Sora no Kikou ~The sky of the longing for memories~

Early this autumn, my friend from Japan brought me back several items, the one presented in this entry is Sora no Kikou ~The sky of the longing for memories~, featuring digital backgrounds by the studio CoMix Wave. The book is a 175 page softcover, the majority of which are images, which I find uncommon for most fanbooks. The pages are smaller than your standard letter/A4 meaning the images are a small, and knowing the level of detail in Makoto Shinkai’s work I think these images could be spectacularly crisp even if enlarged 4× the size. Inside you will find hundreds of backgrounds from Byousoku 5 Centimeter (5 Centimetres per Second), Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days), Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star), and a TV advertisement for the newspaper “Shinano Mainichi Shumbun”.

In addition to the backgrounds, there is a section about the software and technique behind CoMix Wave’s animation, which based on my very limited Japanese seems to talk about the key features of the software they use at various stages of production. There is also a lengthy (Japanese) interview with Makoto and other key members of his studio.

Aside from the special sections, all the work presented are direct cutscenes from the animation or the background renderings, minimizing the presence of any characters. Unlike my Clannad or Spirited Away artbooks, there are no sketches, hand paintings, storyboards or other evidence of development. Nevertheless, it is still a beautiful resource for fans of animation and digital artwork, it is simply amazing how much vividness and emotion Makoto can put in a drawing of a pencil and eraser or a high-rise construction crane.

Again, I don’t want to damage the book’s spine nor do I have a worthy scanner, so I have uploaded another photo-gallery. Apologies for the inconsistent images, I was struggling to find a good method of holding the book open. For your convenience, a batch download is available (just the images below, not the entire book):

• Sora no Kikou ~The sky of the longing for memories~ Photos (7.75 MB RAR archive)

Hardcover, 244 pages.

My second artbook review will be for Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. This book was a nice grab from amazon.ca, $25 shipping included (I added it to my friend’s order so she could get the free shipping quota). Compared to my Clannad Visual Fan Book it’s not as in-depth, but there are a lot of early development sketches, rough line art and unedited watercolour backgrounds which I was really looking forwards to, especially for a production from Mr. Hayao Miyazaki. There’s a certain beauty that is expressed through draft-quality hand-drawn watercolour paintings, I expect Ponyo on a Cliff is following through with that logic.Because this book is in English I can understand all of the captions, however there isn’t nearly as much text as the Clannad Visual Fan Book.

“Most people panic and collapse while shouting, “It can’t be true.” Those people will be erased or eaten up in the situation in which Chihiro finds herself. In fact, Chihiro’s being strong enough not to be eaten up is just what makes her a heroine. She is a heroine not because she is beautiful or because she possesses a unique mind. This is the key characteristic of this work.”

Unfortunately my scanner can’t handle this book so I can only give photographs of the pages. There are high-quality scans of individual images out there but I wanted to show it with all the context. If you like, you can download the entire collection of images shown below (only the images below, not the entire book)

• Spirited Away Artbook Photos (54.59 MB RAR archive)

A show with this depth to it doesn’t come from nothing. Especially being a novel adaptation, there are a lot of references to external literary works which serve as a template of themes and ideas to mold the show towards. I’m no historian or poet or cultural anthropologist so there’s no way for me to verify this information, but I would still like to share what I have gathered as ancient Japanese literacy seems to have been quite important in guiding this show.

Rokkasen

六歌仙 Eng. the best Waka poets lit. six great poets

The Rokkasen was a title given to six Waka poets. They were the six primary contributors to the Kokin Wakashuu (古今和歌集 alt. Kokinshuu古今集), the first volume of a 10th century Heian Imperial anthology of Waka poetry. The laureates are as follows, listed in the order mentioned by Yuzuki Kanako.

• Sojo Henjo (僧正遍昭), a Buddhist monk.
• Bunya no Yasuhide (文屋康秀)
• Kisen Houshi (喜撰法師), also a Buddhist monk.
• Ono no Komachi (小野小町) is the only female laureate of the Rokkasen. She is often referred to in other literatures as a symbol of fleeting beauty and romance.
• Outomo Kuronushi (大友黒主)
• Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平), an aristocrat. He has been associated as the hero and possible the author of The Tales of Ise, a collection of poems about themes including the coming of age, joys and sorrows of travelling, and lost loves and romance. It is also speculated that he was the primary source of inspiration for The Tale of Genji which is subjectively referred to as the first novel. The themes in The Tale of Genji are very Elizabethan; it is about the ascent of a young boy to emperor, his forbidden relationships and the cost of having such relationships on his imperial life. The novel is written under a Buddhist doctrine, showing the vain significance of life through its impermanence and fragility.

Waka (和歌)

Waka is a genre of Japanese poetry. It became stagnated prior to the Heian period due to the popularity of Chinese-styled kanshi (漢詩) but was revived and became widespread after Japan disassociated from the Tang dynasty. Waka verses are phrased to 5-syllable and 7-syllable sentences, typically alternating between the two and ending with two 7-syllable lines.

Tennin Gosui

天人五衰 Eng. The Decay of the Angel lit. Five Death Omens of an Angel

Tennin Gosui was the last installation of Yukio Mishima’s Sea of Fertility tetralogy, soon after its completion he committed ritual suicide. The novel is about a man who raises a young boy he believes is a reincarnation of an old schoolfriend. The boy is kept oblivious to this matter until four years later the man’s companion explains this matter to him. In an attempt to fulfill the prophecy the boy attempts suicide, but succeeds only in blinding himself. In a later conversation, the man finds out that others have completely forgotten his old schoolfriend and questions his own existence.

Knowing the background of the literature mentioned in the show gives a good sense of the direction Mouryou no Hako is headed. I will leave you to make your own conclusions about the significance of these works for now, and I expect myself to revisit these works quite often as the show progresses. If you have any corrections or sources for additional information about these literary works, please let me know.