Manga is something that's...
flipped through and read with great speed.
I think that's just the way that it gets read.
But if it's in the back of your head,
even just a bit...
that, “Hey, it actually takes all of this work,”
if you keep that in mind just a little then,
wouldn't that make reading manga even more fun?
The most important thing for manga...
is probably that it makes time go by.
It's like a snack or candy that's there to kill time,
and mangaka are those who put large amounts of time and effort into making something like that.
Doing Battle
A Mangaka Through and Through
There's something about this...
but what?
Doing it half-assed isn't allowed,
you've got to give it your all.
Manga is really so difficult.
“Manben” is exactly about capturing this battle.
Oh, is that so?
Creator of numerous hit works, mangaka Urasawa Naoki.
His new project is this show, “Manben.”
Mangaka create grand dramas from the tiny tips of their pens.
Usually entry is not allowed to where they work,
All Access to the Location Where Manga Is Born
but we've been granted access to film there.
The manga fans of the world,
they all want to see like, how the Japanese draw, right?
They want to see the pen tips of the Japanese mangaka.
With a single pen tip, Urasawa-san brings out the realistic expressions of the characters.
It's stifling work, isn't it?
It's like when you get that feeling that,
what you have in mind for these expressions isn't coming out.
Thinking up and drawing crazy ideas,
it's all about how much it comes out the way you want it ideally.
And when you're doing that,
there are times when it'll turn out even better than you imagined.
Those times are the most fun.
For this episode we were able to capture a mangaka that fights to reach the expressions he has in mind.
A Leading Mangaka in Shounen Manga
Fujita Kazuhiro
It's one of the leading shounen mangaka, Fujita Kazuhiro.
“Ushio and Tora”
His most well known work is “Ushio and Tora.”
Ushio, a regular middle school student,
encounters Tora, a wicked youkai,
and then gets dragged into a great youkai war.
It's an epic adventure manga.
It's got laughter and tears, a heart pounding story,
and fully loaded action.
“Karakuri Circus”
For nearly 30 years, from his very first line,
he's drawn manga that has made the hearts of boys race with excitement.
“Gekkou Jourei”
For this episode we filmed him closely at work on his latest series over a span of 4 days.
Closely Filmed Over a Span of 4 Days
What we discovered there was a technique that surprised even Urasawa-san,
A Surprising Technique
and how one looks while embroiled in the frantic battle to create action manga.
Battle
One month later, the pair meet to talk while watching what was filmed.
They'll Talk While Watching the Footage
Man...
I took a quick glance at the video, and...
it's pretty crazy, huh?
This will probably cause a commotion in the manga world, right?
“A commotion in the manga world”? What happened?
Hello, good to see you.
Hey there.
It's close to being “nice to meet you.”
Come on now...
We've only met twice after all.
Well, that's true. Thanks for today.
51 Years Old
You are quite the senior to me, after all.
I'm not that much of a senior to you, just a bit!
55 Years Old
I saw your manga at my teacher's place.
“Dancing Policeman,” that yellow book.
“Dancing Policeman” (1984)
Oh, that's an old one.
Yeah, that's right.
So it felt like, I guess I can't say no to his show.
To the Work Space
The place that Fujita-san chose for the conversation was his own work place.
This place is super cool.
A workplace for men, right?
Yes, yes, that's exactly right.
This is it right here.
This is like a “magic tool,” right?
Haha, yeah for me it is.
Let's take a good look at this later.
A magic tool? I'm so curious!
They Talk in the Reference Room Filled with Fujita's Items
Infiltrating the Spot Where Action Manga Is Made
Fujita Kazuhiro-san faces manga with his entire body and soul.
The secrets behind his creations will finally be made clear.
I'm going to start doing the grids.
Paneling
First comes the paneling.
The grid lines...
Huh? He doesn't use a ruler or anything for it?
You sure that's okay? That's all?
All of that gets done
and properly taken care of for me
by my assistants.
Ura- sawa's Grid Lines
As for Urasawa-san...
I do that all precisely, down to the millimeter.
That's a bit of a relief.
That's the way it must be, for Urasawa Naoki.
Hello there.
He Has 3 Assistants to Help Him
Hello, good morning.
Just be natural, act naturally.
So this is what it's like, huh?
Yup,
since we're being watched from every possible angle.
Filmed with Fixed Cameras to Not Get in the Way
With the fixed cameras set up all over the room
we filmed them at work, trying to disturb the process as little as possible.
Rough Sketch
A rough sketch is done in pencil before the lines are inked.
For some reason a toy figurine has appeared.
Infiltrating the Spot Where Action Manga Is Made
A figurine for posing?
That's right.
It's a toy and has joints you can set, so it's easy to use.
This posing figurine is great!
Since I always mistake what I think will be left and right,
like with the arms, which one would be stretched out,
or like for what it would look like from behind and such.
Ah, I see, I see.
“Black Museum - Ghost & Lady” An Exotic Action Story That Stars Nightingale and a Ghost
The story that Fujita-san is grappling with now is
“Black Museum - Ghost & Lady.”
The main characters are the nurse Nightingale, the historical figure,
Nightingale
Grey, The Ghost
and Grey, the ghost that haunts her.
It's an exotic action story depicting the hardships of Nightingale and the battles between the ghosts.
The Climactic Duel
The story is reaching its climax.
He is drawing the scene of the tense duel between the ghosts.
Aren't there idiots who get excited just from being on a cliff?
They Talk While They Work
However, Fujita-san keeps on talking while he draws.
You guys sure are noisy.
Hahaha!
For the concepts of this program,
Yes?
one of them is the “sound of a pen tip,” you know.
Like, “*Sha Sha Sha* Oh, what a nice sound.”
But you guys are just too loud for that.
Actually for Fujita-san, if he's not talking to people,
then it appears he can't progress in his work.
Being Silent Is Forbidden
Even the poster in the room says, “No silence allowed.”
If He Is Not Talking, He Cannot Draw
Do your assistants chat with you over at your place?
I'm always the one that's chatting away.
I'm always talking and talking,
and then when I'm like, “Right?” it's just silence.
Oh, really?
Makes me feel like, I didn't even know it could get this silent.
I see.
They just won't engage with me.
“No silence allowed,” maybe I should get that on my wall too.
Could you rewind a second there?
Rewind
We went past an important spot there.
There's nothing important there.
Urasawa-san, what's wrong?
You've got a pen in your hand there, right?
Yes.
What are you doing here?
Well, I'm inking the lines...
Wait a second here...
of my very complete sketch.
Wait, wait...
Right now,
all the comic fans in the country, all the people who draw manga,
they'll be in a commotion after this scene.
You don't have a rough sketch there, right?
That is the sketch...
How Urasawa Naoki Draws
Urasawa-san draws by making an “outline” with the character's position and general shape.
Outline
Sketch
Then he draws the “sketch.”
By this point you can pretty much tell how it will turn out.
Inking
Then, on top of that, he finally inks the actual lines he'll use.
How Fujita Kazuhiro Draws
Fujita Kazuhiro, on the other hand,
Outline
after he draws a rough outline...
Inking
he suddenly begins drawing with a pen.
No Sketches - That's the Fujita Way
You just started drawing on the outline.
Yes, I guess you'd call this an outline.
When you started, I didn't even know if that's where the face was.
I have thought before that it'd be better to do a proper sketch,
but has this ever happened to you when you were new?
Even though the sketch you drew with a pencil looked great,
you ink it and then when you erase,
there's like this disappointment that you feel.
Yeah, yeah yeah.
That feeling has stuck with me, even now.
It's generally disappointing for me. So since it's so deeply rooted,
if I'll feel that way anyways, I might as well do it like this.
I think this will be pretty shocking.
It's like you gave it a sense of speed.
It's true, he's drawing quite quickly where there is no sketch.
And then he picks up the correction fluid from before.
White-Out (Correction Fluid)
Now He's Quickly Whiting Lines Out
Now he begins quickly whiting lines out.
Repeatedly Drawing and Amending
Huuuh?
Well...
Like really,
that white-out, is it like a magic tool?
A magic tool, or maybe like, it's what I'm actually drawing with.
So it's like,
I'm doing the inking with both the white-out and a pen.
I sort of like the feeling of shaping it by whittling away the lines.
You'd let it dry a bit more, usually.
This dries super quick, you know.
Drawing by amending and whittling away lines with white-out is the Fujita way.
For each mangaka it's completely different!
For Now, Just Draw and See What Happens
Just get the pen work down first for now,
since you've got the white-out for shaping it anyways.
That fear I have of a blank piece of paper is just too much,
so I just want to get the ink down on the manuscript quickly.
It's really a spineless feeling,
but if I don't do that then manga is just too scary.
Because I'm dealing with whether I can defeat this blank page,
so I have to draw, no matter what the case.
An arm just came out of somewhere with nothing under it.
While I'm drawing,
I think like, “It'd be really cool if I drew this line here.”
So you just move your pen first, huh?
Ahh, yeah that's right.
So it's like your pen moves before you think about it.
You figure it out while you're in the middle of drawing, you know?
I think about this every single time.
Yes?
Am I doing it right, or is it wrong?
I don't know if it's correct or a mistake until I ink it.
Oh, is that so?
Drawing it with a pencil is...
really, at most, just a rough sketch.
Yeah, that's right.
Sketching And Inking - a Difference of Resolve
That's why you bring out the pen.
Right.
When you draw then, those are the lines with resolve, right?
Yes, they're lines with resolve.
Lines that have resolve.
A sketch is still just a sketch, no matter how much you draw it,
because there's no resolve to it.
Yeah, that's right.
So when it comes down to it, it's the same, right?
Yeah.
A sketch is at most just rehearsal,
so the real show is when the inking is done.
This fierce battle scene full of flurried afterimages of arms is gradually approaching completion.
Main Character: Grey
Nemesis: Deon
Next he starts on the main character, the ghost, Grey.
Even till now, Fujita-san has continued to draw manga that makes the reader's heart race with excitement.
Origins of the Mangaka Fujita Kazuhiro
Born 1964 (Showa 39) in Hokkaido, Asahikawa City
Fujita-san has loved reading manga since he was young.
He was especially enamored by shounen manga with heroes unraveling an adventure.
“Kamen Rider” (1971) Ishinomori Shoutarou
It was around the time of Ishinomori Shoutarou-sensei,
“Devilman” (1972~1973) Nagai Gou & Dynamic Pro
“Getter Robo” (1974~1975) Nagai Gou, Ishikawa Ken, Dynamic Pro
Nagai Gou-sensei, and Ishikawa Ken-sensei.
The person I copied first was
“Lupin the 3rd” (1967~1969)
Monkey Punch-sensei's “Lupin the 3rd.”
“Karakuri Circus”
“Lupin the 3rd”
So the way I draw shoulders is influenced by him.
How the shoulders slump like this and such.
He wants to bring excitement to boys like him, who like manga.
With that desire, for nearly 30 years,
he has single-mindedly continued to create action manga.
Where the Story Is Made
So how does Fujita-san go about creating his stories?
We take a peek at him in the story creation process, known as the “name,” and find...
The Name: The plan for Manga Drawn When Coming up with the Story
that he's got loud heavy metal music playing!
Driving Force 1: Heavy Metal
Getting absorbed in yourself,
getting into how that world works... If you don't do that,
then I don't think you can draw manga that's really cool.
By drawing many sketches of characters that appear in the manga before it's serialized,
Driving Force 2: Idea Sketch Pad
he delves deep into the world of the story.
In order to establish the character of Florence Nightingale,
I drew her a whole bunch,
and from drawing, I became more absorbed in myself.
And he's even got something like this!
I even bought a whole bunch of these things.
Driving Force 3: Toys for Info
I was all like, “Whoa, cool!”
I have my assistants hold them.
You need to make things exciting.
Whenever a boy gets a pistol,
it makes them boisterous, right?
Like that, right?
That excitement is what gives you energy to draw manga every week.
Though it could be called empty bravado as well.
Excitement and its Importance
Yeah, it is important.
Keeping things exciting...
is it important for you too?
Yeah.
You make the stories progress in such a cool way that
I figured you were always calm and collected about it.
I get my excitement up, and then I draw something cool.
I see!
Excitement and its Importance
I've seen the light. Those were words of wisdom.
Now I see.
How the work turns out and its creator are different things,
so I actually get really excited while drawing.
I wouldn't be able to draw my works cool and composed.
More words of wisdom that really seep in. I see now.
Excitement really is important for a mangaka.
Fujita-san, your manga...
Yes?
really conveys a sense of momentum.
Oh, I see.
I also...
had a period where I was drawing sports manga, so...
Oh, yeah.
When you're drawing sports manga, it's pretty amazing.
Burning Calories Making Manga
You get yourself all excited and
you start thinking that you're actually some amazing tennis player.
Oh, yeah yeah.
You feel like, “I'd be amazing if I were on the court right now,”
and you smash the story out that way, right?
Yes.
When I was working on “Yawara!” and “Happy!”
I would look at the 2 page spread layouts,
and I'd be like, “Hyah Hyah! Ahh! Nngh! Zahh!”
I'd draw it to that timing.
Well, I sure did use a whole lot of calories for that.
That's completely the case for me,
Burning Calories Making Manga
but you're saying that Urasawa Naoki draws manga like that.
I use way too many calories doing all of that,
so I've put sports manga aside for the time being,
but you've been drawing action manga this entire time, haven't you?
So it's been 30 years of
running around going, “Hyah Hyah Hyah!” for you in your life.
I think that's amazing.
My brains must've become like shounen manga in it all,
thinking that if I don't keep things exciting all the time,
then I will just crash and burn right away.
I must have that fear inside me.
There we go.
The action scene he put all of himself into is finally complete.
To get all the way here from that outline over there...
For all the fans and the people drawing manga across the country,
this has got to be a pretty big shock.
To draw is to erase, to erase is to draw.
A picture that has been created through unflagging pen-work.
The heart-racing battle scene that Fujita-san is so particular about has been completed.
Next he'll begin working on the title page for the chapter.
The Title Page
It's an important page, the first to attract the reader's interest.
It's a scene with the main character, Grey, being attacked by his nemesis, Deon.
Grey's Eyes
His Rival, Deon
It's a page where the expression of Deon, on the offensive,
and the of eyes of Grey, meeting the attack, face off in a single panel.
By drawing the eyes it really feels like they're versus each other.
Yeah, that's true.
Like, “There he is!”
Totally a shounen manga presentation.
A presentation that creates a sense of tension through the expressions.
In pursuit of the ideal expression, Fujita-san's battle now begins.
Deon's face has appeared! How cool!
As always, I've really got to get the face down.
This always happens.
Huh, he's going to erase it?
Worried over the Depiction of the Eyes
It's worrying you.
It is, it is.
What's he feeling emotionally coming at us like that?
Is he fired up?
Or maybe he coming at us with hatred or malice.
I should've had a good grasp of that,
but when I see it, I know for sure,
“Yeah, that's definitely not it.”
You start drawing the other parts to try to avoid it,
but it doesn't matter, you just find yourself back at the eyes.
This has got no impact...
Huh?
Just thinking to myself that it's got no impact.
The face...
It has to be a face that's going to battle.
He's revising it again?
2nd Time Fixing
In Pursuit of the Ideal Expression
You're the only one that knows the right answer.
Yeah, that's right.
Other people may say, “That's probably fine,”
but that's not the way you feel.
Yeah, that definitely happens.
Mangaka always have an ideal expression in mind,
Like, “This is how I wanted to draw it.”
I guess this is the work of approaching that.
Other people might not understand it though.
Hold on a second, now this is really...
this is really different, right?
Yeah, it's really different.
And it's really about the eyes, right?
Yeah, that's right, the eyes.
The Nemesis, Deon - The Ghost of a Knight Whose Gender is Unclear
The main character's nemesis, Deon.
A ghost and a complex character whose gender is not clear.
Fujita-san is especially concerned with the expression.
Fujita-san, you've really spent a lot of time redrawing Deon's face.
Yeah, with this guy...
Searching for the Answer While Chatting
Should they look stone cold or barely able to hold it back?
This ghost doesn't have a clear gender,
3rd Time Fixing
so you can't really get a grasp on them.
What I'd been drawing up till now is a human's face.
I wanted something...
that was a bit more different
when they are coming at us like that.
But this balding idiot doesn't know just what that is.
But it really is about the eyes.
Actually, this is what I wanted to talk to you about the most,
I wanted to ask you about the way you draw eyes.
Okay.
In “Ushio and Tora,” when Ushio picks up the spear
Fujita Kazuhiro's “Eyes”
his hair shoots out like *bwoosh*
and from this gap in the hair, his eye pops out.
That eye actually really resonated with something inside me.
I had the desire to draw something similar to that inside me
You know, “The Eyes of Something Not of This World.”
Fujita Kazuhiro's “Eyes”
In Fujita-san's most well known work, “Ushio and Tora,”
the main character Ushio finds a legendary weapon,
“The Beast Spear,”
which gives him power that surpasses even the youkai.
But the price for using the spear
is that he start changing into a monster himself.
Fujita Kazuhiro's “Eyes”
It's that moment when
Ushio wouldn't even care if he killed his opponent,
when he loses his emotions.
I thought that eye you came up with was great.
Ah, I see. That makes me happy to hear.
When it's the usual Ushio we know that's fighting,
it feels pretty normal,
Ah, yes.
but the instant he becomes like that,
it becomes something even more frightening than Tora.
I think I wanted it to feel that way.
Drawing “Something Not of This World”
I do have this fear of people whom I can't really communicate with,
enough for me to post on the wall, “No silence allowed.”
I really attach a lot of importance to those things.
In the moment I think, “I can't communicate with this guy,”
there's also a part of me like, “man, this guy is cool.”
It's just a conclusion I come to on my own from my own values.
When a bunch of youkai appear,
it really is all about their eyes.
they're “The Eyes of Something Not of This World.”
These eyes that show you'll never be able to understand them.
To recognize that and draw them so they're discernible
made me think, “This Fujita Kazuhiro guy must be terrifying.”
Like he's got this insanity tucked away inside him.
“Renrakusen Kitan” (1988) Stories about Fighting Youkai
Fujita-san's debut work was a short with monsters fighting humans,
“Renrakusen Kitan.”
“Karakuri Circus” (1997~2006) An Action Series with a Gigantic Fighting Mechanical Puppet
After that he's consistently focused on monsters and youkai as a subject,
“Gekkou Jourei” (2008~2014) A Story Where Fairy Tail Characters Become Monsters
and continued to draw them.
Drawing “Something Not of This World”
Old Chinese stories, ghost stories, Koizumi Yakumo-san's stories...
I'd read them and think, “Wooow, youkai are so interesting!”
But in those stories the humans pretty much always lose.
Then, when I started thinking that was sort of a bummer,
Takashi Rumiko-sensei came out with this one short story,
“Yami wo Kakeru Manazashi,” that was in a special edition of Sunday.
It was a story with regular humans that fought the weird and won.
I thought, “Oh, I am really glad she drew something like this.”
Like, “This is just the kind of thing I want to read!”
Drawing “Something Not of This World”
It was the kind of thing that made me think, “Manga's amazing!”
And I think it was the thing that turned me on to doing manga.
Then came his first hit, “Ushio and Tora.”
The main character that Fujita-san drew, Ushio,
was not just your ordinary ally of justice,
but also had a monstrous side to him as well.
There was a reason that he chose a hero that was both good and evil.
It can be found in the strong wish he had at the time to change the manga world with his own strength.
When the Series Started (25 Years Old)
The Rebel Spirit of His Youth Entrusted to Ushio
I was a newcomer, right?
Part of me wanted “Shounen Sunday” to ask me to draw for them,
and a part was pissed off, like, why don't they want me?
So yeah, it was pretty much that I was picking a fight.
It was just sports series or love comedies,
like, “What's with all these guys,
always with these damn plausible expressions on their face.”
I think I wanted someone who would normally be an all right guy,
but with a blank face that you totally couldn't communicate with.
I wanted him to come in and mess everything up.
There must've been a part of me that felt like that.
I was looking for a fight with them.
I just don't like the look of their eyes.
Huh? He's drawing it over again!?
5th Time Fixing
I still...
just don't like it.
It's still bothering you?
Something about it, but what?
A Mangaka's Battle
You erased the eyes.
Ahh, we're back here again.
What you had was pretty good though.
Yeah, true.
But that wasn't it, right?
To be honest...
it felt like, “When's this guy going to be done?”
A good drawing and what you have in mind are 2 different things.
Stupid mangaka...
Oh, look! Look look, here it comes.
Right? It's those...
eyes that look like you won't be able to get through to them at all.
Ah, that's true.
Hm...
I can't believe it took this long...
But really, “Manben” is exactly about capturing this battle.
Ah, is that so?
But a guy whose roughs aren't worth a dime
getting into a jam like this isn't all that unusual, is it?
Hahaha, but you know...
really, rough sketches are really nothing more than that.
Oh, yeah?
there's no responsibility to them.
Yeah, that's true.
It's at the end when you're inking that you take responsibility.
You're telling the world, “This is what I want.”
Ah, that's true.
Telling the world that, “This is what I'm fine with right now,”
that's something with responsibility to it.
That's true, right?
This is fine.
I've got to move on to what's next.
In the end he spent an hour and a half agonizing over just these two eyes.
He says when they're no good, and he says when they'll do.
Being a mangaka's a difficult job, isn't it?
It's the 4th day of filming. It's finally deadline day.
He now begins on the last panel for the chapter.
Moment by moment the deadline approaches.
A Phone Call from His Editor
Hello, this is Fujita.
There are still the finishing touches... Sorry.
I'm aiming for the the evening, so maybe around 6?
Well guys, let's do our best.
Oookay.
Fujita-san has picked up a strange looking stick...
Oh, this is it!
What is that? What are you drawing with?
That there is a chopstick.
It's a split chopstick.
Drawing with a Chopstick
Huh!? A chopstick?
See, there you go, you're off drawing with it.
Well, I mean...
I guess you could say it's just something I like.
Amazing...
Mangaka always want to stand out, right?
For those critical scenes, you want to pull people's eyes to them.
You want to make things exciting
for the people reading it.
Now, now, now...
This is really important.
This is what you hit them with last.
But your devotion to giving readers their money's worth is great.
Like you don't want them to be bored for even an instant.
It's like saying, “It's going to get even more exciting, stay tuned!”
almost like I'm begging them.
A normal pen just wouldn't cut it, right?
Yeah, definitely.
When you look at Morohoshi Daijirou-sensei's pictures,
Youkai Hunter From the Field Notes of Hieda Reijirou “Tensonkourin”
it makes you feel like there's malice
or some other emotion hidden in those lines drawn with ink.
If there's some sort of procedure to creating those lines,
Planting “Malice” in the Lines
it'll feel faintly of whatever was accompanying it,
such as the sense of force or emotion behind it, right?
Now he takes out a kabura pen.
Kabura Pen
He continues to add small nuances to the lines.
Fujita-san even begins drawing with his finger!
Now With His Finger!
He constructs the last panel using all sorts of techniques.
The Work He is Drawing Now “Black Museum - Ghost & Lady” 2 Volumes
I'd like to take “Black Museum - Ghost & Lady” again,
and read through the entirety of it in one go.
Thank you.
It was sort of like a bit...
I guess you could phrase it as “unexpected,”
but it was a very similar experience to reading Tezuka Osamu.
The Tezuka Osamu in Fujita's Manga
Was there an intent of paying homage to him or such in mind?
For Tezuka-sensei's manga and me...
the points of interests or like,
what we highlight, or what we feel okay to leave out,
what we really hammer home, I think those parts are similar.
So for “Black Museum - Ghost & Lady”
to feel somewhat similar is quite understandable.
It made me think like, “This is how manga ought to be.”
Like with how it was compact or compressed.
With Tezuka-sensei's manga it was about
how much information was in that compactness,
and that the emotion of it isn't lost even though it's so compressed.
It was the aim of the method.
Look at “Phoenix,” after all.
“Phoenix” Dawn
You know, that grandiose arc, “Dawn,” is the first volume.
Yeah, I know.
If it was just as long as how hot it felt when you read it,
it'd be like the longest thing ever.
That's so true.
The Tezuka Osamu in Fujita's Manga
That same kind of heat is inside this work.
I do think about wanting to pack it in there.
The desire to compress that heat into the work,
it's even squeezed into this final panel.
Now, finally time for the last touches.
Fujita-san has taken out a brush pen.
Spreading Thin Ink with a Brush Pen
This thin ink!
Realistically, you definitely wouldn't be using thin ink
on a manuscript that already has this much white-out on it.
That's true.
So it's must be like
drawing with it on top of the white-out,
and the signs left from corrections becoming uneven,
that must be what I have in mind.
That's included in it.
Yes, it is.
The traces of white-out also luckily look like a pattern.
You can see the traces of white-out, huh?
You can, yeah.
Wow, this is so embarrassing.
It's got so much force to it.
The last panel is finally complete.
The emotions of the main character, Grey, are conveyed with such intensity.
Fujita-san makes sure he doesn't leave the reader feeling bored, even at the end.
Final Check
The manuscript is finally finished, right?
I haven't liked this face ever since I inked the lines to it.
Huh? No way! That page again?
I just don't like it. Something about it.
Still Stuck on the Eyes till the End
Here it is.
I'm about to try something again.
You're coming back to this part again.
Yeah, I'm actually still at it.
Manga is really just so difficult.
But it's those eyes that are, “Something Not of This World,”
Look, see?
It's exactly true.
I mean, that's really how it gets there.
I think this really shows how concerned you are with eyes.
I wanted it to say, “Here we go!” from one monster to another monster,
But on the other hand I was drawing Deon's face like a regular girl's face.
When filling the eyes with a mid color, that same monstrosity came out of it,
and I thought, that must be it.
I must've realized it, somehow.
Wow, that's amazing.
The camera even captured all those traces of white-out.
Whoa, you totally got it all there!
Wow, you got all of it.
That's some good footage.
Wow!
There are so many.
I went all over the place.
Whatever's there is fine! It's finished!
See, see!
Look at that timing!
The Editor Arrives
Thanks for your hard work.
Look, you guys are all happy now.
Yeah, we are.
Being a mangaka is really tiring but,
we do it because this moment comes around every time.
When it's all done, right?
Handing over what you did and feeling like it's complete.
It's because this moment exists that we draw.
Ready? Hip hip hip hooray!
They Always Do a Special Handshake When They Finish
Good work! Good work! Good work...
This is the page that he finished after 7 rounds of revisions.
The pinnacle of Fujita's manga, “Eyes of Something Not of This World,”
have been depicted superbly.
Never compromising, even in the bitter end,
it's a page he's put every fiber of his being into.
♪♪～
When they see this,
I think it'll be a real shock for the youngsters.
“I'm going to take a pen and white-out and try drawing like that!”
Getting people to try to copy that,
it's like lighting a fire under them.
With manga, all you have to do is draw it and see.
You've just got to start drawing, right, Fujita-san?
Yeah, that's right.
“For now you just have to start drawing,”
that part that's about just giving it a start for now,
I hope that sentiment reaches the young people watching.
Yeah, that'd be really nice.
It's fine to start with one panel on the first day,
then the second panel on the second day.
Yeah, I like what you just said.
Like, it's fine as long as you just draw something.
If you leave it blank, it's always going to be that way.
That's right.
So you know, it's like they say, “Just fill it up for now!”
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
And if you do that, you can become a mangaka.
Kids don't know what manga is,
so the first “gateway” they discover manga from is shounen manga.
And that's pretty great, isn't it?
It makes you want to draw something they won't forget.
So I want to draw something that's not too difficult,
something that's interesting and simple, something good.
That's how I feel, anyways.