Mirai no Mirai

1. That house is a baby danger course, all that level difference and stairs?

2. Hosoda need to rethink his character style if he wants to keep using 3d environments this way, it’s incredibly jarring. He favours plain untextured muted palettes for hand-drawn but goes very shiny and reflective in 3d.

3. The movie lack focus, as if it was meant to be released as 15min episodic web clips. Each episode have barely anything to do with the previous one, rarely sharing characters or plot devices, other than the one with the dog and Mirai (incidentally the two I like most). Worse it renders the whole experience very flat, yet very little individual moments to make things entertaining, I hesitant to say they ruin the build ups because there’s none to begin with.

4. Is Kun 4 or is he 6-7? The problem is he talks (in voice and mannerism) and have understanding (in his surrounding and what people tell him) like a 6-7, yet have reaction and tantrums like a 4. But he is not cute and adorable like a 4 year old would be, so I’m a lot less sympathetic to his antics and he just ends up grating.

5. The episode with the shinkansen is just … off. I’m not sure what Hosoda is aiming for here, it’s not been set up either tonally or thematically. Again it feels like this should have been an episodic release.

6. There are better ways to talk about family. Hosoda got greedy, shouldn’t have thrown every idea into the blender.

7. Given this is the movie and those promo trailers… yeah, no wonder audience wanted their money back.

8. I’m glad Mary and Witches Flower beat it at the box office, that one had a lot more fun and heart to it.

Shinkai’s biggest fan – Noritaka Kawaguchi

 

A man who could be living the life in Roppongi driving around in an open air benz. Instead he made a 15 year bet on an amateur anime director who made a 5 min anime short about a cat and its owner.

 

The anime director’s name is Shinkai Makoto.

 

And the man’s name is Noritaka Kawaguchi.

 

Shinkai’s Biggest Fan.

 

A lot of people know of Shinkai’s story. Of how a modest, humble literature graduate who might have returned home to take up the family business, decided to instead join a game company. Work at day and then on his own animations at night, the man created a 5 minute short She and Her Cat, burned the CD-R himself and sold them at Comiket and mails. It was well received and not long after he made the fateful decision to quit his job, so began his journey as an anime movie director with the one man short film Voices of a Distant Star. From there he made a few others, had a few missteps along the way, but ultimately he made Your Name.

 

As I looked more and more into Shinkai’s footsteps, I found there are plenty others who travelled with Shinkai on his incredible journey, and one man among them, is Noritaka Kawaguchi. Shinkai’s biggest believer.

 

Kawaguchi is a businessman, after graduating university he joined Itochu, one of Japan’s largest sogo shosha (kind of like investment fund conglomerate). After a few years in the company, he was assigned to work in the group’s game related business in Akiba. In 1998 he was appointed to lead the newly formed Comix Wave Inc, at a age of just 32. [1]

 

In 2001 one of the staff at Mangazoo, an associated digital publishing business that had been merged into Comix Wave the year before, heard about Shinkai as the guy who worked 5 days a week and made anime in his spare time plus burning and selling CD-Rs. Too much work for one guy. So the company reached out, offering to at least press and sell the CD-R for him. [3]

 

That was the start of the relationship between Shinkai and Comix Wave.

 

Shinkai had been concepting Voices of a Distant Star for a few months then, however there were limits to what one could do in the short time outside of work [4]. Seeing this the people from Mangazoo offered to cover the costs and encouraged Shinkai to make a go for it. [3]

 

Kawaguchi described their first meeting. (The purpose of the meeting is unclear, described as soon after Shinkai’s 28th birthday, putting it around spring of 2001. Possibly as a meeting to get commitment for Voices). Meeting at a restaurant in Harajuku, Shinkai was already sitting there when he arrived. A very polite, friendly man. [5]

 

Through the making of Voices of a Distant Star, Kawaguchi was convinced of Shinkai’s genius and begins his unwavering faith in supporting him. [6]

 

With the success of Voices of a Distant Star, Comix Wave was on board for Shinkai’s next film, The Place Promised in Our Early Days. The production was rocky and the film barely made it out the door.

 

Nevertheless, the company and Shinkai continued onward to 5 cm per second.

 

Around this time the future of Comix Wave was being reviewed. The company was almost 10 years old and options were explored as to what to do with it. In the end in 2007, a few month before the release of 5 cm per second, the company was split into 3 and bought out by the senior managements: Bulls-eye, Minori (which Shinkai would go on to make the OP for its games EF) and Comix Wave Film, which inherited the name.[7]  For his part in the management buy out, Kawaguchi financed million dollar loans in his own name, making his bet on Shinkai very much a personal one. [9]

 

(Shinkai is not a conventional director, to match neither could Kawaguchi afford to be conventional on the business side. While Shinkai’s growing success has given Comix Wave some animation studio colors, it mustn’t be forgotten that it was founded and still is, a publishing company.)

 

Unlike many of its compatriots Comix Wave controlled its own destiny and Kawaguchi was determined to forge a different path. Prior to Children who Chase Lost Voices, Comix Wave took the risk and handled both distribution of film and dvds themselves, including overseas sales, allowing them to reap a much larger share of the successes. [8]

 

The evergreen nature of Shinkai’s works gave the DVDs long tails, selling well years after release, combined with the greater share of the revenue the steady income kept Comix Wave going between releases, and the company managed to stay small and focused. Kawaguchi compared Shinkai’s works to those of Haruki Murakami, it was something people felt special and wanted something physical to connect to. [8]

 

From very early Kawaguchi had his sights set internationally, borrowing on his experience and networks from Itochu. [2] (How much he worked to expand Shinkai’s overseas audience is not clear though it’s probably intentional, working with JPF to host a workshop in the middle east then encouraging Shinkai to spend a year in England, then the interviews and collaboration with chinese anime upstarts). As early as Voices of a Distant Star, he had been evaluating the state of pirated DVDs in China and looked to make a move there when the time is mature.[12] By the time 5 cm per second came out, Shinkai had a dedicated overseas fan base and overseas sales became a vital income for Comix Wave.

 

The failure of Children who Chase Lost Voices was not just impactful for Shinkai but on Kawaguchi and Comix Wave itself. In the interview he hinted at staff tensions and more than the financial loses, it was the feeling of having let his staff down, having had them invest the golden years of their life into the film. But even if it lead to loses, he felt it was more important to be able to look back and think they put in everything and had no regrets. [8]

 

Kawaguchi had to finance additional loans in his own name to recapitalize the company and worked hard to avoid the company being in the red for a second year in order to stave off the banks. Thankfully with the help of income from overseas, they managed to recover the production cost of Lost Voices after 2 years. [6] [8]

 

Learning from the experience with Lost Voices, a different approach was taken with Garden of Words. A limited theater release combined with little to no advertising. Instead the DVD and downloads were made available at the same time on release to great success.[7] With Garden of Words, both Comix Wave and Shinkai had turned a corner. (A similar approach is being used for Shikioriori)

 

Shinkai is not the only creator at Comix Wave. There’s another handful of manga and anime creators that Comix Wave help produce and publish for, to mixed successes.[11] (Peeping Life has a decent following on Youtube, so maybe it’s doing quite okay) For now, Comix Wave still mostly revolves around Shinkai.

 

With the success of Your Name, Comix Wave has turned a new page. Kawaguchi is looking to lay the foundation for something more than just Shinkai’s supporting studio.

 

Kawaguchi saw himself as someone who could help bring changes to the industry and sought to value those who worked on the films well.

 

The box office line that Your Name needed to hit to definitely see a next time from those on the production committee was 3 billion yen. Kawaguchi thus had announced before release to the staffs that should Your Name hit 3.5 billion, there would be a round of bonuses. (In a way he jinxed himself), that number was of course broken in record time. The first round of bonuses were handed out on just 15th of September (film was released only on 26th August). The bonuses were given to not only Comix Wave staffs, while it was not possible to give a bonus to all, where possible outsiders were also rewarded for their involvements. [7]

 

Comix Wave had been a small studio, many did not even realize Comix Wave had in house production capabilities.[7] With the huge windfall and assured future revenue from continued sales and merchandising, Comix Wave has been on a recruitment spree. While some of the staffs were experienced animators, about half were fresh recruits. [9] Kawaguchi wants Comix Wave to become a place that nurtures new talents that will sustain the anime industry, with a view that fairly paid salary staffs will reflect quality in the works produced. [7]

 

However the company had been structured to support Shinkai, with a very lean staff meant to support a single anime production at a time, to train up the new recruits will take time and opportunity, something the studio did not have. Comix Wave needed a second production line. (Shikioriori presented the perfect opportunity). The collaboration with Haoliner meant finance was shouldered by the chinese side while Comix Wave dealt with the productions, and an opportunity to give its staffs much needed experience. [12]

 

(Perhaps in a few years, Comix Wave would become a place known for producing some of the best animator and artists)

 

Kawaguchi remarked that Shinkai is someone who writes even emails and schedules with such grace and poetic beauty, a man who exhibited a sparkle even in the everyday mundane. [5] He could be enjoying the life from his apartment in Roppongi, driving his open air Benz; instead he made a bet on that young man he met at the Harajuku restaurant. [8]

 

And for 15 years, the man patiently watched and worked, his faith never wavering, determined to support and nurture that talent. Now after all that Shinkai and he have achieved, he looks to give something back to the anime industry, and perhaps one day, see Shinkai walk down the red carpet. [8]

 

[1] Hear from the Spirit of the Wandering Samurai, First Half (rough translation), Itochu Facebook, 2017

[2] Hear from the Spirit of the Wandering Samurai, Latter Half (rough translation), Itochu Facebook, 2017

[3] Framing Makoto Shinkai:15 Years of Anime Art from the Director of“Your Name, Crunchyroll, 2017

[4] Youtube DVD Interview, probably from the Hoshi no Koe dvd release.

[5] Comics Star Awards Interview, Bilibili, 2015

[6] Your Name. The man who believed in Makoto Shinkai. Interview of Comix Wave Film’s Noritaka Kawaguchi (rough translation). Yahoo Japan News, 2016

[7] The decade leading up to Your Name (rough translation), Nikkei Business, 2017

[8] How will profit from Your Name be used (rough translation), Nikkei Business, 2017

[9] Frenzy! Anime Industry (rough translation), Toyokeizai, 2017

[10] All about Shinkai’s works, from CEO of Comix Wave, Talking of Anime Business (rough translation). Anime Anime Biz, 2013

[11] Interview with representative from Comix Wave (rough translation), Wakuwork 2019 Interview with Exhibiting Businesses, 2018

[12] Your Name’s Producer Kawaguchi Noritaka speak on Overseas Marketing and the issue faced by the Anime industry (rough translation), Daily Cyzo, 2018

 

Kanto Maigo – Day 9

Final day.

 

最後一天。

 

Our flight leaves at 1pm, I aim to get to Narita before 11am, either the 8.46 or 9.31 direct train from Shinbashi. Leave some time to do a final luggage check and reserve time for unforeseen issues. That leaves us an hour and a bit in the morning.

 

下午1點的班機,預計11點前到成田,搭8.46or 9.31從新橋直達車。留點時間最後確認行李和突發狀況。早上有一個多小時的時間。

 

The options was either Meiji-Jingu Outer Garden or Zoujouji, a temple with a view of Tokyo Tower not far from the hotel.

 

選項是明治神宮外苑或增上寺,離旅館不遠可看到東京鐵塔的佛寺。

 

Meiji-Jingu Outer Garden is about 7 minutes from Shinbashi, accounting for walking time it’d be about 20 minutes each way. Doable but will be cutting it close even if we left at 7am.

 

明治神宮外苑從新橋站坐車要7分鐘,考慮走路時間來回至少20分鐘。可行但就算7點出發還是有點趕。

 

Zoujouji is about 10 minutes walk, easier to control the timing. And since we had seen ginkgo leaves the day before I felt Zoujouji would be more interesting.

 

增上寺走路10分鐘,較容易掌握時間。反正昨天看過銀杏了去增上寺必較有意思。

 

For breakfast, the egg was scrambled egg with sausage wieners, fish was salt grilled fish, plus roasted potato with bacon, salisbury steak.

 

早餐的蛋換成西式炒蛋與小熱狗,魚是鹽燒魚,另外有培根烤馬鈴薯,絞肉排。

Breakfast

Breakfast


We headed out about quarter past 7.

 

大約7.15分出發。

 

Super Hotel is already outside the commercial areas of Shinbashi. From here to Zoujouji was mostly residential areas.

 

Super Hotel在新橋鬧區外,從這走到增上寺多是住宅區。

 

Along the way we passed the Prince Hotel, it had a fancy looking cafe/restaurant/bakery looking place by the roadside away from the main hotel building. Wondered if it was targeted at the guests or nearby office workers. The large car park before the hotel was mostly empty except for one or two tour buses.

 

路上經過王子飯店,遠離主飯店靠路邊有家看起來很高檔的Cafe/餐廳/烘培坊。很好奇鎖定的顧客層是住客還是附近的白領。旅館前廣闊的停車場空空的,只有一兩台遊覽車。

 

The main gate of Zouzouji was under renovation works. The two side doors were entirely boxed behind protective boards.

 

增上寺的正門在整修中。兩個側門完全包在保護木板後。

Zoujouji

Zouzouji is one of the older temples in Tokyo, though not in its current location, it was moved twice during the Edo Era then much of it burned down during WW2.

 

增上寺是東京相當有歷史的佛寺之一,不過在現在的地點沒那麼久,在江戶時期被移過兩次,之後在二戰中大部份建築在火災中被燒掉了。

Zoujouji and Tokyo Tower

Zoujouji

Zoujouji

As the family temple of the Tokugawa the temple saw periods of incredibly glory, with over 120 buildings at its peak. Even today the temple is a massive complex with several interconnected giant halls.

 

身為德川家的家族佛寺,增上寺有過輝煌的時期,全盛時期境內有120多間建築。

 

The family tomb of the Tokugawa is located here. To the north western end of the temple grounds lies 6 of the Tokugawa shoguns. We weren’t able to enter the tomb area, it’s closed off and only opens at 10 plus 500Y entrance fee.

 

德川家的家族靈廟正在此。在境內西北側,有6位德川家的將軍在靈園內安葬。這次沒機會入內,靈廟要10點才開,門票500Y。

Tokugawa family burial grounds

Along the northern edge of the temple was a long row of child Jizos statues. They wore red little hats and capes and had windmills next to them. Dedicated for the safe growth of children and memorial of unborn babies.

 

沿著佛寺北側立著長長數排小地藏。幼兒臉的地藏們頭戴紅色頭巾和披肩,一旁插著風車。為了小孩的平安成長祈福,與紀念未能出世的胎兒。

Child Jizous

Child Jizous

Behind the temple hall rose the red and white of Tokyo tower. Replaced by the Skytree its original purpose may be have been, its faux Eiffel Tower silhouette remains the spirit and romance of Tokyo.

 

在佛寺大殿後樹立的是紅白交錯的東京鐵塔。雖然當初誕生的原因被晴空塔取代了,那偽巴黎鐵塔的身影依然象徵東京的精神和浪漫。

Tokyo Tower

The hour went by strangely quickly, I had envisioned there being enough time to go to the bottom of Tokyo tower.

 

一小時過得異常快,原本還想走到東京鐵塔下的。

 

We walked back to the hotel in the same way. In the narrow streets we passed a Lawson that advertized that it baked its own bread each day.

 

循原路走回旅館。在小巷中經過一家廣告店內每天烘培新鮮麵包的Lawson。

Lawson with bakery

True enough, the place has a mini bakery with two ovens. I imagine the dough is made centrally then delivered to each store, the staff only need to put the dough into the oven each morning. It’s a good step above regular packaged bread which I would have much enjoyed over cold rice balls if only these were more common place during my trips.

 

還真的,店內有個有兩個烤箱的小烘培間。想來麵糰應該是中央廚房製作後分送,店員早上只要將麵糰放進烤箱就好了。這是個不錯的點子,比一般的包裝麵包好很多,若這種店能更普遍一點,在旅途上就能常享受新鮮麵包,不用吃冷飯糰了。

 

We got back to the hotel with plenty of time to do some last minute packing, brush up and get a last minute coffee. There is no need to check out at Super Hotel, when ready just grab the bags and walk out.

 

回到旅館後還有充足的時間做最後的打包,刷牙洗臉,然後再拿一杯早餐咖啡。在Super Hotel不用退房,準備好了拿起行李直接走就行了。

 

We hopped on the direct train from Shinbashi to Narita according to schedule. The train was a typical urban commuter with seats along the walls. Actually not much slower than the Skyliner express and much faster than the NEX, at less than half the price.

 

我們準時的搭上新橋到成田的直達車。電車是一般的通勤電車,座椅靠車廂兩側。其實每有比Skyliner特快車慢多少,還比NEX快,且只要一半的車錢。

 

There weren’t too many people in the Sunday morning, we had no problem finding seats. The train surfaced after Skytree and I chanced a glimpse before it disappeared behind the high rises. The Tokyo cityscape slowly roll past, the hour slipped by.

 

星期天一大早沒什麼人,座位很多。電車在晴空塔後爬升出隧道,在晴空塔躲入高樓後之前碰巧看到一眼。

Skytree

Vanilla Air was based in Terminal 3, the low cost airline terminal without its own railway station, one has to either walk 500m from Terminal 2 or wait for the shuttle bus.

 

香草航空在第三航廈,廉價航空專屬的航廈,沒有自己的車站,只能從第二航廈走500m過去或是等接駁車。

 

The walkway between the two terminal is painted like a sports ground runway, with several rest stops along the way with benches and vending. A lot of efforts went into making the walk interesting, changing lanes, colours, posters along the walls. The distance was barely felt, in a blink we were at the escalator leading up to the terminal.

 

兩個航廈間的走道漆得像操場跑道般,途中有數個休息區,有座椅和飲料販賣機。設計者為了讓旅客在航廈間移動時不感無趣花了不少心思,換跑道,亮麗色彩,牆上的海報。完全感受不到距離,轉眼就到另一頭上去航廈的手扶梯。

Runways

Not yet 10.30, the counter should open at 10.50, 2 hours before the flight. We were maybe 4th or 5th in line.

 

還沒到10.30,若準時櫃檯應該10.50,也就是飛機時間2小時前開。我們是排第4還是5位。

 

Originally I had considered taking the later train, not wanting to get here before the counter opened. With more thoughts now this way worked better. We may need to wait a short while for the counter to open but we were ahead of the line, as soon as the counter opened, we could drop off our bag and be on our way, whether to lunch or shopping. Had we come later we would have had to wait in the queue for time unknown.

 

起初我是想搭晚一班車的,覺得不用在櫃檯開始前到。現在想想這樣也好。我們可能需要等櫃檯一下但至少可確保在隊伍最前頭,櫃檯一開把行李一放就可以放心去逛了,看是出午餐還是逛街。若晚到的話不知道會需要排隊等多久。

 

While we waited for the counter to open I realized I had not yet bought a Playstation point card. Since I play Japanese games and the store only accepted credit cards from Japan, using a point card was the only way to buy the games online or for the DLCs. Thankfully there’s a Lawson right next to the counters.

 

當我們在等的時候我才想到這次來還沒有買Playstation點數卡。由於我基本上是玩日本遊戲而網路商店只接受日本的信用卡,我若要買DLC或遊戲就只能透過點數卡買。運氣很好,櫃檯旁就有一家Lawson.

 

After checking in we went to find something for lunch.

 

託運行李後我們去找地方吃午餐。

 

Terminal 3 had only a limited selection of shops but no shortage of food. Before customs there is a large food court with about 8 shops with a carefully selection ranging from ramen, sushi, donburi to western burgers and cafe.

 

第三航廈的店不多,但吃的到不算少。入境前有個很大的美食街,有8家挑選過的店家,從拉麵,壽司,丼飯到西式的漢堡和咖啡三明治。

Terminal 3 foodcourt

Coming early definitely worked out well, had we came later we would not have finished checking in till after 11.30, then we’d be in a hurry to eat lunch and get through customs. As it is we could easily peruse the available stalls, pick our choices and have lunch at a leisurely pace, enjoying the bustling activities all about from travellers of all walks. I went with the safe choice of the Nagasaki Champon noodle (same one in Hakata) while Y got a spicy ramen.

 

早來真是對了,若晚點到的話可能要11.30才能辦完託運行李,然後趕吃午餐出境。現在我們則能慢慢看有什麼店家看什麼好吃,然後悠閒的吃午餐,看來往的各式各樣旅客。我選的是長崎拉麵,就是上回在博多吃過的那家,Y則選了一家辣拉麵。

Nagasaki Champon Noodle

After that we went through customs. At one stage there was a tax claim station where they were supposed to inspect the tax free claimed items to ensure the travellers were bringing them with them. Instead there was only a basket with a sign and arrows. Y casually tossed the tax free claim slip into it.

 

吃完通關出境。途中有個退稅站理當要檢查旅客的免稅品,確認旅客有把免稅品帶出境。這裡只有一個籃子跟箭頭告示。Y隨意的把退稅單丟進去。

 

Airside there was just one souvenir store selling pretty much everything. Electronics, especially rice cookers at 220V aimed at chinese. Traditional Japanese wares like chopsticks and textiles, Hello Kitties and of course all sorts of sweets. Y knew about a lot of the various sweets and chocolates, which ones were famous, which ones were talked about. I had already got enough sweets so didn’t buy any.

 

過境後只有一家紀念品店,所有可想到的都有賣。電器,尤其是鎖定陸客的220V電器。傳統日本工藝品如筷子,紡織品,Hello Kitty和當然的各式甜點。Y對這些甜點還頗有研究的,那些有名,那些很紅,那些大家常討論。我已經帶很多甜點了所以沒有再買。

Airside souvenir store

Since this was a low cost terminal there were no air bridges. Passengers had to walk down 3 flight of stairs to the ground level, across the tarmac to the air stairs through an expendable corridor that provided some shelter from the elements and served to keep passengers from wandering off.

 

這是廉航航廈所以沒有空橋。旅客必須走下三樓階梯到一樓,穿過一個折疊式通道走過停機坪到登機階梯。折疊式通道可稍稍遮擋風雨,同時也可預防旅客亂跑。

Cleverly designed eh.. air bridge?

It was a small single aisle 737, the flight was short and past lunchtime, I don’t think many people ordered meals during the flight.

 

小型單走道737客機,飛行時間沒有多久且已過午餐時間,機上沒有多少人另外點餐。

 

We arrived at Taiwan late in the afternoon and after we passed customs, disbanded and waved each other farewell.

 

我們傍晚回到台灣。通關後解散,互相說掰掰後各自回家。