Arrow to the Sun

Awhile ago, I came up with the following idea: an anime based on Arrow to the Sun, an award-winning children's book by the late Gerald McDermott, inspired by Native American pueblo culture.  There was also an animated short, made by Gerald himself.
Of course, if it were to become an anime, I would make the following changes to it: the lead character would be a girl, the setting would move from a pueblo in ancient America to a village in feudal Japan, and the story would be more complicated.
To illustrate my idea, I did this drawing, based on the book's cover art but with more of an anime flair.  When I found out how to write "arrow to the sun" in Japanese, I included it here, along with a tribute message for Gerald.
I gave the girl orange hair and orange eyes (like the sun), and gave her a hairstyle (which I designed using Kisekae) to make her look like an upward-pointing arrow.  And I put some of Gerald's designs on her kimono, not only to honor his memory, but also to reflect on the story's Native American roots.
And I listened to a CD of pow-wow music while I did this drawing.

Here's my Kisekae design:


Here's the only other piece of Arrow to the Sun fan art here on Deviant Art:


Here's the animated short:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=73GbxE…

Here's a school play of it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bFYhi…

And here's how my anime story would go:

    In feudal Japan, a young Girl is in school, and one of the things she learns about is the legend of a Giant Monster sleeping underneath the earth, which threatens to destroy Japan if it ever awakens.  Later on, she gets made fun of by other students for not knowing who her father is.  So when she goes home, she asks her Mother who her father is.
    Her Mother answers that years ago, she had been struck by an arrow that came from the sun, which got her pregnant with the Girl.  Which means that whoever shot that arrow is the Girl's father, and he's inside the sun.  Several other people witnessed the incident, so the Girl asks them what they saw.
    One of the people she asks is an Arrow Maker, who got inspired to make an arrow large enough to carry a person inside, and strong enough to reach the sun.  And as it turns out, he's made one.  He offers to send the Girl to the sun in it, but she's not sure she should risk such a trip.  Later on she gets made fun of again, by those same students, for having a father who's inside the sun.  So the Girl finally asks the Arrow Maker to send her to the sun in his special arrow, which he does.
    The arrow burns up on arrival, but it works, and the Girl is inside the sun.  She discovers a beautiful palace there, enters it, and finds many people inside it.  When she finds the man who shot the arrow that impregnated her Mother, she announces to him that she's his daughter, but he insists she prove it.  He's prepared 4 chambers for her, with a challenge awaiting her inside each one, and if she meets all 4 challenges successfully, he'll accept her as his daughter.  She meets all 4 challenges successfully, and he accepts that he is her Father.
    Then her Father explains everything.  He shot the arrow that got the Girl's Mother pregnant because he knew that the Giant Monster would awaken soon, and had to send someone to Earth with the power to kill it - namely, the Girl.  The Girl, combined with the Arrow Maker's special arrow, could easily kill the Giant Monster, yet the Girl asked the Arrow Maker to use that arrow to send her to the sun, and her Father asks why.  The Girl answers that it was to find her Father.
    Suddenly, both the Girl and her Father discover that the Giant Monster has already awakened, and is on a rampage across Japan.  So now he has to send her back to Earth.  He brings out another giant arrow, places her in it, and launches it toward Earth, aiming it at the Giant Monster.  The giant arrow pierces the Giant Monster's heart, utterly destroying it, but the Girl survives.
    And then there is much rejoicing.