You and Me
The artist of Futaba-kun Change! and You and Me on writing comedy, magazine editors, and the challenges of drawing manga left-handed. Interview by Kevin Bennett and Sachiko Uchida-Bennett.
Ever since he was little, Hiroshi Aro always loved deawing or reading comics... but back then, it was only a hobby. Now, years later, he's a professional manga artist. Dreams do indeed come true!
And what dreams... Aro's manga include the sex-change comedy Futaba-kun Change! Which was serialized in Japan's bestselling manga magazine, Shonen Jump, and You and Me, an outrageous parody of darn near everything all at once. Both titles are published in the U.S. by Studio Ironcat.
Aro got into the manga profession because, as he says, "I could not imagine myself wearing ties and going to work as a salaryman... When my last school years approached, I figured that I would do something else." He worked for siz months to complete a comic and brought it to various magazine publishers to test the waters. Luckily, the response was good. The second company he brought his work to acknowledged that he has talent. The second title he drew ended up winninga prize for "New Comic Artists," and he soon made his debut as a pro.
The rest, as they say, is history...
ANIMERICA: We heard that you were an apprentice to Osamu Akimoto, creator of Kochi-Kame (popular shorthand for Kochira Katsushika-Ku Kameari-Koen Mae Hashutsusho, "This is Katsushika Ward's Kameari PArkside Police Box," a comedy manga which has run for over 110 volumes). Did working on Kochi-Kame influence your own manga?
ARO: I was an apprentice to Akimoto-sensei for a year and a half--it was already about the the beginning days of his 25-year running title. He taught me the basic techniques of drawing manga. It's a big honor that I had a chance to work with him. Not only that, I sometimes unconsciously think to myself, "What if it was him, how would he make this story?" when I am doing my own writing, so he has influenced me in so many wasy, even down to a subconscious level.
ANIMERICA: You've worked for several different manga magazines. What's that like, working for different ones?
ARO: The most difficult thing is to manage my own scheduele. It's hard to set a balance - manga work takes up a lot of your energy, so it's important not to try to do it nonstop. Alternately, you can't have too many breaks. My ability isn't so advanced that I can produce massive amounts of work nonstop anyway, and unfortunately, the rate of pay for Japanese manga artists for each script is not all that high, so I can't really hire anyone professional to manage my scheduele for me.
ANIMERICA: When you were doing Futaba-kun Change! for Shonen Jump, were there any particular editorial pressures or suggestions you can tell us about?
ARO: This is something that can be said for all titles but especially when it comes to working on comedy - you tend to use violent expressions or stereotypical prejudices to try to make something interesting in a simple form. I totally panic when my editor tells me that a certain expression is not appropriate and needs to be changed, especially when I have to meet a deadline really, really soon. That was the sort of thing that happened with Futaba-kun Change!. Other than that, Shonen Jump is a type of magazine that gives artists quite a lot of freedom compared to some other ones out there, so instead of facing that kind of editorial pressure from editors, I was faced with my own insecurities.. I had to make my own decisions in story-making, and I got very anxious when I was not confident enough about it.
ANIMERICA: You are left-handed. How does that effect your work?
ARO: I am left-handed, but there is no merit or demerit in drawing for me. The only exception is words (as for sound effects, or text on billboards), Japanese words are basically made for right-handed people, especially kanji (Chinese characters). They are very difficult for lefties to write properly, so I have a complex over my own handwriting. I usually let my assistants write words.
ANIMERICA: One of the most impressive and interesting aspects of your manga is that your series often have very definite and dramatic endings (such as the ending of You and Me), as opposed to many romantic comedy manga which often end with no resolution. Is this something that you consciously chose to do?
ARO: It's always been my motto to do things my way when it comes to ending of stories, at least whenever humanly possible. Manga magazines tend to cut titles as soon as their popularity slows down. It's also common for an artist whose title is popular to be forced to keep drawing it as long as (the editors) can stretch it out, regardless of artists' will.
What I'm trying to say is that once your title starts in a magazine, you never know when it will end. On top of that, it's nearly impossible to figure out a whole story when you've just begun working on it. A lot of my works were cut off in the middle too, but if I managed to come up with a perfect ending for the ones that I was lucky enough to maintain popularity on, then I would do anything to talk the editor into doing it my way. If I couldn't have talked them into it, or if I had continued a popular title until people were no longer interested, maybe the fans' view of me might be different now. Then again, I could have been a little richer too... perhaps.
ANIMERICA: How do you get your insights into the female perspectives in your manga? You seem to understand the complexity of being a woman, expecially in You and Me.
ARO: This is the first time anyone has ever said that I seem to understand the complexity of being a woman! If I really did understand the feelings of women, then I probably would have had a much better life by now... hmm.
Unfortunately, my real life experiences didn't provide me with enough samples, so after researching through a lot of books and TV dramas, I had to rely on my imagination. I am a man, so I really don't understand the feelings of women, but I tried to not make it unnatural by thinking, "well, there must be women who would think something like this." I made my decisions based on each character's physical and mental behavior. I'm very happy to know that all my effort has been recognized!
ANIMERICA: Where do you find your ideas for comedy? They're pretty extreme and push the envelope, especially in Futaba-kun Change!
ARO: Unfortunately, I can't tell you where I find my ideas - not because it's a secret, but because I really don't know. If there was an easy way to come up with funny dieas, then my life would be so much simpler.
The only thing I can say is that you try to make a habit of always trying to come up with ideas. Nobody can come up with wonderful ideas on the spur of the moment, all the time, ...but if you can come up with just one usable idea out of ten, then to my mind, that's a big success.
ANIMERICA: In You and Me, there is a character who is totally covered with hair. Were you inspired to draw him this way by the "Cousin It" character in The Addams Family?
ARO: The Addams Family is my favorite movie and I also watched the TV series as a kid... but that character is not influenced by that movie. There is a Japanese ghost called keukegen, which is a ghost with a haunted soul covered with hair. I had a friend who used that ghost as a self-portrait, so it's that friend who was actually the model for that character.
ANIMERICA: We'd heard it rumored that the name of the main character in Futaba-kun Chagne!, Futaba Shimeru, is a pun on the word "she-male" (shi-me-ru). Is that true?
ARO: Exactly! I'm not very good at coming up with names either. I always put a lot of time and suffering in trying to come up with manga titles or character names, but eventually I tend to take the easy way out my using a word for something related to what I'm about to draw.
ANIMERICA: What's your personal favorite peice fo work among your own manga and why?
ARO: You and Me, as this is my first successful work and also the title that gave me the confidence to continue in the manga business. Reikai no Tatsujin: This is actually an incomplete work, but it's an SF/fantasy title that I would like to count as one that represetns me. For Futaba-kun Change!, I really tried with all my heart and soul to breathe life into each character. I think I was able to express the various upsetting feelings - bitterness, joy, and happiness - of growing up, in changing from a boy to an adult.
ANIMERICA: Has any of youru work ever been considered for animation?
ARO: I'd heard that there was an interest in some titles from some people as candidates for anime, but none of them really made it into planning. Maybe my work doesn't appeal that much to the people in the anime industry.
ANIMERICA: What are you currently working on, and will it reach the U.S. anytime soon?
ARO: Right now I'm working on a short story and preparing for my next big serial. Whetther it will reach the U.S. or not is up to the American fans. So please harass and encourage Studio Ironcat to release more new titles from me!
ANIMERICA: How did you meet Studio Ironcat?
ARO: Through an artist friend.
ANIMERICA: Are there other artists who influence you?
ARO: There are way too many to mention so I can't really write them all down. I take influences from so many people, either consciously or subconsciously.
ANIMERICA: We've heard that you particularly like Rumiko Takahashi's work. Have you ever worked with her on anything?
ARO: Unfortunately, I have never met her through manga work, but she is one of the artists who has inspired me and who I respect. She is definitely a pioneer in combining comedy and story, which used to be separate things until Rumiko Takahashi came into the manga world.
ANIMERICA: What are your other hobbies, aside from manga?
ARO: Karaoke and playing video games, and so forth.
ANIMERICA: Where have you been in America? What are your feelings about your fans in the U.S.?
ARO: I have been to conventions in Washington DC, Texas, Iowa, Colorado, California, and I am planning to go to conventions in Florida and Virginia (the home of Studio Ironcat).
My feelings for the fans in the U.S., everywhere I go, is that they are so passionate. They try to show their love for anime and manga with their whole bodies. That passion is always nice to see, even though it's overwhelming somethimes to realize that my passion might be less than theirs!
ANIMERICA: What's your favorite thing to do in the U.S.?
ARO: As a person who hardly ever travels or goes outside of the studio, when I hop on a plane to meet American fans, I have no other purpose besides that. But every time I go, I really enjoy how spacious America is. Maybe it's only natural to Americans, but to me it's such a joy - it's so luxurious to be standing in such a big, specious place and to think that this is reality. In Japan there's hardly anyplace where you can see above the horizon.
ANIMERICA: What do you think of the U.S. comics industry? Do you read any U.S. comics?
ARO: Sorry - I don't read many American comics.
An American comics fan once came up to me and said that the comic industry in the U.S. is lame. That's sort of sad, but it's probably because you had Hollywood - it wasn't necessary to rely on comics. Manga developed in Japan over the course of time as the cheapest entertainment during a time when the Japanese were very poor, after losing WWII. Manga onlyu became a worldwide entertainment because of Osamu Tezuka. If Japan had become a territory of America after WWII, then Japanese manga probably would never have evolved as far as it did. Osamu Tezuka probably would have been knocking on Disney Studio's door.
ANIMERICA: Do you ever buy or draw dojinshi (fanzines)?
ARO: I don't buy much, but I do participate in Comike (Comic Market) every summer and winter and I draw my own dojinshi for that event. In Japan there are no longer conventions like there are in America, so I use Comike as an opportunity to communicate with fans. I talk to them through the Internet too. I don't have my own website, but a lot of my more passionate fans and friends have made one for me.
ANIMERICA: Here's something that a few of us are curious about. I hope you don't mind the question: Did you ever get letters from any gay/lesbian/crossdressing fans when you were doing Futaba-kun Change!?
ARO: I was actually expecting to hear from those people too, but sadly there was never a one single letter or e-mail! The magazine that Futaba-kun Change! was serialized in was targeted at teenagers - boys - so it was never really exposed to the general public at that time. Also, bisexual people back then were not as able to insist on their human rights as they can now. Society just didn't accept them. I think that's why I didn't get any letters from them.
ANIMERICA: What questions do you often get asked by manga fans?
ARO: "How can I draw better? How do you find your ideas?" Those are the most fequently asked questions.
ANIMERICA: What questiosn have you NEVER been asked but would like to be?
ARO: "How do you dramatize specific situations in your manga?" Or "What techniques do you use to make common, everyday things into something really bizarre and funny?"
ANIMERICA: Thank you for your time. We're very proud to have had th chance to speak with you. We are huge fans of your work!
ARO: This was a fun intrerview. Thank you very much.