"Comics" and "drawing" are two very different abilities. Occasionally there will be great characters who are generally drawn, but "comics" are amazing. The most typical example is the Japanese manga artist "Shikawa Yu Rain Period". He himself felt that he was "not good at painting", but he could still get the affirmation of readers, and gradually became popular.
He has an autobiography called "Hey, Can You Be a Cartoonist If You Draw So Badly?" 》
Especially in recent years, Shi Chuan has continuously painted "Night and Sleep" and "Miss Bernard said" Many masterpieces, such as "Depressed Rice" and "To the Undead Children of the Galaxy", have aroused strong repercussions from readers and won several manga awards.
The bookstore held a "Shi Chuan 20th Anniversary Special Event" (the character in the picture is "Miss Bernard Said."). "Shinrin Shiori"
This year, his career as a cartoonist entered its 20th year. Japanese online media Excite took the opportunity to interview this "stinging" manga artist. How did Shi Chuan's "bad painting skills" come from with a sharp sense of language and unique creativity? Next, let's see what they all say.
"Enigmatic confidence" made him a cartoonist
Four-panel comic strip "Come on! Vinegar rice is suspected!! Even the cover is funny
——Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of the painting industry. A rare opportunity, can you ask about your debut stage?
First, I submitted an article to the manga magazine "Shonen JUMP", which I had always loved to read, and the result was completely unsuccessful. Next, go to "Weekly Shonen Sunday", which is said to be able to get a brief review of the editor even if you fail. After retrieving the original manuscript, I found that nothing was written.
I then sent the manuscript to the four-panel comic magazine in bamboo study. Later, I learned that in fact, those manuscripts won the award. But because the original manuscript was sent back, it was folded and stuffed into the mailbox... Of course, this is the postman's fault, and it has nothing to do with the bamboo study.
I ran to Weekly Junior Champion to win the Monthly Award, and I continued to draw comics there.
- In 1999, you used "Come on! Vinegar rice is suspected!! When I debuted, did you think that the future would usher in the 20th anniversary?
Totally unimaginable. At that time, I liked "disorganized manga" like "Yoshida Chariot" Mr. "Contagion", and then at that time, there were 2 similar works in every magazine. This kind of thing doesn't require a painter, so I can probably do it myself... I just thought about it casually.
I didn't think I was going to go with it, and before I was 20, I didn't think I could draw a lifetime of comics. I hope that a miracle happens, a one-time big sale, and then a long stream of water slowly dried up... In fact, I sometimes fantasize about it now.
- Then again, why do you want to be a cartoonist?
I didn't think about anything and went to industrial high school. When I went in, I found that the school was taught all science courses, which was completely inappropriate for me. All in all, every day was very boring.
In order to look back at the past, I can look back at the distance and say, "It is precisely because of these pasts that I have the present...", I go to the library every day to read.
Shi Chuan is also reading science fiction now, Miss Bernard said. Liu Cixin's "Three-Body Problem" also appeared in it.
This anti-bone spirit led me to want to do the kind of expressive work that "doesn't use what I've learned at all", as a cartoonist or a novelist. Although I went to a junior college in Osaka after graduation, this attitude has not changed.
Although I want to be dang, Whether it is a novel or a manga, I will not do it at all. In terms of degree, I still want to be a cartoonist. My paintings are terrible, and I feel like I can't follow deadlines every week.
Since you can't do it, you don't want to work hard. As a natural result, technology has not progressed... But on the other hand, I have the confidence of a "I am absolutely creative" fan. Looking at it now, it is really inexplicable.
Shi Chuan's lines are very literary ("To the Immortal Child of the Galaxy")
Judging from the results, it is not wrong to think so.
No, no, just walk like this, and then accidentally go through. Thanks to being in the context of the "disorganized comics" popular era. By the way, when I was in high school, I thought that "because of these pasts, I have the present me..." I don't believe it at all.
I feel that the experience after the age of 20 is more important, even if "the process is not the same, it will reach the same result". I think it's best not to add too much meaning to the bitter youth to save your past self. Of course, if I dig deeper, I probably wouldn't have believed that from the start.
——Debut work "Come on! Vinegar rice is suspected!! " was a condensation of word games at the beginning. With the publication of books one by one, the character characteristics of "ラムニー君" gradually increased. Is this also the layout for the next work, サナギさん?
In the second half of "Vinegar Rice", I was thinking about my next work and felt that "I must consider how to shape the characters". However, the sheep in "Vinegar Rice" is not a complete character. I just put my own thoughts out of this sheep. The sheep themselves have nothing endogenous.
From this point of view, the same goes for サナギさん. Basically, just take the small paragraphs I think, let the bunch of spit combinations say it. From a character point of view, it is actually very tight.
"サナギさん", a funny manga in which two girls complain (no Chinese version)
——So in what moment did you master the method of shaping the character? In "The Boy Born in December", the clip of the country walk is very lyrical.
My conclusion is that you can only do "non-funny works". The occasional insertion of "telling friendship paragraphs" in "サナギさん" is what it means. Those funny conversations are only part of their humanity.
I've been drawing "disorganized comics", but this craze has passed and I also feel that these things are a bit old... So I began to think about how to expand the characters, and the result was this "Boy Born in December".
"The Boy Born in December" is more lifelike than before
Ironic funny, can not sting people's hearts
Miss Bernard said. The original manga and the anime adaptation are very good on both sides
As a reader, I think around 2010, with "Imperial Zigzag", "Depressed Rice", "Miss Bernard said". With the publication of ", your style has changed, is there any opportunity in it?
It's not so much a clear plan as it is a plan that goes astray and happens to be drawn like that. For example, "Miss Bernard said." I originally wanted to make a famous quote comic. As a result, "Shiori Kamabayashi", who liked SF novels, accidentally made a good shape, so I suppressed the style of showing off ideas and tried to "make the characters look like myself".
Because Shenlin is also a character I like, I want to paint her more attractively. So this time I changed the painting method without the slightest hesitation.
As for "Depressed Rice", someone asked me to draw food comics, but this genre is very dependent on the artist. I replied, "Even if I paint, it won't look delicious," and the other person said, "It's okay if it's not delicious."
So I used the extreme character of Ukuno based on my real experience and drew a "bad anti-food manga".
The protagonist of "Depressed Rice", "Yuye", almost every meal is bitter and vengeful
- This is simply a satire on the current extremely exaggerated food trend. Because I am close to the same age as the protagonist of "Depressed Meal", Yuno, the feeling of growing older alone also makes me feel empathy...
Unconsciously, Yuno is in his 30s. Now he is still not in a hurry to find a job, even in 10 years, he should continue to live the same life.
It's better to say that it's all now, and I don't think about "what the future will be" every day. From his point of view, in fact, Yuno also lived a very fulfilling life. As long as you work, you can still survive. It doesn't seem like much money, but it's still enough to travel...
But if you reread the comic after 20 years, you should get a completely different feeling. It condenses an era. When you see "he is in the shop, hesitating about bubble tea", you should feel very dazzling. Of course, if this comic can be serialized for 20 years, it is also very ridiculous.
"Imperial Zigzag": The story of all human beings suddenly disappearing, leaving only a little girl and a bird
——The apocalyptic setting, coupled with the funny and plot, "Imperial Zigzag" is also a landmark work.
The manga "Mizukaku" begins with the idea that "there is only one girl and one flamingo left". While playing unorganized jokes, inserting non-funny plots, and finally entering the touching ending.
I referred to Mr. Ryoya Karma's Poems of Self-Abuse. Although this book is playing with stereotypical paragraphs, unconsciously, the characters on the scene are liberated from the stereotype and become "people". The next work", "Night and Sleep", this route is more clear.
Yoshikazu Ieda's "Poems of Masochism" has also been adapted into a movie
- As a result, you rely on "Imperial Zigzag", "Depressed Rice" and "Miss Bernard". ", won the 2014 Tezuka Osamu Culture Award Short Story Award.
These works did not have much response when they were serialized. There is a feeling that "although three manga books are released at the same time, if there is no splash, there is no way at all"
Luckily, the reviews of these books were unexpectedly good after publication, which startled me. The evaluation of previous works in the series and after publication is basically the same.
"To the Undead Children of the Galaxy" was reprinted after publication, and even Abe Keshi was recommending it
- "Night and Sleep", after "Imperial Characters", depicts the sad friendship between "miniature" teenagers. The violence that was originally used for funny has also become something that directly stings people's hearts. What is the intention of this change?
Whether it's sad or painful, if you use the "this is funny" gesture, then it will certainly not be able to sting people's hearts. If you want to surprise people, you still have to portray something that surprises people. Do it when it's time to strike.
Although some writers can also satirize and sting people's hearts at the same time, I do not have this technique, and I can only draw the mood of the characters more easily. These things must be painted well to be able to show them, so my painting skills should also be better. It's not pretty enough, but it's enough to express.
Night and Sleep: A fugitive drama of two "villains"
Last year, "To the Undead Children of the Galaxy", which was praised as a masterpiece by many comic book fans, came to an end. Influenced by many works, including Osamu Tezuka's Firebird, which work was mainly inspired by that work?
There are a lot of things. Hosoda's "Wolf's Child Rain and Snow" was also a source of inspiration. Interpreted from a very malicious point of view, it is a movie in which a small child is liberated from "toxic parents". Of course, this is probably a misreading.
Hosoda's animated film "Wolf's Child Rain and Snow", the story of a single mother raising a "werewolf" child
I wanted to draw a story of a supermom who is even more powerful than the mother in "The Wolf's Child", and let the child be independent under the grand worldview of "Firebird".
The result I came up with was To the Undead Children of the Galaxy. Although the end of the story is a little different from the original plan, if it is the character, it should still choose such an ending.
"When the time comes", he will write his next work as a "novelist"
The short collection of "Hanako @ After School" ghost Hanako is the protagonist, painted by "Autumn ☆ Branch" of "Oriental Dream Moon Copy"
——Shi Chuan's original work, a new edition of "Hanako @ After School" painted by Aki ☆ Branch, was also released last month.
Because I don't know how to draw, I wanted to challenge the feeling of having someone else paint. The serial period of this work was a little time before "Imperial Zigzag", and it was the first time I challenged the plot to the work.
The baseball pitcher's paragraph is my favorite chapter. Now it seems that this work has a lot to reflect on - the feeling of "saying beautiful things again".
- This part is also very interesting! The ending of this story is unexpectedly touching.
When I was young, I wanted to paint "something that no one else had ever painted." Then it becomes idea-first and untouchable. I watch a movie with a very good idea, and although I feel very interesting, I will also notice that "it is to pave the way for this idea", "to make the bridge section established, a lot of preparation", and then the play.
Although I didn't want to admit it before, I liked the kind of pure tear gas. For example, the story of someone getting seriously ill, the story of a child and an animal as the protagonist. Of course, if the aphrodisiacs were too cheap, I would still calm down right away.
The excerpts of the appendix novels of the new edition of "Hanako @ After School" are very long, so readers with Japanese language skills can read it for themselves
——Do you have any feelings about the short story in the appendix of the new edition of "Hanako @ After School"?
Because I've been writing columns before, I'm still experienced in writing. When I was drawing comics, I was working hard to streamline my lines. Novels don't have to care, they can be extended all the time, so they are very comfortable to write.
This time it's just an attempt to shape the style. Someday, when the time comes, I'd like to try something longer. Of course, it may not be so smooth then.
Finally, what are your plans for 10 years, or 20 years from now?
No, there's no such thing at all. So far in life, it is rare to encounter the situation of "thanks to advance planning, otherwise there would be no today". It's easier to tell the story of the past than to plan for the future.
Recently, I happened to have given a lot of interviews, told the past several times, and became a nostalgic elderly person. Every time I speak, the content changes slightly. Now you have to think of a new series... All in all, whether it is a new work in the future or a work from the past, I am very happy that everyone can read it.
This interview begins here.
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