01x03 - Copycat

[bunniefuu]

[gentle music playing]

[Sachi, in Japanese] It is often said

that the Japanese consider cats

to be special creatures.

The "Maneki-neko,"

beckoning cat, for example,

is considered a good omen.

I don't know if you can call them

the messengers of the spirits

but I think they certainly appeal

to the Japanese sensibility.

Personally,

I believe they are bearers

of "mysterious messages."

Actually, at a time

when I was truly struggling

and couldn't find any answers,

deciding to create this cat artwork

gave me the ability

to go beyond my imagination,

and opened up my life

to a new world of opportunity.

I'm amazed when I see

how things turned out.

I never dreamed I could be this happy.

[opening theme music playing]

[gentle music playing]

[Sachi] I'd always get really

absorbed in things when I was a child.

I don't think I was the cooperative type.

You would really have to stop me

if I was halfway done with something.

When I was in elementary school,

I once drew a backdrop

for a school performance,

and I got so into it

that I stayed after school.

I stayed at school after hours

just to keep on drawing.

That's how much I loved drawing.

The artist I admire most

has to be Picasso.

You can certainly say that, technically,

he was incredibly talented.

And even though

this might sound a bit cliché,

when I'm asked

what it is that I like about Picasso,

I always answer with "his passion."

[jazzy piano music playing]

[Sachi] Wakuneco comes from

the Japanese words "Waku," frame,

and "Neco," cat.

So, together, it means "cat in a frame."

I came up with many different ideas

for what it should be called,

but I thought "Wakuneco" was catchy

and easy to remember.

I discovered needle felting

when I tried to hem a skirt.

I went to a handicraft shop

to buy some materials.

That's how I came across it.

I didn't realize

how freely one could create art using it,

so it really grabbed me from the start.

[warm music playing]

I live with three cats

called Shima, Fuku-chan, and Guri,

and they are all rescued cats.

Whenever I feel exhausted,

their presence is healing to me.

When I started needle felting,

I was already in love with them.

I had been drawing pictures

this whole time,

including a lot of portraits,

and I thought, "How about I start

doing felt sculptures of them?"

This is how I came to design

these 3D cat portraits.

[light-hearted music playing]

- This is a photograph of Miyu

- [Gyueen] Ah.

a single-tone Russian Blue.

- [Gyueen] This cat is alive?

- Yeah.

So, your creative process

will be a bit different than usual.

- Yeah.

- How will you do it?

[Sachi] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I first met Sachi from Wakuneco

when I was running my own YouTube channel.

I was showing people

how to create their own video content.

That was when Sachi sent me some videos,

asking me if I would be interested

in filming some of her content.

When I saw her work, I thought,

"This is cool.

The world needs to see this."

This way?

- [Gyueen] Yes, that's good.

- Okay, here we go.

[both laughing]

The first video we did together

got over 1,000,000 views on YouTube.

That's when we realized

we were onto something.

We thought we had a good product.

[Sachi and Gyueen chuckling]

The number of viewers

steadily increased from then on,

and I got more and more requests

from people for me to frame their cats,

before getting to where I am now.

[uplifting music playing]

Until recently, I had mainly done cats

that have passed away and gone to heaven.

But on this occasion,

I am going to actually meet the cat

I will be designing.

Of course

I am looking forward to meeting the owner,

but meeting Miyu

and finding out what kind of cat she is

is even more exciting.

[peaceful music playing]

[purring]

[Chihiro] Having Miyu live with me

is like having a child and a sibling,

but also like having a friend.

At times, she gets all affectionate,

a bit like a lover would.

It's a funny relationship we have.

To tell the truth,

my family was not good with animals,

and we were not allowed to have pets.

When I moved out

of my parents' house for college,

I decided to welcome Miyu.

We have been inseparable ever since.

[speaking indistinctly]

[chuckles softly]

- [doorbell rings]

- [woman gasps]

- I'm from Wakuneco.

- [Chihiro] Hello. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

[all greeting]

[Chihiro] This is such a happy day.

Thank you for coming.

Miyu is so cute.

[Chihiro] We saw on YouTube

and social networking services

that Sachi was creating

this amazing artwork.

In the video we watched,

she was applying the whiskers,

and apparently, in that scene,

those are that cat's real whiskers.

You can really tell how much she loves

the cats that she uses as models,

so we thought we'd really like

to have Wakuneco make one of Miyu.

She said you're cute, Miyu.

Isn't that nice?

I'm getting all emotional.

[Sachi laughing emotionally]

She's so cute.

[all speaking indistinctly]

[Chihiro] Miyu is ten years old now,

and she'll be 11 soon.

She's not getting any younger,

so who knows when she'll be leaving us.

Thinking about that makes us sad.

- [camera shutter clicking]

- [woman laughing]

[Chihiro] Are you a model now, Miyu?

So cute.

[Chihiro] Since the piece will be with us

while Miyu is still here,

the idea that Miyu's spirit might go

into the art piece after she's gone

somehow eases my anxiety

about her leaving us.

[Miyu purring]

[Sachi] Could I just check the color,

please?

[Chihiro] I just collected the fur

that came off while I brushed her.

I've got a ball of it.

[Sachi] Amazing.

Ahh.

- This is really useful, thanks.

- [Chihiro] Is it really? That's great.

[Sachi] Is she always so calm?

[Chihiro] She's always been

a pretty calm cat, yes.

[camera beeping, shutter clicking]

If you had to choose a color for her eyes,

what color would you say

her eyes are?

I think yellowish-green.

- [Sachi] Yellowish-green.

- [Chihiro and Yoko] Yes.

[Sachi] I think that the owner's thoughts

are really important for this work.

So, I ask the owner or owners

lots of questions about the cat.

I then combine what I've heard

with my own direct impressions

from the meeting

to create the final piece.

[gentle music playing]

[Sachi] This is a picture

that I took today.

I smooth out the color

to a more neutral tone

and then print that image.

It's easy to make a mistake

with the color while doing this work.

There are grays that are reddish,

and grays that are kind of blue,

so it is important

that I refer to these pictures,

to get a clear idea

of which color fits best.

Actually, I really admire artists

who can express themselves

in an abstract way.

So, Picasso, for example, was very adept

at creating a whole universe from nothing.

Unfortunately, I'm not good at that.

Anything that I might create

will always be concrete.

To be honest, I used to have a big complex

about my art being concrete.

- [giggling]

- [cat meows]

Yes, thank you.

I know.

I can't see.

- [meows]

- Okay.

[uplifting music playing]

[Sachi] Miyu, who will model

for this piece,

has single-color fur

that has no real gradations.

As you can imagine,

fur with complicated color gradations

is much harder to replicate.

In fact, fur of any single shade

is pretty hard to replicate.

If you only use one shade of gray,

it will look a bit like a stuffed toy.

So, you have to be careful

not to overuse a single shade.

Then, there is gauging any gradations,

which is an important point.

- I think this one.

- [clerk] Okay.

- It's amazing.

- [Sachi] Thank you.

- [clerk] I've seen your videos online.

- [Sachi] Oh! Have you really?

[clerk] I saw the one where you made

the eyes, and I was blown away.

[Sachi] Really? You knew who I was, then?

That's amazing!

[both speaking indistinctly]

[clerk] I look forward to seeing

your next YouTube video.

- [Sachi] Thank you.

- [clerk] Thank you.

[Tada] I met Sachi from Wakuneco

at a fine-arts prep school

where we both worked.

I was asked

to make the frames for her artwork.

At that time, I didn't know much

about her making 3D art.

She was mainly into working with drawings.

But it sounded interesting,

so I thought I'd take it on.

[Sachi] Hi, Tada.

- Oh, hey.

- Hello.

- It's been a while. [chuckling]

- It has.

- [Sachi] Making it this big was tough.

- [Tada] Mm.

- [Sachi chuckles]

- [Tada] Ahh, I see.

[Sachi] I thought it might be better

not to make the frames as large.

- The width of the frame

- [Tada] Mm.

- you last made me was spot-on

- [Tada] Mm.

- but it was maybe a little thick.

- [Tada] Yeah. Ohh. Mm.

- I was thinking maybe that the thickness

- [Tada] Yeah.

- could be the same as the width.

- [Tada] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Somewhere between this one

and that one, maybe?

[Tada] Mm-hmm.

[Sachi] Without compromising

on the idea I have in mind,

but complementing it.

Sachi doesn't hesitate

to tell me what she likes,

and she has a very clear vision,

which makes my job a lot easier.

[peaceful music playing]

[Sachi] My artwork always starts off

as a stencil

of the cat who is the subject.

I will carefully draw the cat's face

to fit my vision at the beginning.

If your vision isn't clear from the get-go

and you get midway through the process

only to realize you've made a mistake,

correcting that mistake

will be extremely complicated.

So, it's very important

to do this work carefully.

Of course, the most important outcome

is that the piece

looks like the cat model.

I also like to add

my personal touch of cuteness as I see it

to a beloved cat,

who is already the cutest in the world

to the owner.

Gu-chan.

[cat purrs]

Gu-chan, Gu-chan.

Gu-chan.

- [meows]

- Gu-chan.

- [chuckling]

- [purring]

You are so cute.

What has been on your mind lately?

Hm?

Are you sunbathing now?

Mmm.

[cell phone ringing]

[Sachi] Hello?

Do you see the park in front of you?

Thanks for coming.

[both speaking indistinctly, chuckling]

[indistinct conversation]

EXCLUSIVE USE

KIYOSUMI GARDEN

- [Aya] This is amazing.

- [Sachi] Isn't it?

- [Aya] Shall we take a picture?

- [Sachi] Okay.

[Aya] Hang on.

- [Sachi laughs]

- That's great.

At the university,

I think it was during an art class,

the lecturer asked us

if there was anything we wanted.

And everyone said stuff like holidays

and meeting celebrities.

But Sachi said, "I want talent."

And then I also thought,

"She's a bit different."

In a good sense, of course.

She's aiming high.

I thought that when we were students.

- [Sachi] My followers are 80% women.

- [Aya] Hmm.

[Sachi] I'm very happy to have them,

of course,

but I think women like my work

because it falls into the doll category.

I think guys don't really know

how to feel about it.

I often think that if I could go beyond

the idea that I'm making dolls

and take it more in the direction

of sculpture or art,

- then that would be good.

- Hmm.

[Aya] I think that once you're satisfied

with what you've achieved with Wakuneco

you'll find a new direction for yourself.

It won't be just cats forever.

- I think you might even go back to 2D art.

- [Sachi] Mm.

[Aya] You're so good at drawing,

after all.

[Sachi] Yeah, but to be honest with you,

I don't really think

that being good at drawing

means much these days.

[thoughtful music playing]

[Sachi] I threw away

almost all of my drawings.

When I used to draw,

I would think

my drawings were really boring.

I felt like I was in a dark tunnel

and that I'd be stuck there forever.

I couldn't see an exit anywhere.

But still, I had passion.

I just didn't know

how to face my feelings back then.

[Sachi] It's so beautiful.

Amazing.

[ethereal music playing]

Before starting Wakuneco,

I had wanted to become a pro photographer.

- So, I took pictures of landscapes.

- [camera beeps, shutter clicks]

It is so difficult

to sh**t something with real character.

In landscape photography, for instance,

you might have ten different subjects

standing in the same shot,

but unless each of those shots

shows individuality,

none of them can be said

to have character.

I have traveled all over Japan,

carrying my camera, taking photos.

I took a six-hour, one-way trip

to photograph a mountain torrent once.

As always, I was conflicted

with how to best approach the shot.

[camera beeping, shutter clicking]

[peaceful music playing]

A single piece typically takes me

a few months to complete.

When I started felt needling,

I concluded that the hardest part

of the cat to get right was the ears.

Making them look thin is incredibly hard.

But that thinness is also part

of what makes them so cute.

So, I think it's important

that I don't gloss over them,

and I get them right.

The difficulty in building the base

comes in ensuring

that the shape doesn't deteriorate

as the years go by.

When I think that the owner

will want to keep it for many years,

it makes me do my utmost

to provide them with my best work.

The trouble with the eyes

is that even if they're the same color

as the subject's,

they still somehow fail

to convey the personality.

It's quite a strange point to remember,

but also quite an interesting one.

I always try to give the impression

you're looking into the eyes

of a loved one.

So, it's not always about creating

a faithful reproduction of the color,

but conveying my own impression

of what the eye looks like.

When creating the color of the fur,

if you look closely,

the base of the hair is light,

and the tips are dark.

An animal's coat

can have all this variety.

So, in order to express

the glossiness of Miyu's coat,

the edges have been made to look lighter,

and as you go into the center,

you will see a slightly darker color

that naturally comes through.

[cat meowing]

There were lots of points to consider

when doing this work,

but the one which I spent lots of time on

really was her eyes.

I got it to look like

a Russian Blue relatively quickly,

but I definitely struggled

with figuring out how to get her

to not look like any old Russian Blue,

and bring out Miyu's personality.

That really was

the most challenging element

of this project.

I really had to think hard

about that part.

[Skype call ringing]

- Hello.

- [both] Hello.

- Thanks for your time today.

- Same to you.

You sent me the whiskers the other day.

There were nine in total, right?

If there were ten of them,

it would look nicely balanced.

I think, maybe,

we just use the nine you sent me

and wait

for another one of her whiskers to fall

before adding it to the others.

That might look better.

I'm so happy that we get to keep

Miyu's real whiskers forever.

In fact

I have Miyu right here with me.

[both laughing]

[Chihiro] I haven't seen her face yet,

but I get the feeling

that Miyu is actually staying with you.

I'll give it my all to create Miyu,

and I'm looking forward

to delivering it to you.

We are also looking forward to it.

Thank you so much for your time.

- Thank you.

- See you both soon.

[Sachi] I feel like

I've finally been discovered.

After all

Mm

The thing I'm most careful about

when I create each Wakuneco piece

is that, even if this were to be

my last creation,

I have no regrets.

[voice breaking]

Because, up to this point

whenever, uh [clears throat]

I've tried to make something of myself,

I've put my heart and soul into it.

I've had many setbacks

in following through

with what I've wanted to do.

I really wanted

to become a painter at one point,

and then I really wanted

to become a photographer.

No matter how hard I tried back then,

no one saw me.

Now, with Wakuneco,

so many people can see my work

and ask me to make them these portraits.

It's nothing short of a miracle, I think.

My portrait of Miyu

may not be perfect,

but it is work that came from my heart.

Mm.

And I hope it will bring a lot of joy

to Miyu's owners.

[uplifting music playing]

I had a lot of trouble

sleeping last night.

I was making final preparations.

I also asked myself

if this piece was as good as it could be.

And then, it was suddenly light out,

and I headed out.

[doorbell ringing]

[Chihiro and Sushi speaking indistinctly]

Hello!

- Hello.

- Nice to see you again.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you for coming.

Thank you for coming.

This is your Wakuneco piece.

Oh!

Please, go ahead and have a look.

May I?

[chuckling]

[Chihiro] What should I do?

I'm a bit nervous.

- [Yoko] Chihiro is Miyu's mom.

- [Chihiro laughs emotionally]

Here it goes.

[Chihiro] Miyu is here.

Miyu, do you want to look?

[all speaking indistinctly]

I'm happy to see her.

Here we go. Three, two, one.

[all laughing happily]

[Chihiro] Oh!

[Chihiro and Yoko squealing excitedly]

That's amazing!

The eyes are perfect.

How wonderful.

[Chihiro laughs]

[Sachi] I'm so glad.

[Yoko] It's great! [laughing]

- I'm stunned. [laughing emotionally]

- [laughing] Oh, Chihro is crying.

[Sachi] I'm glad!

I'm so happy.

- The whiskers are really cute, too.

- Yeah, they are.

Don't struggle, Miyu

Say thank you to the nice lady.

Miyu, you're so cute.

I'm so shocked. It looks alive.

The eyes are amazing.

[Sachi] I'm so happy you think that.

I really think that Wakuneco saved me.

That part of me

which I once thought of as a complex,

turned out to be my greatest asset.

I just hadn't realized it yet.

It wasn't until I made this my reality,

and that I accepted those parts of me

that I saw as negative points,

decided to use them to my fullest,

and became passionate about what I do,

that all of those doubts began to fade.

[Yoko reading] "Yoko, Chihiro,

thank you for giving me

this wonderful opportunity."

"I expect I will only be able to create

a few of these Wakuneco in my lifetime,

but I am very glad

that I was able to meet the both of you."

"I hope that my Wakuneco portrait of Miyu

will bring you joy,

and that you will be able to enjoy

Miyu's company for many years to come."

"Love from Sachi of Wakuneco."

If I were asked whether I like myself,

I'd now be able to say,

unreservedly, "Yes, I do!"

[closing theme music playing]