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thefinalcinderella · 5 years ago

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Tsurune Fanbook Interview w/ Director Yamamura Takuya

Someone from this post requested that I translate an interview, so I decided to do the first one with the director.

Please tell us how you felt when you were chosen as the director for “Tsurune”.

I was surprised when I was told that I would be Tsurune’s director. However, since kyudo is also a new genre for me, I thought that I would try by all means. I read the original novel, and kyudo terminology was explained in great detail, so I began by understanding all of that, but I was confronted by the difficulty of kyudo. “I don’t understand it at all…” I thought. (laughs)

Were there any parts that you studied yourself?

I studied a lot. I went to the library to search for old reference books, but the more I learned, the more I realized what a profound sport it was. Afterwards, I went online to try looking up real-life high school kyudo and other things like that, and got to know the students’ everyday language and the details of their practices. As a result, there were even more confusing parts instead. The differences between the kyudo schools and the practice methods are different depending on the high school…(laughs). I heard from the author of the original novels, Ayano Kotoko-sensei, that a single school was referenced in the novels, so I matched to that. When I read the novel, I learned that kyudo had two sides to it, “martial art” and “sport,” so I puzzled over how to show it to make that easy to understand.

I especially felt the impression that the depiction of kyudo was very carefully done.

That is largely due to speaking with members of the staff who have done kyudo. I would go to ask them to the point of annoyance for every single episode. Even so, when it was checking time, there would be mistakes. The most common one was the right hand drawn gripping the arrow at the draw. The arrow is only placed on the hand, but since not all the staff members had a deep understanding, misunderstandings like that happened no matter what. In order for I myself to understand it, I looked at the high-ranking archers who were filmed for interviews and the shooting of those who do kyudo for high school extracurricular activities. For extracurricular activities, there were also people who shot in jerseys, and it was very helpful to see the movement of their feet, which is different from those who wear hakama.

It seemed that actually conducting interviews was useful.

I saw a lot of things that couldn’t be answered by or seen in books. Among the stories I heard from the interviewees, there was the story of someone who actually had target panic. Like Minato, they couldn’t get better at all and wondered if they should quit kyudo. However, they continued on with encouragement from their friends and recovered. There is an infinite variety of target panic conditions, but there are kids who made adjustments to be able to hit the target even while they had it. Also, there are also those who miss in individual competitions, but in group competitions, their hitting rates mysteriously went up, perhaps because they were shooting with teammates. Any story that couldn’t be understood unless there was a way to see it in reality was precious.

On top of animating kyudo, what other things were you careful about?

I felt it when I was reading the novel, but it takes a considerable amount of time for a complete amateur to hear the technical terms of kyudo and understand it within themselves. That’s why, as a work of animation, we’ve decided to show it all in pictures rather than explaining with words. It was the interviews that were helpful to me at that time, and I, an amateur, depicted what I saw for myself during those interviews as they were, so I think it is easy to understand even if one is new to kyudo.

As the director, what did you focus on for animating the original novel?

As expected, that will be the master-disciple relationship between Minato and Masa-san. Minato recovered from his target panic by meeting Masa-san, and Masa-san was saved by meeting Minato. I took great care with that especially. I just did not want to overdo it. The reason is that I don’t think it was related to why they won the last group competition. And so, with Minato and Masa-san’s relationship as the focal point, we carefully extracted the relationship between Minato and Seiya, as well as the ones between Minato and Ryouhei, Nanao, and Kaito, from the original work, and unified them into one series.

Were there any parts that were hard to put in the script?

The spiritual part of kyudo is important, but if we describe too much of it, then we won’t be able to convey the appeal of the sport of kyudo itself. That was difficult, and the script meetings were rough going. In terms of results, the series composer, Yokote-san, skillfully representing the spiritual parts that are tied to kyudo through the words of Tommy-sensei and Masa-san.

Please tell us what you paid attention to during the process of creating the characters.

Simplicity and persuasion are important in creating characters. Kyudo is said to be a gentle sport, and there are no enemies. You face yourself, think by yourself, and shoot your bow. I wanted to depict this gentle world. We took care to convey it from pictures. However, we precisely and firmly decided on the aspects that needed to be decided. I discussed with the staff many times about precisely differentiating the depiction of “stillness” and “movement.” Also, the silhouettes of the characters were very important. Minato and the others had just ascended to high school from middle school, so their bodies are slender and dainty. That’s why they were designed to have some immaturity left in them, even though they have the height and other things.

Was there anything you were specifically conscious about?

For this time, I was very careful about the expressions. I especially fussed over Masa-san’s expressions, since he becomes a completely different person just by widening his pupils a little bit. Also, I was careful about his slightly mellow and graceful expressions and the shape of his jaw, since it becomes no good if they were even slightly off. Also, I asked that the characters as a whole have strong, purposeful eyes, but actually, the size of the highlights in Minato’s eyes change little by little when watching from the first episode. The transformation from the Minato who lost sight of himself to the Minato who became OK and held confidence in himself was expressed even in there.

How about the five boys of the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club? First, please tell us about Minato. It was hard to depict Minato. I thought very deeply about what I wanted to do with him. For that reason, after considering him suffering from target panic and tasting failure and thus becoming obstinate and making that point the main focal point, as well as taking into account the atmosphere of the novel, I decided to make him a character who could convey his feelings properly by himself. By strengthening the impression of him being a high school boy, I could settle myself down with a thump.

How about Seiya?

I had the impression that he is a boy at risk. I understood why when I considered the reason in the novel, and my chest tightened a lot when I was reading it. The anime is different from the novel, as it went in the direction of rescuing his identity. In Episode 10, I wanted Seiya to recover himself with the words “Because you were there for me, Seiya” from Minato. I wanted him to do kyudo with the feeling that he was fine as he was. However, perhaps Seiya would be saved in the true sense of the part of the original sin further in the future.

How about Ryouhei?

I envisioned a character who overflowed with the energy to draw everyone to him. In the second half, there are many occasions where characters like Seiya and Nanao stood out, but Ryouhei’s cheerfulness, that was shown in various places, helps me as a director and helps the story.

How about Nanao?

I really admired him, thinking, “You’re amazing, Nanao.” He is quite mature. If Seiya is a child covered in the skin of an adult, then Nanao is an adult wearing the skin of a “shallow and flighty boy.” The presence of him who strikes at the heart of a matter is indispensable for a work.

How about Kaito?

Looking at the work from Minato’s perspective, Kaito might seem like he is playing an unpopular, obstinate role. However, from Kaito’s point of view, he doesn’t know Minato’s circumstances, and he is actually the kind of fluffy and delicate guy who quickly changes the things he says. If Minato in the first episode had said at the information session that “I want to do kyudo even if I have target panic!”, I think he’d probably say, “You’re pretty passionate…do it.” (laughs). Actually, at the information session, he was unable to just watch Minato being in a bind, and helped him for himself by lending him an arrow.

Minato’s childhood friend, Shuu, also left a strong impression.

For Shuu, Minato is his “bow friend.” In Episode 13’s flashback, he was measuring the distance between him and Minato when he first met him, but when Minato told him, “I just wanted to see your face before I go home,” he acknowledged him as his friend. The scene of Shuu’s back at that time is the image of a light named Minato shining into Shuu’s narrow and confined world.

Seiya and Shuu’s relationship is also interesting.

It might be easy to misunderstand, but Shuu does not actually dislike Seiya. He acknowledges Seiya’s skill as an archer. That’s because Seiya was chosen as a regular right after he started at Kirisaki Middle School. His ability can be said to be a cut above the rest. However, Shuu felt it was regrettable that Seiya’s natural ability was smouldering due to his attachment to Minato. That’s why his “You don’t love kyudo” line that he said bluntly in Episode 8 seemed like a harsh scene, but was actually Shuu sincerely conveying his thoughts in his own way. But because there weren’t enough words, it was interpreted in that kind of way. That’s just how important kyudo is to Shuu.

The music is very memorable. What sort of orders did you give the composer, Fuuki Harumi?

I requested that the music would give the image of “leaves dancing in the wind,” based on the novel. And so, the main theme was completed. The motif used there was also reflected in the other pieces. However, when that main theme was applied, one might realize the development of the competitions, so we carefully ordered it separately depending on the scene. For example, for the match against Kirisaki in episode 13, we drew the storyboards for only that scene and gave it to Fuuki-san beforehand. And so when I listened to the finished music, I thought, “This is incredible…” From there on, the storyboards were finely adjusted according to the music.

Did you have any difficulties on the direction side?

I had trouble with depicting the kyudo scenes. All of them end up having the same image composition. It’s a sport that fundamentally doesn’t move from the spot, and only half the face can be seen from the back. I thought that if that’s the case, then I would show it from the front, but they all ended up becoming similar images… Therefore, for the kyudo scenes, I tried to show the differences with composition tricks that could only be done with animation. I think that episode 13 could not be drawn unless you went to conduct real-life research and interviews.

Please tell us your favorite scenes.

Of course all of them are my favorite, but if I have to be specific, it would be Minato and Masa-san’s scenes in the early parts, the scene when Shuu first appears, and when Kaito says he wants to make his bow turn. Also, perhaps Seiya. Seiya in episode 9 is so painful to see that I couldn’t stand to watch anymore…

The female members make an impression.

At first, I was thinking about how to incorporate the female members into the work, and then I decided to put them in the roles of the level-headed and mature girls, in contrast to the still immature boys. However, there was no point in just them being there, so in inserting the depiction of the girls deepening their bonds with the boys little by little, that leads to episode 12. So, it was in episode 12 that they were completed as the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club in a true sense. This is a digression, but during the scene where Ryouhei drags Minato and Seiya to the kyudojo in episode 1, you can see the three girls in the passageway behind them. That is Seo introducing Shiragiku to Hanazawa.

Please tell us your thoughts after production is finished.

Since I’m also a first-time director, it was very difficult. However, I felt that I had properly depicted the story of Minato’s rebirth, so I have no regrets. On top of it being my first time directing a series, there were a lot of things I didn’t know, but this was the only thing I was determined to do. That is “penetrating the hearts of the audience.” All of the works that have remained in my heart so far had cut me to my heart. That’s why I think about how to penetrate the hearts of the audience everyday, and I think Tsurune is the crystallization of that.

That really is, “Struggle, youth!”

Yes. I remember using those words when I had a meeting with Fuuki Harumi-san. Before I knew it, that had become the slogan (laughs). I’ll be happy if that is also conveyed to everyone who watched the show.

Lastly, please give a message to the fans who watched Tsurune.

I just want to say how thankful I am. You are trying to get to know the work known as Tsurune that you even got this book, so I think you truly loved it. Thank you all so much for loving Tsurune!

#tsurune #tsurune fanbook

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hurt-care · 6 years ago

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Back Home

It’s a Lupin-fic drop around here today. Here’s another old favourite

Set during Prisoner of Azkaban

It was three days after his transformation and still Remus Lupin felt terrible. While he was now able to avoid some of the less pleasant parts of the full moon with the Wolfsbane Potion brewed by Snape, his body still had to undergo the transformation that rearranged his bones and organs and left him exhausted and weak. The last thing he wanted was to miss more than his allotted two days of classes recovering, so on the third day he dragged himself out of bed despite a blossoming head cold and forced himself to shower and dress.

He was used to the concerned looks of students and fellow faculty alike after the full moon, but the looks on the faces of his first class told him that he looked worse than usual.

“Are you alright, Professor?” George Weasley asked when Remus had managed to clear his throat and speak loudly enough to settle down his class of fifth years.

“A touch of cold, that's all,” Remus replied and set the class working on counter-curse spells while he wandered up and down between their desks, adjusting wand positions and correcting pronunciations while struggling not to cough on anyone.

By the time his third class of the day filed into his room, he wasn't certain he could be on his feet much longer.

“Professor Lupin?”

“I'm fine, Hermione,” he said, looking up wearily from his spot hunched over his desk. “Just a cold.”

“Err, alright...I'm sorry...I just was going to ask how long you wanted the essay to be?” she said, rocking on her heels as she looked at him with an expression of growing concern.

“Oh...um....sixteen inches I believe I set it at.”

“Is it okay if I have twenty?” she asked, holding out a long piece of parchment as several students holding markedly shorter papers behind her groaned.

“That's fine,” Remus replied, taking the parchment and adding it to the pile of assignments on his desk. He cleared his throat and spoke as loud as he could, hoping the rest of the class could hear. “If the rest of you can turn in your assignments, we'll get started.”

The rest of the class deposited their papers on his desk while Remus tended to his dripping nose with a rather well-loved plaid handkerchief.

“Err...Professor?”

He looked up from behind the shield of soft cloth to see Neville Longbottom gazing shyly at him as he held out a fresh white handkerchief.

“Um...do you want an extra? My gran always packs too many in my trunk. I'm not very good at cleaning spells so she thinks I need about a dozen more than I really do. I mean, the house elves clean them if I need so...um....anyway...”

Remus lowered his own handkerchief and smiled wanly.

“Thank you, Neville,” he said, accepting the starched white square of fabric. “That's very kind of you.”

He tucked the handkerchief into his robe pocket for inevitable future use.

“Alright, everyone,” he said, standing and holding himself steady with a tight grip on the back of his desk chair. “Apologies...my voice is a bit off today so please keep it down so everyone can hear. We're going to start out with recognizing cursed objects. If you could please turn to page....hehh...”

He paused mid-sentence, lowering his red-tinged nose into the sleeve of his robe.

Hurhh-TSGHH!

The sneeze tore out of him with a thick, throaty sound and he coughed twice afterwards to regain his voice. A quiet chorus of blessings came from the students along with a few small snickers from (Remus suspected) Draco and his friends.

“Sorry,” he said with a sniffle. “Page thirty six. Read the chapter and then we'll discuss.”

He sank back down into his desk chair and flipped through his teaching notes while the students read. With his head propped up by a hand, he barely realized he'd started to doze off until a voice piped up from amoung the students.

“Um....Professor? I think we've all finished.”

“Mhm?” Remus muttered, blinking away fatigue. “Oh...right. Sorry. Alright, who can tell me three ways to check if an object is cursed?”

How he managed to keep the class going for another hour he wasn't sure but when he finally dismissed them they filed out into the hallway chattering and laughing. Harry turned in the door long enough to give Remus a small smile before he followed Hermione and Ron out.

Remus rose, joints cracking in protest, and gathering his papers into tattered briefcase. He had forty minutes before his next class and while the idea of popping up to his quarters for a quick kip was tempting he knew if he went back to bed he'd only find it harder to go return to work. Instead he headed for the Staff lounge with his case in hand.

He was nearly there when he ran into the school matron, Poppy Pomfrey. She'd been a new staff member when he'd started at Hogwarts as a boy and had been instrumental in making the arrangements to accommodate a werewolf at the school. They'd grown close during that time and she was one of the only people he'd kept in touch with during the many years since he'd graduated. Even during the years when he went silent, sending no word of his location or doings to Dumbledore, he'd managed to send word to Poppy that he was still alive and making do.

“Hello, Professor Lupin,” she said, looking him up and down with a calm expression.

“Hello, Madam Pomfrey,” he replied. “Just headed to the Lounge for a break. Care to join me for a cuppa or do you have to get back to the Infirmary?”

“I do have to get back, and I think you ought to come along.”

“Oh, no, I think I'll just see if Minerva is around.”

“Remus Lupin,” Pomfrey said, her voice gaining an icy edge to it. “The infirmary. Now.”

He stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Madam Pomfrey,” he said with a small smile. “I appreciate the concern but I'm perfectly fine. I've got a class in forty minutes so I really must be going so I have time for tea.”

“Mister Lupin,” she said, stepping in front of him to block his path towards the Lounge. “Now.”

He felt about fourteen years old again under her piercing gaze. He exhaled, breath wheezing from his lungs in an exasperated sigh.

“Fine,” he relented. “For some potion or whatever you recommend, but I've got to be back by two.”

He followed her down to the Infirmary and stepped inside the familiar ward, heading for the third door on the left. It was one of the private rooms reserved for teachers or students with contagious ailments. It had been his usual resting place after full-moons during his school days where he could be attended by the Matron without revealing his scars and wounds to other patients.

Madam Pomfrey followed him into the room and shut the door behind her.

“Robe and shirt up and off please,” she said, taking up a quill and parchment from a pocket on the back of the door. They floated beside her, ready to record an assessment.

Remus tugged his robe up and off so he sat on the edge of the hospital bed in his trousers and button-up.

“It's just a cold,” he said hoarsely.

“Shirt up,” she repeated. “I need to hear your lungs and heart.”

He sighed and pulled the shirt up and off. If he hadn't been listening for it, it would have been easy to miss the sharp intake of breath from the Matron when she saw his pale torso marred with more than double the number of scars than he'd had when she'd last examined him. The giant puckered brown gash on his side, inflicted the first moon after James and Lily's death, stood out particularly stark against his milky skin.

Circling behind him, Madam Pomfrey inserted a small device into her ear and pressed the tip of her wand to his back.

“Breathe in as deeply as you can,” she instructed. He could practically feel her eyes boring into the jagged scar on his lower back where he'd almost impaled himself on a stair railing in a wolfish rage one Halloween almost seven years ago.

He took a deep breath, feeling his lungs crackle and wheeze in protest. It came rushing back out with a sputtering cough and Madam Pomfrey withdrew her wand quickly.

“Temperato!” she said, touching her wand briefly to his brow as she came around to face him again. A small gold ribbon floated from the end of her wand, twisting into a number Remus couldn't clearly see. The tutting sound Madam Pomfrey made when she saw it told him enough.

“I'll send word to Dumbledore that he'll need to find someone to cover your last two classes today.”

“No,” Remus said, reaching for his shirt to put it back on.

“Yes,” Pomfrey retaliated. “Don't fight me on this, Remus, please.”

In an unexpected gesture, she reached out and smoothed the hair back off his forehead. It was a touch he hadn't felt in years...not since his mother had died...not since Sirius and James and Peter had met him in the mornings after the moon...

“I'll have a house elf bring down your pyjamas and dressing gown,” she said as the quill scribbled furiously on the parchment floating at her side. “I'll get you some potions to help with the congestion and the coughing and to bring down the fever. I think your body just got a bit worn out from the transformation. Nothing to be ashamed about, Mister Lupin. Your classes will be fine. I trust you have lesson plans?”

Remus nodded, swallowing hard to bury the growing lump in his throat.

“Good,” Pomfrey said. “I'll go send for you things, then. Shouldn't be long. Get your lesson plans from your case and I'll send them along to Dumbledore to arrange.”

“It's just a cold,” he reiterated as he pulled his lesson plans from his case and handed them over. “Couldn't I just rest in my room?”

“If you wish, but I'd rather have you here to keep an eye on you for a few hours. These potions shouldn't react with the Wolfsbane but I'd rather be safe and monitor things,” Madam Pomfrey replied, giving Remus' lesson plans to a House Elf who appeared with a 'crack!' at her summons.

“Bitsy, please bring these to the Headmaster and then go to Professor Lupin's room and fetch his pyjamas and dressing gown for me, please.”

“Yes, Madam Pomfrey,” the House Elf said eagerly, taking the papers and disappearing with another loud 'crack!'

“That's settled, then,” Poppy said to Remus, taking her parchment notes and tucking them back into the pocket on the back of the door. “Get changed and into bed when Bitsy returns and I'll be in shortly with the medicines.”

Remus nodded mutely and watched her go. The House Elf reappeared only a short while later with his favourite button-up flannel pyjamas and robe in hand. He pulled the pyjamas on and settled into the single hospital cot. It was weirdly like returning home to sleep in his childhood bed, he thought as he settled into the pillows.

Madam Pomfrey returned after a few minutes with a tray of potions and smiled as she saw him tucked up in the bed.

“This is a strangely familiar sight, Mister Lupin,” she said affectionately. Remus couldn't help but smile back.

“Yes, but I've got a few more grey hairs than—ehh........”

He paused, nose crinkling in anticipation of a sneeze. He took up his handkerchief from its place on the nightstand and tucked it over his nose to catch the outburst.

Ehh-TESGHHTT! Nghh-TSGHH!

With a thick sniffle he wiped his nose and finished his thought.

“I have a few more grey hairs than the last time I was here.”

“Bless you. Me too,” Poppy replied with a laugh as she set the tray down and began dosing out the potions, handing small cups over for Remus to drink. He swallowed each dutifully, putting on a brave face despite the unpleasant tastes.

“That's a good lad,” she said, gathering the tray back up and depositing a few lozenges on the nightstand along with a decanter of water and a glass. “Get some rest, Remus.”

He slid down under the covers obediently and watched her go, shutting the door as she went.

Sleep was quick and when he woke again, it was dark outside and he was coughing harshly. Tears blurred his eyes as he hacked, doubled over in bed with his knees tucked up as his chest heaved and strained to clear. A comforting hand was on his back, guiding him up to sit and putting a glass of water to his lips. In a moment of confusion, he tried to figure out who the soothing person was...his mum? Lily? He could feel the cool hand press to his forehead as the coughs calmed and he sat, leaning against the headboard panting and wheezing.

Ghhh-TSGHHH!

His head snapped forward and he sneezed freely towards his lap with a harsh explosion.

“Bless you!” the person said, putting the hand on his back again and rubbing a small circle. “Poor lad.”

His eyes finally opened and focused. Ahh...right. Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey.

“Sorry,” he croaked.

“Hush,” she said. “Lie back down. I'll get you another dose of Cough Ease.”

She disappeared momentarily and came back with a spoonful of thick liquid. She put it to his lips and he swallowed the bitter syrup.

“Are you warm enough?” she asked, adjusting the quilts across his legs. He gazed up at her through fever-added eyes and nodded. How long had it been since someone tucked him in? Brought him medicines? His eyes were drooping closed again and just as sleep took him once more he was sure he heard her sigh softly.

The next time he woke there was a bowl of soup on the nightstand kept warm with a charmed tray. He sat up and moved the tray to his lap, eating the hearty broth slowly and feeling the warm liquid loosen the congestion in his head.

When Madam Pomfrey came in to check on him, he was blowing his nose with strained, partly productive honks. She gave him a sympathetic smile and checked to see he'd eaten his soup.

“If you'd like to return to your own bed for the night, you're welcome to,” she said, pressing that same soothing hand to his brow to check that the fever was gone. “I'll send up some more potions for you before you go to sleep.”

He considered the option but shrugged and looked at her with a boyish smile.

“Do you mind if I stay here? I don't want to take up a bed but if it's okay...”

She looked secretly pleased by his decision.

“Of course!” she said. “Stay until you're well.”

He nodded gratefully, settling back down under the quilts. As he snuggled into the pillow, he felt her hand pat his back gently like she used to when he was a boy still frightened from the transformations and in too much pain to sleep. A swell of affection spread through his limbs at the touch.

“It's nice to have you back, dear,” she said as she moved to leave his room again.

He made a sound of agreement from his nest of blankets, unable to find the words to express how utterly grateful he was to be there. For so long he'd avoided visiting, fearing the castle would be too filled with the memories of his friends and forgetting that it still held people who cared for him. He nodded back to sleep filled with a feeling of love for the first time in a long, long while.

#dustyfic

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