Ishikawa-sensei, Do You Remember? Ishikawa-sensei Oboeterasshaimasho ka? いしかわ先生覚えてらっしゃいますでしょうか
In this essay manga Rumiko Takahashi recounts meeting manga artist Jun Ishikawa and her excitement about him asking her if she would like to exchange books with him. She excitedly agreed. A few days later she recieved a copy of one of his books. However five to six years have passed and she imagines how angry he must be with her for never sending a copy of her own work to him. She promises to send something to him now that this short manga has been published.
Published In:
Our Farewell to Electrocution Town
Publication Date: August 19, 1986
Pages: 1 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation:
None
Notes:
Jun Ishikawa (いしかわじゅん) is a manga artist, though he is much better known as a respected manga critic. He has published two volumes of his collected essays of manga criticism- Manga no Jikan (漫画の時間) and Manga Note (漫画ノート). He spoke with Popeye magazine in 1982 along with Rumiko Takahashi.
In his collection Manga no Jikan Ishikawa introduced a number of manga series that would be considered "underground" comics. Many of them dealt with motorcycle gangs, gay relationships, little known shojo series and obscure gag strips. The book became a significant hit and established him as a manga tastemaker. Ishikawa is one of the regular panelists on BS Manga Night Talk (BSマンガ夜話/BS Manga Yawa) a manga-focused television program that ran from 1996 until 2009. The show was hosted by folklore specialist Takahiro Ohtsuki (大月隆寛) and the rest of the panel included producer/critic/Gainax founder Toshio Okada (岡田斗司夫) and manga critic/manga artist/grandson of Soseki Natsume, Fusunosuke Natsume (夏目房之介).
Ishikawa is one of the regular panel of BS Manga Night Talk (BSマンガ夜話/BS Manga Yawa) show from 1996 until 2009. The show was hosted by folklore specialist Takahiro Ohtsuki (大月隆寛) and the rest of the panel included producer/critic/Gainax founder Toshio Okada (岡田斗司夫) and manga critic/manga artist/grandson of Soseki Natsume, Fusunosuke Natsume (夏目房之介).
Jun Ishikawa and Hideo Azuma were said not to have gotten along well. Ishikawa criticized how Azuma tended to draw characters' feet quite small. Osamu Tezuka mocked the two by having characters based upon each of them marry one another in his manga Rainbow Parakeet (七色いんこ/Nana-iro Inko). When Azuma died Ishikawa expressed his condolences.
Ishikawa at one time was close friends with manga writer Marley Caribu, however as Ishikawa writes in his book Secret Bookshelf (秘密の本棚) he and Caribu had a falling out. In the 1980s Ishikawa was publishing Chandora (ちゃんどら) in Big Comic Spirits and created a character named "Dr. Kaze" based on Marley Caribu's appearance. Years later in 1987 Ishikawa carried this character over into his new manga From K (フロムＫ) where he commented on Caribu frequently attending parties, becoming angry and leaving. He poked fun at the writer claiming he would "spin around in a tornado like Dr. Kaze" when he got drunk at parties before storming out. Ishikawa further stated that Caribu always claimed to dislike parties but would frequently come to them and then grow fussy and leave. Ishikawa said he had exaggerated the story for comedic effect, but that it had a lot of truth in it as well. Ishikawa would later discover that Caribu took a shot at him in his own manga, Meiso-ou Border (迷走王 ボーダー) by showing Ishikawa and fellow manga writer (and friend to Ishikawa and Caribu) Natsuo Sekikawa arriving at a party, behaving snobbishly, parading around in their underwear and growing jealous if one of their peers ever had a hit manga. Ishikawa states he was annoyed by Caribu's manga which he said was "humorless", however Sekikawa was furious. Ishikawa publicly sided with Sekikawa and Marley Caribu had to print an apology in the following issue of Manga Action (the magazine that published Meiso-ou Border). The row destroyed the friendship between Caribu and Ishikawa & Sekikawa. Jun Ishikawa stated on his Twitter that he regretted not making up with Marley Caribu after attending his funeral.
This story was published in Our Farewell to Electrocution Town (僕達のサヨナラ 感電タウン/Bokutachi no Sayonara Kande Taun), Ishikawa stated on Twitter that he used to get various mangaka to contribute a drawing to his collections. This volume contained Takahashi's drawing along with one by Akira Toriyama and Atsushi Kamijo.
