[Research] Visual references: Monster (Naoki Urasawa)

Let me introduce a Japanese animation. I must introduce this piece before I show the visual reference because this 74 episoded TV animation is based on "a fairy tale".

Naoki Urasawa, (2004-2005), Monster; TV series animation, NTV Japan

"Monster (モンスター, Monsutā?) is a seinen manga written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa, published by Shogakukan in Big Comic Original between 1994 and 2001, and reprinted in 18 tankōbon volumes. It was adapted by Madhouse as a 74-episode anime TV series, which aired on NTV from April 7, 2004 to September 28, 2005. It was directed by Masayuki Kojima, written by Tatsuhiko Urahata and featured character designs by Kitarō Kōsaka. The manga and anime have both been licensed by Viz Media for an English release. Urasawa later wrote and illustrated the novel Another Monster, a supplement story detailing the events from the manga as from an investigative reporter's point of view, published by Shogakukan in 2002."

Monster is one of my favourite animations in the world. First of all, the story is incredibly broad that I can't imagine how much researches he had to do for this. The story is set on Germany basically and the main character is a doctor. The author is Japanese but whole story goes around Europe and there are so many medical events happen in the hospital which means there must be a range of researches supporting the whole animation. Moreover, in the middle, there is a mysterious fairy tale introduced to the readers and the tale leads the story till the end. The story is introduced as an unfamous fairy tale from Czech but it is also made up by the author.

Here it goes, in the beginning of episode 37

A Nameless Monster -Franz Bonaparta

"Once upon a time, there lived a nameless monster.
The monster was dying to have a name so badly.
So the monster decided to set out on a journey to find itself a name.
But the world was such a large place.
So the monster split into two and went on to two seperate journeys.
One went to the East and the other went to the west.
The monster that went to the east found a village.
There was a blacksmith at the village entrance.
"Mr.Blacksmith, please give me your name" said the monster.
"I can't give you my name" replied the blacksmith.
"If you give me your name I will jump inside you and make you stronger in return." said the monster.
"Really? I'll give you my name if you can make me stronger.", the blacksmith told the monster.
The monster jumped inside the blacksmith.
The monster became Otto the blacksmith.
Otto the blacksmith was the strongest man in the village.
But one day he said:
"Look at me! Look at me!"
"The monster inside of me has grown this big!"
*Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp*
The hungry monster ate Otto from the inside out.
The monster then went back to become a monster without a name.
Even though he jumped inside Hans the shoemaker....
*Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp*
He went back to being a monster without a name again.
Even though he jumped inside Thomas the hunter.....
*Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp*
He still went back to being a monster without a name.
The monster then went to a castle to find a wonderful name.
Inside the castle, there was a very sick boy.
"I'll make you stronger if you give me your name" said the monster
In reply, the boy told him "I'll give you my name if you can cure my illness and make me stronger."
So the monster jumped inside the boy.
The boy became very healthy.
The King was delighted.
"The prince is well! The prince is well!" said the King.
The monster became fond of the boy's name.
He also grew fond of his life inside the castle.
That's why he endured even when he became hungry.
Every day, even when his stomach became very empty, he endured.
But then he became so hungry....
"Look at me! Look at me!" said the boy.
"The monster inside of me has grown this big!"
The boy then ate his father, servants, and everyone.
*Chomp, chomp, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gulp*
Because everyone was gone....
The boy left on a journey
He walked and walked for days.....
One day the boy met the monster that went west
"I have a name" said the boy.
"It's a wonderful name."
And then the monster that went west said...
"I don't need a name."
"I'm happy even if I don't have a name."
"Because we're monsters without names"
The boy ate the monster that went west.
Even though he now had a name....
There was no one left to call him by his name.
Johan.
It is a wonderful name. "

[Storytelling] Red Mask #1

The Red Mask

There was a slit-mouthed woman

She hated her hideous face

She had stayed whole life in her room and never stepped outside

She was curious about the world

However she was not brave enough

She spent many days considering then finally decided to step out

but people on the street were too busy to go their ways

With their carelessness, she became confident to speak to a boy

Hello, hello, am I pretty

A frightened boy cried out and ran away

The shocked woman cut him off with her scissors

The boy can cry no more, the boy can't cry again

When she came back home, she couldn't stop crying

But the world was too beautiful to give up her life

She went out wearing a mask on her face and she talked to a girl this time

Hello, hello, am I pretty

A kind-hearted girl answered yes and gave her a smile

Then the woman took her mask off and said

I'll make you as pretty as me

she killed a girl, slitting her mouth

The girl can smile no more, the girl can't smile again

Day by day, the woman killed more people

Her mask turned into red by other people's blood

She killed the last person in the town at last

There was no one left in her town

She sang and danced on the street

She is so happy now

She doesn't wear her mask any more

She doesn't need the mask any more

Kor ver.

빨간 마스크

입이 귀까지 찢어진 여자가 있었다

이 여자는 자신의 흉한 얼굴을 증오했다

평생을 집안에만 있던 여자는

바깥 세상을 너무나 궁금해 했다

하지만 용기가 나지 않았다

그렇게 몇일동안의 고심 끝에 밖으로 나갔다

하지만 사람들은 모두 자기 갈 길만 간다

의외의 반응에 여자는 용기를 내어 말을건다

저기요 저기요 제가 예쁜가요

겁먹은 소년이 소리를 지르며 도망갔다

여자는 당황해 들고있던 가위로 소년을 잘라 죽여버렸다

소년은 더이상 소리를 지를수 없다

집으로 돌아온 여자는 울음을 멈출 수 없었다

하지만 너무나 그리웠던 바깥세상을 이대로 포기할 수 없었다

이번엔 마스크를 쓰고 밖으로 나가 말을 걸었다

저기요 저기요 제가 예쁜가요

지나가는 소녀가 웃으며 네 하고 대답한다

그러자 여자는 마스크를 벗으며

그럼 너도 똑같이 예쁘게 해줄께 하고

그 소녀의 입을 찢어 죽여버렸다

그렇게 여자는 자신의 질문에 답하는 사람들을 죽여나갔다

매일 매일 여자는 밖으로 나가 사람들을 죽여버렸다

여자가 쓴 마스크는 사람들의 피로 붉게 물들어 갔다

어느 덧 마을의 모든 사람들이 죽었다

이제 마을에는 사람이 없다

여자가 마스크를 벗어 들고 춤을 추며 마을을 뛰어 다닌다

여자는 지금 너무나 행복하다

여자는 더이상 마스크를 하지 않는다

여자는 더이상 마스크가 필요 없다

[Research] A Silt-mouthed Woman

wiki [Kuchisake-onna (The slit mouthed woman)] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuchisake-onna


The story of the slit mouthed woman

"...a woman roams around at night (especially during foggy evenings), with her face covered by a surgical mask, which would not be especially unusual, as people in Japan often wore masks in order to protect themselves from the flu or avoid infecting others when ill. When she encounters someone (primarily children, teenagers or college/high school students), she will shyly ask, "Am I pretty?" ("Watashi kirei?"). If the person answers yes, she will take off her mask and say, "How about now?" ("Kore demo?"). At this point, if the victim answers "No," she will slay them or cut their mouths to resemble hers (in many versions, her weapon is a pair of scissors). Before she kills the victims that responded with no, she would take them to her old house where her husband cut her. If the victim tells her she is pretty a second time, she follows the victim home and slays them at the doorway to their residence, due to the fact that "kirei" (きれい), Japanese for 'pretty,' is a near homophone of "kire" (切れ), the imperative form of "to cut". In other versions of the myth if you reply yes after she removes the mask she will give you a large blood soaked ruby and walk away. Another version says that if you reply yes, she will take her scissors and cut your mouth from ear to ear, making you resemble her, but may let you live. On most versions of the myth she is impossible to escape, as she can either appear in front of you no matter which way you turn or can move at superhuman speeds and catch you."

The picture (above) is one of representations of the slit-mouthed woman. The sculpture is standing on Shigeru Mizuki road and she is showing her smile with holding the mask in her hand.

Why her mouth been slit?

"The legend is said to originate with a young woman who lived hundreds of years ago (some versions of the legend state the Heian period which was about 794 to 1185) and was either the wife or concubine of a samurai. She is said to have been very beautiful but also very vain, and possibly cheating on her husband. The samurai, extremely jealous and feeling cuckolded, attacked her and slit her mouth from ear to ear, screaming "Who'll think you're beautiful now?!"."


Tips to escape

"During the seventies, the urban legend went that if the victim answers "You're average", they are saved. When the urban legend was revived around 2000, the answer that would save you was changed to "so-so," with the change that this answer causes the kuchisake-onna to think about what to do, and her victim can escape while she is in thought. One other way is to ask her if you are pretty, she will get confused and leave. In 2010, by telling her you have a previous engagement to attend to, she will pardon her manners and excuse herself from your presence."


Isn't it funny that there are some serious answers to escape from a crazy woman from a myth?

I remember when I was young, there was the same story spreading into my town too. My mum always reminded me of the dangerous woman and said to me and my brother, "Guys, Don't come home late, apparently there some bad things going on outside." In reality, The woman's story was from Toyo in Japan but my home town is Korea, then how she could commit the exactly same murders in different country (if she is real). Yes, we knew, that was just a silly story but we got the same social influence.

"During the spring and summer of 1979, rumors abounded throughout Japan about sightings of the Kuchisake-onna having hunted down children.

In October 2007, a coroner found some old records from the late 1970s about a woman who was chasing little children, but was hit by a car, and died shortly after. Her mouth was ripped from ear to ear. It is believed that she caused the panics around that time.

In 2004, a similar legend spread throughout cities in South Korea of a red masked woman, though this may have been fueled by tales of the 1979 cases in Japan, as well as a 1996 Japanese film"

- 'Urban legend and public panics' from wikipedia

[State of Intent] Red Mask

1. Yoon Duck Kim

2. Red Mask

3. An animation of a legend of a red mask

4. This animation will illusrate a slit-mouthed woman as a monster and describe a tention between her and people with her violent characteristic. The woman will be described as a psychopath who is obsessed on her beauty so she wears a mask all the time (she knows she is not pretty). The mask will represent her "desire" for the beauty. The mask can't make her looks pretty but "un-ugly". When she shyly asks "Am I pretty?" to people on the street, people answer either positively or negatively. She doesn't like neither of them anyway.

The story will be lead by a boy's voice over and the script will include more poetic terms. The production will be processed with 2D (hand drawing) based works on flash and the sound effect will be recorded.

[Research] Fairy tale

wiki [Fairy tale] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale


Term of Fairy tale

: "Fairy tale is an English language term for a type of short narrative corresponding to the French phrase conte de fée, the German term Märchen, the Italian fiaba, the Polish baśń or the Swedish saga. Only a small number of the stories thus designated explicitly refer to fairies. Nonetheless, the stories may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and traditions (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described)[1] and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. Fairy tales typically feature such folkloric characters as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. Often the story will involve a far-fetched sequence of events."



Urban Legend, urban myth or urban tale (it can easily be exaggerated by individual bias)


wiki [Urban Legend] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend

:
I believe that only few urban tales are onriginated by a real event in the history then most of them are built through people's mouthes. Whether the tale is true or not, in fact a tale has significant potential effect in human society. A story can be loaded lots of additional meanings by tellers during it is deliverying (spreading).


Stories only for kids? No way.

: To me, a fairy tale is still an inspiring item. A good fairy tale involves lots of hidden meanings which you cannot see if you don't find out. It is like a game, for instance, each character in a tale possibly represents or reflects something else. In Ugly Duckling, the normal ducks possibly represent the aspect of bullies at school. So the whole tale can describe the social problem of bullying in school today. The things that I want to point out is you can address the story into your life. Moreover, as far as your knowledge broadened, you can see the more sides of the same tale what you have read in the past. It is worth to re-read it in different ages. This is the thing that I expect what is going to be found by me. I am ready to find new meanings on it.