This week, let’s discover a cartoon that has haunted my entire childhood: The Wild Swans.
This day, in South Korea, I’m having my first Asian summer, and I can tell you it’s hot and humid. It’s so intense, it’s even better to stay cool inside. Between French friends, we laugh about it by thinking that the Korean summer is like a second hibernation in the year. Here, there are two big, rough seasons, winter and summer. That means you have to stay home. I can’t wait to be out in the fall and enjoy the mountain walks and outdoor tours.
These days my routine consists of my guesthouse volunteering work, reading, embroidery, writing and viewing dramas and movies. I go out at night to walk in the park next to my house, after sunset, around 7pm.
Yes ! The other surprise here is the short summer days, which are not like in France. The sunsets are coming as fast as in winter, there are fewer fluctuations. It always stays around a sunrise at 5am and a sunset at 7pm in summer and sunrise around 7am and sunset around 5pm in winter. Here, no outdoor parties to enjoy the sun until 11 pm, it’s quite confusing.
During my night walks where the heat is more bearable, I have the chance to hear Asian fauna noise and more particularly the noise of the Asian cicadas.
Video where you can hear the sound of one of the Asian cicadas.
But why am I talking about it ? What is the link to the cartoon I want to share with you ?
The sound of these cicadas is unique to Asia and it is a sound that I was not familiar with until this summer. The only time I’ve heard it before was in the cartoon The wild Swans.
I have always been very attentive and sensitive to sounds and this one by being heard repeatedly when I was watching the animation during my childhood has marked me forever.
It was when I heard it for the first time this summer in Korea during my night walks that it came back to my memory.
Many people hate this summer sound which, I must say, is very loud. But for me it is «my madeleine de Proust» which recalls a period of my childish life who was comforting and enchanting.
The animation was made in Japan. Although the story is based on a tale and is anchored in a European setting. The sounds of nature and the songs are Japanese. This gives it a little taste of exoticism.
May I present the film?
Storyline
Once upon a time there was a widowed king. During a deer hunt, he lost himself in the forest. An old witch appeared and convinced him to marry his daughter in exchange of showing him the way back. The king accepted. The new queen cannot bear the time that the king devotes to his children, 6 boys and 1 girl, born of the first queen. They live in the Forest of Happiness, a hidden place of all. Using a magic wool ball who know the way, the witch queen casts a spell on the children, turning them into swans. Only Elisa manages to escape.
The curse is that every time the dawn appears they turn into swans and return to their human form by nightfall. To break the spell, Elisa must knit for 6 years 6 sweaters of nettle wool while remaining silent ! If a word or a cry escapes from her lips, his brothers will die immediately .
You can watch it on Youtube ! Enjoy !
The quality of the drawing is well realized and brings you to a universe representing a world between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance of Eastern Europe.
We’re talking about witches, curses, good and evil. It’s for me a good introduction and example of the history of the witch hunt in Europe during that time and allows me to talk about it. One of my next articles will talk about this un-known genocide against the women during the European Renaissance and this for several centuries with stigmata still very present nowadays.
For breaking the spell, Elisa has to knit with nettle wool is a second reason for me to talk about it. I studied textiles and I have always had a soft spot for stories and tales talking about it.
Feel free to let me know how you feel about this cartoon. I am curious to see what can come of it for people who have not been lulled by this story being children ! Enjoy!
MistandMoonlight 
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