I think drawings are an expression of fetishism, aren't they?
Like, “this is what really does it for me,” laid out for all to see.
It's really embarrassing work.
But something that expresses that intensely...
it strikes a chord in people's hearts.
A strap lying between the curves of a chest;
That's the kind of thing I like to draw.
The indents of the clavicle...
I feel the same way with men too.
I like drawing men's clavicles as well.
I guess this fetish applies to both men and women.
Continuously Challenging
A Genius in the World of Manga
Drawing the wrinkles around here on a woman's bust
is even more erotic than drawing her naked, don't you agree?
When you can do it like *swish* with the bare minimum of lines,
it makes you feel like, “Hell yeah!”
How do I put it?
For people like us, that's the kind of thing we live for.
Yeah, for people like us.
Creator of numerous hit works, mangaka Urasawa Naoki.
The project he's currently working on is this show, “Manben.”
Mangaka create grand dramas from the tiny tips of their pens.
Usually entry is not allowed to where they work, but we've been granted full access to film there.
Full Access to the Place Where Manga Is Born
Urusawa-san draws everything down to the finest detail without having to look at references.
How did he learn to that technique?
Day by day.
The answer is in my day-to-day life.
I'm really always looking at stuff like wrinkles.
All the time.
Like, “Ahh, that's what's the wrinkles in a double chin look like.”
今回登場するのは 卓越した表現力を持つ漫画家。
カリスマ的人気を誇る 漫画界の鬼才です。
描く作品は多彩です。
耽美的で 時に グロテスクな作品から→
幻想的で ファンタジックな作品。
あえて ばかばかしく振り切った コメディーまで。
「サブカル」「アングラ」と呼ばれる ジャンルに踏み込み→
人間の暗部を 鋭く切り取ってきました。
緻密で 芸術性の高い描写も 人気の理由です。
美男子の色気。
少女の魅力。
美しく エロティックに描きます。
今回は 執筆の現場に ４日間 密着する事ができました。
Filmed Closely over a Span of 4 Days
カメラが捉えたのは発見の積み重ねで 身につけてきた 描写力。
Repeated Discovery
そして 自由な手法を用いて 読者の心を動かそうとする→ 挑戦でした。
Freely Uses Techniques
Waiting for Him to Arrive
Tokyo, Suginami
Two weeks later.
He's someone that draws some fairly shocking images ,
but when you meet him, he's not like that at all.
And you feel oddly refreshed after reading his work.
That's the kind of guy he is, I guess.
Oh, is that him?
Furuya-san actually loves classic motorcycles, and he arrives riding his beloved vintage bike.
Nice. Good to see you again!
Good to see you.
Damn, that's cool.
Thank you.
These old bikes are so cool.
The two converse while watching the footage of Furuya-san,
They Talk at a Cafe That Furuya-San Frequents
at a favorite cafe of his that's filled with motorcycle bric-a-brac.
Are you an underground mangaka or a mainstream one?
Which is it? It's always bugged me.
It's almost like it appears you have two personalities.
I couldn't quite figure out where I stand despite trying,
so I've just sort of given up on it, I guess.
Furuya Usamaru-san, the puzzling and complicated mangaka.
Tokyo, Minato Ward
Now we'll bring the secrets of his creativity to light.
Infiltrating the Work Space of the Genius
Now this is it.
A Standing Desk Prevents Back Strain
When did you start working standing up?
It's been about two years.
So you've been doing it like that for two years, eh?
It Can Move Up and Down
Whoa!
Thunderbirds are go!
That's so cool.
I got a chair I can perch on.
It kind of looks like a rock star's mic stand!
Filmed with Fixed Cameras to Not Get in the Way
The manga: “I Want To Be Killed By A High School Girl.”
The work revolves around Higashiyama, who has a sexual desire to be killed,
and Maho, a high school girl with multiple personalities.
It's a suspense story that depicts the darkness of the human heart through the two characters.
Inking
He begins inking the characters.
He Draws the Heroine, a Girl That Has Multiple Personalities
In this scene, Maho, who has multiple personalities,
Kaori (Other Identity)
Maho
has a conversation with Kaori, one of her alternate personas.
He uses their facial expressions to show the personalities changing.
Infiltrating the Work Space of the Genius
So you mostly use a Maru pen?
That's right.
It's thin so it doesn't hide the drawing underneath it.
That's the main reason why I like using it.
The nib's sticking out quite far. It's not all the way in.
That's right, yeah.
That's also to maintain visibility, huh?
That's right.
Urasawa Naoki (Nihonji Pen)
Furuya Usamaru (Maru Pen)
By making the thin nib extend further out,
he avoids blocking the image while drawing.
Infiltrating the Work Space of the Genius
Breaking up their expressions over and over like this is tough.
I think this kind of stuff...
is where real skill as an artist comes through,
when the expression is changing panel-by-panel.
Expressions change by the millimeter, don't they?
Yeah, that's true.
If you're off by just a millimeter, it's like, “Nope, that's not right.”
The smaller the face, the smaller the margin of error,
sometimes down to the tenth of a millimeter.
That's probably why I use a Maru pen.
It's good for work that's down to the tenth of a millimeter.
Oh, I see. That might be true.
For the end of “Monster,” I was mostly using a Maru pen.
Depicting the states of mind must have taken finesse, so that's why.
Right, yes.
That might be it. Yeah.
Drawing the Heroine Shouting
Worrying about the Difference 0.1 Mm Makes in a Character's Expression
With something this expressive,
I'd expect to see some hesitation,
but it seems like you're just going right for it, more or less.
I'm going from key part to key part -
the positions of the corners of the eyes and mouth, and so on.
The expression is held together by nailing those points.
What exactly does it even mean to draw a face?
I still trouble myself with that question to this day.
The rise and fall of the corners of the mouth...
Here the corners of the mouth have just barely risen.
You get this “shouting from the depths of the soul” sort of look.
It's hard to explain this sort of thing.
Yeah, I can't really put it in words very well.
Here he draws the moment when the heroine's emotions spillover.
Drawing the Moment the Heroine's Emotions Overflow
The two panels are almost the same.
He draws them alternately, revealing the subtle change.
By paying full attention to the small details, Furuya-san tries to convey the charm of the characters.
Subtle movement like the soft caress of the breeze or changes in wrinkles -
that's what I want to bring out.
I hope that readers notice that, and it sticks with them.
Like something rustling by.
That's the kind of feeling I want to bring out.
Furuya Usumaru-san was born in Hachioji, Tokyo in 1968.
Origins of the Mangaka Furuya Usamaru
Born in 1968, Hachioji, Tokyo
He was a manga-kid who read all the shonen magazines.
Manga He Drew as an Elementary School Child
Influenced by various works, he started to draw.
Origins of the Mangaka Furuya Usamaru
This is so good.
What? No, not all!
You can see Tezuka Osamu-san's influence in this Western.
Tezuka Osamu “The Film Lives On”
Azuma Hideo “Teihon Fujouri Nikki”
Here it's Azuma Hideo.
Fujiko F. Fujio “Doraemon”
And of course Doraemon's here too.
Tezuka Osamu “Mighty Atom”
Astroboy's there too.
Origins of the Mangaka Furuya Usamaru
Pamphlet for his High School Fair
A pamphlet I drew in high school for a festival.
Everyone said that it was really creepy.
Oh, that's...
Yup, I was really into Maruo Suehiro-sensei at the time.
Maruo Suehiro “Mottomo Itai Yuugi”
Origins of the Mangaka Furuya Usamaru
Joined the Theater Club at Tama Art University
Subsequently, he entered art school,
but briefly left pictorial art behind,
instead joining the world of performance arts.
He joined the drama department where he studied acting,
and eventually delved into avant-garde world of Butoh.
Butoh
Upon graduating, he worked as a high school art teacher
while continuing to express his creativity through object art.
Object Exhibition When He Was a Teacher
However, Furuya-san was at a loss.
I wondered that if I just continue with art like this,
could I even put out one single book in my lifetime?
I couldn't see what to do next.
Like, “What did I really want to do?”
At 24
But I always had the desire to create.
Origins of the Mangaka Furuya Usamaru
It was only a childhood memory that I had been drawing manga.
And it was one that I had forgotten for a while
until I was around 24-25, at which point I remembered:
“Ah, manga! That's what I wanted to do.”
Like, “Oh, right!”
So I started drawing, and it was just so much fun.
You know, it made me feel so calm.
It made me remember, “Hey, I liked drawing all along, didn't I?”
At the age of 26, his work debuted in Monthly Garo.
Debuted With “Palepoli,” Published in ‘Garo’
At the time, he didn't receive any money for its publication.
From then on, his works, full of creativity and inspiring
a sense of butoh and drama, became extremely popular.
His art style also charmed readers.
His eyes and also his lips -
He gives his readers a sense of the erotic and the fetishistic with his careful and precise depiction.
He draws every detail of the human figure with charm -
he focuses on that. it's where his artistic skill have been polished.
Drawing the Whole Body of the Heroine
Fixated on Detailed Depictions
When you can convey the swell of a woman's bust
just by drawing the crease of a wrinkle and a few lines,
it's like, “Yes! Now that's a good wrinkle!”
I specifically put a lot of effort into drawing that.
Drawing the wrinkles around here on a woman's bust
when she's wearing a t-shirt feels even more erotic than
drawing her naked, don't you agree?
Yeah, it does.
When you can do it like *swish* with the bare minimum of lines,
it makes you feel like, “Hell yeah!”
How do I put it?
Fixated on Detailed Depictions
For people like us, that's the kind of thing we live for.
Yeah, for people like us
I absolutely adore wrinkles.
Drawing wrinkles is about as fun as it gets for me.
That's how much I love them.
I get that.
Looking at people's pants,
“Teiichi no Kuni”
I discovered these rhombus-shaped, stacked wrinkles.
Those rhombus wrinkles are everywhere!
Like on the sleeves of formal shirts
Yeah, they are.
those wrinkles are there.
What is it with that, the occupation with wrinkles.
Fixated on Detailed Depictions
For me it's wrinkles and hands.
The hands you draw when they're holding something,
they don't hold onto things straight. It's held at an angle.
That was a real eye-opener for me when I saw it.
“They really are slanted like that!”
The “Awareness” of Drawing
That feeling we get when we notice something as artists,
it's like this “joy of discovery.”
Yeah, it is.
Drawing the Crying Heroine
It's the same with tears too!
I always wonder how I should draw them
and think about all sorts of ways over and over again.
While we've been talking, I've been thinking about
The “Awareness” of Drawing
how much I love the way you draw the backs of heads.
I've been thinking, “It has such a nice shape to it,”
this entire time while talking to you.
Yeah, that's how artists are.
That's the kind of thing artists think about all the time.
It's really that...
“accumulation of discoveries.”
That's the reason why I can't take a break from manga.
If I were to stop for half a year, who knows how much I'd forget.
That's why I can't take a break.
Yeah, absolutely.
２日間にわたって 細かな描写を積み重ねました。
一連のシーンが ようやく完成です。
０．１ミリ単位で ペン先をコントロールし 描いた表情。
発見を積み重ねる事で身につけた こだわりの細部。
古屋さんの表現力が存分に 生かされたシーンが 生まれました。
古屋さんは今 もう一つ作品を連載しています。
高校の生徒会長選挙を舞台にした 「帝一の國」です。
Name (Plan for a Story)
これから描くのは 主人公 帝一が 理想の国を思い浮かべるシーン。
たくさんの動物が取り囲む 幻想的な見開きです。
Drawing with a Pencil
古屋さん この絵を つけペンではなく→
鉛筆で描こうと考えていました。
Drawing the General Layout on Top of the Name (in Blue)
まず パソコンで ペンタブレットを使って アタリを描きます。
描いた絵の大きさや位置は パソコンで調整できます。
Adjusting the Position and Size
You change the angle that way.
Yep, the angle of the monkey, how big the monkey is...
I dare say that's the best time to use a computer,
for when you're composing the background sketch.
It lets you move things around.
Yeah, using a computer for the spreads is the way to go.
When you have the full-size, gigantic white sheet in front of you,
it's a bit bewildering.
Yeah, it is.
It's like, “What the heck am I gonna do?”
You can experiment a bit with the computer,
move things around...
I'm gonna start doing this.
I'm learning a lot here.
Placing the printed draft underneath, he moves to drawing.
Drawing with the Layout Underneath
Drawing Paper
Using the Charm of a Pencil Drawing in the Work
This is regular art paper, right?
It's art paper.
Rather than manga manuscript paper?
That's right.
The paper's texture is brought out in the pencil lines.
It's got a rough feel to it.
You use pencils to finish off big scenes often.
Using the Charm of a Pencil Drawing in the Work
“Hallucinatory Picasso”
Yes, I really like using pencil.
I feel like my emotion comes through unfiltered when I use pencil.
“Bokurano ☆ Hikari Club”
Using the Charm of a Pencil Drawing in the Work
What kinda pencil leads are you using?
Usually 2B or 3B...
Lately it's been 4B.
You go so far as 4B?
I don't apply too much pressure when drawing.
Before I was pressing down too hard, and I got tendinitis,
so I practiced controlling how much force I was applying,
and as a result I draw very lightly, hence the 4B.
When I first started out,
I had never ever held a pen for such a long period of time,
and then when it was time to eat,
I was still using my right hand to hold the chopsticks.
“After all that, you're still using your right hand?”
“What the hell do you even use the left for?”
I've thought the exact same thing.
You'll see it shortly, I use my left hand to draw.
What? Drawing with the left hand?
Using Both Hands to Draw
Oh, here we go.
This is it here.
There it is.
Did you practice drawing with the left?
I discovered that it's faster...
to draw grass and nature with both hands
when I didn't have an assistant around.
One might assume otherwise,
but in fact natural objects look better
when you don't refine the lines too much.
Yeah, that's right.
When I just use the right, the lines look too clean, but with the left...
You get “lines you wouldn't come up with,” and for the better.
Drawing with both hands is a pretty neat trick, isn't it!
Yet another tool is brought to bear -
a type of writing instrument known as a lead holder.
Lead Holder
Furuya-san uses this to add wider strokes.
Next, he begins to grate the pencil lead.
Going All out with Techniques for the Pencil
A Block with Sand- paper
Here I grate the pencil lead, making it into a powder,
and then I dissolve it in water to make a diluted ink.
I see!
When it dries it can be removed with an eraser.
Oh, really?
Because it's made of pencil lead.
Once dry, you can smudge it with tissue to get rid of speckling.
Like a pastel...
That's right.
Well, I'm definitely using this!
I can see this becoming very popular.
Will it? I guess it might.
You can erase it afterwards and control how dilute it is.
Man, when I get home later, I'm trying this right away.
Please do give it a shot!
It's a lot of fun!
Even with just pencil, He has a wide variety of methods at his disposal.
This manga, “Teiichi no Kuni,” will soon finish serialization.
It's a drama full of continous intrigue and betrayal,
depicting the conflicts of high school students.
It's the climax: Teiichi returns to his starting point and imagines how his ideal country would appear.
Furuya-san tries to convey this pure feeling in this spread.
Your works are fairly eccentric in their expression -
at times you go that extra mile in drawing, and then some.
An Expression That Conveys the Work
“Lychee ☆ Light Club”
It's like that with “Lychee ☆ Light Club” and such.
That feeling of the clarity one has after reading your work -
that's there even in the stuff that gets dark and morbid.
It feels refreshing for some reason.
I don't really...
draw with the intent to make underground comics.
For example, I don't really watch gory movies.
Oh, really? No kidding.
But I have to draw to certain extremes to convey things at times.
You have to think of how best to express something in a given work.
How should one express oneself in the works they want to draw?
He Wrinkled up the Paper and Then Sprayed It Stiff
Each and every time, Furuya-san thoroughly considers which tools, methods, and approach to take.
Manga Drawn on Brick “Plastic Girl”
Brick
Drawn Roughly to Express Dark Emotions “Emi-chan”
It's led to his use of methods that defy the common sense of manga more than once.
Drawing Paper to Express the Texture of Rubble and Dust “51 Ways to Save Her”
A mangaka is...
Usamaru As "Artist" and Facing the Drama He Wants to Draw
a producer, a director and a scriptwriter all wrapped in one.
But before all that comes an artist.
Yeah.
The artist is like... at the very bottom.
Yeah, he's at the bottom.
That's what's going on here at the start, right?
The artist inside is like, “What? I'm supposed to draw this?”
Yeah, I do think that.
Like, “What are you even thinking?”
Yeah, it makes you let out a big sigh.
The most, like...
pure, naive one inside us is the artist.
Yeah.
The clueless one.
The artist is the one that's easy to fool.
The producer is like a prospector egging me on to look for gold.
He's the one saying, “Don't worry, Furuya ol' buddy, you got this!”
Nonchalantly talking about like “Protesters as far as the eye can see.”
He's not even thinking about the artist at all when he says that.
Not one bit.
You end up hating your past self that came up with it.
But when it comes to that,
like figuring out how you can enjoy drawing it...
Actually...
all you can do is switch up your thinking.
Like, “To hell with it, I'm gonna really surprise them with this one!”
The purity that serves as the artist inside the mangaka -
it supports the immensely difficult work of writing the story.
Kneaded Eraser
The final touches are done with a 7H pencil.
A Light 7H Pencil
This is a very faint pencil.
更に パソコンでの焼きこみ作業。
“Burning” Process
描かれた線や影の濃さを 調整します。
♪♪～
執筆開始から８時間。
鉛筆のさまざまな手法を用いて ついに このページが完成です。
どんな手法で描けば 伝えたい事を表現できるのか。
徹底的に向き合う事で身につけた 技が この一枚に詰まっています。
続いてのページ。
古屋さん 執筆前から 気合いが入っていました。
なんと ６年間の連載を終える 最終回の最後のコマを→ 撮影する事ができました。
Writing the Last Chapter, He Starts from the Final Panel
見開きで描かれた帝一に 富士山 雲 太陽を重ねます。
Teiichi
Mt. Fuji
Clouds
Sun
しかも それぞれを全て 別々の手法で描こうというのです。
Drawing Each Picture with Different Techniques
Mount Fuji
まずは 富士山。
Hanshi Calligraphy Paper
取り出したのは 半紙。
習字に使う紙ですよね。
Brush Pen
筆ペンを使って かすれを表現します。
Drawing the Final Page of the Final Chapter
そうです。
Colored Ink
続いて 黒のカラーインクを使います。
にじみを コントロールしながら 山肌を描きます。
水墨画のような富士山が 出来ました。
Sun
次は 太陽。 何を使って描くんでしょうか。
選んだのは 円を描く定規と 鉛筆です。
Using a Heap of Techniques for the Challenge
そうですね。
Smudging It with a Tissue
定着液をスプレーし 鉛筆が消えないようにします。
Fixative
Pencil Lead Dissolved in Water
その上から 鉛筆の芯を 水で溶かしたもので 塗ります。
Using a Heap of Techniques for the Challenge
Clouds
続いて 画面を横切る雲。
Washi
Creating Techniques Using Trial and Error
頭の中のイメージを形にするため 試行錯誤が続きます。
マーカーで 雲を描きます。
その部分をパソコンで貼り付け 和紙の質感を生かす事にしました。
Creating Techniques Using Trial and Error
やりながら…
そうですね。
The Clouds Are Now Complete
Main Character - Teiichi
最後は ガッツポーズをする帝一。
Maru Pen
細部にこだわって 線を入れていきます。
古屋さんは かつて 一旦 絵の世界から離れ→
２６歳で漫画に戻ってきました。
原稿料なしからの再スタート。
これまで 独自の漫画を生み出す 挑戦を続けてきました。
What Is the Joy of Manga?
ねえ。
悩みながら 表現活動を続けた あのころ。
今 古屋さんには 個展を開けば 集まってくれる読者がいます。
仕事場の壁に びっしりと はられた 読者からの手紙。
挑み続ける古屋さんを支えます。
♪♪～
ようやく 絵がそろいました。
Bringing the Various Different Pictures All Together
パソコンで １枚の絵に重ね合わせます。
このページの執筆開始から５時間。
はぁ～。
ついに ６年間の連載を締めくくる 見開きが 完成です。
自分を支えてくれる読者に 驚きと感動を届けたい。
古屋さんの挑戦 そして願いが この１枚に 込められました。
♪♪～
いやぁ～ なんか…
♪♪～