Интервю от Perfect Guidebook 1; Fullmetal Alchemist Profiles
How did you come to be a manga artist?
When I was a kid I doodled on everything near me...advertisements, my textbooks. I kept that up till the artist thing just happened.
Like drawing a moustache on self-portraits in history textbooks? (chuckle) Did you do any other job before becoming a comics professional?
My family runs a dairy farm in Hokkaido so I used to work for them. For seven years I took care of cows and cultivated the fields.
Is that why your self-portrait is a cow?
Yes, and because I think I look a little like a cartoon cow, so it fits.
In other words you were born with your desinty tied to cows. So, of course you must love cows?
Of course. I love to take care of them and also eat them.
Which do you prefer, Japanese food or Western good? Which dish is your favorite?
Japanese! And my favorite food is ramen! Hokkaido's ramen is really good.
The ramen from Sapporo and Asahikawa is quite famous, isn't it? Do you have other hobbies or interests?
I like to watch movies. Also I like to go to antique flea markets and buy all kinds of strange things.
Which movies?
I like the Star Wars series and the Indiana Jones series. Darth Vader is the greatest villain of all time and Sean Connery is the greatest old man.
Would you say any other manga artists have influenced you?
The manga artist that I look up to the most is Suiho Tagawa, the author of Norakuro. He is the root of my style as an artist. I also love Rumiko Takahashi and Kinnikuman or Ultimate Muscle by Yudetamago. As far as composition and how to draw, I learned that when I was apprenticed to Hiroyuki Eto, the author of Mahoujin Guru Guru for Shonen GanGan.
An unusual combination. So you combined Norakuro and Mahoujin Guru Guru to get the inspiration for the world of Fullmetal Alchemist?
Well, first I came up with the Philosopher's Stone. I don't remember how I got the ideas for the plot, but it came to me while I was working on something else. Then I did some research reading about alchemy. I was fascinated, and that, in turn, became the framework for the whole manga.
So was it easy researching something as obscure as alchemy?
No! It was difficult because the descriptions and interpretations differed from author to author. I wish they could just unify their feelings. (sob)
Too bad there's no book entitled Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Alchemy! But the research is over. Now you create. What's your most and least favorite part about creating Fullmetal Alchemist?
My favorite task is inking the characters. It's fun to see the characters taking shape. On the other hand, my least favorite task is the storyboard stage, drawing out the panels and writing the dialogue.
What time period is your work based on?
I based it on the industrial sectors of England during the industrial revolution. It's a city with rows of factories wrapped in smoke, smog and steam But I've given it my own original flavor and made it into a fantasy world.
Your train stations definitely have a feeling of old-time Europe to them. Okay, moving on to the next question. Who's your favorite character?
Favorite character?! I really can't decide. If I had to force myself to pick they would be Ed, Al, Winry and Lt. Hawkeye. But the characters that are easiest to draw are Major Armstrong, animals and the mobs. (chuckle)
Armstrong must be fun to draw. So you draw animals quite a bit. Do you like any other animals besides cows?
I like dogs. I guess that's why there are quite a few in the story: Den, Alexander and Black Hayate.
If you had to choose a favorite episode, which one would it be?
It would be the side story "Dog of the Military." It was really easy to draw. From a recent episode, I would have to say volume 7, the end of chapter 27. The interaction of "Who the hell are you!?" "I'm a housewife!!!!!" That's a scene that I wanted to do for a long time.
I liked that a lot. That's the scene that makes you say, "That's Izumi!" Speaking of compelling scenes, I'm sure there was quite a strong reaction from everyone when Lt. Col. Hughes died. What do you remember from working on that episode?
Every month, before we start work on the comic, I have the assistants read the dialogue in the rough draft so that they can get an idea of how the story is going to flow. This was the one where everyone who read it cried, "Ohhhhh!!!" I had to apologize profusely.
We've assembled a special collection of your illustrations in this book. You seem to put a lot of effort into even the illustration on the back of the cover and the bonus manga at the end of the volume. Where do you get your ideas?
They come out of nowhere, really. Sometimes I just think of new things while working on the original book, and then reading all of it over again, I noticed that a lot of it is about Colonel Mustang. Maybe he's a character that's easy to mess with?
Out of all the characters, who is modeled after you the most?
Well, since the characters came from me, there must be a part of each of them that resembles me in some way...For instance, my assistant Yuzuka tells me that I resemble Ed. And my other assistant Takaeda tells me that I resemble Izumi. But I'm not that hot-headed!!! (flustered)
So between those two, if you lived in your own manga world, what would you be like?
I'd follow three simple rules: -Never go within 2KM of circus freaks. -Never go near the butcher shop in Dublith. -Always spend under 300 sens on snacks. That ought to keep me alive! (chuckle)
Well then, for good or for ill, if you could become a circus freak, or alchemist, what sort of powers would you have?
I would use ink and paper to transmute manga pages. There might be problems with some of the details though. (heh)
Your code name might be "The G Pen Alchemist"? So with those alchemy skills, what other manga genres would you like to do?
High school martial arts romantic comedy!
That's quite a genre (chuckle). That would be interesting to see and maybe a bit scary too... Now I'd like to start wrapping things up. Could you give a little hint as to what we can expect in the upcoming episodes?
When the Elric brother's father, Hohenheim, finally makes an appearance, things are going to start happening very quickly... I think everyone is going to be very surprised when they find out who he really is.
I'll be looking forward to that. So is there any specific message you're trying to get through to fans with Fullmetal Alchemist?
Nothing in particular. If 100 people read it there are going to be 100 different interpretations, so I think whatever each person gets out of reading the comic is the message. The Elric brothers grit their teeth every day trying to get back their original bodies but I hope the readers don't dwell too much on the painful things and just enjoy the story. If people think it's cool, that's enough for me!
Okay, what would you like to say to your fans today?
Love!!
Интервю с Yahoo Books
Your first serialized work is a tremendous success all of a sudden. Tell us the whole story of how a newcomer come to have her works serialized.
At the beginning, I was contracted for a one-shot publication. However, the editor-in-charge of the storyboards passed down a request, "Let us serialise this, okay...". With a story that is meant to be completed in one chapter at this time, "How on earth am I going to do it?" (laughs). I pounded my brains for around half a month, thinking about ideas to serialise this work.
Four years have passed then and now, characters appearing one after another are being entangled in the compexities of your steadily expanding story world.
At the time of the start of serialization, the outline for the plot of the final part was first considered. Since I already decided the theme then, once the conclusion has been decided, I can plan for whatever is necessary for whatever is needed to achieve that conclusion later. This portion is still progressing as the serialized work continues. The episodes from now till the final conclusion are being prepared. As usual, the story progresses as the protagonists grow. Therefore, with each coming episode, how their reactions will be, even I will still not know.
The theme was already decided at the start?
There is a saying that if you desire something, you should give up something of equivalent value for it. This can be said to be "Equivalent Trade" in my work. In any of the books talking about alchemy, this saying will appear. I thought this was how life should be like. The theme material was a moment of inspiration kind of thing.
Something that tugs at the heartstrings, eh. Regarding the perception on the laws of equivalent trade, is it your personal feelings about life?
Yes, it is (laugh)! My parents are dairy farmers in Hokkaido. The work of a farm family besides being monotonous and forever, is moreover difficult. If you are lazy, you will only suffer hardships at the end. Our ancestors were the pioneers who came over to Hokkaido, their stories were passed down by word, but they lived in perfect accordance to the principle of equivalent trade.
So, the origin of Hagaren is in farming
Because my family's precept is "Those who don't work, don't get to eat!" (laugh). However in reality, the sad and unwanted events of the past can be thought of as "Ah, we are more fortunate now.", right. However whatever it is, looking back at the times can become a good source of nutrients (for our minds). I continue to feel for that sort of thing. The law for alchemy in the Hagaren world is Equivalent Trade. The main character Edward (=Ed) and his younger brother Alphonse (=Al) in trying to resurrect their dead mother, try out the forbidden Human Transmutation. However on top of the end product being imperfect, they were made to pay a very high price for it. Ed lost his left leg, Al completely lost his body itself. Therefore Ed used his own right arm as the price to transmute Al's soul as well as affixing it to a suit of armor. To discover a way to get back their original bodies, the two set off on a journey. The house they should return to, they burn it down personally......
Even though there is a compulsory motive, as far as what the young readers (children) are concerned, they will be yearning for a wandering journey, I think. Arakawa-san, did you have such wanderlust when you were a child yourself?
Talking about wanderlust, "If I took a few steps over there, what would have happened" can be said as what I had then. In the farmlands, there were mountains.... and just mountains (laugh). Then I had thought "If I cross over this, I will get to see the sea", go up one and there is another mountain, damn, something like that (laugh). Actually now, supposing if I were given a car, where would I think of going to. Perhaps travel all the places from one end of Japan to the other. However, because I possess a house of my own, I can have peace of mind to think of things like that.
Ed and Al completely destroyed the home they can return to.
Yes, but though they say "For us, there is no place to return to", in practice, there will always be people in their home town to welcome them back once they return. Although they themselves are not aware of it, they are given comfort and support by those around them, that is why they keep trying their best.
It seems that such intentions of comforting feelings means that the author sketching it out must have had heart-breaking experiences?
No (clearly)! For me, I have not suffered a lot of dreadful stuff in the world, so I have to think them up. However you can see from the sort of stuff on television's news that it seems like the number of children feeling lonely is increasing. But it is not as if the adults are ignoring the children's state of affairs, you can perfectly see what is visible. Yeah, adults clearly see it.
More on that, is it because of your life's experiences so far?
Since I was raised on a farm, I always have had adults nearby. Walking back along the farm road from school, without fail there will always be some adults doing farm work and they will greet you as you come along. A working adult will always be nearby, keeping watch over the growing children. The children will even come out during the busy seasons, assisting with the farm work without complaints. Due to that sort of local culture/tradition, the feeling of "Adults should perfectly watch over us" is something I have from young. A characteristic of my work is that amongst the tragedies piled up in an episode, the will to live is reassuringly affirmed. Nonetheless for scenes in which times are desperate, the readers are never led into a painful situation.
Even if serious scenes are going on, you will without fail interject humorous scenes, eh.
Whenever a chilling scenes unfolds, it might be painful to read, I guess. Since it is entertainment, you want to read for fun as well. I think back to when I was a child myself reading mangas, the joy I get when reading then is not something I have now. When I am emotional, I read sappy mangas, which is appropriate but not enjoyable. So therefore when I draw, I aim to recall whatever was interesting during my childhood and can be told.
What kind of manga did you read?
Every kind there is. My elder sister reads "Shounen Jump" and "Weekly Margaret" (laugh). Moreover since I have a lot of cousins, I increasingly found it funny to have every genre of manga. Those that especially suited my disposition are "Shounen Jump" and "Shounen Sunday".
Roughly when did you think of becoming a manga-ka?
Since I was little, I had thought that it will be nice to draw manga for a living. In my student years, I reached the "textbook graffiti" level, but after graduation, I was practicing oil paintings while helping out on my family's farm, as well as creating a doujinshi on the "Annals of the Three Kingdoms" with a bunch of history loving friends. I was called out by my friends to be a writer, and drew some yonkoma manga in a horse racing magazine. However, for drawing a genuine story manga, my debut work was the one that became my first submitted piece. My first drawn manga "Stray Dog" "thankfully won an award" and debuted in Shounen Gangan in 1999. According to the editor-in-charge, "On top of it being unique, generally speaking, the degree of perfection was high". The debut work can be said to have led to Hagaren, the unique presented outlooks coupled with excellent drawings steadily win over readers.
It is said that a manga is different from novels and the like, in that it presents its interesting content by "showing through drawings". In Hagaren, the backgrounds are things that casually draws you in, and then forms up the subplots of the story or such.
Hu hu hu...... preparing such things can be said to be enjoyable. It feels good to tidy them up in the later episodes. Having the subplot not making me anxious means that there are no stumbling blocks in it, but in reading it for a second time for example, if something gives me that "Ah, this..." thought, then "That did it!" Conversely, when I reread my first volume, I had lots of thoughts of "Ah, it cannot be that this subplot was used." At times like that, I want to praise my past self (laugh).
Once more, "To show a world nobody has seen before" is a reason for enjoyment. In your works, after all, there is a scene where Ed sees the "Truth". However what the Truth is, no one has ever been able to see it with their own eyes in reality.
That is quite true... During the storyboard stage, I was like "What kind of impression would it be?", I sketched out my own fuzzy image of this, but then entered into a state of drawing that went "like how, like how, like how"...... This is the only page that still remains to be pondered upon until the day of the conclusion.
Nevertheless that scene probably will continue to become a market trend...
Hu hu hu, whatever happens will happen, I guess......
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Според мен още не е започнала най-добрия си проект. И може да видим нещо много по добро от нея. Единственото, което ме дразни в досегашните работи е повтарящите се арт на героите в различни истории
