On February 21, Japanese animation director Naoko Yamada's new work "Your Color" was officially released in China. This film, which won the Golden Goblet Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the Shanghai International Film Festival last year, is seen as the beginning of a new stage in Yamada's creative career. On the basis of her best youth story narrative, it also adds richer creativity and aesthetic expression.

"Your Color" poster

Naoko Yamada is a popular female animation director in Japan. After graduating from university, she started by drawing in-between frames for Inuyasha, and later worked as a supervisor at the legendary animation company Kyoto Animation, producing many popular animation works such as K-ON!, Tamako Love Story, Sound, Euphonium!, A Silent Voice, and Liz and the Blue Bird. With her vivid depiction of the girls' campus life, unique interpretation of delicate emotions, and accurate portrayal of youth groups, Naoko Yamada has gained extremely high popularity and reputation. Even the famous director Makoto Shinkai has publicly stated that he is "very jealous of her talent."

"Your Color" continues the youth theme that Yamada Naoko is best at. In the film, high school student Touko Higurashi (voiced by Suzukawa Sayu) has the unique ability to see the inner colors of other people. She admires the bright colors of her classmate Sakuenaga (voiced by Takaishi Akari). After Sakuenaga dropped out of school, Touko reunited with her in a small town second-hand bookstore and met the music-loving boy Louis Yingping (voiced by Kido Daisei). The three formed a band and started a musical journey full of love and confusion, conveying their voices in the songs and establishing friendships. The fresh and gorgeous pictures and light and energetic melodies bring the ultimate sensory experience.

"White Cat Hall" band

"Your Color" is a youth fable about "seeing" and "hearing". Colors and notes weave a symphony of vision and hearing. With her usual gentleness, Naoko Yamada gives a deeper interpretation of youth at this stage.

From adapting popular comics to creating her own original animation works, Naoko Yamada has received great help from her good friends. Screenwriter Reiko Yoshida and musician Kensuke Ushio, who have collaborated on classic works such as "A Silent Voice", "Liz and the Blue Bird" and "The Tale of the Heike", have long been a dream triangle combination in the hearts of movie fans. Reiko Yoshida once said in an interview that this is a work that "returns to the origin, is a culmination, and is a step into a new stage" by Naoko Yamada. Genki Kawamura, the producer of films such as "Your Name" and "Monster", escorted the film and brought it to a broader international stage.

Before the film was released, Naoko Yamada accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper, where she talked about her growth process and revealed the thoughts behind her creation.

Naoko Yamada. Photo by Chen Chen, a reporter from The Paper

【dialogue】

The first original work: creating a new world of happiness from scratch

The Paper : Where did the inspiration for the concept of being able to see a person’s color come from?

Naoko Yamada : First of all, people can see colors because I found that people often rely on language to communicate, but sometimes the language spoken from the mouth is not necessarily correct, and there are often some misunderstandings. Some people are not good at speaking and feel that their mouths are not good. When they can't communicate well, I wonder if there is a medium that can transcend language, such as a sixth sense. So Douzi, who lives in reality, may have her own flower garden, which is full of her own happiness.

The Paper : Color is a very important visual element this time. What kind of ingenuity is involved in the color design?

Naoko Yamada : I used red, green and blue as the representative colors of the three protagonists because these three colors are the three primary colors of optics. When you put these three colors together, the closer they are, the lighter the color will become. Finally, when all three overlap, they will turn into light. I want to use this to show my expectation for their infinite possibilities in the future.

The Paper : Seeing the Colors is a high-concept fantasy setting, but the overall texture and style of the painting, as well as the narrative rhythm, are very lifelike. How do you combine them in the narrative?

Naoko Yamada : First of all, from a structural perspective, this story is a very special work. From the beginning of the story, we show Douzi's personal world, and see other people from her perspective. However, this story does not portray her own perspective from beginning to end, but directly cuts it in the middle and inserts another story. So the overall structure is not like the design of a general movie story, from the beginning, development, to resolution, until a new future unfolds.

We cut Douzi's world in half and inserted it in, and then we saw the protagonists who can see colors, what kind of troubles they encountered, and how they overcame difficulties with their friends. I want to depict it from this perspective, hoping that everyone can empathize with it from the audience's perspective. This is our own story.

The Paper : This is your first original animated feature film. Compared with your previous adaptations of some popular anime, what are the differences in your creative methods and feelings?

Naoko Yamada : When there were original works in the past, I would respect them very much. I love them very much myself, even as their number one loyal fan. At the same time, I can observe and analyze the work very objectively from the perspective of an observer.

However, my own original works do not have an existing foundation, so it is difficult for me to feel that my work is "awesome" or "I love it so much". This is a bit difficult. It is difficult for me to evaluate it objectively. I can only try my best to convey the meaning of this work to my colleagues and work hard to tell them the charm of this work. This is my challenge.

The Paper : After this attempt, do you feel that this kind of original work is more in line with your own expression direction?

Naoko Yamada : Before I started working on "Your Color", I had no desire to create, and I would feel very uneasy if I had to create a work from scratch. But once you really create an original work, you will feel that it is an incomparable happiness to create a work from scratch, so I will continue to challenge myself in this direction in the future. However, if there are good works to adapt, I will not give up on this direction.

The Paper : From 2021's "The Tale of the Heike", we can see that in recent years, your style has become more diverse and the fields you have involved have become wider. At this stage of your life, do you feel that your desire for authorial expression has become stronger?

Naoko Yamada : Yes, I want to take on more challenges. Next, I want to challenge a completely different theme from before. This time through "Your Color", I entered a new world, and next, I also want to challenge a new world.

Youth Narrative: I want to keep sharing the cherishment and love of my youth

The Paper : Your past works, such as K-ON! and Sound! Euphonium, are all about campus life with musical elements. What are your thoughts on grasping musical narrative?

Naoko Yamada : The people in these works are all amateur music lovers. For them, music is a very daily and passionate thing in life. Of course, this time I also asked Ushio-sensei to compose the music, so I couldn't make it "too professional". I had to play a kind of "music played by non-professionals", like the music that the three high school students desperately conceived and practiced in the film. I think it is very important to be able to hear this kind of (amateur-feeling) music in the movie.

The Paper : In your previous works, some people joined the archery club, some joined the orchestra, and some joined the swimming club. It seems that clubs are always in line with youth. What unique observations do you have about this part of life?

Naoko Yamada : From my personal experience, I have never joined, for example, a light music club or other music clubs. However, I can relate to the feeling of being on a very strict volleyball team, where everyone trains until they are very tired, but they are united in wanting to achieve a certain goal. At the same time, sometimes there are some temporary activities at school, which can be very relaxing, and you don’t need to treat it as a particularly severe goal that must be achieved. I have observed and understood these two kinds of moods, so I put my own thoughts on these different moods into my works, so that the unity and progress and the relaxation that can be enjoyed can be shown.

Naoko Yamada. Photo by Xue Song, a reporter from The Paper

The Paper : We all know that you are an author who is very good at narrative stories about youth themes. Looking back on your teenage life, are there any events that may have influenced your later life and work?

Naoko Yamada : To be specific, I have not had any similar events in my life. It's just that I often look back on my past, especially my high school years. There are indeed many things I like, including the environment in which I live. There are many things that I feel I want to cherish. I have treasured the feelings of these things in my heart and have always wanted to express them. From this perspective, I believe that everyone in the audience also has their own youth and some precious memories in high school, so it is easier for everyone to resonate with me.

The Paper : You have been painting various works related to this theme since you were in your 20s. Now at this stage, you have experienced different things in your life. How has your understanding of this theme changed?

Naoko Yamada : Indeed, when I was drawing in the past, I felt that I was about the same age as them, and I looked at those protagonists as my friends. Now that I am my own age, when I look at high school students, I feel like I am their parents. To express the feeling of youth, the "freshness" should be different. In the past, I may have felt a lot of empathy, but now I can look at it from a more detached but more interesting perspective, and also substitute some love similar to that of elders to understand their feelings. Another change is that when I was a child, I thought teachers were very scary people, so when I drew teachers, I always felt that they were very fierce. Now I will slowly understand the teacher's mood, so now I can draw teachers more vividly and gently, which I also think is very good.

The Paper : You have created many popular girl images in Japanese animations, and you have always had your own unique style in performing animation characters. Do you have any special creative habits or secrets in this regard?

Naoko Yamada : I think back to the first time I really faced the role of a girl protagonist, it was from K-ON! At that time, everyone had a fixed stereotype of girls in Japanese anime, such as cute, sad, and a certain look. I thought, don’t do this anymore, I want to break that preconceived fixed idea, and hope that the character can be broken down into a person instead of being symbolized or labeled.

I carefully observed the little actions of the girls around me, whether they were my family members or people I didn't know. By treating each character as a living person, I can inject soul into them.

Keep moving forward: more relaxed female creations

The Paper : I saw that Yoshida Reiko said that this work is a "return to the origin, a culmination, or a step into a new stage." Do you agree with this statement? What are your expectations for the new stage?

Naoko Yamada : I feel like I am someone who must push my life forward. For me, I am always on the road, so I don’t feel that this is a certain “new stage” or that I need to review my past and summarize some tricks to use. I don’t think so. Of course, I don’t want to deny her evaluation. We have worked together for more than ten years, and I am very happy that she can give me such a high evaluation.

The Paper : I think the new stage she mentioned means, on the one hand, that you start to create original works, and on the other hand, that you are collaborating with the internationally influential producer Genki Kawamura. Can you talk about your feelings about the collaboration and your expectations for entering the international market?

Naoko Yamada : Producer Genki Kawamura is very talented and famous, so when I first knew I was going to work with him, I was quite scared. I was wondering if he was a very strong person who would often say things like "no, no".

But when I worked with him, I found that he had a very keen intuition about the charm of his works, and he was very good at expressing it in words. If we compare the work to a palette, he would know which color is the best. On the other hand, he has a very broad perspective, so I trust him very much when it comes to entering the international market.

The Paper : You have been working with screenwriter Reiko Yoshida, character designer Yukiko Horiguchi and other female creators for a long time. Has this "female creative community" formed a unique collaboration model? Including the gender identity of women, in this industry, are there any moments when you need to make special efforts to prove your existence?

Naoko Yamada : First of all, I want to say that there are more female animation directors in Japan now, mainly due to the improvement of the labor environment in Japan. Many women find it easier to return to the workplace after having children, and our studio is also working very hard to provide a better working environment for women. So compared to the past, it can no longer be said that there are fewer female animation practitioners in Japan.

From the perspective of a team of women who work together, I don’t have this concept myself, and I haven’t even paid attention to the proportion of women in our team. Especially from my experience since I just entered the industry, I used to think that I should work like a man, and as a leader, I should have a sense of male leadership. But Yoshida Reiko is someone who likes to talk about women’s topics, so sometimes we have meetings, and the conversation turns to girls’ topics, and we only talk about work. From this perspective, the team may appear to have a more feminine intimacy and warmth, and it will feel more comfortable to work.

When I was working, I was young and women were not so common in the workplace, so I would deliberately act strong and not let others see my weaknesses. Even if I didn’t know something I was not good at, I couldn’t say it directly. I had to be comprehensive and do everything. But now we have experienced a lot of things together and have done a lot of works. I can deal with many things more relaxedly and calmly. My colleagues will also be very relieved to follow me. As a team, the atmosphere is relatively more relaxed now, and we have a kind of care for each other that goes beyond work.

The Paper : "The Color of You" was released in China. I wonder if you have noticed that the hottest topic in China recently is actually about an animated film?

Naoko Yamada : I know, you mean Nezha: The Devil Boy Conquers the Dragon King. I came to China recently, and everyone asked me, have you paid attention to Nezha? Have you paid attention to Nezha? It is really influential. I also watched the behind-the-scenes footage of Nezha, and I think this character is really very charming and powerful. I hope it can be shown in Japan as soon as possible. At the same time, seeing that Chinese audiences are so enthusiastic about animation, I also hope that everyone can watch our movies more often.

Director's hand drawing

The Paper : For practitioners in the animation industry, technology has now reached a new stage. Old masters like Hayao Miyazaki have always adhered to traditional techniques such as hand-drawing. As an animator of the younger generation, do you have a different attitude towards new technologies? In your future work, what attitudes and responses will you have towards the impact of AI?

Naoko Yamada : First of all, I personally like hand-drawn animation very much, because I prefer things made by people with warmth, and I think it is more valuable, so I hope to not use AI and CG as much as possible, and hand-draw as much as possible.

For me, the trembling of the brushstrokes when painting, the deviations in some details, and the flaws brought about by the real handmade feel are also very beautiful, and are also very important traces of human creation.

At the same time, from the perspective of a viewer, I do think that some of the images produced by CG are really handsome and impactful, and can bring us a lot of visual sensory stimulation. In fact, there is a conflict between the two, and the development of technology is indeed very fast. Sometimes I feel a little annoyed.

The Paper : Going back to the original animation setting, what color do you think you are at this stage?

Naoko Yamada : I don’t have the same superpowers as Douzi. I can’t see myself in color, and people often can’t see themselves clearly. The reason why I portrayed Douzi as such a character is probably because of my inner yearning for such perception.