Archive for the Interview Category


Interview with Helen McCarthy

January 18th, 2015

3aeWe are so starting off the year right here on Okazu. Guest Reviews, Event Reports and to cap it all off, we have an Interview with someone I admire greatly!

Helen is the first person to have written an English book on anime, she ran anime events in the UK before many of you, my dear readers, were born. ^_^ Helen is universally recognized as an expert in anime and, as a result, is a pioneering figure for many young women interested in the medium over the years. She founded Anime UK magazine, has contributed to many publications and has just released the third edition of The Anime Encyclopedia with Jonathan Clements.

Personally, Helen is a hero and role model of mine, so I am pleased as punch to welcome the doyenne of anime in the west, Helen McCarthy, to Okazu! /applause/

 

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Q: You’ve been involved in Anime fandom in the west since the early 90’s, what are some of the major changes you’ve seen in “fandom” in the past 3 decades?
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HM: The main changes haven’t really been in the fandom so much as in the means of communication. I’ve been part of a number of fandoms since my days as a Trekkie and most operate in similar ways. But the difference that broadband has made is astonishing. It’s enabled fans to get together faster and more often and to communicate really easily.

One of the major benefits has been the explosion in fan creativity and the increase in skill levels in areas like fan art and costuming, as people share skills and tutor each other. One of the drawbacks, of course, is the ease and speed of piracy.

The other big drawback is the way broadband has increased the prominence of one of the negative sides of fandom. There’s always been trolling and bullying, but it’s become increasingly easy for that behaviour to flourish covertly, without the bullies having to own it. That’s been just about the only thing I dislike about fandom in all the time I’ve been a fan, and I would love to see it die out, or even better be completely rejected by fandom.

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Q: And, following that, what are the major changes you’ve noted in the anime industry itself?
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HM: Once again, the changes and acceleration in mass communication have made the most enormous difference. It’s hard to say whether the most important development is the ease of access to new material for consumers, or the ease of access to new markets for companies, but both have been significant.

From my point of view, working on the Anime Encyclopedia is massively easier this time around in terms of how much access one gets to material, how easily. Of course the time to watch everything is still lacking but it’s simpler and faster to get the stuff itself. I said as much to someone recently and laughed like a drain clearing when this person said surely Jonathan Clements and I must be inundated with material from distributors eager to feature in the Encyclopedia. I had to point out we’re not always very nice about everything!

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Q: Here on Okazu, we focus mostly on women in anime and manga – as creators, as characters, as fans. Do you think representation of women in anime (or the anime industry) is getting better, worse or just…different?
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HM: As far as representation goes, it really shows how far we’ve come that there are women who will speak out against the negative images of our gender in entertainment and the media, fearlessly and kindly and wisely; and it shows how far we still have to go that those women are targeted for truly appalling treatment, not only by men but sometimes by other women. I know that’s just part of the Stockholm syndrome behaviour, that collaboration with the oppressor, but it still appalls me. One of my biggest personal challenges is to be fair and generous to women who belittle other women.

As you’ve gathered, I don’t think anime is “just entertainment’ – anything humans do has social and political significance. Pop culture could be one of the greatest and most subversive engines of change for good, but it’s largely been co-opted by megamarketing into a support for the status quo. I don’t want to see anime as the circuses end of bread and circuses, but it is so easily read as another subset of the opium of the masses.

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Q: You’ve written books based on some of the great male anime influencers; Tezuka, Miyazaki. If you were going to pick a female influencer to theme a book around, who might it be and why? (We won’t hold you to it, but we can dream can’t we?)
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HM: There are three women I’d love to write about: the great mangaka Riyoko Ikeda, whose breadth of knowledge and interest is so wide; Eiko Tanaka of Studio 4C who has been one of the most profound creative forces in anime; and Hideko Mizuno, the only girl in the Tokiwa-so gang. Imagine that. Seventeen, in the early 60s, living in a houseful of guys on an equal footing as a creative artist. And then creating Fire! What a woman!

Erica here: Oh, please do write about them! I would so dearly love these as epublications, at the very least. But “3 Women Who Influenced Anime” by you would make me positively weak in the knees! ^_^

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Q: Let’s talk a bit about your upcoming book, The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation.ย Please tell us what’s new and what we can look forward to in this edition.
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HM: Oh my – it’s about 25% larger and the word count has gone over 1,100,000. It now weighs enough to be legally classified as a lethal weapon or a house brick, and it’s got so fat it’s at the limits of what is possible in perfect binding.

We’ve got lots of new entries, of course, for both anime and industry figures, and a couple of new thematic essays where we pull together ideas about anime in ways that might not have occurred to you. They were a really hot feature of Volume 2, people liked them a lot, so it made sense to do more.

Otherwise, there’s more of our critical, sometimes ironic, often sarcastic approach. If you don’t like anime dissected and examined and held to account, this is not the book for you. One of the Stone Bridge Press team described it as having snark, and I’m very proud of that.

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Q: What was your favorite thing about writing this book?
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HM: Working with Jonathan is always a blast. He’s clever, funny, and demanding- he won’t let me get away with less than my best work. But I think my favourite thing of all is just to have free rein to look at stuff I love, or don’t, and say exactly what I think. Stone Bridge Press have always been so supportive of us – as long as we stay legal there are no restrictions.That’s wonderful.

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Q: In all your years of anime fandom, what is one of your greatest memories?
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HM: Oh, there are so many! Having tea in Hayao Miyazaki’s private office while he fussed around over an injured bird was fascinating. Dinner with Mahiro Maeda and his wife talking about 16th-century Japanese Christians was just as good. Reading haiku with other poets at conventions is always an absolute delight. The first FANS academic conference at A-Kon, when I was keynote speaker, was amazing. But I always think of little things – talking to people, that wonderful moment at the start of a con when you see an old friend you haven’t seen since last year – in many ways, the greatest memory is the one you’re just about to make, because who knows where it will go?

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Q: I know exactly what you mean! And I feel I really must ask this, sorry for the predictability (^_^) – ย what is your favorite anime? Do you have any current anime you’re watching and what stands out about those?
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HM: I never mind being asked that because it’s a question I love to ask too! My favourite anime, 35 years after I first saw it, is still My Neighbour Totoro. The thing that has stood out for me from the recent crop is Terror in Resonance (Licensed by Funimation in the USA). I like intelligent, twisty plots although I do like them to resolve, at least partly. But even if a show’s pretty bad it can usually get some credit from me for being either very beautiful or very daring in visual terms. Anime is a visual medium and it ought to seduce the eye.

Thank you so much, Helen for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today. I’m very much looking forward to reading the new Anime Encyclopedia, thank you and Jonathan for all your efforts and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for that work on women who shaped anime. ^_^





est em Panel at TCAF

May 13th, 2014

It was my honor to moderate the panel for Featured Guest est em (ใˆใ™ใจ ใˆใ‚€)ย at Toronto Comics Art Festivalย .

I haven’t seen any other coverage of the panel so far and while it may be unusual to do this, I thought the conversation we had really interesting and want to share.

est em, translator Jocelyne Allen, who was fantastic, and I had a terrific discussion about her work. She ‘s best known for her BL works, and debuted professionally in 2006 with what was licensed in English as Seduce Me After The Showย (which is one of the several things I read in preparation for the panel.)

est em started off in doujinshi and I asked her how she transitioned to professional. She said that she was scouted by a publisher who asked her if she’d be interested in drawing BL and she replied, “Yeah, sure.” She hadn’t really read any before that, so she did some research and started drawing. Later on, I asked her about the quirky content of her stories; they have elements like bullfighting, bespoke shoe making, centaurs… and she said one of the nice things about BL is that she doesn’t have to go into a lot of details, as long as the content is BL, she can just draw whatever interests her. Also because they tend to be short vignettes she doesn’t have to really explain anything about, say bullfighting, it’s more or less “this guy is a bullfighter”, whereas in something long-form like Golondrina, she needs to add in the jargon, the details of the culture and the techniques.

I asked her about her attention to movement and line, and how she expresses such things through depictions of Flamenco and bullfighting and she mentioned that the flow of line extends to her drawing of bespoke shoes and how really good shoes look beautiful. She talked about her time in Spain doing research – although she didn’t think she had any Spanish fans. (An audience member later said that she had a friend in Spain who is a fan, so she’s got at least one!)

The questions from the audience were great! Nathan, a TCAF staffer, asked her opinion of Hemingway, who is of course well-known for his writing on bullfighting and Spanish life. est em-sensei replied that she had read Hemingway, but thought he was “too macho.” She said she felt he wrote as if he was looking down from heaven on bullfighting, as well.

Another great question asked about the response she’s received from the gay community in Japan, what they think of her work. She said she hadn’t really gotten any negative comments, and wasn’t sure if there was a dichotomy between fans of BL and the gay community, which prompted me to note that her work was mostly unlike other BL, by having characters who are adults and have relationships without coercion, denial, non-con or incest. She joked that by drawing such unconventional BL, maybe that was why her books didn’t sell as well as others!

Another audience member asked whether she’s planning on doing more doujinshi, and she said it always comes down to time, she has to produce 60-70 pages a month and when she does doujinshi, it’s always in, like, the last 2 days. But the fan had specifically asked about a piece of Attack on Titanย fanart, and est em-sensei said she wouldn’t be doing derivative work.

Another question asked her opinion of scanlations. She was really honest and said she thinks they are okay as a starting off point for fans, but really, in order to be okay, at some point they have to transition to actually buying the book in some language otherwise, she won’t be able to continue drawing.

I had asked her at the very beginning to ask the audience a question and so, she asked them this: she feels it’s weird sometimes to see Japanese culture as written by foreigners, so did they think it was weird to see a Japanese person writing overseas culture? The audience said, nah, it was cool and I added that it gives us another viewpoint of ourselves, through a slightly distorted lens. It’s good for us to see that image and know what people think of us.

And with that, we wrapped up a great hour, with a terrific manga artist, est em. Several of her other BL books have been translated into English by DMP, Deux, Netcomics and now Viz’s SuBLime hasย just published herย newest book, Tableau No. 20.ย If you’re ever looking for non-trope-y BL with mature themes, but also mature characters, I strongly recommend her work. In Japanese her current series areย Golondrinaย (which I am reviewing here, as the main character is a lesbian), and IPPO. If you’ve read any of her work in scanlation form, buying her work that is available in English is a great way to say thanks.)

On a personal note, I asked her to add in a few fangirls for Chika when she next bullfights in Golondrina. Jocelyne and I joked that if she just explained to her editor a promise made in Canada is like a contract, she should be okay. ^_^

Thanks to est em-sensei, Jocelyne and the great audience for a really fantastic panel!





Interview with Queer Comics Creator Leia Weathington

March 25th, 2014

BRUJust about a month ago, indie queer comics publisher Northwest Press announced a Kickstarter for the sequel to one of my favorite comics of recent years, The Legend of Bold Riley. Written by Leia Weathington, and drawn by several different artists, this book was everything I could have hoped. For the sequel, Bold Riley Unspun, Weathington opted for a Kickstarter to pay her artists well and upfront.

Today we have a special treat. Weathington has taken time out of her schedule to take a look inside her process and her thoughts about Bold Riley. I hope you will all welcome Leia Weathington to Okazu!

Let’s jump right into some questions:

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Q1: How did you get into writing comics? Was it something you wanted to do as a child?
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I was obsessed with the Disney Adventures magazine as a kid. They had all of these serialized little comics from Tail Spin, Darkwing Duck, all of the cartoons Iโ€™d run home from school and watch. For a few months they were running Jeff Smiths Bone. I was just…blown away.

I was a really big reader as a kid but until I saw Bone I thought that it was impossible for comics to be as immersive and detailed as the prose books I was consuming. I know, that seems absurd considering how fanatical I was about animated shows. When DA stopped running Bone they included a note on the last page that you could still buy it at your local comics books shop. So imagine a ten year old hanging off of her mothers belt loops, almost foaming at the mouth while said mom flips through the yellow pages.

So mom drives me to some little dark comic book store to get the new Bone issues and I came out with Bone, Ranma ยฝ, MIX Magazine and a few other random comics and no change for her 20. Iโ€™m lucky my parents love art, media and books so much otherwise I may have been in deep shit.

After that I was balancing my prose books with comics. I read comics for kicks but Jeff Smith showed me what you could really do with comics.

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Q2: Which artists or writers are your role models?
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Ok, here is the Big Fat List: Fumi Yoshinaga, Emma Donahue (The Sealed Letter, Kissing The Witch), Tarsem Singh, Garth Nix , Jim Henson, Chiho Saito , Goya, Margaret Atwood, Zora Neale Hurston, Yukito Kishiro, and Mike Mignola.

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Q3:How long does it take you to write a story?
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Coming up with a cohesive plot can take a couple years of just…thinking. Writing an actual script can take a month or so depending on length. I have a bad habit (that I’ve managed to break only a couple years ago.) of needing to have the beginning, middle and end of something solidified in my mind before I would sit down and write something someone else could actually read.

Here is a bullet point break down of my process:
โ— Think of concept while doing something mundane, like showering.
โ— Make a stupid playlist for thing.
โ— Aggressively think about thing for several weeks while listening to stupid playlist on repeat.
โ— AGGRESSIVELY TYPE FIVE PARAGRAPHS ABOUT THING.
โ— Run away from thing for 2-4 weeks.
โ— Come back to thing, scrap half of thing.
โ— AGGRESSIVELY PACE IN A LOCKED BATHROOM AGGRESSIVELY THINKING AND AGGRESSIVELY ACTING OUT SCENES IN THE MIRROR.
โ— Sit down and type rough draft of thing.
โ— Have small crisis of faith.
โ— Sit back down and type final draft.

I cannot stress how important the aggressive pacing and aggressive acting out of scenes is. Also, the neighbors are terrified of me and will not make eye contact. To be fair, there are no curtains in that bathroom.

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Q4: How do you go about choosing an artist?
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When Iโ€™m developing a story I usually have a really clear idea of what sort of visual style would be most effective. Iโ€™m active on Tumblr and Twitter which is where a lot of artists display their talent. I’ve also been working in comics for about ten years now so I have connections with phenomenal talent. Sometimes there will be a toss up between two artists that would suit a script but that’s rare.

After I select an artist, approach them with the story and have their agreement to work on it I have a meeting with them to go over the script. Typically my final drafts are what I think of as โ€œBare minimumโ€ meaning they are broken down into pages but not paneled. Some artists like having the structure of pages and panels and some donโ€™t. I talk with them about how they like a script formatted for them to effectively work from. I give them folders of photo reference that evoke mood or setting and discuss the general emotional state and journey the characters go through. then they can also bounce back to me if they think thatโ€™s coming through in dialog or pacing.

With Bold Riley in particular I try to select artists for stories they would enjoy drawing and also be suited for.The type of artist I want for stories in the series actually strongly dictates the sort of narrative I want to tell. I have never and will probably never have multiple artists do test pages. I select comic artists who already have a body of work.

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Q5: After you have chosen the artist, how does the collaboration work? Do you vet roughs, or critique the art in any way?
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Generally an artist sends me rough thumbs to show how they would like to tell the story, I give the go ahead and then they proceed in the fashion they find the most effective and comfortable. I rarely edit art. If I ask for changes itโ€™s because something is insanely off model or itโ€™s a consistency issue for artists later in the series.

I believe that in comics if you want to be a writer working with an artist you have to listen to their input and be open to revisions. I may panel out something I feel is perfect but if my artist comes to me with an idea of how it could be more effective visually itโ€™s my responsibility to take that into consideration and then rewrite accordingly. Communication is key. I think if you want to involve another human being in a creative endeavor you have to be able to talk things out and compromise.

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Q6: You’re working on your second volume and your Kickstarter funded pretty quickly. What’s going through your head? What do you feel about your success so far?
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Iโ€™m honestly amazed, surprised and terrified all at once. This is my first Kickstarter and Bold Riley is my first book. When I started doing this project I thought maybe ten people, tops, would read my lesbian fantasy adventure comic. It turns out that number is more quite a few more than ten and growing. Thatโ€™s huge, Thatโ€™s humbling. I have women come up to me at cons and tell me shit like, โ€œThis book is really important, We needed this.โ€ and I want to sit down and cry for a little bit. Artists I admire have asked about doing work on this series. Like, this story I believed in and thought was important it turns out other people feel the same way? Thatโ€™s huge.

Now I sometimes go to sleep and have dreams about every pledger canceling their reward and the whole industry turning itโ€™s back on me but from what I understand thatโ€™s pretty normal for most creatives.

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Q7: Do you read any Queer comics?
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Hell yes! Blue Dellaquantiโ€™s O Human Star, Sfe R Monsterโ€™s Ethโ€™s Skin, EK Weaverโ€™s The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ & Amal, Tom Siddellโ€™s Gunnerkrigg Court, Benjamin Rileyโ€™s Iothera and Brittney Saboโ€™s All Night are some of the best comics Iโ€™m reading right now that also have a queer theme. I canโ€™t recommend them highly enough. Amazing art and unique voices.

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Q8: Plans for the future? More Riley?
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Oh, so much Bold Riley. If things keep going well the plan is to finish the Bold Riley series with eight trades and a ninth epilogue volume. Book three is already half written and the artist lineup is solid.

I also have a couple projects Iโ€™m working on with Joanna Estep, the artist who is drawing “The Lion Jawed,” the final chapter of Bold Riley: Unspun and Iโ€™ll be in the Beyond anthology of queer sci fi fantasy comics with a story called “Eat At Chelleโ€™s!” about a transwoman restaurateur who is getting her food stock from bizarre parallel worlds and serving them to a well heeled clientele. Iโ€™m really pleased to be working with Lin Visel, who will be the artist for that one.

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Q9: Any message for fans?
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Thank you for reading. Thank you for making all of the time I put into this worthwhile. It means a lot.

Thank you so much for your time today and we wish ย you the very best!





Interview with Yuri Manga Artist Takemiya Jin

June 2nd, 2013

ๆ—ฅๆœฌ่ชžใง

Takemiya JinI’ve been fangirling over Takemiya-sensei’s work for years. I first began reading her doujinshi,, and rejoiced when she made the leap into the professional sphere. You can find her work currently running in Comic Yuri Hime and in my favorite manga magazine, Rakuen Le Paradis.

I declared three of her books the Top Yuri Manga of 2011: Seasons, Kila Kila and Omoi no Kakera. In particular, I like the sense that her Yuri work is grounded in the reality of lesbian life. Mika, the protagonist in Omoi no Kakera is out to herself and to her close friends as a lesbian. This is something we have not seen all that often in Yuri Manga. This, and Takemiya’s use of actual lesbian slang in her stories shifts “Yuri” as a genre closer to an intersection with lesbian literature. ย IMHO, Takemiya-sensei is one of the leaders of the new Yuri movement.

It is my very sincere pleasure today to have a chance to talk with Takemiya-sensei and share it with you all!

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Q1: Please tell us about yourself
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My name is Takemiya Jin, I’m a Yuri Manga artist. My sex is female. I am a lesbian.

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Q2:ย How did you become a mangaka? Was it something you wanted to do as aย child?

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It was my childhood dream to become a manga artist. Because various people opposed my dream to become a manga artist I stopped drawing manga. When one of my submissions for a contest won an award, I started to think that I would draw manga as a job.

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Q3: Which artists have influenced you?
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Manga artists Takahashi Rumiko (creator of Inu Yasha, Ranma 1/2) and Togashi Yasuhiro (creator of Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter) and Obata Takeshi (part of the creative team for Death Note, Hikaru no Go) influenced me.

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Q4: If you were not aย mangaka, what kind of work would you be doing?
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I think I’d probably be a clerk in a bookstore with a hobby of creating doujinshi.

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Q5: What motivated you to create Yuri Manga?
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I began by drawing stories that took shape from my own experiences, things I was thinking about and the messages I wanted to convey.

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Q6.1: Please tell us a little bit about your process.
How long does it take to draw a chapter?
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If we’re talking drawing a 24-page manga, it takes me about 2 weeks to completely finish the job.

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Q6.2: How many assistants work with you? What is the first step in your process? What is the last step?
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I have no assistants. But, when I’m in trouble, my partner helps me with the relatively simple tasks.

The first thing I do is to construct the “Plot” (which means planning and composing the dialogue). The last thing I do is “Revision”.
(Plot/Storyboard/Sketch/Inking/Shading/Revision/Tone/Finishing Touches and Final Revision…in that order.)

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Q7:ย You began as a doujinshi artist. Other than deadlines what are the differencesย between being an amateur and a professional?

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In my case, doujinshi was a hobby; being in a commercial magazine has that feeling called “work” so, although I draw manga as a job, I still would like to put out doujinshi.

The differences I see between being amateur and a pro:ย I really don’t know. From the beginning a pro has committed to the requirement of completing a manuscript by deadline, but whether amateur or pro, the work of communicating something is interesting.

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Q8:ย ย Do you read any Yuri manga? If so, what series?
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In the magazines that publish my Yuri manga –ย Rakuen Le: Paradis and Comic Yuri Hime –ย I read the Yuri manga my friends have created.

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Q9:ย Do you have anything you want to ask overseas fans?
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When you read manga, do you think “I want to go to Japan?”

E: ใฏใ„!ใ€Œ็งใฏๆ—ฅๆœฌใธ่กŒใใŸใ„ใ€ใจ6ใ‹ๆœˆใ”ใจใซๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ ^_^;

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Q10:ย Do you have any message for your overseas fans?
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When I began drawing Yuri manga, I never considered that there would be a day when my manga was read by people overseas. Now I can receive messages from overseas on Twitter or my blog, it makes me very happy. No matter what country you’re from, people’s thoughts and feelings aren’t different. Therefore, from here on, I will continue to draw the feelings of love and other very important things between twoย women in love with one another.

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Thank you, thank you Takemiya-sensei for taking time out to talk to us. I look forward to continue supporting your work !

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็งใฏไฝ•ๅนด้–“ใ‚‚ใšใฃใจใ€็ซนๅฎฎๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎไฝœๅ“ใฎใƒ•ใ‚กใƒณใจใ—ใฆๅฟœๆดใ‚’็ถšใ‘ใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚่ชญใฟๅง‹ใ‚ใŸๆ™‚ใซใฏๅŒไบบ่ชŒไฝœๅฎถใ ใฃใŸๅ…ˆ็”ŸใŒใ€ใƒ—ใƒญไฝœๅฎถใจใ—ใฆใฎๆดปๅ‹•ใ‚’ๅง‹ใ‚ใŸๆ™‚ใซใฏใ€ๅคงๅ–œใณใ—ใŸใ‚‚ใฎใงใ™ใ€‚็พๅœจๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎไฝœๅ“ใฏใ€ใ‚ณใƒŸใƒƒใ‚ฏ็™พๅˆๅงซใ‚„ใ€็งใฎใŠๆฐ—ใซๅ…ฅใ‚Šๆผซ็”ป้›‘่ชŒใงใ‚‚ใ‚ใ‚‹ๆฅฝๅœ’ Le Paradisใง่ชญใ‚€ใ“ใจใŒๅ‡บๆฅใพใ™ใ€‚

็งใฏ็ซนๅฎฎๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎใ€ŒSeasonsใ€ใ€Œใ‚ญใƒฉใ‚ญใƒฉใ€ใ€Œๆƒณใ„ใฎๆฌ ็‰‡ใ€ใฎไธ‰ไฝœๅ“ใ‚’ใ€2011ๅนดๅบฆใฎใƒˆใƒƒใƒ—็™พๅˆๆผซ็”ปใƒชใ‚นใƒˆใซ้ธๅ‡บใ•ใ›ใฆใ„ใŸใ ใใพใ—ใŸใ€‚็‰นใซ็งใŒๆฐ—ใซๅ…ฅใฃใฆใ„ใ‚‹ใฎใฏใ€ๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎไฝœๅ“ใŒใƒฌใ‚บใƒ“ใ‚ขใƒณใจใ—ใฆใฎ็”Ÿใๆ–นใฎใƒชใ‚ขใƒชใƒ†ใ‚ฃใซๅŸบใฅใ„ใฆใ„ใ‚‹็‚นใงใ™ใญใ€‚ใ€Œๆƒณใ„ใฎๆฌ ็‰‡ใ€ใฎไธปไบบๅ…ฌใงใ‚ใ‚‹ใƒŸใ‚ซใฏใƒฌใ‚บใƒ“ใ‚ขใƒณใงใ‚ใ‚‹ใ“ใจใ‚’่‡ช่ฆšใ—ใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ—ใ€่ฆชใ—ใ„ๅ‹้”ใซๅฏพใ—ใฆใ‚‚ใ‚ซใƒŸใƒณใ‚ฐใ‚ขใ‚ฆใƒˆใ—ใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ใ“ใ†ใ„ใ†ๆๅ†™ใฏใ€็™พๅˆๆผซ็”ปไฝœๅ“ใฎไธญใงใใ†ๅคšใๆใ‹ใ‚Œใ‚‹ใ‚‚ใฎใงใฏใ‚ใ‚Šใพใ›ใ‚“ใ€‚ใ“ใ†ใ„ใฃใŸ็‚นใ‚„ใ€ไฝœๅ“ใฎไธญใงใฎๅฎŸ้š›ใฎใƒฌใ‚บใƒ“ใ‚ขใƒณ้š ่ชžใฎ็”จใ„ใ‚‰ใ‚Œๆ–นใซใ‚ˆใฃใฆใ€ใ€Œ็™พๅˆใ€ใจใ„ใ†ใ‚ธใƒฃใƒณใƒซใ‚’ใ€ใƒฌใ‚บใƒ“ใ‚ขใƒณๆ–‡ๅญฆใจใ—ใฆใฎๅœฐไฝใซ่ฟ‘ใฅใ‘ใคใคใ‚ใ‚‹ใจๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚็งใฎใคใŸใชใ„่€ƒใˆใงใฏใ€็ซนๅฎฎๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใ“ใใฏใ€ๆ–ฐใŸใช็™พๅˆใƒ ใƒผใƒ–ใƒกใƒณใƒˆใฎไธปๅฐŽ่€…ใฎใŠไธ€ไบบใ ใจๆ€ใฃใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚

ไปŠๅ›žใ€็ซนๅฎฎๅ…ˆ็”ŸใจใŠ่ฉฑใงใใŸใ“ใจใ€ใใ—ใฆใใฎๅ†…ๅฎนใ‚’็š†ใ•ใ‚“ใซใ‚‚ใŠไผใˆใงใใ‚‹ใ“ใจใฏใ€ใ“ใฎไธŠใชใ„ๅ–œใณใงใ™ใ€‚

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Q1: ่‡ชๅˆ†ใซ้–ขใ—ใฆ็งใŸใกใซ่ฉฑใ—ใฆใใ ใ•ใ„ใ€‚
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็™พๅˆๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใฎ็ซนๅฎฎใ‚ธใƒณใงใ™ใ€‚ๆ€งๅˆฅใฏๅฅณๆ€งใ€‚ใƒฌใ‚บใƒ“ใ‚ขใƒณใงใ™ใ€‚

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Q2:ย ๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฏใฉใฎใ‚ˆใ†ใซๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใซใชใ‚Šใพใ—ใŸใ‹? ๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใซใชใ‚‹ใฎใฏใ€ๅญไพ›ๆ™‚ไปฃใฎๅคขใงใ—ใŸใ‹?

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ๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใซใชใ‚‹ใฎใฏๅญไพ›ใฎ้ ƒใ‹ใ‚‰ใฎๅคขใงใ—ใŸใ€‚ ใ„ใ‚ใ‚“ใชไบบใ‹ใ‚‰ๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใซใชใ‚‹ๅคขใ‚’ๅๅฏพใ•ใ‚Œใพใ—ใŸใŒใ€ๆผซ็”ปใ‚’ๆใไบ‹ใฏใ‚„ใ‚ใพใ›ใ‚“ใงใ—ใŸใ€‚ ๆŠ•็จฟไฝœๅ“ใง่ณžใ‚’ใ„ใŸใ ใ„ใฆใ€ใŠไป•ไบ‹ใจใ—ใฆๆผซ็”ปใ‚’ๆใใ‚ˆใ†ใซใชใ‚Šใพใ—ใŸใ€‚

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Q3: ใฉใฎ่Šธ่ก“ๅฎถใŒๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใซๆœ€ใ‚‚ๅฝฑ้Ÿฟใ‚’ๅŠใผใ—ใพใ—ใŸใ‹?
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ๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใฎ้ซ˜ๆฉ‹็•™็พŽๅญๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใ€ๅ†จๆจซ็พฉๅšๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใ€ๅฐ็•‘ๅฅๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎๅฝฑ้Ÿฟใ‚’ๅ—ใ‘ใพใ—ใŸใ€‚

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Q4:ย ๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใงใชใ‘ใ‚Œใฐใ€ใฉใ‚“ใชไป•ไบ‹ใ‚’ใ—ใฆใ„ใ‚‹ใงใ—ใ‚‡ใ†ใ‹?
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ๆ›ธๅบ—็ญ‰ใงๅบ—ๅ“กใ‚’ใ—ใชใŒใ‚‰ใ€่ถฃๅ‘ณใงๅŒไบบๆดปๅ‹•ใ‚’ใ—ใฆใ„ใŸใจๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚

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Q5: ๆผซ็”ปๅฎถใงใชใ‘ใ‚Œใฐใ€ใฉใ‚“ใชไป•ไบ‹ใ‚’ใ—ใฆใ„ใ‚‹ใงใ—ใ‚‡ใ†ใ‹?
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่‡ชๅˆ†ใŒ็ตŒ้จ“ใ—ใฆใใŸไบ‹ใ€่€ƒใˆใŸไบ‹ใ€ไผใˆใŸใ„ใƒกใƒƒใ‚ปใƒผใ‚ธใ‚’ๅฝขใซใ—ใŸใ„ใจๆ€ใฃใฆๆผซ็”ปใ‚’ๆใๅง‹ใ‚ใพใ—ใŸใ€‚ใใฎๆƒณใ„ใฏไปŠใ‚‚ๅŒใ˜ใง

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Q6.1: ๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎๅ‰ต้€ ใƒ—ใƒญใ‚ปใ‚นใซ้–ขใ—ใฆ็งใŸใกใซใปใ‚“ใฎๅฐ‘ใ—่ฉฑใ—ใฆใใ ใ•ใ„ใ€‚็ซ ใ‚’ๆใใซใฏใฉใฎใใ‚‰ใ„ใฎๆ™‚้–“ใŒใ‹ใ‹ใ‚Šใพใ™ใ‹?
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24ใƒšใƒผใ‚ธใฎๆผซ็”ปใ‚’ๆใๅ ดๅˆใ€ๅฎŒๆˆใพใงใฎไฝœๆฅญๆ—ฅๆ•ฐใฏ็ด„2้€ฑ้–“ใงใ™ใ€‚

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Q6.2: ไฝ•ไบบใฎใ‚ขใ‚ทใ‚นใ‚ฟใƒณใƒˆใŒๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใจๅ…ฑใซๅƒใ„ใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ‹? ๆœ€ๅˆใฎใ‚ฟใ‚นใ‚ฏใฏไฝ•ใงใ™ใ‹? ๆœ€ๅพŒใฎใ‚ฟใ‚นใ‚ฏใฏไฝ•ใงใ™ใ‹?
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ใ‚ขใ‚ทใ‚นใ‚ฟใƒณใƒˆใฏใ„ใพใ›ใ‚“ใ€‚ ใงใ‚‚ๅ›ฐใฃใŸๆ™‚ใซใƒ‘ใƒผใƒˆใƒŠใƒผใŒ็ฐกๅ˜ใชไฝœๆฅญใ‚’ๆ‰‹ไผใฃใฆใใ‚Œใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ ๆผซ็”ปใฎๆœ€ๅˆใฎไฝœๆฅญใฏใ€Œใƒ—ใƒญใƒƒใƒˆ(ใŠ่ฉฑใฎๆง‹ๆˆใ‚’่€ƒใˆใ‚‹ไฝœๆฅญ)ใ€ใงใ™ใ€‚ๆœ€ๅพŒใฎไฝœๆฅญใฏใ€Œไฟฎๆญฃใ€ใงใ™ใ€‚ (ใƒ—ใƒญใƒƒใƒˆ/ใƒใƒผใƒ /ไธ‹ๆ›ธใ/ใƒšใƒณๅ…ฅใ‚Œ/ใƒ™ใ‚ฟ/ไฟฎๆญฃ/ใƒˆใƒผใƒณ/ไป•ไธŠใ’ใฎไฟฎๆญฃโ€ฆใฎ้ †ใงใ™)

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Q7:ย ๅŒไบบ่ชŒๅฎถใจใ—ใฆๅง‹ใ‚ใพใ—ใŸใ€ใƒ‡ใƒƒใƒ‰ใƒฉใ‚คใƒณไปฅๅค–ใซใ€ใ‚ขใƒžใƒใƒฅใ‚ขใงใ‚ใ‚‹ใ“ใจ,ใƒ—ใƒญใงใ‚ใ‚‹ใ“ใจใฎ้•ใ„ใฏไฝ•ใงใ™ใ‹?

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็งใฎๅ ดๅˆใฏๅŒไบบ่ชŒใฏ่ถฃๅ‘ณใงใ€ๅ•†ๆฅญ่ชŒใฏใŠไป•ไบ‹ใจ่จ€ใ†ๆ„Ÿ่ฆšใงใ™ใ€‚ใ ใ‹ใ‚‰ใŠไป•ไบ‹ใจใ—ใฆๆผซ็”ปใ‚’ๆใ„ใฆใ„ใพใ™ใŒๆ™‚้–“ใŒใ‚ใ‚ŒใฐๅŒไบบ่ชŒใ‚‚ๅ‡บใ—ใŸใ„ใงใ™ใ€‚

ใ‚ขใƒžใƒใƒฅใ‚ขใจใƒ—ใƒญใฎ้•ใ„ใฏ่ฆ‹ใŸ็›ฎใงใฏใ‚ใ‹ใ‚‰ใชใ„ใจๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ใƒ—ใƒญใธใฎๆœ€ๅˆใฎๆกไปถใฏใ€ŒๅŽŸ็จฟใ‚’ๅฎŒๆˆใ•ใ›ใ‚‹ไบ‹ใŒๅ‡บๆฅใ‚‹ใ‹ใ€ใจใ€Œ็ท ใ‚ๅˆ‡ใ‚ŠใŒๅฎˆใ‚Œใ‚‹ใ‹ใ€ใ€‚ใ‚ขใƒžใƒใƒฅใ‚ขใงใ‚‚ใƒ—ใƒญใงใ‚‚ไผใˆใŸใ„ไบ‹ใ‚’ใ—ใฃใ‹ใ‚Šๆใ„ใฆใ„ใ‚‹ไฝœๅ“ใฏ้ข็™ฝใ„ใงใ™ใ€‚

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Q8:ย ย ็™พๅˆๆผซ็”ปใ‚’่ชญใฟใพใ™ใ‹?ใฉใฎใ‚ทใƒชใƒผใ‚บใ‚’่ชญใฟใพใ™ใ‹?
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็™พๅˆๆผซ็”ปใฏ่‡ชๅˆ†ใฎๆผซ็”ปใฎๆŽฒ่ผ‰่ชŒ(ใ€Œใ‚ณใƒŸใƒƒใ‚ฏ็™พๅˆๅงซใ€ใ€Œๆฅฝๅœ’LeParadisใ€)ใจใ€ๅ‹ไบบใฎ็™พๅˆไฝœๅ“ใ‚’่ชญใ‚“ใงใพใ™ใ€‚

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Q9:ย ๆตทๅค–ใƒ•ใ‚กใƒณใซไฝ•ใ‚’ๅฐ‹ใญใŸใ„ใงใ™ใ‹?
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ๆผซ็”ปใ‚’่ชญใ‚“ใงใ€Œๆ—ฅๆœฌใซ่กŒใฃใฆใฟใŸใ„ใ€ใจๆ€ใฃใŸไบ‹ใฏใ‚ใ‚Šใพใ™ใ‹?

E: ใฏใ„!ใ€Œ็งใฏๆ—ฅๆœฌใธ่กŒใใŸใ„ใ€ใจ6ใ‹ๆœˆใ”ใจใซๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ ^_^;

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Q10:ย ไฝ•ใ‹ๆตทๅค–ใฎใƒ•ใ‚กใƒณใธใฎใƒกใƒƒใ‚ปใƒผใ‚ธใŒใ‚ใ‚Šใพใ™ใ‹?
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็™พๅˆๆผซ็”ปใ‚’ๆ›ธใๅง‹ใ‚ใŸ้ ƒใฏๆตทๅค–ใฎไบบ้”ใซ็งใฎๆผซ็”ปใ‚’่ชญใ‚“ใงใ‚‚ใ‚‰ใˆใ‚‹ๆ—ฅใŒใใ‚‹ใชใ‚“ใฆๅคขใซใ‚‚ๆ€ใ„ใพใ›ใ‚“ใงใ—ใŸใ€‚็พๅœจใงใฏใ€twitterใ‚„ใƒ–ใƒญใ‚ฐใงๆตทๅค–ใฎๆ–นใ‹ใ‚‰ๆ—ฅๆœฌ่ชžใ‚„่‹ฑ่ชžใงใƒกใƒƒใ‚ปใƒผใ‚ธใ‚’ใ„ใŸใ ใไบ‹ใ‚‚ใ‚ใ‚Šใ€ใจใฆใ‚‚ๅฌ‰ใ—ใๆ€ใฃใฆใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ใฉใ“ใฎๅ›ฝใฎไบบใ‚‚ใ€ไบบใ‚’ๆƒณใ†ๆฐ—ๆŒใกใฏๅค‰ใ‚ใ‚‰ใชใ„ใจๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ใ ใ‹ใ‚‰็งใฏใ“ใ‚Œใ‹ใ‚‰ใ‚‚ๅฅณใฎๅญๅŒๅฃซใฎๆ‹ๆ„›ใฎๆ„›ใ—ใ•ใ‚„ๅˆ‡ใชใ•ใ‚’ๅคงไบ‹ใซๅคงไบ‹ใซๆใ„ใฆใ„ใ“ใ†ใจๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚

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ใ‚ใ‚‰ใŸใ‚ใฆ็ซนๅฎฎๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใซใ€่ฒด้‡ใชๆ™‚้–“ใ‚’็ง้”ใฎใŸใ‚ใซๅ‰ฒใ„ใฆใใ‚ŒใŸใ“ใจใ‚’ๆทฑใๆ„Ÿ่ฌใ—ใŸใ„ใจๆ€ใ„ใพใ™ใ€‚ใ“ใ‚Œใ‹ใ‚‰ใ‚‚ๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใฎไฝœๅ“ใฎๅฟœๆดใ‚’็ถšใ‘ใฆใ„ใใ“ใจใ‚’ๆฅฝใ—ใฟใซใ—ใฆใ„ใพใ™!

(ๅฐๆพใ•ใ‚“ใซใ‚ˆใ‚‹็ฟป่จณ. Thank you, Komatsu-san for translation of my intro and sign-off! ^_^)





Interview with Sam Pinansky of Anime Sols

May 27th, 2013

One of the absolute best things about working with JManga were the people involved. Robert, Yae-san, and Carl, the letterer who toiled so diligently for us. And it was my genuine pleasure to be able to work with Sam Pinansky of QuarkPro. Now Sam and his team have launched the ambitious new anime streaming and funding site, Anime Sols. I think it’s an interesting idea.

Asย Bruce McF saidย in comments here, “Thereโ€™s nothing to DO at a Kickstarter other than to see how fast the thing is moving, and if it hits its basic goals, what stretch goals they come up with. By contrast, at Anime Sols, thereโ€™s a new episode every week for each series ~ one per day, given the series they have.So rather than a rush of pledges at the beginning and a rush of pledges at the end, if Anime Sols works, it could well have a steady flow of pledges as the series is running, and then hopefully a rush at the end when the time limit is hitting and its put up or shut up time.“I thought that a perfect summation of what I saw, and I wanted to get it all from Sam’s view.

Thanks so much to Sam for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my nosey-parker questions. ^_^

E: Tell us a little about yourself and about QuarkPro. How did you get involved in anime and what are you doing now in the field?ย 

S: I went to school to study theoretical physics and got into anime when I was in college. While getting my Ph. D I took Japanese on the side and really enjoyed the language, and at the same time I started translating some anime as a hobby by fansubbing. After doing a postdoc in Japan I decided to stay, worked as a freelance translator for Crunchyroll and other companies during the early days of legal streaming, and after getting a job at Tezuka Productions, I continued to do that kind of work and expand my network. About a year ago I switched jobs to work for the Yomiuri TV group company ADEC and now I’m International Media Strategy Group Chief at YTV Enterprise. My current job consists of running a localization group in YTV Enterprise as well as new project development and technical encoding assistance. Quarkpro is my own Japanese LLC I started so I could be an investor in Anime Sols.

E: Anime Sols appears to be a streaming service with a crowdfunding component. . Where did the idea come from? What is the goal of Anime Sols?

S: I had the idea for Anime Sols more than 2 years ago, prior to the crowdfunding boom we’ve seen with Kickstarter. My experience in fansubbing taught me that basically every genre has its core fans and that they as a customer base were being poorly served by the current licensing paradigm… Japan needed to be able to directly sell to western fans but also needed to be able to do so with low risk, and crowdfunding was the perfect answer to that question.

E: So the site is really a crowdfunding site with a streaming component. ^_^

S: The streaming is necessary because most of the titles are fairly unknown [in the West,] so it’s important to have a website that not only collects pledges, but is also a place for people to watch and discover new shows to enjoy. The goal of Anime Sols is to introduce classic anime which are not so well known in the west, and to enable shows which otherwise are not viable to get a traditional license have a chance to be released on official R1 DVD with subtitles. It’s my hope that a core of dedicated fans will form which will help to attract new viewers and fans for these shows and create a healthy market for classic anime titles.

E: What are the differences between Anime Sols and other crowdfunding sites?ย 

S: One of the main differences is that Anime Sols is not an open platform. The site owner is a partnership of Japanese animation and media companies, and it’s those companies which are also providing the content and raising money through goal pledges. This allows 100% of the funds raised to go to the rights-holders and also avoids a lot of messy licensing legal issues with crowdfunding. There are other differences between Anime Sols and Kickstarter, for example, your pledges are charged when the goal is reached, not when the deadline hits. Please see the FAQ on the website for more details.

E: What have been the major challenges you’ve faced with the idea?

S: The most difficult thing was getting the other partners of the Anime Sols LLP to finalize the contract. But before that, we also faced numerous hurdles in terms of getting enough partners and finding content which we could attempt this business model with. The site development was also faced with an extremely tight budget and required a lot of work personally. Currently we are trying to figure out ways to get the word out and increase the number of site visitors, which is the biggest problem we are facing.

E: Interviews like this help, to some extent, but yeah, it always helps to have more feet on the ground.ย Do you have expansion plans if this first wave works out? Other titles or more countries in the works?

S: We have a number of further titles lined up that we would like to continue with, and we’re beginning talks with other companies to see if they have any titles they would like to place on Anime Sols as well. Expansion into other territories is something we will be looking into further down the line once the business is more established.

E: After a set is funded, you said that you’ve lined up distribution. Is that going to be worldwide?

E: Pledges can only be made from the US and Canada and will be distributed through Righstuf. however, we will be producing at least 1000 sets for any goal that is reached, so any sets which have not been pledged for we plan to distribute to the usual retailers such as Rightstuf, and they are free to sell to whomever they want, including international consumers who wish to import the R1 release into their own country.

E: Do you have a message for fans?

S: I hope that anyone reading this article takes the time to come toย animesols.comย and register, and then check out some of the over 60 episodes of classic anime we have streaming now for free, plus new episodes every day!

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Thanks again, Sam, for your time – and for your vision. I love the idea of fans helping to fund the work that they personally love – it’s so much more meaningful that just sitting back waiting for someone else to invest in it for us. You have my support and the support of a lot of people who would love to see some of those classic titles see the light of day. Here’s wishing Anime Sols the best of luck.