The Maker Speaks
■ You said this manga's theme was contemporary horror. Horror means what we don't have any idea about. For instance, we are afraid of being unable to get where the story's destination is. That is a kind of horror. However, this title tells us where it will get to finally. It is easy to imagine they'll break the building up somehow in the end. Is the title all right?
F: I agree that horror is what we don't know about. However, reading the 1st episode, nobody will know how they should break up the building and why it cannot be broken at all. No knows why they are desperately trying to destroy. There are so many mysteries that the title is necessary to keep the story. If the title weren't there, the manga must be truly unclear.
■ There were so many mysteries, you said. Is it good? Nobody knows what kind of tales it goes as because that's the 1st episode. A lot of mysteries might make the readers confused...
F: It might be, as you said. That's up to individual variation, however. That episode isn't filled with mysteries. A nameless boy in the airplane is as strong as bring down a monster. His strength may work for breaking the Sobotei down. Even if he can't, he may somehow work for carrying the Sobotei because seems to know something about the building.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan
from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1
■ It means there's a key to unlock in the 1st episode.
F: Nobody reads, however, when they aren't absorbed in the mystery. So I intend to have let the episode include something interesting.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan
from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1
■ Your fans might follow even if the 1st episode weren't so exciting. How about the readers who don't know your past career?
F: Lucky is that I have a lot of old fans who have been with me for a long time. I'm suggesting my manga for new readers all the time, however. My opinion says pro manga artists are always trying to enthrall a lot of manga readers, not just fans.
Manga magazines need a variety like a party dinner, I believe. You'll be bored when there aren't many kinds of food. So I want you to try first. I intend to supply what makes you say yummy although it looks kind of strange.
■ New readers are also welcome, it means.
F: Needless to mention, there're some expectations I can't meet. For instance, if he longs for a plenty of excitement at the 1st part of the story, unable because I am storing it for the latter parts thinking about the whole. So I just say I'm sorry to such readers.
■ As a story maker...
F: I'm always taking care of the tempo. As mentioned above, gothic horror looks kind of sluggish. So I am trying to make this manga go not slow all the time.
This interview's made the two clear. One is that we cannot sum up the "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" without the following episodes. Namely, the mist doesn't perfectly go with an interview about only the 1st episode. On that point, this 1st episode works rightly.
Another is how scrupulous Fujita Kazuhiro is. "I can answer against any questions, because the story's been complete on my mind" declared Fujita. This interview's confirmed it is true. What it means is that "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" goes based on the perfect world view. The world view points skeletal structures of stories in other words.
F: Not so when it is just an idea, in my case. Making the storyboard makes me know what the characters are truly. It is important for me, then, to illustrate actually.
When do we need a fabrication on earth? That's the time when we are tired of reality and want an escape for just a while. Inventions exist in order to heal and comfort us. Then, we can rise again for facing each real situation. If there are cracks on the world view of the fiction, we are difficult being absorbed in.
Like this interview shows, my feeling of wrongness was within Fujita's allowable range. Surprising is that the world view has already been solid at the 1st episode as allowing the feeling of strangeness. It means this fiction is as firm as a rock. That tells us why Fujita has been precious to the Shonen Sunday and the Weekly Morning.
F: I'd like to make it entertainment that the readers can enjoy, though based on contemporary horror. I have experienced long-time serialization just 3 times when I have been a manga artist over 2 decades. So I'm still so unfamiliar that kind of immature.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan
from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1
Interview & Text: Misaka Youhei
Thanks to Hagiwara Keisuke (Shogakukan)
F: I agree that horror is what we don't know about. However, reading the 1st episode, nobody will know how they should break up the building and why it cannot be broken at all. No knows why they are desperately trying to destroy. There are so many mysteries that the title is necessary to keep the story. If the title weren't there, the manga must be truly unclear.
■ There were so many mysteries, you said. Is it good? Nobody knows what kind of tales it goes as because that's the 1st episode. A lot of mysteries might make the readers confused...
F: It might be, as you said. That's up to individual variation, however. That episode isn't filled with mysteries. A nameless boy in the airplane is as strong as bring down a monster. His strength may work for breaking the Sobotei down. Even if he can't, he may somehow work for carrying the Sobotei because seems to know something about the building.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan
from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1
■ It means there's a key to unlock in the 1st episode.
F: Nobody reads, however, when they aren't absorbed in the mystery. So I intend to have let the episode include something interesting.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan
from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1
■ Your fans might follow even if the 1st episode weren't so exciting. How about the readers who don't know your past career?
F: Lucky is that I have a lot of old fans who have been with me for a long time. I'm suggesting my manga for new readers all the time, however. My opinion says pro manga artists are always trying to enthrall a lot of manga readers, not just fans.
Manga magazines need a variety like a party dinner, I believe. You'll be bored when there aren't many kinds of food. So I want you to try first. I intend to supply what makes you say yummy although it looks kind of strange.
■ New readers are also welcome, it means.
F: Needless to mention, there're some expectations I can't meet. For instance, if he longs for a plenty of excitement at the 1st part of the story, unable because I am storing it for the latter parts thinking about the whole. So I just say I'm sorry to such readers.
■ As a story maker...
F: I'm always taking care of the tempo. As mentioned above, gothic horror looks kind of sluggish. So I am trying to make this manga go not slow all the time.
This interview's made the two clear. One is that we cannot sum up the "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" without the following episodes. Namely, the mist doesn't perfectly go with an interview about only the 1st episode. On that point, this 1st episode works rightly.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1 |
F: Not so when it is just an idea, in my case. Making the storyboard makes me know what the characters are truly. It is important for me, then, to illustrate actually.
When do we need a fabrication on earth? That's the time when we are tired of reality and want an escape for just a while. Inventions exist in order to heal and comfort us. Then, we can rise again for facing each real situation. If there are cracks on the world view of the fiction, we are difficult being absorbed in.
Like this interview shows, my feeling of wrongness was within Fujita's allowable range. Surprising is that the world view has already been solid at the 1st episode as allowing the feeling of strangeness. It means this fiction is as firm as a rock. That tells us why Fujita has been precious to the Shonen Sunday and the Weekly Morning.
F: I'd like to make it entertainment that the readers can enjoy, though based on contemporary horror. I have experienced long-time serialization just 3 times when I have been a manga artist over 2 decades. So I'm still so unfamiliar that kind of immature.
(C) Fujita Kazuhiro / Shogakukan
from "Sobotei Kowasubeshi" Episode 1
Interview & Text: Misaka Youhei
Thanks to Hagiwara Keisuke (Shogakukan)
