© terry’s angels. All rights reserved.
Diary of a Candy Candy Fan
at Livre Paris
When I first watched the anime Candy Candy on T.V. as a child in the 1970s, I never thought that one day, I would have a chance to meet the author of this story, Keiko Nagita. Candy Candy not only appeared on t.v. Back then, she used the pen name Kyoko Mizuki, and her pen name was printed on all the Candy Candy manga sold everywhere.
The story Candy Candy has been ingrained in the hearts of people in all parts of the world who had the fortune to grow up with it. If you missed the chance to meet Ms. Nagita in Paris, I’m delighted to share with you here what I observed and experienced.
~ Friday, March 15, 2019 ~
Ms. Nagita made her first appearance at the ICI Book Store. She was due to arrive at 6 p.m. Anxiously, the fans who had come to see her waited on the book store’s second floor for her arrival, all of them carrying the new French edition of Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS). At 6:30 p.m., Ms. Nagita finally arrived. She entered from the elevator with a small but beautiful and delicate bouquet of daffodils in her hands. As a Terry fan, the sight of her making a grand entrance holding daffodils nearly brought tears to my eyes, because in CCFS, daffodils are symbolic of Terry.
As soon as Ms. Nagita entered, the crowd of fans rose to their feet and applauded. Ms. Nagita became overwhelmed with emotions. She tried but could not walk to the front and center. Covering her face, she retreated behind the wall of the elevator. She tried to come in front again, but had to retreat again. Tears were in her eyes. She retreated three times before she was finally calmed enough to stand in front of us to greet her fans.
Ms. Nagita was accompanied by her agent and her daughter, who according to the Pika staff was living in Europe. Her agent and her daughter both spoke English. Also present were the staff of Pika Editions including their chief editor, Monsieur Mehdi Benrabah, and the translator for the CCFS French edition, Monsieur Jean Louis de la Couronne.* To my pleasant surprise, the entire staff was open and friendly, and were answering questions from fans about CCFS quite freely.
* I note here that some of the fans in attendance asked Monsieur de la Couronne whether he might have missed any Japanese nuances in the original text. This is because lately, there have been claims from the pro-Albert factions that only native Japanese readers can truly understand what is written in CCFS. The claims are that: (1) despite CCFS being a story set in the West about Western characters, the story is in fact Japanese in nature because Ms. Nagita is Japanese, (2) due to the complexity of the Japanese language, which is filled with nuances, hidden meanings, and cultural references, the text of CCFS points to a romantic love relationship between Candy and Albert that non-Japanese Terry fans could not possibly see or understand, and (3) Ms. Nagita, being Japanese, really meant to write a Japanese story. Using these claims, the instigator of these claims manipulated passages in CCFS to make translations that deviated from what was plainly written in the text. To these claims, Ms. Nagita has given her own answer at Livre Paris. (See here.) However, it should also be noted that M. de la Couronne also said that CCFS is intended to be a Western story, not a Japanese story. He had lived in Japan for fifteen years. He said that in making the translation, he had to balance between writing to a young children audience as well as adults who read for nostalgic reasons. However, the writing by Nagita in this story was not very complex, and it was not difficult for him to translate the books.
During the book signing, she greeted everyone warmly and patiently answered her fans’ questions. She kept the bouquet of daffodils carefully by her side on the desk. She signed the books with an ink pen (not a ballpoint pen). She said that this was the pen she used to write the final chapters of the original manga story of Candy Candy many years ago in the hotel Domaine de Beauvois, a castle in the Loire Valley, where a painting of fox hunting hung on the wall of her hotel room. In the preface to the French edition of CCFS, she explained that that was the only time she has used this pen. I was so moved to learn this. Clearly, her attendance here this weekend has very significant meaning to her for her to bring this pen out to use again. And what a wonder that she has kept this pen for all these years. Also, the beautiful magenta ink she had brought with her to use for the book signing has the scent of roses!
Through the course of the evening, some of the fans gave her gifts. Others expressed their long-time love for her story. I noticed that when Ms. Nagita signed the books, she took her time and wrote her signature in a very neat, careful manner. The book signing ran over time past the book store’s closing hour.
~ Saturday, March 16, 2019 ~
Today, there were two book signing events. One at the Livre Paris Book Fair, and another one at a book store. The book store event was a last minute change in schedule which was not publicized in time, so unfortunately many fans missed it.
At the Pika booth at Livre Paris, a long line formed well before Ms. Nagita arrived. Once again, she brought with her the special pen and ink. I noticed too that she is a person who put thoughts behind even small actions. For example, today she wore a sweater with patterns of book bindings with titles of great classic literature, including A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist. What do you know? Ms. Nagita is not only a Shakespeare fan, but also a Charles Dickens fan!
Interesting tidbit: Since I already got my own signed copy, today I queued up to get a signed copy of a friend of mine whose last name is Savoy. During the signing, I made a joke to Ms. Nagita that my friend has the same name as the Hotel Savoy where Terry and Candy saw each other after they disembarked the Mauretania, before they continued their way to St. Paul’s. Ms. Nagita had a puzzled expression on her face. I repeated “Savoy” twice, but she didn’t recognize what I was saying. Eventually, her agent said that Savoy was a part of the anime, and Ms. Nagita did not count it as part of her story. I then mentioned that in the anime, there was a scene which showed a letter sent to Candy at Pony’s Hill, and the address on the letter’s envelop was La Porte, Indiana. I asked if Ms. Nagita knew about La Porte. Ms. Nagita shook her head and said, “No. Pony’s Hill is in Michigan. Candy’s from Michigan.” She then squeezed her fists and said, half-joking but also half-serious, “Toei changed the story. I’m angry.” Apparently then, the rumor we’ve been hearing all these years that Ms. Nagita did not like some parts of the story which were imposed by other third parties is true. CCFS is indeed her own story which she got the chance to finally tell it the way she meant it.
~ Sunday, March 17, 2019 ~
On this third and last day of Ms. Nagita’s visit, Pika hosted a one-hour Q&A session with Ms. Nagita at the Livre Paris Book Fair. Monsieur Benrabah asked her not only questions previously submitted by fans, but also took questions from the live audience. You can see the live video and transcriptions here, so I won’t repeat it. I only want to say that I was so happy to be present for what may be a once in a lifetime chance to meet Ms. Nagita, talk to her in person, and hear her speak directly about the many questions and mysteries about this story that had been unanswered for such a long, long time. At the same time, throughout this whole weekend, she consistently adhered to the policy of keeping the identity of Anohito hidden. For any questions that might reveal his identity, Ms. Nagita was very careful to tell us that we should use our imaginations for the answer. Her official answer has been, and will always be, that he is whoever you imagine him to be.
Be that as it may, I firmly still believe that Terry is Candy’s Anohito. That is my conclusion after reading all the parts and details in CCFS. Ms. Nagita’s answers to her fans’ questions this weekend only affirmed my belief, and she had said nothing that would make me think otherwise.
Finally, I want to say that Ms. Nagita’s personal appearance in Paris answered my long-held question of whether she cares about this story anymore. It has been decades since Candy Candy was first introduced to the world. While CCFS was published in 2010, sometimes I felt like I was looking into a void, and Ms. Nagita herself has long moved on from this story. To my best knowledge until this weekend, there has been no way to contact Ms. Nagita. She has no website or active social media presence. Her agents and representatives in Japan are unknown to the general public, at least outside of Japan. Her Italian and French publishers could only answer questions about CCFS pertaining to their own countries. Ms. Nagita herself seemed so absent. It made me wonder if Ms. Nagita ever wanted to hear from Candy Candy fans at all. This weekend showed me that she in fact cares a lot about Candy Candy and all her CC fans. How much she values this story and us is apparent in the fact that she brought her special pen with her to sign the books. It is also apparent in the emotions and tears she exhibited on the night she made her first entrance. Therefore, I want to pass on to all of you that your love for this beautiful story all these years are special to her, and she appreciates us very, very much.
I will leave you now with this interview of Nagita by a French book blogger Bulle Shojo during this weekend’s Live Paris Book Fair.
With love and gratitude,
Terry’s Angel
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