27 August

Constructing Anime Data Archive

Talks with TheLilacWoods on The Last Unicorn Cels

The Last Unicorn will unmistakably play a tremendously significant role for building a new cultural bridge between America and Japan. TheLilacWoods, an admirer of Peter S. Beagle and enthusiastic cel collector of the anime, sent me an interesting message. As I think her comments and questions are so nice for other supporters of the work to make their comprehension sound, and the questions many other cel collectors will raise may give splendid encouragement for the staff of Topcraft providing their comments on their ingenious workmanship, I decided it would be best to share our exchanged mails and call for collaborators to our scheduled project.
I ask everyone to contribute to our enterprise sending their data equipped with their own personal comments and questions on the cels together with other materials they have collected, in order to build up a web archive of The Last Unicorn, because I believe, true value of artistic works should be acquired through personal exchange of subjective opinions. That forms the ground of my theory on the meaning construction attained by cosmically developed consciousness, which is reflected in the fantasy work through the mysterious working of magic.

A message from TheLilacWoods
こんにちは！私の名前はKaylianaです。私は日本語を話さず、アメリカに住んでいるのでGoogle Translateを使っています。私が言うことが翻訳者のために紛らわしいならば、私は謝罪します。私は小さな女の子の頃から、ラストユニコーンの小説とアニメーションを愛しています。 私は現在、米国でGeekify Inc.を介して正式に認可されたラストユニコーン商品を少量制作するのを手伝っています。私はまた、本やビニールレコードなどの珍しい記念品から35mmフィルムやプロダクションセルまで、たくさんのものを集めています。 Amazon Japanで本を見ました。ラストユニコーンについて書いたと思います。『アメリカの傑作ファンタジー「最後のユニコーン」の知られざる真価』。 私の夫と私はラストユニコーンと日本の両方に非常に熱心です。私たちは数年以内にその国に引っ越すことを計画しているので、私はその言語を学ぶことに取り組んでいます。日本語を読んで翻訳する練習をするのを楽しみにしています。日本のスタジオが映画をアニメ化して以来、私はその映画が日本語に翻訳されなかったことをとても悲しんでいます。 私は個人的にはこの映画に関してできるだけ多く保存するために一生懸命働いています。私は現在、The Last Unicornに関する公式作品と、ぬいぐるみ、アートワーク、彫刻などのファンの作った美しい作品の両方で構成された自分のコレクションをカタログ化しています。 私はあなたが投稿したすべての絵コンテやセル、記念品に非常に感銘を受けました！私はあなたがこの美しい物語に関してどれだけの仕事をしているかを大いに尊重し、そして賞賛します。私たちが日本に引っ越しをしたとき、私はあなたに会い、あなたの保存されたアイテムのコレクションを見ることができるかもしれないことを願っています!!!!


My answer to TheLilacWoods
Thank you for a very interesting mail. I am glad to be able to have contact with an enthusiastic lover of Peter S. Beagle. It is very nice to hear you are trying to learn Japanese. I have taken up several anime shows in my lectures for the discussion of philosophical and psychological subjects in fictional works. And now I am planning to construct a series of teaching plan to lecture Japanese for English-speaking students through various subtitled anime works. I will very gladly help you with your Japanese study if proper occasion can be accommodated. Could you show me the catalog of your production, so that I may use them for better promoting Beagle’s works? I have some exhibition plans to introduce and discuss Beagle’s works in Japan. I hope we would be able to work together for furthering appreciation for the work we admire.


From TheLilacWoods
I greatly appreciate your response. I have only just begun learning Japanese with my husband. We are currently learning hiragana and katakana as well as a few beginner phrases and grammar structures. Thank you for your kind offer to help. Things are very busy here, as my husband will be graduating next spring before we begin looking into moving to Japan in a few years. Your work sounds very interesting! I think many English-speaking students would be interested. Because of my hectic schedule, I am still working on finding a way to host my gallery and documenting information about my collection. I am beginning with the cels and douga I own. I have been using a free website in America to host images, though I hope to have my own website soon if the costs are not too great. You can see 50 out of my 60 or so cels at this gallery link. I have not posted any douga yet. I would be very honored to work with you to spread joy of this beautiful piece of work to more people!
Here is the gallery link I am using at present.
https://www.deviantart.com/thelilacwoods
It is a work in progress. The cels are listed under this folder:
https://www.deviantart.com/thelilacwoods/gallery/68097700/Animation-Cels
They are in chronological order based on appearance in the film. More information about the cel and the scene it is from is available when you click the link to each picture. I will be adding more over the summer and fall. If I change websites, I will inform you.


To TheLilacWoods
Thank you for the link you sent to me. I have watched the contents of your beautiful collection of The Last Unicorn cels and have been very much impressed. Several other collectors have made access to me after I shared the information of our March exhibition and let me watch their treasures. One of the admirers of the anime even came to me from US to have a talk with me on Peter S. Beagle’s wonderful accomplishment. I wonder if all of you could share each of your collection on a synthesized platform with your comments and summarized commentary made by the staff of the production. One of the directors is very willing to give his comment as a storyboard maker. How do you like the idea?
I have been preparing some teaching plans to be practiced in America. One of them is watching comprehension and making comparative language study through anime works. Concrete details of my teaching plan at English-speaking countries are as follows.
Students are expected to submit to me materials to be examined, discussed and used for further alternative creation. Examples of good job, dubious ones, evident cases of failure are also welcome for discussion, together with requests for further explanation concerning the cultural background. Translation checks of fan sub as subculture study and writing tips, through anime viewing and paper reading on Japanese subculture will be pursued. Prearranged key topics are as below.
Where Americans fail to grasp the meaning of some anime lines
Different cultural backgrounds
The culture of tacit assumption and specialized convention of speech presentation
Peculiar expressions characteristic of Japanese language
Contrasted ways of presenting statement
Unfamiliar structure of Japanese characters and meaning construction of them
Comprehension of the metaphysical subjects in highly intelligent fictional works
Through these we will be able to cultivate various perspectives that construct fictional worlds, and grasp the psychological phase of “fictionality” as one of myriad possible worlds. If you ask me any question concerning the anime fan sub, I am much obliged, as it would contribute constructing effective material for my lecture.

From TheLilacWoods
I love the idea of many people coming together to share their collection in one place online. It is my hope that my preservation of such beautiful works will allow future generations to enjoy them. Is the director you mentioned in your last letter one who works at the school? Your coursework sounds very interesting! I have been learning a lot about Japan’s language and culture over the last few years but there are still things I do not understand and would love some insight on. I hope it is alright that I still ask these questions now. Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification if my questions are difficult to understand.
I have noticed on signs or documents in anime that some words use Hiragana, some use Katakana, and some use Kanji. As a foreigner, the mixing of three written language styles is a little confusing. Is there a general reason or rule to be able to understand when one written language should be used instead of another?
Often in anime fan subs they say someone talks in a formal manner or speaks like a feudal lord. Is there a particular dialect or manner of phrasing being used in the conversation? For example, in America we might say "thou" or "thee" for demonstrating archaic language. I am curious if there are archaic forms of Japanese words or tones being used? As a reader, I feel that I am missing audio clues particular to Japanese history. At times a character states their name and then which Kanji are used and what they mean. I cannot think of an example at the moment, I am afraid. I am very curious as to the reason they might do that or why they need to make the distinction since it seems important. In America, very few people care to know what their name means. Do meanings of names or the Kanji used to spell the names have special meaning in Japan?
When translating literally from Japanese to English, the translation can sound very basic. What are some nuances in Japanese that can be hard to translate into other languages? English writers often break the language and grammar rules in poetry or descriptive writing because they feel something sounds better than if they stick to the rules. Do Japanese writers do something like that, and if so, how?
There may be minor or major changes in dialogue or names when something is translated for a foreign audience. In Pokemon, for instance, “Saito” is changed to “Ash”. “Onigiri” was called a “donut”. I know some things simply do not translate at all into other languages. Do you feel there are times that important context is lost or that it might be disrespectful to the writer when things are changed during translations to appeal to foreign audiences?
A name might have important meaning for a character or there may be a play on words/a joke that only makes sense in the original context. For instance, in The Last Unicorn the unicorn is called “Amalthea” because it references a one-horned goat in Greek history. “Schmendrick” means “fool” and is symbolic of his character’s incompetence. If these names were drastically changed, the symbolism would be lost. These are all of my questions at this time. I have given much thought over the last few weeks when I received your message as to what I would ask. My husband is also very interested in your answers as he is majoring in Communications.


My answer to TheLilacWoods
Thank you for the very suggestive evidences you pointed out from fan sub study. I found each of them would make good starting point not only for anime study but also for comparative language/culture research. I understand all the import of your suggestions.
I have been very busy grading students’ reports. But I am now free from school chores and able to start constructing creative plans for furthering Beagle study promotion. An international cultural study organization Popular Culture Association offered our university to hold a symposium together centered on the study of Peter S. Beagle in the year 2020. But we found it is rather difficult to practice an international convention during Olympic games. We decided to postpone the event to 2022. As we have full two years for the preparation for the enterprise, I am going to submit several plans to be performed during the period in order to win academic reputation for our respected author and the animated film. One of them is constructing a web archive introducing the data that testify the process of the creation of the anime The Last Unicorn. Your questions/suggestions on fan sub translation will amplify the depth of the archive, together with your beautiful cel data of the anime. Several other cel collectors are going to assist our plan. The director is one of the staff who drew the storyboard at Topcraft. He is now free and willing to give comments to the cel data shared on the web page so that we can compile really substantive data archive. Could you give us suggestions about this plan?

Now, for the questions you submitted.

Katakana use
Usually Japanese sentences are written with Kanji and Hiragana. Katakana words are introduced to represent foreign adopted notions, such technical terms as academic, sports and art etc… But sometimes the scenario writer may use katakana for representing emphasis of the feeling of the speaker. Katakana use may be interpreted as surprise, doubt and other various feelings, but as they may be resorted to without any definite methodology, the user may not be very sure of the logical structure of the expression.
So if you try to classify katakana uses and furnish each instance with proper psychological definition to be categorized, it will make a persuasive study subject, especially when some modes are used mixed, because the writer himself might not be very conscious of the differentiation or methodological structure.

Feudal lords diction
Eager game players or anime otaku in a closed gathering sometimes adopt them, when they are assuming fictional characters. Like at cosplay events, they talk as if they were some characters from a game. The gathering itself is functioning as a scene of some fictional setting where archaic speech is common. Some kind of tacit assumption must be built in these cases. For a novice new to the society, these backgrounds are difficult nuts to crack whether he/she is a foreigner or a native Japanese. We have many class-differentiating dictions as Japan has a long history. The mode of speech alone may represent the speaker’s class, job, age and the relationship to the others involved in the conversation.

Kanji characters used for names
We have several different representations for writing a name. For instance, my name “Makoto” may be written as “誠”, “真” or “真琴”. The kanji character “誠” represents “honesty”, while “真” represents “truth”, and “真琴” is a girl’s name meaning “true lute”. As there is no determined rule for the application of kanji characters or even for creating a new name, some might choose to express his name “Makoto” as “魔個斗” for instance, explaining the meaning of each character “devil”, “alone” and “fight”. One is not actually explaining the meaning of his name but telling how his name is written in kanji, like Western people try to explain how they should spell their names.

Translating delicate nuances
There may be very many instances found indicating the difficulty of translation. And you can also discover not a few ingenious examples of good translations as well. As Japanese syntax is quite different from Western languages, sometimes you have to choose different part of the sentence as subject in order to reflect the original nuance of the speech. Other necessities for the need of paraphrasing may be classified in several patterns; the conventional difference of idiomatic omission, habitual stereotype collocation and expressions reflecting different social customs or opposite backgrounds in some peculiar concept etc.
We have both highbrow kanji words and simple easy words for almost every similar object. One stands for the academic notion imported from China, and the other indicates commonly used expressions in Japanese everyday life, though these may indicate almost the same object. As you have both Latin and Greek origin words and parallel common words indicating almost the same thing, as found in the examples like “canine” and “dog”, sometimes the problem how to reflect in translation the contrasted nuances of long-term rigidity and easy familiar expression will be a challenge to a translator.

Intentional grammar breaking
Good example of grammar breaking may be exemplified in a famous popular song Ozashiki Kouta, in the phrase shown below.

富士の高嶺に降る雪も、京都先斗町に降る雪も
雪に変わりがないじゃなし、とけて流れりゃみな同じ

The snow falling on the crest of Mt. Fuji, and the snow falling in Kyoto Ponto-town.
It’s not there’s no difference. All the same when melt and running

It actually must go “雪に変わりがあるじゃなし”, if they mean “there’s no difference”. This psychological instance may apply to French use of “ne”, in its rule breaking diction.

J'ai peur qu'il (ne) soit en retard.

Many Japanese people will often say.

雨が降らないうちに出かけなくちゃ。
We have to go before it does not rain.

As we have no subjunctive mood in our grammar structure, Japanese people tend to use negative in place of indicative mood. Walter de la Mare developed this kind of naïve speech in order to express “matter of truth” instead of rigidly following “matter of fact” logical description, while Edgar Allan Poe sought for the disruption of logical reasoning itself attaining meta-manipulation of language. Peter S. Beagle must have learned this technique after Poe and other classic authors. Nowadays some Japanese anime try to attain this kind of metaphysical goal through their storytelling itself, where even more ambitious enterprise surpassing grammar breaking is attempted.

Name changes in translation
This occurs in many instances translating the name of goods. When we were not familiar with “tissue paper” some sixty years ago, it had been very difficult to translate the word. Translators had to be very careful replacing foodstuff and cooking recipe names. In one typical instance in novelist Dazai’s story “Anymore Human”, Japanese recipe “mitsumame” was translated into “pudding”, in order to describe the poor state of the household, “the ingredient of the menu were not specifiable, some of them were poor substitutes”. You can detect many other interesting instances in fan sub and game translation.

Character’s names and their background
The name Amalthea must reminds of “cornucopia”, while Schmendrick is a Yiddish form for Schlemiel, which naturally reminds of Peter Schlemiel, the eternal wanderer in the story Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte written by Chamisso. You can detect deep bearing with the motif of shadow through these character names. Very interestingly in this case it is not very decisive to comprehend the full scope of the meaning construction of the work, whether you are a native English speaker or not. It all depends on the liberal attainment of the reader. But you have to take uttermost care when you have to change names in your translation. That’s why I didn’t like the idea to translate The Last Unicorn (there had been an offer), because I was not able to find a good Japanese word fitting for the word “old”, very often introduced in the original work. Instead I decided to make an annotation book of the celebrated novel.

Please try to gather concrete instances from anime, when effectively compiled and properly analyzed they will make persuasive research achievement on various fields of academic study.


From TheLilacWoods
I have taken quite some time to read over what you have sent me. I apologize for the length of this response. I feel greatly honored to have met you, as you are a wonderful teacher. The answers to my many questions were very helpful and easy to understand! While I am still very new to learning Japanese, I did take a few French classes... Understanding how some phrasing/grammar is equivalent to using the French "ne" really is helpful. I found all your answers giving me much to think about and absorb.
I am especially grateful to your explanation about Kanji and "meanings" when people are spelling their names. In English, we might clarify when spelling our names by using a word that starts with the letter. In my name, there is an 'n' which can be misheard as 'm' so I may spell my name and say 'n, as in NANCY'. Since there are so many ways to spell a name with Kanji, as you pointed out with your own name, it makes sense you would wish to clarify which Kanji should be used. All of your answers will be very useful as I continue to learn the language. It is incredibly valuable to have someone who speaks the native language explain these things!
The plans for the symposium in 2022 are very intriguing! I am glad to hear other cel collectors will also contribute. I will think very hard on any suggestions for the archive. An archive that functions in both English and Japanese would be wonderful, since I know many English speakers would also be interested in viewing such a resource.
I will be watching more anime with a notepad in order to write questions down as I think of them so that I can give specific references and questions. When I have a few more, I will contact you again with them.
I did not realize the connections you had with the director and storyboard animators. This is very exciting to me! I have wanted to ask so many questions that are difficult to find answers to in America regarding the creation of the film. I do not know what all you have compiled already as I have yet to be able to read your work on The Last Unicorn so I apologize if you have already done what I am suggesting.
I would love a section on the archive that talks about the history of Topcraft Studio and the people who worked on the film. For instance, there is often confusion in America on which artist did certain character concepts (whether it was Hidemi Kubo or Tsuguyuki Kubo) because the signatures are only "KUBO". Conflicting information is found on the internet due to the confusion. It is also hard to find information on the background artists who painted such lovely scenes like the Unicorn's lilac woods and the tapestry.
Biography pages of the team members who worked on various aspects of the animation along with specific examples linking or showing their role on the film could be very beneficial. If they would be so inclined, perhaps a short video documentary/interview could be added to the page?
When I first got into collecting cels, I realized there was so much more to the process than I ever believed. Perhaps the archive could showcase the transition from conceptualization to the finalization of scanning the movie for film? Character concepts, storyboards, genga/douga, cel painting, etc. Information about those steps in creation for the film would be lovely additions. I know that Peter Beagle has given a great deal of interviews about the book and film, which could be compiled and added to various pages where they would benefit.
It was fascinating to learn that you had decided not to transcribe the book due to issues such as the word ‘old’ being difficult to properly convey in Japanese. Do you believe it would be difficult to translate the film into Japanese for the same reasons? After all we have discussed so far with translations in anime, I am curious what your thoughts are on the matter.
I have thought for a great many years what a shame it is that it was never voiced by a Japanese team and would love to see that eventually transpire. I wonder if ITV Studios would be willing to find a way to make this happen if they knew there was interest. I will continue to give thought to this and pass on any suggestions I have, whether they end up being viable or not.
I am greatly interested in hearing the results of the symposium when it is held in 2022. How I wish I could meet the director and artists in person!
I did not get a chance to say so before, but I was raised by my paternal grandmother who acted as my mother until she unfortunately passed away when I was only 9 years old. She discovered The Last Unicorn on VHS tape in a grocery store and bought it for me to watch. Unicorns were her favorite creature and we watched the film together many times. I would not discover it was a book until I got my first job in a bookstore and found it by pure accident while stocking the shelves.
I am so very passionate about preserving this wonderful film both for the incredible story and artwork as well as in honor of my grandmother and those happy times we shared in my youth. Thank you for all your hard work preserving the film and sharing its joys with others, I am so glad to have met someone else who shares my enthusiasm!


My answer to TheLilacWoods
Thank you for nice suggestions for augmenting the scope of our web archive. Your concrete requests will make persuasive clue for enriching the comments on the cels and other materials. I have been trying to compile various research materials for some while in order to have the film issued in Japan. But it seems we have to exert a little more endeavor before everyone in Japan gets interested in the work and demand the publication of Japanese voiced edition.
I have already translated the scenario of the anime The Last Unicorn and published it together with an argument on the shadow motif of the work under below title.

A study of the animated film The Last Unicorn
https://www.amazon.co.jp/研究-アニメーション-Last-Unicorn-黒田/dp/443416399X/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_ja_JP=カタカナ&keywords=アニメ+the+last+unicorn&qid=1566100421&s=gateway&sr=8-1

The argument on the shadow motif part can be read by the link below
Shadow Motive in The Last Unicorn: Metaphysical Visual Expression Adopted in an Animation Film
https://www.academia.edu/7902902/Shadow_Motive_in_The_Last_Unicorn_Metaphysical_Visual_Expression_Adopted_in_an_Animation_Film

Concerning the role Topcraft accomplished in the making of the anime and some other details, I have compiled a data book containing scenario, storyboard and other relating materials, which is now available as e-book by Amazon Kindle.

『最後のユニコーン』の知られざる真価 アメリカの傑作ファンタジー
Unacknowledged Virtue of The Last Unicorn
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B07WJ64CNQ?ref=dbs_p2d_P_R_popup_yes_alc_T1

We are now trying to construct a web archive in order to complement and augment the value of those data most effectively. I hope your contribution will furnish superb attainment.
I am preparing for several other projects that would successfully promote our enterprise, one of which is a workshop plan to be practiced together with English speaking native teachers, on the translation of the anime Re:creators. I attach the teaching plan and the text for the course as I hope you will be interested in them. And I would like to include your messages in the data to be submitted to the school, since they will most eloquently explain what we are intending to do. May I share our exchange mails so that people will be able to comprehend the scope of the enterprise we pursue? I wish you took the role of co-promoter of our scheduled symposium.


From TheLilacWoods
I appreciate the links to various compilations you have written and I look forward to reading them soon. I believe they will prove very enlightening and it will help me understand what questions you have already answered through your research. I will read the PDF and download the e-book versions that I can so I can access them more quickly.
I hope that efforts to get The Last Unicorn recognized by the people of Japan will be successful. I believe that it is a film that plays a very unique role in both Japanese and American cultures. It was the very first Japanese animation I ever watched, though I did not know it, since it is a Rankin-Bass production. When I became older and began looking into the history of the film I was surprised to learn it was animated by a Japanese studio (Topcraft). Considering the connection between Topcraft and Ghibli studios I think it should be considered a treasured work of art culturally.
I am glad that you have translated the film. I worried it would be difficult after our last conversation when you told me about the difficulty in translating the book.
I am definitely interested in reading the teaching plan for the workshop! I think it sounds like a very interesting program. I will include my personal email address at the end of this conversation; it is the best way to reach me.
Please feel free to use anything we have discussed in helping promote conversation and promotion of the archive and symposium. I am very grateful to be included in any capacity and am dedicated completely to help however I can to achieve our mutual goals.