Interview with Rumiko Takahashi-sensei!
We take on her long-awaited new work Inuyasha!!

Translated by: Harley Acres

◆Your new series, Inuyasha, has begun. What are your thoughts now that you've finished drawing the first chapter?

Takahashi: It features a hundred-foot yokai and a time slip to the Sengoku period, so it's a story with a setting that I really like. So I had fun drawing it.

◆The atmosphere is quite different from works such as Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2...?

Takahashi: It's true that it's not a comedy, so I think there will be less comedy overall. But I hope you enjoy the world of this work, which is different from the previous two works.

◆I heard that you re-wrote the storyboard for the first chapter of Ranma 1/2 seven times, but what about Inuyasha?

^[1] Takahashi: I think I re-wrote the opening part five or six times. It's a story with a pretty complicated setting, so I struggled with how to make it easy to understand and still have an impact.

◆When did you first think about drawing Inuyasha? And why did you choose this theme?

Takahashi: It actually started to take shape around the end of September. It was pretty close. (laughs)

I've always been interested in and liked historical and yokai stories... ^[2]

◆What are the origins of the names Inuyasha and Kagome?

Takahashi: I thought about it a lot while meeting with my editor. ^[3] When I was working on Ranma, I was particular about using words that start with the letter 'ra' (ら), but that wasn't the case this time.

I thought about it for 2-3 weeks, but I wanted the main character, Inuyasha, to have a strong feel, and for the girl, Kagome, I focused on a cute feeling for her.

◆The subtitle is "Sengoku Otogi Zoushi" - does it have any special meaning? ^[4]

Takahashi: I think it succinctly expresses the worldview of this work.

◆Kagome gets lost in the Sengoku period, but does the story remain set in that period?

Takahashi: Just between you and me, a modern-day version is also possible. Please look forward to it.

◆Are Inuyasha and Kagome mutual enemies?

Takahashi: At the moment, yes. But I think that will change subtly as the story progresses.

◆Inuyasha said, "I'm a real demon...", but isn't Inuyasha human?

Takahashi: Inuyasha is certainly not human. But that doesn't mean he's a complete demon.

The phrase "half demon" (半妖/hanyo) appears in the third chapter and is a key word. I would like to depict this drama in the future.

◆Finally, a message from Takahashi-sensei to our readers!!

Takahashi: I've returned to Shonen Sunday after nine months off. (laughs) Another series has started, and I've realized that I really love manga.

I'm really enjoying working on manga right now. I hope that readers will enjoy it with me. I hope you will support me even more than you did with Ranma and Urusei.

◆Takahashi-sensei, your eyes sparkled when you talked about Inuyasha, which is full of thrills, suspense, and mysteries. Thank you, sensei.

Shonen Sunday Comics

■Ranma 1/2 - 38 volumes
■Urusei Yatsura - 34 volumes

Shonen Sunday Comics Wideban

■Urusei Yatsura - 15 volumes
■Rumic World Rumiko Takahashi Short Stories - 2 volumes

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Footnotes

• [1] Rumiko Takahashi discusses redrawing the first chapter of Ranma 1/2 a number of times in this interview.
• [2] For clarity sake to our readers, when referring to "yokai" (妖怪) in Rumiko Takahashi's work we use Viz's translated term of "demon". "Demon" is not always a perfect word to use in lieu of "yokai" but generally works well enough for series like Inuyasha where the creatures are plentiful and typically serve as fodder to be slaughtered en masse. However, to our readers who may be confused, the creatures in Takahashi's work are all referred to as "yokai" in the original Japanese.
• [3] This editor would have been Toshiyuki Seno (瀬尾俊之). An interview with him can be found here.
• [4] The English translation used for this was "A Feudal Fairytale".

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