Part 5:<\/b>
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Want to Do Something that Amuses Others, Not Myself\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our Job is to Provide a Place to Debut for Those with the Fundamentals Down\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Meet Again in Five Years. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll See Then Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Laughing and Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Crying\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n
[Original Article: Masahiro Yamaguchi, ITmedia.
\nCopyright 2011 ITmedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.]<\/b><\/p>\n
—————————<\/p>\n
Part 5: Where is Manga Going?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Want to Do Something that Amuses Others, Not Myself\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/b><\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: You know, when this talk gets written up, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a good idea to frame it as us opposing one another. At first glance, it might have looked like we had similar ideas, but once we actually met and talked, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re coming from completely different places.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Completely different. Our predictions for the future are different, and our standpoints are different, too.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: While we do both look at the situation and think, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the industry will collapse within a few years if it keeps going down its current path,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d our explanations are different. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually interesting just how opposed our ideas are to the other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Yes, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to be the kind of discussion that we can neatly wrap up with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, I agree.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not agreeing on a single point.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: Actually, how little we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re agreeing with each other is amazing. We must simply have different life philosophies. We start at the same place regarding present conditions, but go in such different directions because of our standpoints. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry if this is rude to say, but Mr. Akamatsu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way of thinking is the way the successful think.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: But if you think about whose outlook is grimmer, it would have to be mine. Your outlook has optimism and dreams in parts of it. What I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lost cause, so we should think of the next way of doing things.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: Yeah. As far as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m aware, your outlook on the industry is the most severe, realistic one out there. But looking at how quickly the internet is evolving, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no telling what will have happened five years from now. There might be some sort of new system or content that we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even imagine right now. So, we can worry about those things when they happen. Only, I personally want to do something that I find interesting.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m different. I want to do something that other people find interesting.<\/p>\n
—<\/b> I see, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the fundamental difference between you two.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: What Mr. Takekuma just said about doing something he likes is precisely what I consider to be an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153entertainment fee\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ((see day 4)) . That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why it sets off all my warning lights like mad.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: But for the past thirty years, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been doing what I like doing. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had my fair share of painful and difficult experiences, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been fun. Of course, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not completely satisfied.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: You have an incredible vitality.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: Only, after my stroke four years ago bringing me close to death, I started really thinking about my mortality. I think to myself that I have ten years left to live. I obviously don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to die as soon as that time is up, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have an image of my future past that point. My goal right now is to do everything I want to do before then.<\/p>\n
—<\/b> What kinds of goals, specifically?<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: I have about three works that I want to create, which would also ideally help train new artists. These are ideas I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had since I was around 20, and I feel like now might finally be the time that I can turn them into a reality. Only, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not confident that I can finish all of them in ten years, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one that I really want to do. However, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an idea that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been unsuccessfully pitching to publishers starting ten years ago, so I have no choice but to build a system in which I can create it.<\/p>\n
—<\/b> Is it just a manga, or something bigger, with a manga at its core?<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an overall expression, with manga at its core. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only way I can put it, really, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll announce it soon.<\/p>\n
—<\/b> Of the two of you, Mr. Takekuma seems more like the so-called artist-type.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: Someone once asked me which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d prefer: my dreams coming true tomorrow, or ten years from now. I replied by saying ten years from now. After all, the fun part of plastic models is building them, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? People who enjoy building models don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find anything interesting about completed ones.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather have the model be done tomorrow, then start on the next one the day after that.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fundamentally different about us. (laughter) Honestly, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be fine with not even completing it.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Whaat? (laughter)<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean to brag, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve almost never built a plastic model to completiono. (laughter) I get sick of it halfway through. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I was never able to become an artist who could see something through until the end. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very difficult for me to struggle through to the end of something, but Akamatsu-san must be where he is because he can do that.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our Job is to Provide a Place to Debut for Those with the Fundamentals Down\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Akamatsu)<\/b><\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have high demands to begin with, so if we were to have another conversation five years from now, I think that I would be satisfied with the way things are.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let yourself be satisfied. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you think about wanting more people around the world seeing what you do?<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: I do. But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the confidence that a book I release will sell a million copies in a year. Another way to put it is that I think that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay to only sell five digits. There are works like Mr. Tsuge (Yoshiharu)\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manga that couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly sell a million copies. The fact that he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reached that level of sales doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take anything away from his value as an artist, though.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: You could call Mr. Tsuge a pioneer, someone who influenced artists who came after him. In academics, influences like that would be called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153basic research\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, but you shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do basic research, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not good business. I tell my juniors in the business this, but you shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do basic research, and you should match the title you bring to a publisher to the publisher. If you ignore those two things, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have fun, but death is waiting for you.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: If anything, that seems like worldly wisdom.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. Manga worldly wisdom.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: So, you would say that the fundamental ability to draw manga is something that an artist has in them from the beginning? That there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need to foster it.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Like you said earlier, there are a lot of people with the fundamentals. I think that what our job is, is to provide a place to debut for those with the fundamentals down. We have to get them ready to leave the nest. Right now, even though there are baby birds with beautiful feathers and the ability to fly, in reality, they end up just falling to the ground and dying.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: I was able to meet Takao Saito before, and he told me that geniuses like Tezuka (Osamu) who are able to exhibit their talent in every aspect of manga are very rare. However, even run-of-the-mill artists might be good at something, like dialogue, or drawing mecha, to the point where they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re better than even Tezuka at that one thing. What Saito Pro does is to gather individuals with skills like that, then have them work as a collective. When he first tried to create Saito Pro by calling out to his manga artist colleagues, they had pride as artists, and were too individualistic to all gather together. Anyway, they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been able to stand being told \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you draw just the mecha, and you draw just the animals.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
What surprised Saito-sensei was that everyone thought that they were geniuses. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a ridiculous idea. If everyone was as talented as Osamu Tezuka, the manga industry never would have formed. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why he was thinking about how to create a methodology where run-of-the-mill artists could work. I think that Saito-sensei is a pioneer, in that he was the first person in the industry to create a methodology for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153manga (gekiga) as a business\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: So that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why you were talking about an American comics-style division of labor. My response to that as an artist is that, like you said earlier, everyone thinks that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a genius, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that a system like that would go well. Everyone who wants to become a manga artist does it thinking that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to sell a million or even two million copies, so they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accept your system.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: There are definitely artists who are like that, but there are also some who aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. If I thought that becoming a manga artist is meaningless if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become a million-seller, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be teaching at a university. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something that everyone can do, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have that kind of experience myself, either. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just paying the bills with manga. In other words, if it means a career drawing manga, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine to just be a professional assistant.<\/p>\n
In that case, though, I think there should be a system where an individual can have their work drawn and released. They would submit their thumbnails or plot, and if it was accepted, they would act as a supervisor as the work is created by a company. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not saying that absolutely everything should turn into an American comics or Saito Pro-style arrangement. What I do want to say, though, is that talented people like Mr. Akamatsu who sell a million copies right off the bat are very rare, and that you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go in front of a class of students and tell them to all debut and become million sellers. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s realistic.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Hmm… In that case, I feel like that after all, there are some fundamental problems with the idea of academic art education.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something contradictory about the idea of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153training talent\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. I certainly have times when I feel ashamed about it.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Meet Again in Five Years. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll See Then Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Laughing and Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Crying\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Takekuma)<\/b><\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Our talk seems to have ended without us agreeing on anything. I wonder how it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be written up.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: Why not honestly show how little we agree with each other? I think it would be interesting for readers to see how I call myself an editor but act like an artist, and how you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re much more of an editor or producer-type than I am. We should settle this by meeting again in five years. Well see then who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s laughing and who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crying. It might even be that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be in a world that neither of us could have even imagined.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Though, talks like this typically are wrapped up with some sort of harmonious ending.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: That just means that this talk will get more attention. So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meet again in five years, and do something like a look back at the last five years then.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meet again in five years\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is actually a favorite phrase of mine. In high school and college, when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have a difference of opinion with someone, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d often say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in that case, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s go for drinks again in five years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: We agree on the general framework. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both doubtful that the publishing and manga industries can last for another five years. We also both think that e-publishing could offer a solution. I think we agree on at least that much.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Yes, we do. (laughter)<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: In that case, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see you in five years.<\/p>\n
Akamatsu<\/b>: Well, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s keep giving it our best.<\/p>\n
Takekuma<\/b>: If I was responsible for writing this up, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be going crazy trying to figure out how. (uproarious laughter)<\/p>\n
—<\/b>—<\/b>—<\/b>—<\/b>—<\/b>—<\/b><\/p>\n
The talk, which began at 9 at night, ended at 4 in the morning, after changing locations multiple times. While both men agreed on the current state of the manga industry, and that they both felt a sense of danger, many of their arguments ran parallel to each other, and their different values soon became quite clear. By the second half of the discussion, both men found this huge gap in opinion to be interesting in itself, and began to talk and joke about it. It goes without saying that this writer was on the edge of his seat the entire time.<\/p>\n
It is probably an overly hasty conclusion to say that the reason that the two men were at such odds is because one is a manga artist, and the other is an editor. Mr. Akamatsu is most certainly a manga author with a producer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentions, and conversely, Mr. Takekuma is an editor with an artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentions, both strongly clashing with the standard notions of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153manga artist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153editor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Despite their near-complete agreement regarding the current state of the manga industry, as well as the dangers facing it, their radically different approaches to these problems must surely be a result of their difference in life philosophies and personal keys to happiness. The exchange where Mr. Akamatsu replied to Mr. Takekuma saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to do something I find interesting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to do something that other people find interesting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d epitomizes this.<\/p>\n
Mr. Akamatsu, an active manga artist currently undertaking a weekly serialization, and Mr. Takekuma, a professor who spends his busy days traveling back and forth between universities in Tokyo and Kyoto. It would not have been unusual if these two men were to cut the talk short after realizing that they disagreed on nearly everything, but instead they exchanged ideas for over seven hours. This could only have been because each was interested in the other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approach to solving a common problem.<\/p>\n
While Mr. Takekuma saw J-Comi as a possible platform for the discovery of new talent, Mr. Akamatsu is proceeding towards the official opening of the site resolved to only use J-Comi as an archive for out of print titles and as a way to generate returns for manga authors. Mr. Akamatsu already had future plans for J-Comi in his mind, and Mr. Takekuma told us that he had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ambitions\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of making his own work into a reality while also discovering new talent in the process. While the conversation adjourned with the two men promising to talk again in five years, based on the content of this talk, one will likely be able to further understand what each man is risking by watching their activities in the manga world from here on. (Afterword by Mr. Masahiro Yamaguchi)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Translator\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Introduction: This is the final part of the five-part conversation between manga artist and J-Comi founder Ken Akamatsu and manga editor, writer, and professor Takekuma Kentaro. Previous parts, as well as a more detailed introduction, can be found via links on the index below. Part 1: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People are Noticing the Possibilities of Viewers Featuring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,10,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-internet","category-manga","category-translation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1862"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1880,"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions\/1880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2chan.us\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}