Archive for the Interview Category


Interview with Gunjo’s Nakamura Ching

August 9th, 2009

You may or may not remember that my love affair with Gunjo began when I received a message on Mixi from a young manga artist, asking if I’d be interested in a non-moe Yuri manga.

Obviously, I was.

A few weeks ago I asked Nakamura-sensei if she didn’t mind, could she answer a few questions for us here at Okazu. Although she is very busy, she graciously took some time out to answer a few questions – I hope you will enjoy this interview as much as I did!

 

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Q1: Please Tell Us About Yourself
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I was born in June, 1985. I am 24 years old.
When I was 18 I drew my first manga, I made my debut at 20.
My favorite foods are Indian and Mexican. I like Japanese food, too.
My hobby is travel but, because I’m busy, I haven’t been able to go anywhere.
My favorite movies are The Namesake, KILL BILL, Roman Holiday, Bella Martha.
I love dogs, I have 2.
I have begun to study English, because it has become troublesome that I do not speak any English.
Recently, I have been corresponding with an older woman from America.
We discuss the joy of old age. And about things like dreams for the future, and living peacefully.

 

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Q2: How did you become a mangaka? Was it a childhood dream?
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I did not attend college, because I had no money to go to school.
When I was seventeen, I left school before graduation and took a part time job.
I wanted to obtain a job in a respectable company but, because I did not have the educational background (Japan is still a society where one’s educational record counts. I have had hardly any formal schooling) I thought I would look for a job where education didn’t matter, work that anyone might be able to get.
At first, I thought I might become an illustrator.
A friend said, “You should become a mangaka,” so I enrolled in a manga trade school for a year. (From the end of my 18th year into my 19th year.)
My childhood dream was to become a high school teacher, or be staff at a children’s home.

 

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Q3: Which artists are your role models?
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The artists who influence me most when I draw manga and write stories are neither mangaka, nor artists; they are those who write songs, are poets, novelists, and photographers.
Nakajima Miyuki, Yoshioka Osamu, Kumi (LOVE PSYCHEDELICO)…Song writers.
Mishima Yukio, Kajii Motojiro, Watanabe Junichi, Tendo Arata…Novelists.
Horiguchi Daigaku, Yoshiwara Sachiko, Taneda Santoka…Poets
Kuwabara Kineo, Hosoe Eiko…Photographers.

The artists that I think are really the most wonderful are my assistants who draw the backgrounds for Gunjo. I hold the pictures they draw in higher esteem than those by any painter. I am very proud to be working together with these ladies.

My favorite overseas artists are Eugene Delacroix, John William Waterhouse, Gustave Moreau.
My favorite Japanese artists are Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Nagaswa Rosetsu, Ito Jakuchu, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
My favorite manga artists are Ikeda Riyoko, Miuchi Suzue, Yamamoto Sumika, Yoshinaga Fumi.

 

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Q4: If you were not a mangaka, what kind of work would you be doing?
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Child welfare work or international welfare work.
Or, I wanted to become a teacher.
I think there’s nothing more important than raising a child with love (sooner or later, that child becomes an adult who bears the burden of society.)

 

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Q5: What were your motivations for creating Gunjo?
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I wanted to draw the keen loneliness of a lonely person.
I wanted to turn our kindness and cruelty (the kinds of emotions that we can’t control with our own wills) into a manga.
And also, because I am gay.
Living a life of hiding I was gay was unpleasant, so I wanted to give myself the chance to admit I was gay.

 

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Q6.1: Please tell us a little bit about your process.
How long does a chapter take to draw? What is the first step, what is the final step?
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The time it takes to draw a chapter depends on the content and the number of pages.

First of all, the script, story and any other ideas I have are written down on paper. (I use B4 size paper and a mechanical pencil to draw.)
I don’t write neatly. Whenever I think of something, I write single-mindedly.

After that, when the idea has been organized, it is called “Name” and the storyboard of the manga is drawn.
(The panel arrangement, script, people’s movements, 90% – 100% of these are decided at the “Name” step.)
Name is first drawn small on a big piece of paper, like a thumbnail.
This is revised many times and when I think “This can’t be fixed anymore,” Name is drawn neatly on a large piece of paper. (I draw on a piece of B4 copy paper folded into 2.
When Name is completely drawn on the large paper, it is sent to the Editor in charge of the Editorial department.
When this has been checked, I start work on the manuscript.
First, the paper is divided into the panels、and I draw the frames of the panels with a felt-tip pen.
From there I use a mechanical pencil to draw the rough sketch.
The rough sketch is inked, then screentone is applied and it’s done.
After that, the script is added, then it is passed to the editor. Afterwards it is printed and it becomes a book.

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This ↑ Name
In the magazine becomes this ↓.

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This ↑ Name
In the magazine becomes this ↓.

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This ↑ Name
In the magazine becomes this ↓.

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The last thing I do is check the work in the printed manga.
The kind of things that are checked are that the screentone was applied properly, or that the art is drawn well. Or any mistakes in the script.
Any inconvenient points or faults will be corrected when it is made into a tankoubon.

 

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Q6.2: (Please tell us a little bit about your process.)
How many assistants work with you?
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Currently, I have 3 main assistants.
(Up until now I had 5 people, but recently 2 retired.)
Nakayama Aya, Wakayama Yoshiko, Kumazawa Sayuri.
The Gunjo title page in the magazine will always list their names.
And from time to time, Nakazawa Tomoko comes to help.
Therefore, 3-4 people total.
They are women, ranging from 22～30 years old.
Without my main assistants (Regulars*), it would not be possible to finish up a manuscript.
When I’m very busy, I employ a number of freelance assistants to help out.

 

The number of assistants depends on the number of pages and the number of days until the deadline. A 32-page chapter and a 72-page chapter will need a different number of people to work on it.

* Assistants who always help out are called “Regulars” 「レギュラー」 in the Japanese Manga Industry. People you call only when you’re very busy are called “Help”「ヘルプ」.

 

by CHIEF ASSISTANT/ NAKAYAMA Aya (outline)

 

by WAKAYAMA Yoshiko (outline), NAKAZAWA Tomoko (screentone)

 

by KUMAZAWA Sayuri (outline and screentone)

 

I trust their skill and natures.
Therefore, I don’t give them much direction.
I rely on their sense.

That way, they can achieve the picture I want to see.

If reference material is needed, I do the research, take a picture with a camera, buy a book or search on the Internet.

This is a reference picture I took in Tokyo.
(東京浅草・吾妻橋／Asakusa, TOKYO, AZUMABASHI bridge)

This is the line drawing drawn by my assistant.

It’s completed with the addition of screentones.
(On this scene of a rainy day, after the tone was added, the rain was drawn in.)

 

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Q7: How has Gunjo been received by the Japanese audience? Is it popular? What kind of reactions have Japanese readers had to it?
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People who like Gunjo, love it, people who do not like Gunjo, hate it.

(Note from Erica: Ironically, the day before I received these responses from Nakamura-sensei, I had said the *exact* same thing to someone.)

 

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Q8: What was your reaction upon seeing the Gunjo cover of Morning 2 magazine? What did you feel when you saw it?
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Happy.
The readers thought there were pros and cons.
However, I also thought there were pros and cons.
When the cover went to print, the editorial office made a regrettable error in the spelling of the title.
When I saw that it had been spelled GUNJ”Y”O, I was surprised.
The correct version is GUNJO.

 

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Q9: Why don’t the protagonists have names?
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For the moment, the names of all the characters is a secret known only to me.
It will be revealed to the public in the final section of the tankoubon (probably.) However, this will be an omake.
Within the story of Gunjo, I didn’t feel that there was a necessity for the characters to have names; to the very end, they are not called by name.

When I am drawing the manuscript with the assistants, or meeting with the editors, them having no names is inconvenient so, we call BL “Les-san” and BN “Megane-san.” Because BL is a Lesbian and in chapters 1-7, BN wore glasses.

There are two reasons they don’t have names.
My Editor-in-chief said, “The characters names are an important element of manga.”
“If the character names stand out, or they aren’t good names, the manga will not become popular.”
I thought, how ridiculous, what a foolish idea. Therefore no names are used in this manga.

Also, BL’s feelings, BN’s feelings, are not only theirs.
Their feelings resemble the feelings of many people in the world.
BL’s or BN’s feelings might resemble the way you feel,
Gunjo is not only a story for BL and BN, but it is a story for you.
Therefore, BL and BN (and also BL’s former lover) in the manga don’t really need to be called by a specific name.
You only have to read to think that you are them.
When BN calls “Hey” looking for a reply, it’s not to BL, it’s you.
If BN uses BL’s name, then you won’t be able to respond.
When BL calls out “Hey,” the reply isn’t from BN, it’s from you.
If BL uses BN’s name, then you won’t be able to respond.

 

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Q10: What question do you have for overseas fans of Gunjo?
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When you read Japanese manga, how do you read it?
Can you read Japanese from the start? Or do you use a dictionary? Or do you just look at the pictures?

 

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Q11: What message do you have for overseas fans?
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If you have any impressions or opinions, absolutely please let me know.
Or, please tell me about yourself.
Where do you live, how old are you, where you work, what kind of person is reading my manga, I always want to know that kind of thing.
In Japanese, English, there is no problem with either.
If you want to use email, please send it using the mail form on my website. (http://ching.tv)
Handwritten letters are also welcome.
Kodansha Ltd. “MORNING 2”
(GUNJO Nakamura Ching)
2-12-21, Otowa, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 112-8001 JAPAN
I will personally read the letters and emails you send myself.

 

***

Thank you so very, very much, Nakamura-sensei for taking time out of your tight schedule to answer these questions and share so much of yourself with us! We all look forward to the tankoubon of Gunjo. And thank you for all the wonderful pictures, that allow us a glimpse into your work.

I hope you, my dear readers, will all send letters to Nakamura-sensei and tell her about yourselves. :-)

(And some extra super sparkly thanks to Erin S who helped me out with a bit of the translation.)

 





Interview with Yuri Translator Anastasia Moreno

May 5th, 2008

Once more, we take a peek behind the scenes in the Manga Industry. Today we are talking with Yuri translator Anastasia Moreno! Welcome Anastasia, and let’s jump right in!

1) So let’s start with the most obvious question – tell us a little bit about yourself.

My full name is Anastasia Shimabuku Moreno. I’m half-Japanese, half-Filipino, and was born and grown in Okinawa, Japan for most of my life. I grew up watching a lot of Japanese TV, especially anime like Urusei Yatsura and Gundam, with my 8 older brothers. I went to University of Arizona for a few years, but never finished college, and enlisted in the Marine Corps instead. During my tour in Okinawa, I married a Japanese guy in JASDF (Japan Air Self Defense Force.) After I got out of the Marines, I stayed in Japan to work in US military bases as a US federal employee. Currently, I live and work at Yokota Air Base. Hobbies other than manga include playing soccer, lifting weights, and imitating Japanese comedians.

2) Are you a manga reader yourself? How did you get into manga? Did that lead you into working in the manga industry? Or do you just do it for the fame, glory and chicks? ;-)

– Yes, I always read Japanese manga, but compared to a bazillion manga I used to read back in high school and college, I only read a select few these days.

– I grew up watching anime, but I didn’t get into manga until my sophomore year in high school. My friend insisted that I read a volleyball parody manga (High School Kimengumi v3) when I happened to be on the school volleyball team. When I read it at home, I laughed so hard my stomach hurt! I never imagined that manga stories, drawn with only black ink, zip tones, and paper, could evoke such strong reactions in readers (in my case, laughter.) I was hooked. I not only became an avid manga reader, but began drawing my own manga also.

– I actually worked in the manga industry twice – first as an artist, and later as a translator. In the 1990s, I drew 4 panel comic strips in college, called “Campus Abalone” in The Daily Wildcat (U of Arizona campus newspaper), which was essentially a 4-koma gag manga about campus bike cops. Back then, anime and manga just began to make its mark into the US comics industry, so nobody recognized manga as readily as they do now, resulting in close to zero fans (except the college anime club members and a handful of comic fans.) Also, my manga was published in Slave Labor Graphic’s Action Girl comics (vol. 7, 10, and 14), and I also did some manga illustrations for a college anthropology textbook. Oh, I also dabbled in fansub translations, like Yawara!.

Then I joined the Marine Corps for 5 years (1999-2004), spending most of my time in Okinawa, so I had no idea how much the US manga industry evolved during those years. My main job was an NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) defense instructor (run the tear gas chamber, fix gas masks, etc.), but my secondary job was a Japanese translator/interpreter. I interpreted for American and Japanese generals in high- level meetings and translated a variety of military technical correspondence, documents, and manuals into Japanese and English.

After that, I became a government employee, doing military technical translations and political military analyses. Having a regular day job (vice a hectic military tour) freed up my nights and weekends to get back to my personal hobby – manga. I thought it would be easier to get back into the manga industry by translating vice drawing, so I was lucky to be picked up by a publishing agent who gave me a constant stream of manga and novel translation projects to work on.

– I just love manga, so it’s more of a personal satisfaction than a pursuit of fame and glory. Of course, seeing your own name in a published book is definitely a morale booster. (^_^) Instead of being a chick-magnet, I ended up being an anime otaku magnet in college, when I cosplayed in a sailor-style school uniform at anime cons, haha.

3) Tell us, in general terms, what you do – where does your job fall in the process of producing a translated manga?

Probably in the initial stages, after licensing, I think. I provide English translations of Japanese manga and novels. Some publishers only require a raw translation for their rewriter to work from, and others ask the translator to adapt/rewrite as well. Each publisher has their policies and translation preferences, such as retaining honorifics or not, translating or ignoring sound effects, and adhering to a specific text style guide or not.

I’m usually given 1-3 months to translate one manga or novel, depending on the publisher’s needs. The most I’ve worked on in a month were 3 mangas and 1 novel (plus a regular day job, moving homes, and buying a new puppy. It was a very rough month.) (T_T)

4) Are you a fan of Yuri manga? Did you know it existed before you started working on a title? What were your thoughts upon seeing your first Yuri job?

Yes, I knew about and liked yuri manga, but volume-wise, I tend to read more mainstream shonen and shoujo manga that may or may not have a minor element of yuri in it. The only yuri title I worked on so far is Strawberry Panic. This title was over-the-top in terms of melodramatic characters and perfectly timed misunderstandings. The more serious the characters spoke or thought, the funnier it seemed in my mind. So I decided to go all out and retain as much of the seriousness and melodrama as accurately as possible, which in effect enhanced the comedic elements.

5) Not every Yuri series is equal. Some are better than others. What, if any, thoughts do you have about the series you’ve worked on. Silly? Serious? Quality? Not?

Since I’ve only worked on Strawberry Panic so far, I can’t make any comparisons yet. I love the cute artwork, and it was a fun title to translate. I think a group of readers will take the story seriously at face value, while another group will see the parody in it, but I’m sure most will ultimately like the title. I really enjoyed both aspects of it.

6) Have you gotten any fan feedback? Anything you want to share?

No, translators usually do not get any direct fan feedback, unless they have their own website or go on a forum soliciting feedback. I usually read manga reviews online and see if they evaluated my translations, though. Getting good marks for translation in the review is another morale booster. (^_^)

I tend to notice this in military translating, too, but usually when a translation is good, the writer and publisher get most of the credit, but if anything goes wrong, the translator is the first to be blamed. Sigh. Please give translators some slack — they are trying their best to adapt a foreign language product into your language, so there will always be subjective differences in interpretations and awkwardness when crossing cultures. Please remember that even great translations cannot save crappy titles sometimes. (T_T)

7) Any Yuri titles you’d like to see make it over here? Anything you’d like to get to work on?

I would love for the original Hana no Asuka Gumi manga series make it out here. The whole underground world where junior high girls beat the living crap out of each other all over Tokyo is just too insane! You know, I was able to memorize the 23 Tokyo wards because of the area masters in the story, lol. And would I love to work on that title, for sure! Also, I would like to work on titles that tap into my unique bicultural background and military experience, like Magical Marine Pixel Maritan (I coached voice actresses on English pronunciations of vulgar Marine phrases — a unique, fun-filled job!) If there are any yuri titles involving military/police women, though, please let me know!

8) What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about your job?

My favorite part of the job is to find little in-jokes in a story (that are totally apparent to native Japanese people but often overlooked by Americans) and being able to explain it in the translation notes. Unfortunately for Strawberry Panic, the whole story was a big parody, so I had nothing to add…

My least favorite part of the job is the tight deadline I sometimes have to meet. I work 40-60 hours a week at my day job, and 50-70 hours a week translating manga on nights and weekends, which leaves little to no personal life or sleep. I feel really bad when I have to neglect my husband and puppy for weeks at a time to meet a project deadline.

9) Anything else you want to tell our audience?

Yes, a whole lot of shameless plugs, if it’s all right… (^_^)
Please buy Strawberry Panic manga and novels! You’ll surely find something that catches your fancy, whether it be the cute drawings, favorite characters and/or couples, or the parody elements. It is a really entertaining series!

Please buy the other titles I’ve worked on, too: Love Hina novels volume 1 and volume 2 (Tokyopop), Trinity Blood RAM 1 and ROM 1 novels (Tokyopop), Sugar Princess: Skating to Win volume 1 and volume 2 (Viz), Hard Rock (DMP), ALIVE The Final Evolution series (Del Rey), and Maid Machinegun novel (Del Rey)!

Oh, I plan to start drawing gag manga again and posting it on the web this year. Stay tuned!

Thank you for your time.

Thank you Anstasia! I’m glad to meet another Hana no Asuka-gumi fan! And for all our readers out there, allow me to plug your new blog, Manga Gunkan, which is written in both English and Japanese. Among other fun things, Manga Gunkan discusses some of the trials and tribulations of translation work.

Once again, a fabulous insight into the people behind the books – thanks again to all three ladies who participated in these interviews. We look forward to more great Yuri from all of you!





Interview with Yuri Translator Erin Subramanian

April 15th, 2008

Here’s the second entry in our industry interviews! This time, we’re talking to Erin Subramanian, a freelance translator and the much beloved Rosa Chinensis of Yuri scanlation group Lililicious. Erin also reviews Yuri manga, mostly stuff I don’t review here, at her Livejournal. I recommend it to you, if you don’t already have it bookmarked.

Anyway, welcome to Erin, and let’s get started with today’s interview!

1) So let’s start with the most obvious question – tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a yuri manga fan who translates for a yuri publisher (ALC Publishing) and translates and copyreads for a BL publisher. I also translate for free in my spare time. I have a B.A. in Japanese from the University of Rochester, and have been translating manga for around seven years now, though most of that work has not been for pay. I am a bisexual woman in a long-term relationship with a woman, and though yuri has a special place in my heart, I also love (male) gay and straight romance stories.

2) Are you a manga reader yourself? How did you get into manga? Did that lead you into working in the manga industry? Or do you just do it for the fame, glory and chicks? ;-)

Yes. I got into anime first–Sailor Moon–and then into manga from that. It was my enjoyment of manga that lead me to seek a job in the industry. Fame and glory don’t sound particularly appealing, and I think my partner would disapprove of the chicks (and dudes). :-/ However, when people ask me what I do, I get to tell them that I translate gay porn. It’s hard to top that.

3) Are you a fan of Yuri manga? Did you know it existed before you started working on a title? What were your thoughts upon seeing your first Yuri job?

Yes, yes, and “Cool, a yuri manga in a historical setting” (this was Morishima Akiko’s short one-shot “Ichigo-Hime,” from Yuri Monogatari 4).

4) Not every Yuri series is equal. Some are better than others. What, if any, thoughts do you have about the series you’ve worked on. Silly? Serious? Quality? Not?

I particularly like the works I translated for Yuri Monogatari 5–they’re a mix of silly and serious stories, and I’m glad that there is some sort of market for works like that here too. Not that I think they’re the only sort of works that should come over here, of course–there are a lot of great yuri titles of all kinds that I would love to see do well here.

5) Which Yuri titles would you like to see make it over here? Anything you’d like to get to work on?

Yamaji Ebine’s works. More titles from Yuri Hime, particularly “Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossom Pink,” “Strawberry Shake Sweet,” “Rakuen no Jouken,” and “The Miko’s Words and the Witch’s Incantations.” “Kaguyahime,” “Love Vibes,” “Maria-sama ga Miteru,” “Pieta,” “Plica” (and I’d love to see the “Plica” movie on something like Logo’s “Alien Boot Camp” series), “Shibuya District, Maruyama Neighborhood,” and “Sweet Blue Flowers.” More works from artists like Tadeno Eriko and UKOZ. No surprises there, I’m sure. As for the second question: All of them, I suppose. However, as long as the English edition is done well, it doesn’t particularly matter to me whether I personally get to work on it. There are always plenty of other titles out there that are in need of attention, and plenty of other things that I would enjoy translating.

6) What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about your job?

My favorite thing is getting to share something I enjoy with others. Those moments when the perfect translation of a line just comes to you are right up there too, though. My least favorite thing is agonizing over the best way to convey a line, particularly when I need to convince someone else to agree with me on it. Also, translating rape scenes.

7) Anything else you want to tell our audience?

I’m pleased to see more yuri coming over here, and hope it sells well. We’re fortunate that so much good yuri manga is being created; I try not to take its existence–or that of the artists and publishers who are taking a chance on it–for granted. That’s not to say that we should have lower standards when it comes to yuri, or praise yuri works when we think they’re mediocre or worse–I just think we’re lucky that there are enough of us to constitute a fanbase and that there are so many talented people out there who are creating yuri works. Let’s hope that state of affairs continues.

Thanks again!

It was my pleasure.





Interview with TOKYOPOP Editor Hope Donovan

March 31st, 2008

In 2005, when Shoujocon and Yuricon teamed up to run Onna!, the focus of the event was women in the comics and animation industries. We wanted attendees to meet these women and see what kind of advice they could impart about breaking into and making a life in these notoriously competitive (and male-dominated) fields.

Recently, I have been able to talk with other women who are working on Yuri manga titles in one way or another and, just as with Onna!, I wanted you to meet them, learn from them and support their work. :-) Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting interviews to give you, the readers of Okazu, insight into the industry and introduce you to some of the women who work on the Yuri we love.

I’d like to open this week with an interview with fabulous editor Hope Donovan of TOKYOPOP. I met Hope at last year’s New York Anime Festival, where I learned that Hope is working on the TP edition of Kannazuki no Miko.

1) So let’s start with the most obvious question – tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hope Donovan here. I’m an editor at TOKYOPOP and have spent the entirety of my professional life there.

2) Are you a manga reader yourself? Did that lead you into working in the manga industry? Or do you just do it for the fame, glory and chicks? ;-)

My path into manga is backwards. I liked the sexual freedom and alternative gender roles in manga, but until I began interning at TOKYOPOP, I didn’t know I liked manga for anything other than straight-up porn. I’ve since been touched by many manga stories, and have come to appreciate the diversity, heart and earnestness of the medium.

As for the internship itself, I had some experience as the editor of my college’s satire magazine, DUIN, and couldn’t bear the thought of another summer at home. I applied online and was accepted for an editorial internship during the summer of 2004. TOKYOPOP ran on the power of slave-labor interns at the time, so I was thrust into a real job situation. I learned a lot. Fortunately, I was hired as a copyeditor after I finished school.

3) Tell us, in general terms, what you do – where does your job fall in the process of producing a translated manga?

An editor of licensed manga oversees the translation, English adaptation, proofreading, layout and quality control of a book. To a certain degree they prompt the marketing of the book and write all kinds of various copy. They are the point person responsible for a book. But editors don’t translate the manga themselves, and most of the editorial staff at TOKYOPOP does not speak a word of Japanese. What’s important to the job is a love of comics.

4) Are you a fan of Yuri manga? Did you know it existed before you started working on a title? What were your thoughts upon seeing your first Yuri job?

For me, getting to edit a Yuri title was the golden prize. Many of my friends from high school and college have gone on to more illustrious careers in science, but I sincerely hoped that through manga I could help show young queer teenagers representations of other people with common experiences and feelings. We’re woefully underrepresented in the media and every little bit counts. Knowing that I finally got to make a contribution was very meaningful for me, even if the subject matter was something rather exploitive, like Kannazuki no Miko. Even that can make a difference.

5) Not every Yuri series is equal. What, if any, thoughts do you have about the series you’ve worked on?

The title I’ve worked on is Kannazuki no Miko. Kannazuki no Miko shows what happens when the earnest desire of two women to be in love is twisted by the circumstances of their world. In the case of Kannazuki no Miko, the circumstances are extreme. Chikane and Himeko are reincarnated priestesses hounded by a squadron of mecha as well as an annoyingly irrepressible hero. Chikane is also a deeply scarred individual, who truly believes the only way she can ever be with Himeko is by raping her. For her part, Himeko’s just a confused teenage girl. Twisted as it may be, I bought the pain at the core of the story, even while recognizing that Kannazuki no Miko offers, at best, an impossible ideal of a relationship that literally cannot exist at the same time as the world.

6) Have you gotten any fan feedback? Anything you want to share?

I’d sure like to get some. Go buy it, starting May 2008! It has color pages~

7) Any Yuri titles you’d like to see make it over here? Anything you’d like to get to work on?

Honestly I’m not as versed in Yuri manga as I should be. But I get to read Yuri Hime magazine for free at work. I really like “Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen.” It’s weird, and I feel like it has more to offer than “two girls fall in love.”

8) What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about your job?

Favorite things: would I be off topic if I said the Rising Stars of Manga? I love getting to see new artist’s work. Niki Smith, who was featured in Yuri Monogatari 5, was a finalist this year. Besides RSOM, I’d say being in a workplace environment where the office decor is manga posters and everyone has dozens of volumes of manga on their desk is pretty sweet.

The least favorite part would have to be that there are limitations. You can’t license every title you want. You can’t make every correction you see. You can’t afford to work with every artist you want.

9) Anything else you want to tell our audience?

There’s a lot of manga out there that isn’t worth your time. Find the titles that matter to you and love them. Buy them.

Hope, thank you so much for your time and your insight. I know many folks, including myself, are looking forward to seeing Kannazuki on the shelves. :-)





Yuri Interview on About.com

March 3rd, 2008

Happy Girl’s Day! About.com has an interview with me on Yuri today. What better way to celebrate girls than to talk about girls who like girls, huh? :-)

…and my Top 10 Yuri manga list, which I already now disagree with. lol.

Thanks to Deb Aoki – enjoy!