My Dreaming Days

Translated by: Laura Arias-Moreno
Portions of this article previously appeared in Shonen Sunday 1988 Vol. 4-5 and Ore no Manga Michi.

During these ten years since I became a manga artist, the days have really been like a dream.

It is one of the final nights of December ‘87, in a suburb on the outskirts of Tokyo. The lights go through the curtains of the Takahashi residence, hectic during the final days of every week, alternatively known as “deadline”. Sitting on the sofa of the guest room and wearing a red apron, she seems to have been preparing a casserole of sautéed beans for osechi ryori. ^[1]

She starts to tell us about the past decade. “During these ten years since I became a manga artist, the days have really been like a dream. It’s not something that you can just experience only if you want to. You tell yourself: 'I had such a beautiful dream. When I wake up tomorrow, I will be drawing manga in my humble apartment without rest (laughs).' I wouldn’t have wanted any other life. Even if I had married and raised an amazing family, I think I wouldn’t be satisfied enough. Also, I am glad I did not have to do any part time job apart from drawing manga. This lifestyle of only drawing manga is what makes me feel the most fortunate. I love manga. I spent nearly all of my twenties, no, all my twenties on two works, Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku. But I don’t regret that, what’s more, I am really happy about it. Those 49 volumes are full of everything about my twenties as if they were vacuum-packed (laughs). Especially with Urusei Yatsura, since it remained as a one-shot of my young years for the readers, for my friends and for me. That is something really happy for a manga artist. All of them said goodbye to it when the serialization ended. It was a fortunate piece of work”.

Anime is a reward.

The ending of Urusei Yatsura has been animated, and I feel really happy about that. Between the magnificence of the five movies, I would choose the first one, Only You as my favorite. It has romance, adventure, laughter and tears so I think it's superb. But regarding The Final Chapter, my feelings were different. When I saw the preliminary tests and eventually the climax where Ataru and Lum walk together, I ended up in tears. It’s quite something to feel that happy as an author. Thinking about it rationally, it’s normal to cry since I am the author! Obviously, I would be finished if I showed anger during the climax (laughs)! I feel glad about being touched without feeling anger.

Originally, I considered the anime a reward. It’s not something I created myself, and I didn't have to struggle to make it. For me, the original work is everything. When I finished drawing the final story (“Boy Meets Girl”) I could feel from the bottom of my heart that I had ended it without any doubts. When I saw the announcement in the magazine, where it used to be published, I completely accepted that it was going to end and finally in the 11th part of “Boy Meets Girl” I was touched by the insertion of “Fin”. When I saw the announcement, when I drew the storyboard and then when I finished the originals, inside myself I could feel that as a final period. I was crying before doing the storyboard as well, of course.

In issue number 7 on sale on January 14th 1987 the preview for the next chapter said “What will be the results of the game of tag where Ataru and Lum should be certain of their feelings? Rumiko Takahashi puts her full soul in the final chapter!”

The last chapter of Urusei Yatsura resemebles a senninbari.

However, the final chapter is something of a senninbari, so the respective editors of the series and some friends of mine gathered at my place the day I finished the originals. ^[2] So I made each of them apply some screen tones or fill in some black.

The stew was ready, so they were picking a little from it and then I was telling them it was their turn, taking them to my work space. When the gathering was at its highest point, I finished the last piece of screentones. I took the originals and I put them at the place of the party, so everyone went “Oooh”. That was a heartwarming scene. And we took a good bunch of photos to celebrate it. My feelings were “Aaah, it’s over!”

Rumiko Takahashi was born on October 10, 1957 , a Libra, in Niigata. Her father was a gynecologist. She is the last of three children, with two brothers before her. She enrolled at the Chuuei High School in Niigata and later at the Japan Women's University (日本女子大学). She was a member of the manga club both in high school and college, and during her studies at university she enrolled at the Kazuo Koike Gekiga Sonjuku manga school. She debuted with the title Katte na Yatsura, which was awarded with the 2nd Shogakukan Newcomer Award. In the same year, Urusei Yatsura began to be serialized, and as we all know, next came the best-seller Maison Ikkoku and at present she is serializing Ranma 1/2 which is going well.

Childhood and youth

“The place where I grew up was a surprisingly nice place. The surroundings were a bustling and vibrant city. There were a lot of artists and shamisen masters, there was a good amount of willows and 1 out of 10 buildings was a shrine. My parents were a normal married couple who got along, and that was really good for me. For example, if I had to draw someone evil, I was not able to do so. I drew villains while thinking things like 'I may consider him oblivious, but they are still basically a good guy.' For me it is impossible to like an evil character. That may be an influence from my parents as well. When I was a child, I was scolded by them a lot, but it seems that I gradually became an adult. As the daughter of a physician, I was not really wealthy or poor, my parents weren’t strict. Regarding my education, my family always insisted that I would at least finish college. I was always taught to save money, and even now I’m spending extremely little money on myself. I don’t have even the slightest interest in ornate clothes for dressing up, and I bought my first manga volume with my own money when I was in sixth grade.” ^[3]

“I would say that I was a reserved child, and I didn’t like sports. I was angry when I was told to play outside during cold weather (laughs). The school I attended was distant. It was 20 or 30 minutes on foot, and I hardly could make friends with the children in that neighborhood. My parents told me all the time to go outside and play, but there were a lot of times where I ended up drawing at home. I have two brothers, and the first one to tell me to draw manga was my older brother, who is working as a doctor nowadays. “Watch Sazae-san! The key for manga is the 4-panel scheme!” He was telling me all sorts of nonsense to draw. Since at that time I was a fan of Fujio Akatsuka, the first manga I drew was a 4-panel which featured Osomatsu and the Princess (laughs). Now that I think about it, that brother of mine was the one who made me a manga artist”.

First originals

“Of course, I didn’t like studying one bit. Especially with math, where my scores were low, as well as with fractions where I failed at the speed of light. I could barely pass Japanese language, English and History. I attended a girl's high school, but us three friends we created a manga lab. However, we didn’t know what to do. For the school festivals, we used to print copies with a mimeograph. We distributed them, and we asked people what they thought of them. I used to copy drawings of Spider-Man. ^[4] At that time, I was a fan of Ryoichi Ikegami, and I liked a work by him which had been published in three chapters, Nannimo Iranai! (なんにもいらない!) that was quite dark. ^[5] There are a group of villain students who owned some privileges in a polluted city. Then a transfer student arrives on the scene, and he feels a sense of righteous indignation, but is helpless to change things. Even the girl he likes gets abused by these guys, and the transfer student can’t stand it anymore.

But this is not the part where Ikegami-sensei throws a bomb at the reader. It is with the student's dejected face where he nails it. Eventually, two silhouettes overlap, and you get that “Oh, he stabbed him”. It was a very innovative drawing style that you don’t see anywhere else. And for the first time in her life, she drew a manga imitating Ikegami-sensei’s style. It was her first experience in creating a proper manga. She quickly sent this work in to Shonen Magazine. That was in her second year of high school.

“The reason why I first submitted to Shonen Magazine was because I wanted to draw a shonen manga so badly. I think it was due to the manga I read while I was growing up, however regarding Shonen Sunday, I always read it with pleasure since my first year in school. ^[6]

“I was hooked on Otoko Doahou! Koshien (男どアホウ! 甲子園), and I fell in love with the protagonists of Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー) and Judo Icchokusen (柔道一直線)."

“In my story, everyone has been infected by bacteria and they can’t die no matter what, this leads to a mess where a salaryman and a student duel against one another. When I say this now, I cannot see it in my head, so, as a result, I don’t feel convinced about it. It is not possible to draw something you cannot explain clearly, this happens because that happens. Also, it kills me that I drew a comedy manga with the serious style of Ikegami-sensei (laughs), and so, logically, it was not chosen. No one thinks that their work will be rejected when you submit it, so in that moment it was a shock (laughs). Because of that failure, I gave up on my dream of becoming a pro. I thought that I would live all my life in Niigata working as a boring secretary.

My father scolded me by saying “A punk like you not even helping at home must experience how tough independent life is, go to Tokyo!”. And it was decided that I would be enrolled in college.”

My thorough training as a manga artist.

Takahashi-sensei has a lot of friends who love manga. “When doing my self-introduction, I introduced myself by saying “I draw manga”. And then, the person behind me said “Me too”. As soon as the self-introductions were over, the ones with the same interest were already gathering (laughs).

"Along with those friends I started up the manga club, and finally we were able to meet in the corner of a café with other people from a manga club. Soon they went from manga colleagues to my friends, and the numbers of friends drawing manga increased constantly. That was when my real manga training began. Until that moment, I drew so many stories. However, defining the main plot, or drawing a frontal angle of the character you want to feature, were basic aspects that they taught me."

"For example, there is the angle that you draw with. People who just started to draw tend to use a portrait-like point of view as if you were standing, so there are a lot of bust ups. When you want to display the main character's feelings, use a close-up. If you want to change the atmosphere, draw a long panel with an external perspective. And there were other people good at making a relief composition. They taught me so many things."

Takahashi-sensei tells us about her journey

"To learn how to draw manga, there’s nothing to it but to draw a lot of what you like, showing it to others and requesting their opinion. In other words, seeing how they receive it. Even if you think that its interesting, if people do not understand it, it makes no sense. ”Entertainment” is an equivalent to “easily understandable.”"

Urusei Yatsura started to be serialized in issue no. 39 of Shonen Sunday, published on August 1978.

Urusei Yatsura

“Urusei Yatsura is a work that I wanted to do so much. As the title says, it seems that I kinda stumbled upon it. I like sci-fi, but this work of mine is not really science fiction. It's just a funny idea, it can even be considered a funny idea coming from a trend, but it has the flexibility to be drawn as I fancy, like sci-fi. I thought sometimes that I wish I could fly in the sky or teleport myself if I was late to an appointment without thinking in the consequences (laughs). I was able to freely draw things like that because Urusei Yatsura took a certain kind of flexibility from sci-fi.”

“The reason why I wanted to draw a comedy manga, was due to the fact that readers would react quickly. If I saw somebody laughing while reading it, I would say “Yahoo! I made them laugh!” it’s so plain to see. If it was a serious story, the reader could only say “aha, aha” and it wouldn’t let the feelings of the reader show. It’s like the psychology of a child who wants an immediate reward (laughs).”

“Some years before the serialization of Urusei Yatsura begins, Gaki Deka (がきデカ) by Tatsuhiko Yamagami was a big hit, and it really refreshed the structure of comedy manga that had come before it. ^[7] The story and the gags were clearly separated. However, in Gaki Deka, an everyday life was portrayed in a gekiga way, creating an everyday-type story and then turning it into a gag. I loved that kind of comedy manga. I think it’s evident that I was a big fan of Yasutaka Tsutsui and Kazumasa Hirai. ^[8] Take a small event in daily life, then turn it into a big mess where everything is turned upside down. You travel to a surrealistic world. That’s what I love about their stories. I also attempt to draw those worlds in my works. Also, by drawing it I hope that perhaps I can leave that same kind of legacy. I have a strong predilection for real life in my manga. For example, in a change of scene we are in Ataru’s room, and it is introduced in such a way where you wonder what he was doing before this moment. Maybe there are Cup Noodles on the table that he was eating, so then, I should prepare tea as well... It gives a solid impression of daily life. And on top of that you travel to a surrealistic world.”

“Urusei Yatsura is like this, a work I made by putting my heart in it”.

Professional debut

The original form for Urusei Yatsura was Katte na Yatsura, a work which was the winner of the second Shogakukan Newcomer Manga Artist Contest. At the Gekiga Sonjuku manga school, Kazuo Koike saw a short story of hers called Ookami and he stated that she could be a professional. ^[9]

“Oh, can I really become a professional?” That was so touching. That was something similar to being accepted. I decided I was going to make my debut, but I was not able to make it for a while. That was so disgraceful to me. I was telling myself all the time that it will be a shame if I don’t do it soon. So I drew Katte na Yatsura during the spring break between my second and my third year of college. I sent off the originals and then some time later the editorial department contacted my residence out of the blue, and the editor asked: “Would you like to work as the assistant of a professional manga artist?” I thought there must have been a reason for a call like this, and yes, it cannot be something bad, yes, it has to be a good thing."

“However, by accepting that position I would betray my own hopes of debuting, but with my reluctant personality, there was a part of me that said if I didn’t try it I wouldn’t know (laughs). And anyway, I didn’t know if I was going to get a work serialized even if I won the award (laughs).” ^[10]

“The day of the award ceremony, I was so broke that I had to borrow 500 yen from someone for the train ticket, and I arrived to the Shogakukan building in Jinbocho, however I didn’t have enough for the return trip. In my mind there was only the thought of being given the money straight away, the award was 100,000 yen in cash! You cannot imagine my happiness in that moment (laughs).”

“I don’t know the reason why I didn't have money at that moment, I received money from my parents, and I am not someone who spends a lot of money, so maybe it was the expense of food for people who came to pay a visit (laughs).”

My first fan letter

“Katte na Yatsura should have been serialized in a special issue, but luckily it was published in a weekly issue of Shonen Sunday instead. The day when that issue went on sale in June the weather was so-so, I woke up early and I rushed to Nakano station in order to get a copy of Shonen Sunday. Oh, it’s really published! Letters have been added with phototypesetting! This is incredible!”

“I received my first fan letter thanks to that work. I was so glad… I couldn’t imagine that I would get a letter from a fan whose face I'd never seen. Also, I was so happy since I received some fanart of the protagonist’s face too. This person seemed to like my character up to that point. So it’s true these kind of things happen. I wouldn't give up about becoming a manga artist.”

“So I carried it in my arm and I went to college straight away. When I got there, everyone from the manga club had one. That made me cry again. Everyone bought it!”

“One month after I had this work published, I was offered the opportunity to serialize another one so I felt really lucky. I couldn’t stop telling my friends: “I have a serialization! I have a serialization! (laughs).”

Lum's birth

The title Urusei Yatsura was a suggestion by the editor at that time, Mr. Tanaka. As a start, I would have five chapters serialized. When my debut work, Katte na Yatsura was published in the magazine, my female character, Akane, was being noticed. My editor in charge said “Anyway, let’s use a female character.” After being told this, I liked drawing girls. I thought it was great that a girl was the symbol of the manga. Also, with girls, there is the advantage that it is possible to draw more designs for feminine bodies in comparison with male bodies due to the variation of lines.”

“I changed my style just before debuting. I used to draw really long bodies, and then I changed to a very rounded style. To sum up, I changed the small-proportioned faces of America for big-proportioned faces of Japan. I think that the art is easiest to describe that way. If the body becomes shorter, the head is emphasized. Well, when I started the design I began by thinking what type of girl should I draw, and I thought she would have a fresh look if the girl had slanted eyes. If I drew a girl with eyes like this, I couldn’t stop. I always thought that girls with round eyes were not pretty. Since I was a child, I disliked girls not having a line under the eyes. I took that to an extreme, and this is how the character of slanted eyed-Lum was born.”

The “daccha” word used by Lum is based on on the “Dappya” monsters from Katte na Yatsura. This ending is used by fishermen from Chiba, but since it's not usual for a girl to use it, I changed it as “daccha”. My editor also thought it was funny.” ^[11]

“Lum flies, that meant she is not from the Earth so she is different. So, from that idea I connected her to the God of Thunder. At the beginning I was only going to have five chapters, so I put more weight into the story I wanted to draw rather the characters. Lum was going to be a guest character for the first chapter. That's why she does not appear in the second one. You think, "Ah, okay, she went back to her planet.” But I got stuck on the storyboard for the third chapter, and I couldn’t go forward so I thought I could use that girl, and she appeared again.” Regarding Ataru, if I drew someone cool that wouldn’t be any fun, so I preferred to draw someone with a lot of miserable qualities. I made him that kind of character”.

An unbelievable conviction

“I was a rather arrogant girl, so I always thought “Why can't I get the prize?” with the manga I submitted (laughs). I had an unbelievable conviction about my manga being funny that I have kept during these past ten years, so I am still childish about my convictions (laughs). But you have to keep that faith growing after you become a pro. From my debut, my life became thinking about manga all the time, so I had no time for leisure, and didn't have any option but to use my imagination, for example going to the beach in my childhood.”

“I never had to do any hard work at a part-time job, but I was told that if you don't experience many different situations you cannot draw manga. I considered that strange. When I actually had some spare time, I would head to the table and draw. Maybe the advantage of having many experiences is better for common people (laughs). People who have to have experiences for creating a superb piece of work have no talent (laughs).”

Maison Ikkoku

The other representative work by Rumiko Takashi started to be serialized in October, in the November issue of the Shogakukan magazine Big Comic Spirits. Takahashi-sensei had a simultaneous serialization of both titles for six years.

“During my student years, I was living in a 55,000 yen apartment in Nakano, but behind it there were some apartments that looked gloomy. Only ten meters away, there were residents with a transistor radio during the night. I would look at them as if to say “What are you doing!? You're too loud!" (laughs). ^[12] I wanted to portray those apartments in Maison Ikkoku. I was afraid to go into those apartments however I could see from outside that they were designed like typical apartments. It had an entrance and these rooms were distributed around a corridor. So, the shape of the Maison Ikkoku apartment building looks like those cheap apartments. Then I realized that I couldn’t control the people that were in the building unless I lived there with them.”

“If we have the manager of some cheap apartments, then she is a widow, and for a widow it was not impossible for her to have a dog. I suddenly created the basic setting for Maison Ikkoku. But the plot needs some direction. Okay, so let's make a resident fall in love with her. So, the relationship between Kyoko and Godai was a nonsensical creation of the author (laughs). Then, with their relationship, I could put the story in action, I thought to gradually develop it as a human drama, but as I was drawing, it evolved into a funnier love story (laughs). And thanks to redirecting it on that path, I had a great time drawing the story. I was not able to push it as a human drama but for that I will borrow another location and I will challenge myself to draw it as a different story. "Maison" is French for “apartments”, and since it is a building (Ikkoku-kan) with a big clock it became Maison Ikkoku.” Rumiko Takahashi did not like katakana so she wrote it as hiragana and the title was decided.

“So, for six years I was serializing both a shonen manga and a seinen manga. However, I think there is a crucial difference which consists of how you portray the protagonist. For a shonen manga, the main character is a type which makes the reader think basically 'I want to be like him!' On the contrary, in seinen manga there is the difference is that the reader thinks 'This guy is similar to me, I can become him.' So maybe this was the difference between Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku...”

And suddenly the clock hands point to 11:00 pm. Takahashi-sensei takes a sip from the coffee on the table, already cold. During the serialization of Urusei Yatsura, there were a lot of challenging stories.

Clak!

Takahashi-sensei places the mug on the table, with the tension unchanged as she resumes telling her story.

A wool ball and a rubgy ball

“With Maison Ikkoku I felt as if I rolled a ball of yarn, following a certain order, this happens so I must respond like that, and so on. On the other side, Urusei Yatsura was like throwing a rugby ball. You don't know in what way it will come back, because you have done this or that and it can't be helped. But, if you don't treat it like a rugby ball where you don’t know how it will bounce then the manga doesn't take shape. It's impossible if the ideas and the development don't change in the next panel. It's like saying that there isn’t just a single thread connecting the introduction and the climax. At that point, it was hard to think which were the elements I should use to make the reader wonder about what is happening next after so many inconceivable things have happened.”

“Urusei Yatsura was a real battle to do each week at 16 pages and around 130 panels. For example, there is a story about soap. In the opening you are introduced to this certain kind of soap. The chapter continues with someone getting into trouble. So, coming back to this search for the soap again and again was hard.”

“When you’re doing self-contained chapters, which are read once for a series of over 300 chapters that is ongoing for eight years, it’s difficult to prevent them from having the same pattern. The gags do have some kind of pattern, and after over 100 chapters I realized that readers had becomed used to the pattern of my gags. Then I thought to place the final joke in a different place so they could laugh, but when I read it myself I didn't find it funny. So, I was finally able to work and have the patience in order to remove that pattern from that point on. I think that everybody will laugh at this point, but gradually I made them laugh at this other place instead.”

Hardships about characters

“In the beginning Ataru made me suffer but later it happened with Lum. Ataru is considered as an unlucky character, and I was only able to draw him reacting to that misfortune. You cannot surprise people all the time so I fell into a single pattern. I didn't simply want a depressing character who is chased by his bad luck."

“In the beginning, I struggled a lot when I tried to do something about this. When the first five chapters ended, the next batch was for ten chapters and during that stage drawing Ataru became really hard to do. ^[13] I decided to discard that misfortune for Ataru as a character trait when Kurama the Crow Tengu Princess appeared as a guest character. I emphasized the gradual change of his character from unlucky to a womanizer. If that cursed misfortune vanishes, it is something passive. If he is a womanizer, then he has a target and you can make him advance towards that objective. In the second half of the series, Lum made me suffer in the sense of her character becoming passive. That was because if Ataru did something, the only direction for Lum was getting mad about it. In reality, I am not sure if I actually removed that or not.”



“On the other hand, easy characters to draw and write were Ryunosuke and her father. Those two were really easy to put work with. Her objective of being a proper woman was really clear. And since her father's part was preventing that, it was really easy to give them both a purpose.“

“I’m not able to draw a character appearing in a story if I dislike him or her, so there aren’t any of them I don’t like. Particularly, I like supporting characters. For example, I like those with a difficult temper such as Ran and Benten. From Maison Ikkoku, I like Kyoko. Regarding Lum, it's good that there were times you, the reader, could understand her, and some other times you couldn't. Sometimes there were fresh feelings in her, for example when she was making soap while watching TV. She knew that she couldn't look, and so she started to do excercise. The woman on the TV says that she shouldn't have too much suds, and then, there she is with is a huge amount of soap suds. I am drawing with that mood in mind, but if a character is careless without me planning it, I think that's great.”

“Regarding the naming, it was quite appropiate. For Lum it was easy, it was because of Agnes Lum. ^[14] Ataru was the name of the younger brother of the pitcher Suguru Egawa so I thought it was nice. And for Shinobu Miyake, I borrowed the name from my editor-in-chief at that time. ^[15] There are some characters who get names other ways. Sakura because she is Sakuranbo's (Cherry's) niece. Or Kyoko Otonashi because she is the manager of an apartment building with a clock on it.” ^[16]

“By the way, with Ranma I gave it a lot of thought. Since it is about dealing with a lot of entangled elements in an effective way, there is the proverb “kaitouranma wo tatsu” (快刀乱麻を断つ)(something similar to “tackling plenty of tasks diligently/to cut the Gordian knot”), I thought it portrays the character of the protagonist so that was the reason I gave him that name.”

Creating and establishing a character

“A friend of mine searched for the Kazuo Koike's Gekiga Sonjuku manga school. ^[17] Since that friend was not from school, if we enrolled together there would be more chances of seeing each other, so I applied too. Even now that I recall it, the lessons there were great. For example, when creating or establishing a character. At the beginning I didn't know anything, but the quick way to explain what I learned the most was how to make the protagonist stand out. That is something I still struggle with a lot even after I've become a professional. If the protagonist makes an appearance and is stilted it is not interesting at all. You have to give him or her some occasions to show what they are like. That was something I experimented when I became a professional.”

“In the first chapter of Urusei Yatsura, which has over 300 chapters, as I said before, I tried to start with the idea that “Ataru Moroboshi is an unlucky character”. But that's an objective description that doesn't attract readers. As a result of drawing him so many times, I polished him completely and when he started being slapped by Shinobu, the character of Ataru had truly been established for the first time.”

“The first chapter for Maison Ikkoku was similar with Kyoko’s face appearing for the first time, so surprisingly I didn't have to worry too much about it. However, for Ranma 1/2 it was also difficult to achieve. Ranma was supposed to show up showing off a lot, and I couldn't stop thinking that wouldn't work. But when I thought about the first scene when she is chased after by a panda, I said: “This is it!”.

After deciding an interesting way for them to enter in the first scene, the next thing was making the character say his or her name. People around also wonder “Who is this!?” repeatedly. Making the readers clearly remember a character’s name is also a way of establishing a character, don't you think?”

Urusei Yatsura ended in the #8 issue of Shonen Sunday, published on January 21st 1987, and Maison Ikkoku, in the #19 issue of Big Comic Spirits, on April 6th 1987. This interview has covered these serializations until they ended.

The truth about ending a serialization

“Maison Ikkoku was advancing in real time, so it was definitive that it was undoubtly ending at that point. For Urusei Yatsura I was thinking that it was time to end it about one year before. I could be drawing it forever if I wanted. When Maison Ikkoku was going to finish and I would start to publish a new series, it could be consecutive, but I didn't want to do that.”

"Why did I close the file with Urusei Yatsura? Mm, well. This may not be entirely true, but...I was afraid of Urusei Yatsura using all of my energy. It sort of felt like it was a “comfort zone” that I could draw in for the rest of my life, but I couldn't do that! Even when saying this so many years later I can't express it well. There were many reasons, but I am not able to express the core of my feelings well."

"For example, while I was drawing the last chapter, I thought “This is a manga from my early twenties”. Urusei Yatsura was a manga I drew putting all my youthful energy into, it is not a work you can draw when you get older. I didn't want to draw a work with the wrong energy."

When she finished both Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku consecutively, a part of her fans thought that maybe she was forced to do so or she was taking a break, raising such rumors. On the contrary, Takahashi laughed stating that “both works ending at the same time was a mere coincidence”.

Shinobu Miyake

When I decided I would be bringing the series to an end within a year, I started working on a way to say goodbye for each character. Since there were so many characters, I tried to provide most of them with a spot. By the way, when I started that task, many characters took my attention. Sometimes it was really hard. Specifically, I thought I should do something regarding Shinobu. At the beginning she was introduced as Ataru's girlfriend, but Lum gained ground and it became Ataru and Lum's story. She was always a spectator watching crazy scenarios from the sidelines, floating in the air. On top of that, the guys she attracts are like Soban or Kitsune, there wasn't any decent suitor for her (laughs). Not even one. I thought that I should be responsible and save her. Moreover, I wrote a chapter in the 2nd volume where you could see the future 10 years later, "Intention", and there Ataru and Shinobu got married and they had a child called “Kokeru”. I was concerned by that.

Then, I made Inaba appear as a guardian from the Destiny Construction Office in the 31st volume, wearing a rabbit costume. That was compiled in five consecutive chapters; to sum up, the future is not fixed, and that future featuring Ataru and Shinobu I drew previously was only one of many futures. So I drew Inaba as Shinobu's partner. So now I made something about Shinobu, which I had worried about, I wondered about what I should do next, if I should make them end up together, happily, and then advance towards the finale.

Boy Meets Girl

"The last story, "Boy Meets Girl", continued for eleven chapters. I never did such a long, continuing story since I started serializing Urusei Yatsura. Also, the final movie is based on the story of these 11 chapters. I made it in 11 chapters since they were exactly eleven of them in a single volume. I considered that it would be great to make it as if it was a piece of work tied up with a ribbon like a present. It doesn't have any deep meaning."

"I had been thinking about the game of tag all this time, and when I was asking people how I should end the series, they always vaguely said “What about another game of tag?” I worried that if it was too serious, it could become a situation where the ending felt sort of cornered or forced. Or if they were to fight, maybe some kind of wager could be made so it would be more interesting, or making a risky gamble."

"I considered creating a love triangle between Rupa, Lum and Ataru, but since I have an inborn reluctance to drawing men (laughs), by using Rupa it didn't go forward. Resigned to this, I decided to try and draw a girl and added a female character, Carla, and then the process became surprisingly smooth (laughs).”

By the way, my intention today was to complete the interview while it is still daylight. That seemed like logical etiquette from the one who is interviewing to their subject. However, Takahashi-sensei got up around dawn. The clock hands are now pointing nearly at midnight. Takahashi-sensei tells us about her daily life where day and night are swapped.

Everyday life

“Everyday is different. I sleep when I want, I eat when I want. I wake up in the afternoon frequently. For me, a daily routine of working after waking up early is impossible. I mostly have lunch outside, and I like the frozen udon from 7-Eleven (laughs). I only use the kitchen seriously once a year. For me it is as if I am married to drawing manga, I am always thinking about it. First I discuss the next story with my editor, and for one or two days, I sit at the table looking dazed. In my mind, I am thinking about how I will draw the stories we discussed. The truth is that I am able to draw the name in half a day when my hand starts moving, but the path until that moment takes a long time. I have an obsession for name. ^[18] I don't feel at ease unless I draw a perfect name. I get so afraid that I cannot draw. I know when it is not perfect. You don't know what you have to do. After I have the general concept about the story, I start to think about the opening scene. I have to do an impressive opening scene which will attract readers. And I think about how I should distribute the panels. The opening contradicts the ending, I can't make the wrong choice. Don't include too many lines, avoid a poor panel distribution, don't make the protagonist stand out too much... Everyday I sit at my desk and spend endless hours there.

From my own experience, I can say that one of the traits you must have as a mangaka is patience. Everything starts from sitting at your desk carrying on thinking, even when you become a pro. When I can't finish my storyboard, I start feeling it also at a physical level. My stomach aches, I feel pressure in my chest, I break out in a cold sweat... As a manga artist, you must have a strong body to endure that.

Her assistants are women only.

“When I have finished the storyboard, I call the assistants and we complete the work over two days and one night. All my assistants are female, if there were men around, they would be a distraction to them. There are many people who raise their children in Japan who think that men shouldn't serve tea. If women and men are together, women unfortunately think that they must take the lead in those roles. It is not about the fact of if men are able to do their job. I just don't want to find myself wondering whether the situation is effective or not. That's why I prefer females in the workplace. ^[19]

Graduation from university

In these 10 years, apart from debuting as a manga artist, the only big event in my life has been graduating from university. ^[20] As soon as I debuted I thought “I'm quitting my degree”, but obviously I faced strong opposition from my father. My older brother told me that I wouldn't be respected by anyone if I quit univerity, and that made me think. If I left college and the manga serialization went badly, I would be an absolute fool. My final report was hard. My tutor in charge was really capable, and sought out all the books I needed. The first hardship was gathering the books, but since they did some of that on my behalf, I could complete my final report successfully. As a piece of work, it turned out to be a masterpiece (laughs). ^[21] After graduating from university, Urusei Yatsura began to be regularly serialized.

Popularity

Urusei Yatsura lasted for 34 volumes, and Maison Ikkoku has a length of 15 volumes. Altogether, they sold over 20 million copies. It is not wrong to say that they were a big hit and representative works of a certain era. And with anime, contrasting what the author has imagined, you see yourself transported to another world. I am sorry to say this, but I think TV is even more incredible in being able to do that. I feel frustrated about that, but I will say that the television series was one of the reasons it was able to transform into a movie as well. That was also incredible.

"Well, I thought that there was no reason that the series wouldn’t be popular since drawing it was fun for me, so it was not a surprise that people liked it (laughs). To be honest, sometimes you have doubts. I am really glad to have so many fans because the essence of manga lies in becoming fond of the characters; just like how I used to say “I love Ittetsu Hoshi from Kyojin no Hoshi!”. However, there are some things that even as an author you just can’t know. I know very well the “introduction of feelings” in Maison Ikkoku. A pair of men and only one woman for six years (laughs)... It was normal that I was told many times that it was not a really unique plot (laughs). But I was attracted by that story, and the readers became attracted to it as well."

But for Urusei Yatsura, the plot is something that no one has experienced. I assume that no guy has an alien girl who falls for him (laughs).” Why has it received such a strong response? I think this may sound shocking but it’s because this piece of work is a real part of me. At some point, my heart and the reader's heart came together, I think that both hearts really united in this series.

Battle Companions

“But, since it has been almost a year since the serialization ended, shouldn't it be about time to wake them up from that nice dream?

As I said before, I have undoubtedly added the final period on the series. Before I had memorized where this panel was or what chapter goes where, but now I have forgotten completely. The characters from Urusei Yatsura were dear battle companions to me. If you don't enjoy drawing, you can't produce anything enjoyable. It is really important to draw what you enjoy. It is impossible to do if you feel depressed by the work you will suffer along with the characters.

For me, now I’m immersed in a fierce battle with Ranma 1/2, I think thats the best description for Lum and Ataru is battle companions who suffered alongside me.

Ranma 1/2

I love when ideas come to my mind without much thought. Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku were like that, but for Ranma 1/2 I had to think a lot (laughs). What do I want to draw? I like girls. I wanted to draw a girl. But I also want to draw a manga with a guy as a protagonist from time to time! So I had to change my point of view, and I thought that I could make a guy turn into a girl. But I had to think for a while to come up with water as the cause of the transformation. In order to identify him/her regardless of a male or female appearance, I brought the pigtail visual to the character's design. A pigtail combines with Chinese clothes, so then I decided to make him use martial arts, and all these questionable choices are how I established the character (laughs). When it started being serialized, I was worried about Akane, the heroine. I couldn't understand why I felt this way. She was hard to draw. I realized that the reason was an issue with her hair, so I though “Hey! Just, cut her hair!” so I made her long hair disappear. But for me it's still hard to say if just by doing that the character of Akane has been completely established (laughs).

In regards to where Ranma 1/2 is heading, I would say sports. Since Ranma, the protagonist, has no objectives in particular, I am not sure if he will have a passive role or not, but I have to make him move.”

One Pound Gospel

I first wanted to draw Ranma 1/2 as a manga for children, so I am drawing some parts so children could read it easily. However, in One Pound Gospel (Young Sunday), which is serialized by chapters in small batches, I could portray humanity and silent communication, something really human, which I couldn't do in Ranma 1/2. There were times when I think like this, but it cannot be helped if you cannot bring up certain feelings in a manga. I feel ashamed that there are differences between the works I draw and that what I draw is different based on the series. But I'm putting my effort into this. I would like to keep drawing One Pound Gospel. I'm not aiming for the relationship between the series to be the same as it was with Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura, but I think it would be great if they can help each other.

Luxury is your enemy!

I don't drive, and I don't own a car. I don't have time for going on a cruise. I don't know anyone who wants to own a second residence. I think that would make it challenging to get more manga equipment for a second home (laughs). However, for some time I was considering setting Ranma 1/2 in a coastal locale, so I thought about buying a house there in order to get a grasp of the atmosphere of a coastal town. ^[22] My assistants would be jumping for joy if I told them that they could go and swim while I was creating the storyboards. But I wasn't able to find a proper one. So eventually the idea for using a coastal city location and the plan of getting a house on the beach vanished. For me, drawing manga is a sort of leisure and my life depends on drawing manga. Luxury is manga's enemy (laughs).

A Professional

“I guess that if I hadn't become a manga artist, I would be the worst of the worst as a human being. I wouldn't have anything to talk about with the people in my workplace, I would come back to a gloomy, cheap apartment and say how tired I was while I switched on the lights, and sluggishly took off my stockings. An extremely clear vision comes to mind (laughs).

I wonder how I became a professional manga artist? Maybe because I wanted to be read by so many readers. I want them to read my stories as if they were taking a long, deep breath, without thinking. Also, I want someone or many people to laugh out loud with my manga. If someone tells me that it was funny, I would say I am glad and that I feel so lucky. I really am a manga lover.

Manga is a hobby and a business.

All of the steps are fun, from drawing after creating the storyboard to reading it as a whole when the volume is complete. I may find it hard at times as well, but I enjoy those times too. When there are parts that become more and more difficult as I draw them, that is fun too. Manga is really fun. That's why in Urusei Yatsura, as in Maison Ikkoku, as in Ranma 1/2 the central theme is about love. I think that being happy is key. I want to keep drawing happy endings. I want to keep drawing manga that people remember having been great to re-read them even after they finish.”

The hands of the clock point 1:00 am already. The residential area has turned silent without noticing. The outside lights slowly reveal the avenue pavement decorated with gingkos all in a row. Perhaps because it is also the end of the year, I can't find an available cab. My cheeks may be cold due to the sharp wind, but all of our hearts feel warm since we are seized in the grasp of Rumic World.

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Footnotes

• [1] Osechi ryori (御節料理) is a traditional New Year's dish served in boxes similar to bento called jubako (重箱).
• [2] A senninbari (千人針) is a belt or strip of cloth stitched 1000 times and given as a Shinto amulet by Japanese women and imperial subjects to soldiers going away to war. Typically each stitch is sewn by a different woman.
• [3] Takahashi speaks more about her earliest manga purchases in an interview about her idol, Ryoichi Ikegami.
• [4] This would have been in 1975. While still in high school Takahashi published under the pen name "Nosaka Kemo" and she and her friends put out a dojinshi called The Diarrhea (ざ・だいありぃあ). In this collection she published Star of Empty Trash (虚塵の星) alongside a drawing of Spider-Man.
• [5] Takahashi speaks more about I Don't Need Anything! (なんにもいらない!/Nannimo Iranai!) in her interview discussing Ryoichi Ikegami.
• [6] Over the course of her career Takahashi has mentioned a handful of times that she did submit to Shonen Magazine originally but did not hear back from them. She mentions this in "Ryoichi Ikegami Book Interview with Rumiko Takahashi", "Examinging the Source of Masterpieces! Rumiko Takahashi's History", "Rumiko Takahashi - Long Interview" and "Toriyama/Takahashi Interview". Other than the plot described here it is unknown what this story was or if it was a reworking of her Star of Empty Trash story.
• [7] Takahashi has spoken about the influence of Gaki Deka (がきデカ) before in her tribute to Tatsuhiko Yamagami.
• [8] Yasutaka Tsutsui (筒井康隆) is a novelist perhaps best known to western audiences as the writer of Paprika which was turned into a film by Satoshi Kon. The Girl Who Lept Through Time (時をかける少女) is another well-known novel by Tsutsui. Kazumasa Hirai (平井和正) was a science fiction novelist best known for 8 Man (8マン), Genma Wars (幻魔大戦) and Wolf Guy (ウルフガイ). Takahashi illustrated a number of his Wolf Guy novels in the early 1980s. He published two interview books of discussions he had with Takahashi entitled The Time We Spoke Endlessly About the Things We Loved (語り尽せ熱愛時代/Kataretsuse netsuai jidai) and The Gentle World of Rumiko Takahashi (高橋留美子の優しい世界/Takahashi Rumiko no Yasashii Sekai) which is his analysis of Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer.
• [9] Kazuo Koike (小池 一夫) is one of the most famous manga writers (原作者/gensakusha) having written Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼), Crying Freeman (クライング フリーマン), Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫) and contributed some stories to Takao Saito's Golgo 13 (ゴルゴ13). Koike created Gekiga Sonjuku the manga course that Rumiko Takahashi studied in as one of the first year students alongside Marley Caribu (狩撫麻礼) and Atsuji Yamamoto (山本貴嗣).
• [10] Whether or not Takahashi served as an assistant to a manga artist largely depends on how you define it. After it was decided that she would soon debut as a professional Shonen Sunday arranged for her to serve as a temporary assistant to horror manga artist Kazuo Umezu who was publishing Makoto-chan (まことちゃん) in Sunday at the time. Takahashi discussed this with fellow manga artist Moto Hagio and explained that she only worked with Umezu for two sessions and that it was arranged by her editor so she could see how a professional studio should be set up.
• [11] To hear more from Rumiko Takahashi's editors please check out "My Page One" and "Interview with Soichiro Suzuki".
• [12] Years later Takahashi would illustrate her experience of witnessing the goings-on at this neighboring building and its inspiration for Maison Ikkoku in the short story 1980.
• [13] Urusei Yatsura's early publication history was fairly non-traditional. After the first five chapters were published weekly from August through September of 1978 the sixth chapter was then published in a special issue of Shonen Sunday in October or November. Takahashi then returned in February to continue Urusei Yatsura for approximately ten chapters as she mentions in this interview. This was because Takahashi was still in college at this point in her life. She then returned to Urusei Yatsura through April 1979 before stopping and publishing the five chapter monthly mini-series Dust Spot!! in a special edition of Shonen Sunday. After Dust Spot!! she returned to Urusei Yatsura sporadically until March of 1980 when its continual, regular weekly publication began in earnest. Looking at the publication dates of the chapters in the first two volumes helps clarify this as well as shows that some of the chapters were rearranged from their original publication order.
• [14] Agnes Lum is an American model and singer who became popular in Japan in the late 1970s.
• [15] Shinobu Miyake (三宅克) was one of the editors at Shonen Sunday who oversaw Urusei Yatsura, Makoto-chan and Pro-Golfer Saru during his tenure. By the 2020s he was running Parsola a digital manga outlet. Takahashi mentions the editor Shinobu Miyake in her interview with editor-in-chief Katsuya Shirai and mentions Miyake was in charge of new talent when she joined.
• [16] Kyoko's last name, Otonashi (音無), means "soundless" which is a reference to the broken clock at Ikkoku-kan and the fact that her room has no number on it unlike the other residents'.
• [17] During the school's first years when Takahashi was a member the classes were held at National Olympic Memorial Youth Center (代々木オリンピック村研修センター) and then in Meguro Ward Studioship Headquarters (目黒区 スタジオシップ本社).
• [18] "Name" (ネーム) are storyboards. These are the rough drawings that layout each page's panel layouts, character positions in each panel, and handwritten dialogue balloons. Some artists ink over their name, others draw on a fresh sheet which preserves the name. After joining Twitter (and on a few rare occasions earlier) Takahashi would share a panel of her name next to the finished panel.
• [19] This is something that has come up frequently throughout Takahashi's career and is often referenced in articles and interviews both in Japan and abroad. As she has clarified, the reason she does not have a male assistant is because she feels her female assistants would feel they had to tend to the male assistant. It is simply easier not to have to address those socialogical complexities. She addresses this in her 100 Questions interview as well.
• [20] Takahashi graduated from Japan Women's University (日本女子大学/Nihon Joshi Daigaku). She was a history major.
• [21] Takahashi discusses her thesis in "Gekkan Takarajima" (February 1982) (月刊宝島」1982年2月号) which was later collected in "Manga-ka ga Tsutaeru" (Manga Critique Compendium, Vol. 4: Heibonsha, 1988) (マンガ批評大系第4巻：平凡社、1988年). Her thesis was "The Edo Shogunate's Countermeasures Against Homeless People" (江戸幕府の無宿人対策). This is also touched upon in her profile in Popeye magazine.
• [22] The potential coastal setting is perhaps referenced in Ranma 1/2 chapter 380 "A Visit to the Family Grave" where we see the Saotome family grave is in a seaside town.

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