A Study of The Pictorial Characteristics in The Japanese Anime Based on Gerard Genette`s Intertextuality Theory (Case Study: The Tale of Princess Kaguya by Isao Takahata)

Legends were first created as fun stories like fairy tales, but with serious purposes, which are a good source for anime adaptations. Anime and animation outside the aspect of pleasure and entertainment can include various concepts, Concepts that include the beliefs, convictions, myths, and myths of a nation. Adapting ancient literature and myths and discovering the Intertextual relations of myths, anime, and animation is one of the methods that, today, has been considered by many screenwriters and directors in this field. Legends include situations and features that can be displayed through animation, like the picture. On the other hand, the elements in the legend are a good tool for creating animation. Due to the visual features, structure, and amazing capabilities, Japanese mythology requires directors to turn myth into animation, using media language and methods of literary adaptation and Intertextual relations. The Japanese present their myths and culture in a popular way order to perpetuate them that in addition to Japanese audiences of all ages, audiences from all over the world are also fascinated by Japanese culture and myths. It can be said that anime such as The Tale of Princess Kaguya, which contains many parts of the picture of Japanese folklore and tradition, in addition to preserving Japanese myth, tradition, and culture among domestic visitors, is a reason for Japanese youth to be proud of myths and their culture. Moreover, through the sale of anime, clothes, and toys and even attracting foreign travelers from their audience, we see the growth and development of the economy of that country. The purpose of this research is to study tools such as the picture and its features in the elements which Isao Takahata has used as traditional pre-text to create anime and introduce the culture and traditions of his hometown. The question that arises around this is that: How did Isao Takahata use Gerard Genette's concept of intertextuality for visual adaptation in The Tale of Princess Kaguya? And how has using these visual arrangements affected the audience? In the Japanese anime, the Tale of Princess Kaguya, we see scenes in which visual signs of Japanese culture, tradition, and myth can be seen which indicates the presence of Intertextual relations. In the present study, these searches have been formed in the field of elements such as form, color, composition, and texture. The form is one of the most basic artistic concepts that is formed in the artist's mind before it is revealed and in fact, they are a state of the art text. In the production of anime, with the help of this element, some of the messages intended by the director are conveyed to the audience; that message is the same as the video text in the anime and can be understood through the presence of an intertextual relationship. In the pictures of the Tale of Princess Kaguya, the shape of the house in the village is made of bamboo, tree branches, and straw exactly like the form of these structures in Japanese villages in the real world. To convey the concepts in the traditional architecture of his country, the director has explicitly used the visual texts in traditional paintings and illustrations, and even its natural state in Japanese nature. In the desired anime, the form of a dragon can also be seen. The dragon represents the presence of spiritual power and is an ancient symbol of Eastern mythology. According to the Japanese mythology, they inhabit the waters and oceans next to the water gods, just as in the Tale of Princess Kaguya, the dragon rises from the sea. The presence of the dragon form in artwork also indicates goodness and happiness in a way, and it can indicate the existence of negative energy and evil in which case the dragon form is depicted angrily with fragile and sharp lines. In the Princess Kaguya anime, the dragon form is used as a text that carries the message of folklore in such a way that it takes various forms in positive and negative situations. It also expresses an intertextual connection explicitly with traditional Japanese and cultural data. In producing an anime, one of the most significant ways of conveying concept and feeling is choosing the right color in the scene. The more the director uses the element of color and their quality correctly in all scenes, characters, and spaces, the more pleasant the effect will bring to the audience. Color acts as a symbolic element that displays the deep and inner meanings of an artistic text and its components. In some early scenes of the anime, the audience is confronted with the bright colors of flowers and plants in nature which indicates peace and freedom from any kind of conflict and negative energy in rural Japan. In addition, the color of the characters' clothing also contains concepts and emphases on them like the color of the yellow and transparent cover of Kaguya with the friends of the village who are dressed in blue, and also its red cover next to Lady Sagami, which expresses its lively and aggressive personality. In this way, the concepts in the color element are implicitly and ironically inspired. Arranging the visual elements in an artistic text and arranging them, creating coherence in the arrangement of objects and parts of artwork, expresses the concept of composition. In the illustrated scroll of the seventeenth century called "Taletori Monogatari" in Japan in some scenes, a similar composition with anime can be seen. Like the scene of the people of the moon coming to earth and also the scene of Kaguya's suitor falling down the ladder, which can be explicitly mentioned as an adapted text in the picture composition element. The texture is one of the elements of visual arts, which is mostly associated only with the sense of touch, while its importance is more related to the acquired ability and power of vision which is accessible through experience and information. In anime and animation, due to the unavailability of texture carrier surfaces for touch, many artists who are responsible for creating texture use digital resources and programs to create it. For example, the spongy texture of the clouds that carry the inhabitants of the moon to Earth, in contrast, the rough cloud texture with diagonal lines is used to depict dragons in anime scenes. Another manifestation of the texture element in the Tale of Princess Kaguya anime can be found in the role in the costume of the anime characters. The texture of the clothes designed in the anime in a way expresses the gender of the characters and varies according to whether they are male or female. The texture of men's clothing is simple and the texture of women's clothing is often patterned and these textures can also be seen in traditional Japanese paintings. This clearly shows the intertextual relationship between traditional pictures and Isao Takahata's culture. The discovery of these relationships suggests to some extent that the anime maker used the capabilities of animation, myth, and legend that are rooted in the beliefs of the people of that country to create entertainment while conveying information unique to his nationality and this will be possible through the use of a successful intertextual relationship for the "anime maker" artist to convey their intentions. The present study by identifying the visual features of the Tale of Princess Kaguya legend and examining the related pre-texts and their relationship with the texts tries to show how to use the text and image correctly in creating a successful art work.