Usually, I work as a director of television shows and movies…
That might be a jarring thing to hear at the beginning of a so-called postscript, where a reader might normally come to enjoy the last refrain of a novel just finished. But it is part of a story I would like to share.
Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom? was first created as a live-action television film twenty-four years ago.
When discussion began about remaking the live-action version as an animated film, I was chosen to write the screenplay. However, that screenplay ultimately came to include numerous differences from the original, including changes to the characters and setting, as well as the addition of entirely new segments to the latter part of the story.
Specifically, the ages of Norimichi and Nazuna were shifted from elementary school to junior high school; the one “wishing world” in the original was expanded to several in the animated film; and a brand-new element was introduced that hadn’t existed at all in the live-action version: the “wishing orb”…
In short, the film was adjusted to fit the new medium… Many things about it are quite different from the worldview espoused by Mr. Iwai’s original.
Later, when I was asked about writing the novelization, my initial response was a flat no. I’d never written a novel before. It seemed an impossible task for me.
However, a thought occurred that changed my mind:
As their creator, didn’t I have a responsibility to the characters, settings, and later story developments that I’d allowed to diverge from the original film?
If so, I was determined to fulfill that responsibility. I agreed to tackle the unfamiliar format of novels.
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Given that context, I’m afraid there must be a great many points where my expressions are crude or my words insufficient.
Surely many readers must have felt it peculiar when screenplay-like excerpts suddenly interrupted the text, far different from the typical format of a novel.
As the novel itself was written from the point of view of Norimichi, I was unsure how to handle scenes he neither was present for nor witnessed. My solution was to write them in the same way I had before: like a screenplay…
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Excuses aside, my point is this:
This story originated as a live-action and then an animated film. It was created to be a cinematic experience. And that means the story itself is cinematic.
Though that might seem axiomatic, I expect some readers have read this book first, without having seen the live-action or animated films.
Of course, I’m thankful to those readers as well. But if at all possible, I’d like to encourage them to seek out the live-action and animated films to enjoy together with the novel.
I believe doing so will bring further depth to the scenery and characters those readers envisioned as they digested the novel, and that it will shine a light of understanding upon the points that an unskilled author like me failed to make clear.
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In fact, I urge you to see the films!
I gave my all in writing this novel, but ultimately, the films better portray the subtle distance Norimichi feels toward girls and his inability to express those things, as a typical elementary or junior-high-aged boy would.
And last but not least, Nazuna!
Both the Nazuna of the live-action and the Nazuna of the animated film encapsulate a pinnacle of the endearment and charm of young love!
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Therefore, I fervently hope you enjoy Fireworks as a set of three: the live-action film, the animated film, and the novelization!!!
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Finally, I’d like to conclude with a few words to the father of this work, Mr. Shunji Iwai; to Director Akiyuki Shinbo and staff, who brought the animated film to the screen; to Mr. Genki Kawamura, who planned and produced the project; to all the individuals who were involved in the creation of both the live-action and animated films; and most of all, to all those who reached out to this book and took the time to read…
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I love you!!!!!
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May 2017
Hitoshi One