Fruits Basket| Research and Planning

 

"FRUITS BASKET"

フルバ

Introduction

The  basic idea of my experimental short film is based on the manga “Furuba or (フルバ) ” written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. This manga is inevitably very close to my heart, as it is

the first manga I ever read. It tells the story of a young girl named Hondo Tohru, who

upon meeting Yuki Sohma and Kyo Sohma, two boys who study at her school, realizes

that both of them, including the 13 members of the Sohma family have been cursed

as each of them is possessed by an animal from the chinese zodiac. She is often

regarded as a ‘ social outcast’ as she is an orphan and does not particularly get along

with people, even if she's a sweet girl by heart. 

The idea of my short film is “ social outcast”. As it is something I have personally

experienced myself too, a lot of the inspiration for this film comes from my own

perspective as well, and how I have conceived my school and college life so far up till

now. An easier way to describe this feeling is this: i constantly feel like standing away

from everyone else, even if we are in the same room. As I look up from where I stand,

I am surrounded by no one, and from the corner of my eye I can see my friends

grouped together, as they laugh and hug each other. I have never understood this.

Why must I be left out, just because I think slightly differently from my friends who are

constantly all over each other? In my eyes, I feel like I am a good person. So why does

a person like me end up being alone? All these thoughts constantly spring out. This is

what has edged me on to create this short film. 

The main indication of this story is to show the concept of social outcasts, along with my personal experiences regarding this. As mentioned above, the story is about a young boy named Ayu, who is playing a game with his classmates, where they give each other fruit names and then call out each other’s names, but the name given to Ayu is“onigiri” which means rice ball. He keeps on waiting for his name to be called but his classmates never call out his name. This indicates how his classmates labeled Ayu as a‘ social outcast’. 

Research and Planning

My short film is called “Fruits Basket”, and the story is about a young boy named Ayu, who sits in a classroom with all his classmates around him. All the kids are playing a game called ‘fruits basket’, where a fruit is assigned to each of the children. All of them sit around in a circle and the person in the middle calls out the names of different fruits one by one. Each kid whose assigned fruit name is spoken comes forward to join the others. The name Ayu is given is “onigiri”, which means rice ball. Since only the names of fruits are called, Ayu keeps waiting for his name to be called but since rice ball is not a fruit, Ayu keeps on waiting but his friends never call his name. This indicates the social outcasting of Ayu, and how others around him have cast him off just because he tends to be and think a little differently than them. 

The  idea of my experimental short film is based on the manga “Furuba or (フルバ) ” written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. This manga is inevitably very close to myheart, as it is the first manga I ever read. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japaneseshojo manga magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha. It was actually

serialized from 1999 to 2006, making it pretty old school. It tells the story of a young girl named Hondo Tohru, who upon meeting Yuki Sohma and Kyo Sohma, two boys who study at her school, realizes that both of them, including the 13 members of the Sohma family have been cursed as each of them is possessed by an animal from the chinese zodiac.

The major inspiration for the concept of Social Outcasts also came from a book I’m

currently reading, called “ No Longer Human” .No Longer Human is a 1948 Japanesenovel by Osamu Dazai. It is considered Dazai's masterpiece and ranks as thesecond-best-selling novel ever in Japan, behind Natsume Sōseki's Kokoro. Eventhough I have just started reading it, this book has already climbed up to my topfavorites. It is such a book that focuses on concepts such as social isolation andalienation, compassion and mutual suffering, depression, mental health, stigmatization,self-expression, and realization.  

This book basically explores and depicts what it feels like to have yourself painfully

and mortally detached and isolated from the rest of society. The protagonist of thenovel is a man named Yozo, and throughout the entire book Yozo talks about howhe feels emotionally and physically detached from humans and their common activities,and he finds it impossible to comprehend humans. Human behavior in itself does not

feel intuitive to Yozo, and he tries to ‘mimic’ the ‘normal’ way of human life by seeingothers in order to survive, but even so, he is not able to comprehend it and findshimself even more distanced and alienated by society.

Fig. 1 Furuba Visuals

Fig. 2 No longer human by Dazai Osamu

The novel does a brilliant job of highlighting how difficult it is for socially alienated peopleto try and find meaning in connecting with society and human nature. Their sense, andway of thinking and dealing with isolation ultimately drives them into certain behavior.

Another thing about “ No longer human” that I find interesting is, that the novel doesnot particularly talk about being “ antisocial” or detached from society, rather it focuses more on Yozo’s personal perception of human beings, and how his life is documentedas a lonely man

A part of Yozo’s sense of ‘alienation’ is probably due to him being sexually abusedby his family’s wait staff as a small child, but even with this traumatic experience, itappears that yozo always had that touch of being cut off from people ever since hewas a little kid. There is a line that i'd like to quote from the novel which goes like:

 

“All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the

only one who is entirely unlike the rest. It is almost impossible for me to converse

with other people. What should I talk about, how should I say it? - I don't know.”

 

                                   ― Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human

 

These lines from Dazai are truly connected to what I want to portray in my short film

as well. Ayu, the protagonist of my film, also has similar feelings towards others.

 

Another line from the novel I’d like to quote is

 

“I have always shaken with fright before human beings. Unable as I was to feel the

least particle of confidence in my ability to speak and act like a human being,

I kept my solitary agonies locked in my breast. I kept my melancholy and my

agitation hidden, careful lest any trace should be left exposed. I feigned an innocent

optimism; I gradually perfected myself in the role of the farcical eccentric.”

 

                                   ― Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human

 

 It is fair to say that human beings, by nature, are intrinsically social species.

The major cause and success of the evolution of humans is due to the ability to

interact with each other. Since it has become such an evident part of our nature, it

would not be surprising to see huge impacts being caused by interpersonal rejection

and social reluctance. In the past years, social psychology has seen social exclusion

and rejection are certain outcomes that would rather be avoided, but in recent years

more work has been done on their consequences and antecedents.

 

Acts of social outcasts and exclusion are not to be taken lightly. These are linked to

actual depression, alienation, and in some cases, suicide. It is important to understand that being

“socially outcasted” is not a choice, it is a bundle of limitless consequences that are linked to our emotional,

behavioral, and cognitive levels. Social rejection and suffocation does not only feel lousy, it feels pathetic.

Even though this is such an occurring phenomenon, it is surprising to see how only a

few psychologists have actually gone deeper into the importance of this rejection.

Dr Mark Leary, who is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the Duke

University says that “ It’s like the whole field missed this centrally important part of

human life. People have realized how much of our concern with social acceptance

spreads its fingers into almost every single thing we do”.

According to researchers, it is seen that the pain and impact of being socially

excluded from something is almost the same as a physical injury, as it targets an

individual's mental and psychological state. Alienation from people’s behaviors and

peers in general can strongly influence one’s emotions, cognition, behavior and even

physical health. 

Mike Norton in Fighting for Redemption says:

“Outcasts, callused from being in exile for too long, learn to thrive on being hated; the

attention and infamy of our actions fuel us to become antiheroes. Too often do we

forget: we risk self-destruction if we fail to follow what we know is right; our talents

too often become misplaced, misdirected, misguided from what could have been

something wonderful.”

 “Unhappiness. There are all kinds of unhappy people in the world. I suppose it

would be no exaggeration to say that the world is composed entirely

of unhappy people. But those people can fight their unhappiness with society fairly

and squarly, and society for its part easily understands and sympathizes with such

struggles. My unhappiness stemmed entirely from my own vices, and I had no

way of fighting anybody.”

                – Dazai Osamu, No Longer Human

 Theme

Visually, the color scheme of my short film is monochromatic. Black and white,

and monochromatic shades are two extreme sides of the spectrum and it's always

interesting to work with such simple yet bold colors.  I usually always work with more

pastel and visually colorful illustrations, and I do not have much experience when it

comes to black and white artwork. For this short film, I decided to go for a color scheme

inspired by the monochromatic works of Ryan Travis Christian. The style of the film

is more ‘dark’ based, which is also an experiment within itself as I do not usually work

with more dark and horrid themes, indicating trigger warnings. 

Ryan is an amazing graphic artist whose black and white works brim with madness,

humor, and pattern. I find his style very unique and tend to implement it in my short film

as well.  The darker aspect and orientation of this film is inspired by Miyashita Yuu’s

WozWald- music and art by Niru Kajitsu and Wooma. 

Fig. 3 Ryan Travis Christian

Fig. 4 WozWald by Miyashita Yuu

Fig. 5 WozWald

 

Inspiration

A lot of my inspiration for this short film comes from " Yoh Kamiyama". Yoh Kamiyama

is a Japanese musician, singer, and composer from Gifu Prefecture who is affiliated

with Ignite Management and Sony Music Associated Records. I've been a huge fan

of his since 2018, and I absolutely adore the style of his short films and music videos.

He comes up with the most unconventional and unique styles of animating and color

schemes in his videos, it is almost impossible to come across one of his videos andnot be able to fall in love with the style and composition.

Fig. 6 Yoh Kamiyama

Another huge inspiration when it comes to animation and illustration is “ EVE”. Eve

(いぶ), formerly known as Keitora (けいとら) and Kurowa (クロわ), is an utaite known

for his very distinctive thin, boyish voice which despite being slightly nasal in tone, is

very gentle and nice-flowing. 

Fig. 7 Eve MV

Some of my other inspiration for the artwork and animatic visuals of this film came from

the works and art style of @avogado6_jp.  Also known as アボガド6, is a Japanese

artist and illustrator who is known and verified for their conceptual and metaphoric

representations. Once again, I have been an avid admirer of their art for a very long

time and I've always loved the representation in their works. As my own art style is

very colorful and vibrant, I wanted to change my pace a bit to match the more

monochromatic and dull shades just like theirs.

Fig. 8 Eve

Idea

The basic idea of my experimental film “Fruits Basket” is to show the story of a

young school kid named Ayu, who is playing a game called “ Fruits basket” with his

classmates. In this game, one of the kids stands in the center of the circle of kids and

one by one, calls out names of different fruits. All of the children in the class are given

names of fruits beforehand, so each time he calls out a fruit’s name, the person who

had been given that name comes forward and joins him. Slowly,  the entire class joins

the circle as they are called one by one. Only Ayu is left, who is given the name

‘riceball’ which is not a fruit, and Ayu keeps waiting for someone to call out his name. 

I will be using Tchaikovsky’s “ Swan Lake” composition as the background music,

but a more electrical and eerie version.

Character Sketch