The Friends Who Came Popping Out

In Nice, August begins with the sound of swallows outside my window.

From the balcony on the north side of our apartment, I can see the mountains.

Sometimes, clouds seem to arrive from somewhere far away,
as if they had brought a few friends along from the world of The Fancy Granny.

Today, the clouds have made a great red hat out of a tall summer cloud.

And beneath it, the swallows are having their breakfast.

As I watch the sky, I sometimes feel that the world I am creating and the world around me gently overlap, just for a moment.

A little over two weeks ago, I uploaded the very first short video from my creative project, The Fancy Granny.

I also share the videos on Instagram and Facebook.

Today, I uploaded the second one.

In the first and the second video, we meet Poppy.

Poppy is a little character who can be happy or sad over the smallest things.

Sometimes something makes Poppy smile.
Sometimes the same small world can be frustrating,
or make Poppy feel down.

I wonder what will make Poppy happy today,
and what might make Poppy a little sad.

For about two and a half years, I used to draw a simple illustration every day.

The characters have changed just a little since then.

Now, instead of simply drawing them, I imagine small moments and little scenes from their lives, and introduce them through these short videos.

For now, we are only seeing tiny pieces of a much larger story.

A little glimpse from the world that I am creating.

I hope that, by sharing these small pieces, the story itself can slowly grow alongside the people who discover it.

And perhaps Poppy and The Fancy Granny will find a small place not only in my imagination, but also somewhere in the hearts of those who watch.

If you have seen the video, I would love to hear what you felt.

Even something very small—

“What did you feel?”
“Was there a moment you liked?”

Those little impressions are more than enough.

Perhaps the moment when someone sees a character and feels something is also part of how this little world begins to grow.

Here in Nice, beneath the summer sky,
with the sound of swallows in the morning,

I have sent another small piece of the story out into the world.