The Maker Speaks
 |
Japanese Essay Manga Manga Artist Yuki Masami < 27, Nov, 2015 > |
|---|
Three decades, is it long or short on earth? If you think about traveling of twinkling stars in night skies, the time must worth something insignificant. However, it will worth eternity when you guess 30 years makes a newborn baby grow up, become an adult, fall in love with somebody, get married, and be a parent.
Yuki Masami is a Japanese manga artist who has written his essay manga “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story” on Monthly Newtype since 1985. This year, 2015 is the 30th anniversary. That has really become never-ending. Now, at a quaint old-fashioned tearoom in Tokyo, I asked Yuki Masami how the endless story has come.
■ First, wouldn’t you mind if I ask what made “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story” start?
Yuki Masami: Not at all. An old friend of mine Inoue Shin-ichiro, he is a representative executive director of Kadokawa today, invited me when he was founding a new anime magazine. For getting a chance to see Harada Tomoyo, I said “let me do something with Kadokawa.”
(C) Yuki Masami, Kadokawa
"Monthly Newtype" 1998 April Issue
Inoue Shinichiro (L) & Yuki Masami (R)
■ I know Harada Tomoyo is one of Kadokawa Three Actresses at the time.
Y: Mr. Inoue said please and I started. He asked me to write a column there. Monthly Newtype was founded, then. First time, Mr. Iwaida was in charge of looking after the “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story.” He specified nothing about what I wrote, but. Therefore, I put my impressions of a film “The Neverending Story” with a picture on the first and the second. They seemed not so interesting and I decided to make manga on the third. A moment was the third, I know. To begin with, I am not good at illustrating a picture which explains enough.
■ Well, it is in charge of illustrators, if anything.
Y: I agree. I am a manga writer who desires to cartoon something interesting, not an illustrator.
■ Then, the “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story” meets its 30th anniversary in 2015. Do you have anything that has changed?
Y: Changed… Actually, there had been no previous arrangements between Iwaida and me for a long time. I had just handed over what I completed. The charge moved from Mr. Iwaida to another editor Mieda Asuka in 2008, and subsequently, we got to hold a preliminary meeting.
■ No previous arrangements? It sounds thrilling.
Y: So only once, in the past, Mr. Inoue checked my manuscript and said “Stop this, please!” I told him “That is what I privately think of. No approved?” His answer was not changed, however, and I decided to hold it back. Such a thing has not occurred again after that time.
■ Something kind of harsh is quite capable of being received as an opinion of Kadokawa, and they may be troubled…
Y: Yes. Talking about what changed for the three decades, I guess my works have been mellower. I was so younger that mentioned about a lot of things in the early days. I don’t know whether it means something cutting has decreased or not. Early times, I watched some adult anime programs, analyzed and make graphs. Today, I am unable to do that.
■ The 20th century finished, and Tsukko-chan appeared in the manga. Then, it looks the letters have decreased and pictures have been on the increase instead.
Y: Ah, her appearance made chatting skits smooth. I suppose that she gave flexibility to my manga. However, that factor was basically included, because it had a learned man we didn’t know what expert he was, and a character named Karucho-kun who often appeared when mentioning something about soccer.
Yuki Masami is a Japanese manga artist who has written his essay manga “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story” on Monthly Newtype since 1985. This year, 2015 is the 30th anniversary. That has really become never-ending. Now, at a quaint old-fashioned tearoom in Tokyo, I asked Yuki Masami how the endless story has come.
■ First, wouldn’t you mind if I ask what made “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story” start?
Yuki Masami: Not at all. An old friend of mine Inoue Shin-ichiro, he is a representative executive director of Kadokawa today, invited me when he was founding a new anime magazine. For getting a chance to see Harada Tomoyo, I said “let me do something with Kadokawa.”
(C) Yuki Masami, Kadokawa
"Monthly Newtype" 1998 April Issue
Inoue Shinichiro (L) & Yuki Masami (R)
■ I know Harada Tomoyo is one of Kadokawa Three Actresses at the time.
Y: Mr. Inoue said please and I started. He asked me to write a column there. Monthly Newtype was founded, then. First time, Mr. Iwaida was in charge of looking after the “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story.” He specified nothing about what I wrote, but. Therefore, I put my impressions of a film “The Neverending Story” with a picture on the first and the second. They seemed not so interesting and I decided to make manga on the third. A moment was the third, I know. To begin with, I am not good at illustrating a picture which explains enough.
■ Well, it is in charge of illustrators, if anything.
Y: I agree. I am a manga writer who desires to cartoon something interesting, not an illustrator.
■ Then, the “Yuki Masami’s Never Ending Story” meets its 30th anniversary in 2015. Do you have anything that has changed?
Y: Changed… Actually, there had been no previous arrangements between Iwaida and me for a long time. I had just handed over what I completed. The charge moved from Mr. Iwaida to another editor Mieda Asuka in 2008, and subsequently, we got to hold a preliminary meeting.
■ No previous arrangements? It sounds thrilling.
Y: So only once, in the past, Mr. Inoue checked my manuscript and said “Stop this, please!” I told him “That is what I privately think of. No approved?” His answer was not changed, however, and I decided to hold it back. Such a thing has not occurred again after that time.
■ Something kind of harsh is quite capable of being received as an opinion of Kadokawa, and they may be troubled…
|
|
"Monthly Newtype" 2007 June Issue Tsukko-chan (L) & Yuki Masami (R) |
■ The 20th century finished, and Tsukko-chan appeared in the manga. Then, it looks the letters have decreased and pictures have been on the increase instead.
Y: Ah, her appearance made chatting skits smooth. I suppose that she gave flexibility to my manga. However, that factor was basically included, because it had a learned man we didn’t know what expert he was, and a character named Karucho-kun who often appeared when mentioning something about soccer.
