the adaptation of the TV series should be more faithful, after all, the charm of the first chapter in the original work can only be expressed through the form of the TV series, and as a movie, it can only focus on the growth of this point. To write a good growth story of Xiao Weaving, it is necessary to pay attention to the relationship between Xiao Weaving and other people. Visible to the naked eye is the change of the environment, as She left the familiar metropolis and came to the hot spring town in the countryside to express her growth through the eyes of the shop's customers, grandmothers and other bystanders.
In terms of character design, Takasaka said that it was mainly to restore the original illustrations of Yasami. But after all, it has been 15 years since the original work, and Yasami's style of painting is constantly changing, so the style of animation will be as close as possible to the style of the second half of the original work. Although the stage has maintained the hot spring street of the past, the era has been changed to modern in order to cater to today's audience. For example, taxis and cars driving in the hot spring street have been changed to electric vehicles, and the sound of engines cannot be heard, and of course, exhaust pipes cannot be seen. There is also a hidden setting, this hot spring street has achieved self-sufficiency to some extent, with geothermal power generation, and can also grow vegetables and livestock on the mountain plateau. Therefore, hot springs were established as a sightseeing resource.
This hot spring street was based on Arima Onsen in Reijo-sensei's original work, and Takasaka also went to Arima Onsen to take materials. However, it was found that the exact same prototype could not be found there except for the terrain. After all, the original setting is actually near Izu, and the Arima Onsen is based on the fact that you can see the sea there.
"Harunomiya" is also a prototype in reality, and is a hotel with a long history in Kyoto, Miyamaso. The young lady there is good at tea ceremony, and her body is amazing, and she is even more meticulous to the guests. Takasaka went to the store to collect materials at that time, but unfortunately, due to the rush of time, he could not stay there for one night, and returned to Tokyo on the same day. When they returned, the lady gave them gifts herself, and they were packed in small bags according to equal parts. Takasaka also noticed that when she sprinkled water, she also tied the laces one by one in order not to let the water splash them.
Takasaka also heard that the inn had also received high praise from Miyazaki. Miyazaki took Pixar's John Lasseter to the hotel with him when filming "The Wind Rises." Because Lasseter is not used to sitting cross-legged, he also straightens his feet when eating, at which time the hostess gave him a towel to cover, which touched Lasseter. Takasaka, who had heard about this, also felt that it was necessary to go there.
In addition, there is a hotel in the Noto Peninsula that is known as the "First Hospitality", where the hostess has written several books. In the play, the yin meal for Kanda Akio (*Meals for those who stay behind in order to pray for the safety of those who travel) is based on the book written by the lady boss.
When drafting the composition, Takasaka was also very concerned about some details, such as not stepping on the edge of the tatami mat, entering the room, not facing the recess with the hips, and not greeting guests. In addition, the tatami mats in front of the recess cannot be at right angles to each other. Since you can't face the guests during the ceremony, when The first time Koori salutes the guests in the play, the seller will say to her, "Get out!" In order not to step on the edge of the tatami mat, the policy adopted in the play is to walk 3 steps horizontally and 5 to 6 steps vertically.
In painting kimonos, Takasaka said that he had painted a lot during "The Wind Rises", so he got used to it, but the sleeves were still difficult to draw. For example, when rolling up the sleeves, the folding method of the hem (hem), because the position and body shape of the waist are different, the folding method is also different, sometimes it will make the waist look too long, etc., in short, it is particularly difficult for painting.
Speaking of Miyazaki, in fact, the "Eggplant and Andalusian Summer" was also Miyazaki himself handed the original manga to Kitaro Takasaka, "You read it, and when you're done, come and help me!" That's what made him feel like making animations. Although Miyazaki is Takasaka's benefactor, he is also a negative teacher in Takasaka's eyes.
When doing "Eggplant" and The Summer of Andalusia, Takasaka's title was written as the "first disciple" of Miyazaki's supervision, and Takasaka himself responded that there was no such thing, and I was not the "first disciple" at all. Takasaka explained that Studio Ghibli does not have an apprenticeship system, and that Ghibli is essentially a company that makes films for Miyazaki, so Miyazaki is the "king" of Ghibli.
Miyazaki said, "Listen to some people's opinions and then make a film", in fact, there are very few people who can give him advice. "After all, everyone is too scared to open their mouths."
"Miyazaki said yes, but he thought it was inappropriate, although he would take the initiative to say 'welcome everyone to refute', but he will definitely ask you, 'Then you have a better idea'." This scared everyone. Even if it is 'if you don't have a good idea, let's take a stand', there are still too few people who can speak in front of him. ”
Finally, Takasaka believes that the world today is in a period of great turning. It is precisely because the world changes so quickly that it is only relieved to see a traditional work like this one. In addition, the characters led by Koori have completely followed the style of the original work, which is very cute, and I hope that everyone will be able to notice the activity of Koori that can only be expressed by animation when watching.
<h5>[References].</h5>
Anime! Anime!: Is the model of "Wakao-okami is an elementary school student!", a ryokan "Spring Shop", introduced by Director Hayao Miyazaki? Director Kitaro Takasaka reveals the secret story of production
dmenu movie: Is Hayao Miyazaki a teacher on the other hand? Director Takasaka's first new film in 15 years released
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