《Mokon-san's Garden》 My Cell Animation Industry Works Memo: Events 11 - "Yosei-o (Fairy King)" 1988

Since the original author is Ryoko Yamagishi, a legendary figure among shojo manga artists, and this was the first anime adaptation of her work, I was quite nervous.

By some coincidence, before I was assigned to this project, I had already read all four volumes of the Kadokawa Shoten edition of "Yosei-o" that were available at the time.

Since it was impossible to fit all four volumes of the original work into the OVA's runtime of just under 60 minutes, I decided to focus the theme on "trust." Furthermore, Tomoko Konparu brilliantly wrote the script, structuring it so that the minimum necessary characters and episodes aligned with the original theme connected naturally.

The opening scene establishes this theme. This quiet scene also serves to present the atmosphere of the story to the audience in advance, using a piano piece by Yuriko Nakamura.
Because the lines in the original work are delicate and detailed, I felt that excessive movement would actually detract from the style, so I intentionally restrained the characters' movements and acting. Only Puck was treated with normal movement, as he is a character whose atmosphere isn't ruined by it.

The secret lies in the precision of the storyboard. When I finished drawing my rough storyboard, I felt that my own drawings wouldn't be enough to emphasize the imagery, so I asked my friend Yoshinobu Inano to clean up the storyboard. Since Inano-san can also serve as an animation director and can draw character designs and illustrations, I asked him, and he produced a wonderful storyboard. Inano-san said it was "hard work," but this storyboard made the distinction between stillness and motion, as well as the use of illustration-style still shots, concrete.

I was thinking about the music from the very beginning. At the time, a new wave of 1980s New Music was arriving, and I was listening to a lot of nature-oriented music, like the solo piano of George Winston from Windham Hill Records.

Thinking that the beauty of the melodies and the expansion of the imagery would suit "Yosei-o," I had scenes from the original work copied and collaged, and then filmed. During the meeting to decide on the music, I had them watch this rush reel, and when I played background music by George Winston, Patrick Moraz, Yanni, and others, music producer Tomiyo Hiruta suggested Yuriko Nakamura and let me listen to a sample. That is how we decided on Yuriko Nakamura.

Yuriko Nakamura performs by taking requests from the audience during live shows and improvising short pieces based on the imagery of those requests. I think that for "Yosei-o," it became an album that can be enjoyed on its own, rather than just as an image soundtrack album.

However, since the pieces composed by Nakamura-san alone were not enough for the work, and there were scenes that didn't fit with solo piano alone, I had Norihiro Tsuru provide the background music. I had a desire to keep the music as light as possible throughout. To preserve the transparency of the original work, I was conscious of creating a calm screen by keeping the background colors and character tones subdued, so I had the background music varied with acoustic guitar, violin, orchestration, and more to match the screen.

I borrowed illustrations by Yamagishi-sensei related to "Yosei-o" as a reference for the imagery during still shots. Thinking it would be a waste to just look at them for reference, I had them filmed using camera work and shooting techniques like middle O.L. (overlap) dissolves, based on the theme song for the Fairy King that had already been completed. This was film that wouldn't be used in the main feature, but on the final day of dubbing, President Maruyama remembered this film and suggested adding it at the end as a bonus. Since the song had already been decided, we edited it on the spot, and when we previewed it with the music, we received applause from Maruyama-san, the sound director, Nakamura-san, Tsuru-san, and the sound staff.

Actually, these borrowed illustrations were the originals, so I was very careful about storing them. It would have been a problem if they were stolen or damaged, so I was relieved when I was able to return them after filming. The original drawings are indeed delicate and have wonderful colors.

The original author, Ryoko Yamagishi, also attended the first preview of "Yosei-o." Yamagishi-sensei arrived in a kimono, and the elegant, calm color scheme suited her perfectly. It is a pity that she had to leave immediately after the preview due to a busy schedule, so we couldn't talk.

After this first preview, there was an opinion in "ASUKA," published by Kadokawa Shoten, from several female manga artists who attended the "Yosei-o" preview that this bonus was a must-see.
Although it was an OVA, "Yosei-o" was also released in theaters as a short film for a limited time.

・Tokyo Area
December 6 - December 12, Nakano Musashino Hall

・Osaka Area
December 10 -
December 16
Sennichi Kaikan

(I wrote the liner notes that came with the first LD.)

※LD Jacket

※This is a scan of the pamphlet.

※This article is a record based on my personal experience in the cel animation industry. I hope you will view it as a historical document from that time. Personal names are written in their real forms based on the circumstances of the time. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who was involved.

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