Rumiko Takahashi Long Interview - What is “manga”?

Translated by: Harley Acres

How was Rumiko Takahashi, a rare manga artist, born? What does she think about, and what ingredients comprise her? In this interview, we will ask questions from various angles to get to the bottom of her essence.

Rumiko Takahashi's Daily Life Called "Manga"

Takahashi-sensei, thank you for your help with this interview. First of all, could you tell us about your recent production status?

Takahashi: It's been this way since the coronavirus. We have a meeting on Monday, and names are begun on Tuesday and Wednesday and completed on Thursday morning, then the drawings start on Friday night and are usually uploaded on Sunday or Monday morning at the latest. ^[1] Then, we have a meeting on Monday night... and we keep repeating this process over and over again.

Does that mean there are no days off?

Takahashi: Well, I somehow make time to draw on the weekends, so I usually make plans to go out on the day my names are started.

What's the time frame like?

Takahashi: I work at night. The name I work on from around 1:00 pm until around 6:00 or 7:00 am. ^[2]

It's amazing, isn't it? You've been drawing manga for 45 years...

Takahashi: I suppose.

Isn't it difficult? Roughly six panels per page, 18 pages every week...?

Takahashi: That's what a "manga" is. I think it would be tough if it was painful to draw.

The path to the birth of MAO

How did your current serial MAO come about?

Takahashi: After Kyokai no RINNE was finished, I had a long meeting with my editor while I was taking a break, and we came up with various ideas. The story of an onmyodo named Ashiya Domon came up. ^[3] I wondered if there was anything that could be done with that. We came up with many other ideas, but really, it was a process of discussion with my editor. ^[4]

I believe onmyodo is a new area of material for you, Takahashi-sensei. Have you studied it a lot?

Takahashi: It's very difficult... To begin with, I didn't know anything about onmyodo, and although I occasionally heard about the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water I didn't know what their connection was, so I tried to at least learn the basics.

That water beats fire, that sort of thing?

Takahashi: It's like, if you don't think about it repeatedly, you'll lose track of it quickly... I've learned it recently, but its still a fantasy. However it helps make the fights flashy.

The names are cool, such as "Hagunsei no Tachi" and "Akanemaru", were there any models that you used to base them on?

Takahashi: I didn't have a model in mind, but I saw early on in my research that the Big Dipper was quite important in onmyodo. Each of the Big Dipper's stars has a variety of names, but out of all of them, I thought "Hagunsei" was the coolest. "Akanemaru" was based on a sword, but when I was researching the name of the sword, I found out that the first two kanji (地血) were pronounced "Akane", and it just so happened that it had the attribute of earth. So, I thought an earthen sword would be a good fit, so I attached it. ^[5]

The unique atmosphere of the Taisho era

There is a term called "Taisho Romance," and MAO has a sense of fun and atmosphere that is unique to the Taisho era.

Takahashi: Yes, there is. It's interesting to see that the kimono patterns were quite aggressive, or kimonos that seem to be printed directly with a heavy influence from Western culture, which is not easy to find in Japan these days.

That's what "manga" is.

Did you collect a lot of research materials when creating the drawings?

Takahashi: I've collected a lot of photos, but the Taisho era is rather ambiguous in some ways, and there are some photographs that seem to lump together the early Showa period, the Taisho period, and the late Meiji period... However, when I looked into it, I found that the Taisho era was oddly distinctive, or rather modern, and I found it interesting. ^[6]

A scary feature that I wanted to try

MAO feels a little scary compared to the long series that you've published before.

Takahashi: Oh yes, I agree, obviously. A long time ago... when I was doing things like Urusei Yatsura, there were special issues of Sunday, and I was allowed to draw serious stuff there. ^[7] I also like serious stories. However, I felt that I probably didn't have the strength to make a story like that last as a serial... I could manage it because it was a short story, but I felt like it would be impossible as a serial. I thought it was about time, and at first I was thinking of it as something like a dark fantasy, but I thought it would be a little less expressive and would work in a way that I thought would be suitable for a shonen magazine. I was allowed to do it. In a sense, it's like something I've long wanted to try. But even in MAO, I sometimes want to include something that makes me laugh.

I think it's sometimes compared to Inuyasha because it's also a serious story...?

Takahashi: If anything, Inuyasha was done as an adventure/action/drama, so although there are yokai and other things in it, I think it has a stronger feeling of entertainment.

Inuyasha's personality is very different from Mao's.

Takahashi: Mao's not fighting for justice, he's trying not to joke around, including his responses to Nanoka's reactions.

Sometimes there are warm moments between Mao and Nanoka...

Takahashi: It would be difficult if I didn't include those sort of moments.

The main character of a shonen manga who doesn't help the heroine

How were the characters in MAO created?

Takahashi: I didn't really understand Mao until I drew him. First, I had to draw a visual for the preview ads, and that's when his design was roughly decided. After that, the character was determined by what came up during the storyboards. At the beginning of the first chapter, he doesn't help Nanoka, and that's the kind of person he developed into being.

So the character is decided at the name/storyboard stage?

Takahashi: The character is determined by how he or she reacts to certain events, and the atmosphere of the story is also determined by the characters' reactions. So, when I'm planning a story like this, I look for the most suitable character.

Not just for MAO, but what do you value when creating your characters?

Takahashi: In terms of the main character, you have to be able to love them. In a long serial, you're going to be drawing them for a long time, so I think that's very important. I think it's crucial to be able to understand human nature to some extent. And then there is the characters' appearance. I want them to have a certain cuteness about them. The supporting characters need to be people who have something that the main character doesn't have.

For example, in Inuyasha, it seems like Inuyasha and Miroku have a clear division of roles.

Takahashi: Inuyasha is a pretty serious person, so Miroku has to be the opposite. Especially for people who are on the main character's side, I think it would be better if the characters didn't overlap much.

Tough people depicted by Rumiko Takahashi

I feel that the characters that you draw, Takahashi-sensei, are generally mentally strong.

Takahashi: I do this consciously. There are times when I am passive, but I don't think a person who is passive and broods over why things are they way they are... that sort of character is not qualified to play the leading role. I think that by being aggressive and moving forward, I like that, I can move the conversation forward. I seem to like that kind of thing.

When I read Urusei Yatsura, I noticed that the nameless classmates found in class 2-4 were also very strong.

Takahashi: Well, they have their own lives and so on afterall. They're not just people on the run. I think that even the mob has something to offer! ^[8] It is quite interesting to draw them while keeping these things in mind.

A comprehensive expression called manga

Next, I'd like to ask you about drawing. Do you have any tips for drawing better?

Takahashi: It's not just about drawing ability, it's about expressiveness, facial expressions, and direction to create panels that are easy to understand. I believe that the "picture" of a manga is the sum total of all of this. Next, think about the theme of the panel. What is this panel supposed to show? When I was young, I was especially conscious of this. If I were better at drawing, I might be able to draw different angles, but that's not what I wanted to show, and manga drawings are all about conveying what's happening here and now.

It is true that your drawings are very easy to understand.

Takahashi: In a sense, that's what I'm devoting my life to (laughs).

How do you go about writing a story? Do you have any tips?

Takahashi: Well, it's a habit-forming process, where you're constantly thinking about something vaguely in your head. Another thing that I think is useful is to value your interpretations while watching a movie, a drama, or reading a novel. If you think "that's boring..." Why then? I'd think, "How can I make this interesting?" Rather than thinking about it on my own, for example, I watch movies on video while working with my staff at my workplace, and there are times where we discuss our impressions. If there was a story that was particularly difficult to understand, we discuss what part was difficult to understand? Sometimes things just aren't what you think, so I think it's really important to talk to other people and get their input. I've come to think that it's important to be conscious of how you feel when you watch something.

So you've come to think that you used to be...?

Takahashi: If you ask me what I did in the past, I would say that I loved novels, and the things I read probably stayed in my head... Of course I don't draw things exactly as they are, but I think the various influences I received were helpful.

Rumiko Takahashi style story making

What do you consider important when writing a story?

Takahashi: In any case, I try to make my manga easy to follow. Don't bore the reader. A sense of speed is important. Also, I'm very particular about the structure of the work, changing the structure every few pages.

Do you create a plot for your stories?

Takahashi: I don't really understand what a plot is. What do you mean when you say plot...?

Like writing down an outline of what should happen in bullet points.

Takahashi: I almost never make something like that, but for short stories, I might write about four components.

Just four?

Takahashi: Yeah. Just things like, "There's this kind of person," or "this sort of thing happens". Of course we have meetings, and we usually talk about things like this, but in my case, it's better not to decide on the details.

How do you manage to keep a 32 page short story within the limits of the page count... Not too much, not too little...

Takahashi: I have a rough idea of the number of pages that I have drawn in the past, which is 32 pages. That is why I usually start to lower the page number from the 26th page of the annual Big Comic Original. But there is a final disturbance at the end! There is usually a guideline for the final twist.

Anyway, I try to make it easy to understand.

You mentioned earlier that you don't write a plot outline, but the structure is something created in your mind.

Takahashi: In my brain. Bringing paper into it is such a waste.

Ranma 1/2's initial draft was redrawn seven times

In many long series, the beginning is especially memorable. Ranma being chased by a panda and Inuyasha being crucified to a tree... I think you place a lot of importance on the beginning of your stories...?

Takahashi: Ah, that's really important in manga. Whether it's a short story or a long story, the beginning is important. That's where the reader decides if they'll read it or not.

The first two or three pages have to pack a punch...

Takahashi: Absolutely! I'm careful about that.

I heard that the beginning of Ranma 1/2 was redrawn quite a few times...?

Takahashi: Yes, I think so. Ranma was very quiet at first. I couldn't create a place for the main character to appear. Ranma would just appear walking down the street. I finally arrived at that scene in the seventh draft of the storyboards.

A giant panda is chasing her and she's running... This is very easy to understand at first glance. This story is a slapstick gag series.

Takahashi: It is the fruit of our efforts. This (laughs). I worked hard. The beginning is important.

So, in the case of a full-length work, is the ending decided from the beginning?

Takahashi: I feel like I didn't really decide on anything other than the ending for Maison Ikkoku... ^[9]

Maison Ikkoku was the only one where you tried that approach...?

Takahashi: When it came to the end, I had an image of Godai and Kyoko in front of a grave. However, I feel like I still had more to draw once I actually got that far.

Do you feel like you leave the other long stories to the characters?

Characters determine the direction of the story

Takahashi: I feel that as the story progresses in the manga, various aspects of the characters begin to develop, so I wonder "what can I do to make him happy?"

Meaning that you don't have to think too hard about the characters and let them grow along with the story.

Takahashi: I agree. It's not that decided from the beginning, I suppose?

Do you have any rules or regulations that you follow when creating stories?

Takahashi: What I've decided, at least for myself, is that it shouldn't hurt or offend the reader too much. If possible, I want to have a happy ending. No matter what the story is, at the end of the story, I want the reader to say, "Oh, I'm glad I read that." I want it to be so good that they don't mind reading it again. It would be painful to have people think, "I shouldn't have read that." So, I try to avoid creating that sort of feeling. If it's a one-shot, then creating something like, "I didn't know you were going to draw this kind of story." The Mermaid series, for example, has some pretty cruel endings. Still, there is a fine line where it isn't right for a character who has done terrible things to wind up happy in the end, right?

Such as the man who looked like a child and lived for 800 years and wound up dying in an accident... Is there anything you would like to convey through your manga?

Takahashi: No, I don't. As long as it's enjoyable, that's all that matters. It's all just entertainment. I have my own moral values and so on. There are times like that where I don't really want the story to turn out that way, but that's simply the way it went.

The main character has an impact

What are your thoughts about character design?

Takahashi: Well, there are roles within the story, so I think in terms of the role of the main character versus the role of the supporting characters.

You think in terms of roles.

Takahashi: In terms of appearance, especially in long series, the main character is always present, so it's easy to see them frequently and consequently they have an impact, and you can tell at a glance that this person is the main character. I think about things like that a lot.

In Mao's case, those scars are his trademark.

Takahashi: And I'll think about why he has those scars later. First of all, I think it's important that the first preview images you draw really stand out.

Wasn't there a reason for Mao's facial scar at first?

Takahashi: At first, I think it is enough just to say, "This person must have had something happen to him." It's as if the story gradually builds up over time.

The characters are also developed through the story. I think Kyoko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku has gradually changed from my first impression of her.

Whether it's a short story or a long story, the beginning is important.

Takahashi: In the case of Kyoko, at first I was trying to make her a little more mature, since it was being published in a seinen magazine and I was drawing Urusei Yatsura at the same time. The most mature of the main characters in Urusei Yatsura was a shrine maiden named Sakura, and I thought I would try to make her look a little like that. However, I thought her face was more rounded than I initially expected.

You didn't think about making a round face, you just painted it and it turned out that way...

Takahashi: Well, that's true. In the end, that's what my hands end up doing. Initially, I was a bit fascinated by it.

The design started to feel softer and softer.

Takahashi: I probably don't think about it in concrete terms, but I do think that characters are created through chapters, so I wonder if their faces gradually become more and more appropriate to the story as that happens. I guess there are roles they must play first. I think I want to have a specific chapter here or there, and I wonder if any character will show up to fill that role.

Kyoko's quiet appearance makes her character stand out

A person becomes a person by taking action.

Takahashi: In Maison Ikkoku, Kyoko-san is not doing anything at first. She came in through the entrance of Ikkoku-kan and was up and at 'em. That was enough. But then I realized, "Oh, this is the kind of person she is," so I was fine with that.

It was also impressive that Soichiro's face never was shown throughout Maison Ikkoku.

Takahashi: I didn't intend to show his face until the very end, and I guess there was a place to do that, but there never seemed to be a right time. Even if I had drawn it anyway, I don't think his face would have been that surprising, I thought it would have been a normal face. So I decided to just leave his face out of it.

A rare and iconic design, the key point of Lum is in the bangs.

Of all the character designs you've created so far, who do you think was the most successful?

Takahashi: I guess it has to be Lum. Lum's hair? I think the cut of her bangs was well thought out.

You mean the part that looks like it is held in place by a hair band?

Takahashi: No, this part here. I think this is the point where Lum becomes Lum. This is something that probably no one else had done before.

Is it the line?

Takahashi: You see the color in the bangs? And this part is black, right? This cutting is very important in this one solid piece.

I see... I thought Lum was all about her tiger-stripe bikini and horns, but...

Takahashi: You'd think so, but nope.

Speaking of drawings, when you were drawing Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku at the same time, were you conscious of the difference between a shonen magazine and a seinen magazine?

Takahashi: Well, I felt that it'd be better for something in a seinen magazine to be a little more mature, but it's still a different manga after all. Of course the rules are different.

How Rumiko Takahashi the manga artist was created

From here on, I would like to ask you how the person called "Rumiko Takahashi" came to be...

Takahashi: Okay.

What kind of child were you, Takahashi-sensei?

Takahashi: Actually, I always wanted to do things like doodle indoors, but I also played outside with my friends. I had paper dress-up dolls, but we didn't even think of spending money to buy them, so we all started drawing, making, and playing with our own...

What kind of outdoor things would you do?

Takahashi: Oh, shoot each other with silver-ball guns (laughs). ^[10] Normal things.

By the time you reached junior high, you started to lean towards manga?

Takahashi: Right. When I became a junior high student, I became very aware of manga. I believe there was a time when I drew a work to be submitted during spring break before going to junior high school and submitted it to Shonen Sunday. ^[11]

You completed a work at that age?

Takahashi: Well it was a four-panel manga. Like a collection of four-panel manga.

And you sent it to Shonen Sunday?

Takahashi: Well, after all, I've been reading Sunday since I was a child, and it's one of my favorite magazines. Ryoichi Ikegami-sensei's three-part series was serialized in Sunday twice, and after that, Hisao Maki's original work was serialized there. ^[12] After all, Ikegami-sensei's manga is amazing! I was already exposed to Ikegami-sensei's manga when I was in elementary school, and it left a lasting impression on me, and when I entered junior high school, he started serializing again in Sunday.

So, when you were in junior high school, you were conscious of Ryoichi Ikegami-sensei?

Takahashi: I was aware of him, yes, I was certainly a fan.

Surely you must have been reluctant to be a junior high school girl and a fan of Ryoichi Ikegami-sensei. You didn't prefer someone like Moto Hagio-sensei? ^[13]

Characters have roles

Takahashi: Hagio-sensei was when I was in high school. When I was in junior high, I didn't really have anyone to talk to about manga, but when I got to high school, there were a lot of kids who liked manga, so I decided to form a manga club. So, I had originally read Hagio-sensei's manga, but I didn't know about The Poe Clan (ポーの一族/Poe no Ichizoku). At that time, The Poe Clan hadn't yet been published as a book, but there was a girl who made her own booklet that contained only The Poe Clan and brought it to me. Her name is Yoko Kondo-san. I borrowed it from Yoko Kondo-san. She is an avid reader, so I asked her to introduce me to novels as well, ones which she thought were interesting. ^[14]

Did you meet Yoko Kondo-sensei in high school and spend your days immersed in manga?

Takahashi: Yes. In addition to the manga club, I also enrolled in the art club and the literature club, but my main focus was the manga club. When I was in high school, I read a lot of manga and novels.

I heard that you liked Yasutaka Tsutsui-sensei... ^[15]

Takahashi: I really liked Tsutsui-sensei. Also, Shinichi Hoshi-sensei and Kazumasa Hirai-sensei's Wolf Guy. ^[16]

When you were in high school, did you read a lot of different works while associating with various people?

Takahashi: It was mainly Kondo-san I was interacting with. So mostly just the things we were interested in.

Your encounter with Yoko Kondo-sensei seems to have been a great experience.

The four shonen magazines I used to buy

Takahashi: It was huge. And it was filled with manga. When I was in high school, I bought four different shonen magazines with my own money.

That's amazing.

Takahashi: Shonen Champion, Shonen King, Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine. Among them, Magazine was amazing... When I was in middle school, I watched Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョ), and when I was in high school, I watched Devilman (デビルマン) and Ai to Makoto (愛と誠). I bought Champion because I wanted to read Brat Cop (がきデカ/Gakideka) and it was amazing. ^[17]

It was a time when titles like Brat Cop, Dokaben (ドカベン), and Black Jack (ブラック・ジャック) were being serialized at the same time. ^[18]

Takahashi: It was a great magazine.

What about Shonen King?

Takahashi: I bought it because I wanted to read Wild 7 (ワイルド7). ^[19]

Was there anything that influenced you in those days?

Takahashi: Hmm, yes... The Fujinami family from Urusei Yatsura was influenced by Ashita no Joe...

They were doing the cross counter (laughs).

Takahashi: Yes (laughs).

Even if you read Ashita no Joe nowadays, it doesn't feel old at all.

Takahashi: That series is truly a masterpiece and I hope young people today will read it. The way he composed it, the techniques he used... The way Tetsuya Chiba draws, there is a world, or a world between worlds... The world behind the characters seems to spread out forever.

Joe Yabuki is really cool.

Takahashi: He's very cool.

I learned manga grammar from manga

I think there's something like a "manga grammar" to manga, but do you feel like you learned that from reading manga? Or did you study something?

Takahashi: I learned it from reading manga. Funny manga are easy to understand. On the other hand, there are also many manga that make use of peculiar Japanese phrasing. There are times when the words in the balloons seem strange, so I think about various things when I read them myself. Why did they put this kind of panel in this place? I thought about these sorts of things while reading manga, and it was through reading manga that I learned the most.

I think your Japanese language skills are very high, Takahashi-sensei, but did that come from reading manga?

Takahashi: That's one thing, but I wanted to know a lot of different words, so I was constantly reading Kojien and other sources, and I was thinking about things like, "How can I paraphrase this word?" I received a Kojien dictionary as a gift when I started high school.

You learned a lot of different expressions from a Kojien dictionary...?

Takahashi: It's also an ancient language dictionary. There were a lot of old Japanese words and beautiful words in the back, so I started reading them.

Your manga has a wonderful rhythm to the dialogue...

Takahashi: The rhythm of the lines is probably influenced by Tatsuhiko Yamagami. I think I was definitely influenced by Brat Cop too.

Step 1 for the Rumiko Takahashis of Tomorrow

I see. So what advice would you give to someone who wants to become a manga artist?

Takahashi: First and foremost, please love manga. That's it. Also, don't think that drawing manga is difficult. Even if you hit a wall, it's no good if you just stop because it's challenging. So let's think carefully about what you should do. Move forward. Draw anyway. And finish drawing. Be sure to complete your manga. I think it's a good idea to keep this in mind, especially when writing short stories. It's important that drawing manga is fun for you. Then absorb a lot of things. Read. And think about what you read. Whatever you see is fine, be it movies, novels, or dramas. It's best to watch manga and anime as much as possible as a foundation. However, no matter what the medium is, I think you should look at the production and think about why it's interesting and why it moves you. In any case, there are many ways to use the medium to convey stories to people, and if there is something there that you don't see in yourself, I think you would benefit from being exposed to it.

You've been doing this for 45 years Takahashi-sensei, isn't it tough?

Takahashi: Drawing manga has become my daily habit, so it's not hard. It becomes a part of your life.

Then there are the readers. People want to read my work, they request it, and it appears in a book, so I draw it properly. I have been doing this for many years as a matter of course, so drawing manga is not hard for me. In fact, if I'm not drawing manga, I'm bored.

First and foremost, please love manga.

You draw manga like you eat food...

Takahashi: That's pretty much it.

---

Footnotes

• [1] "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.
• [2] It should be pointed out that the "name" are not done with assistants, and so Takahashi can work on them all through the night alone.
• [3] Ashiya Domon (道摩法師) was a non-official onmyoji who is said to have existed during the Heian period. There are many documents that describe him as a rival of Abe Seimei (安倍晴明), who was the official onmyoji of the government at the time and was in charge of the government bureau of Onmyo. His year of birth and death is unknown.
• [4] This would have been Kento Moriwaki (森脇健人) who was Takahashi's final editor on Kyokai no RINNE and her first editor on MAO. An interview with him can be read here.
• [5] The first two kanji in "Akanemaru" (地血丸) are "地血" which means "earth" and "blood".
• [6] The Meiji period ran from 1868 to 1912, the Taisho period from 1912 to 1926 and the Showa period ran from 1926 to 1989.
• [7] The special issues that she refers to are Shonen Sunday Extra (週刊少年サンデーの増刊/Shukan Shonen Sunday no Zokan) which included short stories such as Fire Tripper, The Laughing Target and When My Eyes Got Wings.
• [8] "Mob" (モブ) refers to characters that are simply faces in the crowd scenes. In Takahashi's work this would include characters such as Megane and his friends, Daisuke and Hiroshi, Yuka and Sayuri, Yuka, Eri and Ayumi and many others.
• [9] Takahashi had said as much about Maison Ikkoku way back in her 1992 Italian interview in Star Magazine.
• [10] Not to be confused with a BB gun, a silver-ball gun (銀玉鉄砲/gendama teppou) is a simple plastic toy that weakly fires small silver spheres, typically a dime store toy. In the United States the balls were typically yellow rather than silver.
• [11] Takahashi has mentioned this before, saying that she submitted some four-panel manga during spring break of her first year of junior high school.
• [12] It's difficult to say with certainty which Ikegami manga she is referring to here, but it is likely I Don't Need Anything! (なんにもいらない!/Nannimo Iranai!) from 1971 or Youthful Ardor (青春徒博/Seishun Tobaku) which both were serialized in Shonen Sunday. She discusses this in "I Was a Follower of Ikegami-sensei." Hisao Maki (真樹日佐夫) was a writer and actor. He was the younger brother of manga writer Ikki Kajiwara (梶原一騎), the author of Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー) and Tiger Mask (タイガーマスク).
• [13] Moto Hagio (萩尾望都) is the legendary shojo manga artist best known for her series The Poe Clan (ポーの一族/Poe no Ichizoku) and The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓/Tooma no Shinzo). She and Rumiko Takahashi interview one another in "New Year's Special Project Rumiko Takahashi and Moto Hagio".
• [14] Yoko Kondo (近藤ようこ) is from Niigata and a high school classmate of Rumiko Takahashi's. She made her debut in Garo. Volume 2 of Bizarre Manga Road: Unusual Edition (怪奇まんが道 奇想天外篇/Kaiki Manga Dou Kisoutengaihen) has a story detailing her high school life with Rumiko Takahashi. Her Twitter account is @suikyokitan. Takahashi also thanks her in the final chapter of Urusei Yatsura. Interviews between Takahashi and Kondo can be read here and here.
• [15] 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.
• [16] Shinichi Hoshi (星新一) (1926-1997) was a influential Japanese science fiction and mystery writer known for writing what he called "short-shorts", stories fewer than four pages. Kazumasa Hirai (平井和正) (1938-2015) 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.
• [17] Tetsuya Chiba (ちばてつや) is the artist of the legendary boxing manga Ashita no Joe (あしたのジョー). Go Nagai (永井潔) is the very versatile mangaka known for Devilman (デビルマン), Cutie Honey (キューティーハニー) and Mazinger Z (マジンガーZ). Go Nagai's Harenchi Gakuen (ハレンチ学園/Shameless School) was highly influential on school set manga and was one of the earliest "ecchi" series. It is thought to be one of the first to feature gags like flipping up girl's skirts and peeping on phyiscal examinations. Ai to Makoto (愛と誠) was instead drawn by Takumi Nagayasu (ながやす巧). Nagayasu is known for not using any assistants when working (an unusual practice in the manga industry). His other works include Otoko ni nare! (男になれ!) and Dr. Kumahige (Dr.クマひげ). He was interviewed on Naoki Urasawa's Manben television program as well. His manga The Legend of Mother Sarah (沙流羅) was written by Katsuhiro Otomo and was released in English from Dark Horse. Tatsuhiko Yamagami's (山上たつひこ) manga Brat Cop (がきデカ/Gakideka) is one that Takahashi has often expressed her fondness for and did a tribute to it as well.
• [18] Dokaben (ドカベン) is by Shinji Mizushima (水島新司) who is well known for his many famous baseball manga which include Otoko do-Aho Koshien (男どアホウ甲子園) and Abusan (あぶさん). Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) is the "God of Manga" and easily the most influential mangaka in history. His major works include Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム/Tetsuwan Atom), Black Jack (ブラック・ジャック) and Dororo (どろろ).
• [19] Shonen King (少年キング) is a defunct manga magazine that ran weekly from 1963 until 1982 when it shifted to twice-monthly. It ceased publication in 1988. Some of its most noted manga includes Galaxy Express 999 (銀河鉄道999), the shogi manga Gogo no Ryu (5五の龍), Locke the Superman (超人ロック) and Wild 7 (ワイルド7). Shonen King was one of the five major shonen manga magazines for a time alongside Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Jump and Shonen Champion.

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