My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

In the fifteenth scene, Chihiro sneaks into the backstage area of ​​the bathhouse for the first time.

"The characters' positioning in this scene is too rigid. Mr. Miyazaki, you placed her in the center of the frame and drew a close-up of her clutching her clothes, intending to emphasize her fear. But, it's too blatant..."

Zhao Wen picked up a pencil and lightly drew two lines on the edge of the panel: "Use the wooden barrel and steam pipe in the foreground to block the left and right thirds of the picture, squeeze Chihiro into the corner of the bottom third of the picture, and press the huge equipment of the bathhouse on her head."

There's no need to deliberately depict a terrified expression; the oppressive feeling of the composition alone allows the viewer to naturally sense her insignificance and panic...

Miyazaki's breathing almost stopped. He revised this frame five times, always feeling that the emotion was not enough—he never expected that the problem was not the expression at all!

When the scene at the alley entrance where No-Face first appears comes to life, Miyazaki is completely tense.

"The mid-range shot here is too crowded, and the two-second lingering time is too long. The sense of mystery is created, not forced."

"Mr. Miyazaki, we'll use side-backlighting. Look, only half the mask is visible in the shadows at the alley entrance, most of the body is hidden in darkness. The shot is cut to a second and a half, a fleeting moment. We don't need to tell the audience who he is; leaving half a frame blank is more captivating than drawing the whole thing..."

Hayao Miyazaki stared at the storyboard page, his eyes red-rimmed. He had been agonizing over this storyboard for days, wondering whether to give this mysterious character a close-up. He was afraid the audience wouldn't remember him, but he was also afraid of making the scene too revealing. In the end, Mr. Snail's words pierced through his doubts.

He slowly raised his head, and behind his black-rimmed glasses, his initial restraint had transformed into fervor.

"...I've revised these parts several times. It always feels off, but I can't quite put my finger on it." Miyazaki Hayao's voice was hoarse as he leaned slightly towards Zhao Wen, saying, "Mr. Snail, every single thing you mentioned is exactly what I'm struggling to decide..."

Zhao Wen felt a little reluctant. The core concept and the entire storyboard of "Spirited Away" were actually completed by Miyazaki Hayao alone. Of course, a film with hundreds of thousands of drawings cannot be completed by a single person, but that is industrial division of labor and does not affect Miyazaki Hayao's status as the main creator.

The entire Spirited Away worldview, Chihiro's growth story, the bathhouse setting, and the core metaphor of "forgetting one's name is equivalent to losing oneself" all originated from Miyazaki Hayao's own inspiration. This is the fundamental reason why Miyazaki Hayao is called the sole creator of Spirited Away.

But that was twenty years later. If the old man hadn't been there to oversee the release of "Spirited Away" at that time, this classic might have been ruined!

Therefore, Zhao Wen hardened his heart and pointed out all the slightly immature parts of "Spirited Away".

In the conference room at Tokuma Bookstore's headquarters, President Tokuma Yasuyoshi, Executive Director Yamashita Tatsumi, and Suzuki Toshio held a small meeting.

—Since Mr. Snail joined the production of Spirited Away as a producer, this animation project, which was originally just a small-scale trial, has been directly promoted to the top priority of Tokuma's annual key projects.

"Mr. Snail himself is personally serving as the producer. Distribution channels in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia are all eyeing his name. If this film is done well, we can lock in a large portion of the overseas market in advance," Tatsumi Yamashita reported to the president.

Tatsumi Yamashita's position at Tokuma Bookstore is equivalent to that of Mr. Fujiki at Kodansha, so he is quite aware of how much influence Zhao Wen has in Japan and Taiwan.

Toshio Suzuki nodded: "Miyazaki's storyboarding is progressing twice as fast as expected. Every time Mr. Zhao Wen makes a suggestion for revision, it hits the point where he himself was hesitant, and now Miyazaki almost completely accepts his suggestions."

He paused, then added, "Yesterday, Mr. Zhao Wen also brought out the entire soundtrack framework for the film, as well as the lyrics and music for the three vocal pieces."

Tokuma Yasushi's eyes widened: "He's a novelist, and he even wrote the music and lyrics? Wasn't his singing terrible? Didn't Mr. Tony do the vocal editing for that vinyl record line by line?"

"Not only did I write down the melody, but I also clearly marked the instrumentation ideas and vocal style." Suzuki Toshio pulled out a few pages of manuscript paper, next to the neat staff, with Japanese annotations such as "Prioritize the mid and low range," "Avoid saccharine idol singing style," and "It should have a narrative and clarity."

"He said that we don't need to wait for the finished animation to add music. The vocal music should be set first, which can in turn help to calibrate the emotional rhythm of the storyboard. Therefore, Miyazaki also had to participate in the selection of vocal music."

Tokuma Yasuhiro pondered for a few seconds, then made a decisive decision: "Do as he says. You take the lead, and together with our Tokuma sound engineers, compile a list of qualified singers within a week. We can talk to anyone from established stars to newcomers."

Three days later, in Miyazaki Hayao's studio, Suzuki Toshio brought over a thick stack of singer profiles and audition materials.

Zhao Wen translated very quickly, while Matsuda Seiko's sweet and bright voice was set aside, and Koizumi Kyoko also walked away... Their voices were too light and couldn't suppress the gentle power that settled down in "Forever Together".

"Anything else? I need a deep, mid-to-low range, not too red, just enough to convey a sense of story."

Toshio Suzuki hesitated for a moment, then pulled out the middle roll of audition tapes for newcomers:

"This is a new artist recently promoted by Warner Pioneer, Nakamori Akina. Her voice is on the lower end. In the early years, judges said that she had a bit of the quality of Yamaguchi Momoe. However, she is too inexperienced. Her debut song sold only averagely. She has only released one album, 'Girl A,' and the industry is not very optimistic about her."

Zhao Wen suddenly stopped.

Akina Nakamori.

That's Akina Nakamori.

The last diva of the Showa era, the white moonlight of countless people born in the 80s and 90s, someone who can melt the hearts of most 80s generation with just a glance.

The vibrant red dress in "DESIRE" that burned out, the sense of devastation in "The Shipwrecked," the sensational Golden Screen incident that shook all of Japan, and the lingering sense of loss after its rise and fall—all these have made countless viewers sigh with emotion.

But after only a second of distraction, Zhao Wen quickly composed himself, his tone completely calm—only he knew that his heart had skipped a beat.

"Put it down for a moment."

As the tape spins, the intro to "Slow Motion" begins softly.

As the first line of lyrics began, Miyazaki Hayao's hand, which was holding a mechanical pencil, stopped. The girl's voice was deep and clear, carrying a faint sense of melancholy, slowly melting into the heart of the old man.

As the music ended, Zhao Wen looked at Suzuki Toshio, his tone firm:

"She's the one."

Toshio Suzuki paused for a moment: "Mr. Snail, aren't you going to look at anything else?...?"

"Songs are for serving content, not for boosting traffic. Her voice can fully express the weight of 'Inochi no Namae' and the gentleness of 'Itsumo Nando Demo'. Contact her agency, Ken-On, and arrange an audition as soon as possible."

Without realizing it, Zhao Wen accidentally revealed Cai Cai's agency.

However, his unusual firmness prevented Suzuki Toshio from saying another word—the information that was originally kept at the end included details about a singer that Tokuma favored...