Neither sequel nor spin-off, Urusei Yatsura, or Lamu, offers a remake in the form of a best of. How do you adapt a work that has already been adapted today? What to do with his slightly dated passages? Yuko Kakihara, the screenwriter in charge of this adaptation, answers questions from the Internet user.
In 2022, the earthlings’ favorite alien in a bikini returns to our screens! On the occasion of the centenary of the Shogakukan publishing house (the largest publishing house in Japan), many celebrations have been decided. Among them, a remake of the cartoonUrusei Yatsurawhere Lamu in France. This is one of the many masterpieces signed Rumiko Takahashi. This adaptation was entrusted to the animation studio David Productionknown in France for his work on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and fire force. From the outset, the choice was made not to cover the entire manga (too long) and to make a selection at the rate of four seasons. How to choose which narrative arcs to include in this remake? How to change or adapt certain passages which, at the time of #metoo, can lend themselves to criticism? This is Yuko Kakihara, the screenwriter of this remake who bears the heavy burden of making these decisions. And, given the first episodes broadcast, she did brilliantly! She agreed to answer the user’s questions.
Linternaute.com: How did you choose the segments you kept?
The work is so important that it is impossible to compile everything in a single season.
We started by setting up our main axis, this to help us choose the main narrative arcs.
However, the characters are the keystone of the Rumiverse. It was therefore important to show above all the characters that everyone is impatient to find. By selecting the key characters, we already had enough material to fulfill the quotas for the entire season… Which prompted us to choose an additional number of seasons. The key to the choice was the introduction and development of the characters that are dear to us.
Ataru’s character is obsessed. How did you handle it with today’s mores?
As Ataru is one of the most important characters, we gave him his freedom. However, when it comes to words that could be construed as discrimination today, I have done my best to either avoid them or replace them with something acceptable. But since I don’t really want to change who he is – he loves women and running after them – I took particular care to preserve his pervert essence.
How have you incorporated smartphones and other modern elements?
The show takes place completely at the end of the Showa era, in the 70s and 80s. We have kept all the period objects and vocabularies. Only the opening, modernized, contains smartphones and other contemporary objects. It was thought to make a connection between the Showa era and today.
In Ms. Takahashi’s manga, there is an awful lot of pun-based humor. How did you manage to implement that in the script?
When you adapt a manga, it’s not just the dialogues: there are also images. I then discuss with the director to see what we will put there. We will look scene by scene to choose what we will include or remove. It happens that we add comments in this way by hand, to make the desired result clearly understood.
Similarly the manga is rich in dialogues and visual effects. How did you find the balance for this new animation port?
Basically, the dialogues have a very good tempo. The scenario is done in a very natural way. It will have just been necessary to slow it down to make the connections because of this portage. As for the desired speed of the image, these adjustments were made in consultation with the director. As I had already worked on Rinne, I already knew the tempo of the animation. It was a fairly natural transposition for me.
I applied myself to not feeling my personal touch.
You told us that there are many characters in Urusei Yatsura. The more characters there are, the more seiyus there are, and the heavier the work for the studios becomes. Have you set yourself limits on the number of characters?
I had in fact no restrictions, on the contrary even! In fact, I would have even liked to put more…
You told us that Ms. Takahashi is a legend. What does it feel like to add a bit of self to the work of a legend?
More than adding myself to this title, it was important for me to make the whole thing intelligible, both for Rumiko Takahashi’s fans and for people who will discover his universe through this anime.
I think that’s the very essence of my job: making sure there are no mismatches. If I had put “me” in these scenarios, it would have been visible immediately and it would have been a false connection. There is no room for questions of ego in the adaptation of the work of a third party. I really applied myself to not feeling my personal touch.
Who was the easiest character to shape?
While writing, I had a lot of fun writing the character of Ran. We can give him the cutest dialogues and at the same time super aggressive dialogues. With her, the tempo went by itself whatever we did. It was very fun.
And the most difficult character?
Rey! He doesn’t really speak Japanese. He always uses short sentences without really expressing how he feels, except to tell his love to Lamu or to ask Ran to feed him. There are very few scenes where he moves on his own. He’s a very difficult character to handle.
Were you more inspired by the manga or the previous anime adaptation?
The mission I was given was to start from the manga, so the decision was very simple.
What is your best memory of this achievement?
I only have good memories! Since Rinne, I’m more than happy to write from Ms. Takahashi’s titles. Whatever I write, I enjoy it.
In the script of the first episode, it is written March 24, 2020. Until the release on the screens in October 2022, you must have found the time long, right?
It was long! (laughs)
A lot of time went by between the moment I was asked to work on this series and its release. Especially since I couldn’t talk to anyone about it! I was impatient…
What a relief that the series is finally on your screens.
In the script for the intro scene there was noted New York. But in the end it was London. How and why this change?
At the time of the storyboard, we discuss with the director, and we then refine the elements that will be used. The mention of New York in the script was above all an example: this mention makes it possible to situate the action in a major world capital. Then I fully trust the storyboarder and the director to best interpret these indications. And if they need, we discuss it.
You worked on Rinne before doing the script Urusei Yatsura. What is your first encounter with the world of Rumiko Takahashi?
I read Urusei Yatsura when I was younger, and it’s the title that is closest to my heart. So you can imagine how delighted I was when I was offered this job!
If you could tell your “14 year old self” that you will one day be working on Urusei Yatsurawhat would she have thought?
She wouldn’t have believed me (laughs)! I think she would even find it hard to believe that I would become a professional screenwriter. In any case, I would be sincerely delighted to know thatUrusei Yatsura would remain a popular work 40 years after its creation.
What are the rules for writing a good screenplay?
When I make a script based on a pre-existing title, I pay attention to many things. In the case of’Urusei Yatsura, I paid particular attention to the characters. The characters are the “inochi” (Editor’s note: keystone) of Rumiko Takahashi’s stories. Thus the slightest change, even minor, in the intonations, in the behavior would have a resonance beyond the character alone. This was the most important for this new version.
It is on the occasion of the centenary of Shogakukan that this anime was made. Why do you think this title is so important to the Shogakukan?
Madame Takahashi is a living legend who never stopped drawing manga. It seems to me impossible to conceal his presence or his importance within the Shogakukan for such a celebration…
I was born on a Friday the 13th, like Ataru. Will I have the same fate as Ataru?
You will have to ask Madame Takahashi the question (laughs).
How did you become an animation scriptwriter?
In college, I was in the drama club. I even wrote the scripts for the plays. I continued on this path throughout my studies. Professionally speaking, I started by writing the script for a video game, then I received requests from the world of animation.
What were these first works?
I first worked on the video game idolmaster. For animation, my first contract was to script the anime adaptation of Viewtiful Joe, the video game from Capcom. Finally, the video game will have been a complete platform to lead me to animation.
What is the work of screenwriters in animation?
The role of a screenwriter is to lay the skeleton of a work and implement the dialogues before the storytelling (Editor’s note, the storyboard, in the jargon of animation). If we are working from an already pre-existing work, we will have to take the dialogues and the events by segmenting them up to 30 minutes in order to have a balanced content at the rhythm of the episodes, which may differ from that of the chapters in the frame of a manga. Here are the outlines of the work of a screenwriter in the world of animation.
Your first anime script was Viewtiful Joehow did you feel when you saw your animated work?
I clearly remember being very happy to see that someone had managed to put in image what I had been able to imagine.
And you still feel the same wonder today?
I still feel a sincere joy with each adaptation. However, as my career progresses, with experience I see more and more points to rework or improve. I am much more receptive to my flaws and what I may be missing to progress. This introspection is increasingly present, but it does not spoil the joy of each adaptation.
Thanks Emmanuel Bohew for interpreting in Tokyo.