Hiroyuki Takei - the soul of Shaman King

Manga is often considered like a snack, a simple form of entertainment. Something that should just be fun. However, I think that it is better if it brings you something. Something that brings positive value, I don't think it should be knowledge, but wisdom instead. I'd like to share that there are alternate ways of thinking. My first contact with manga was during the first grade. I believe that was with the Koro Koro Comics magazine. However, it didn't tick that much at first. The first time I was really impressed was in 4th grade, when I read Hirohiko Araki's "Magical B.T." I thought it was so cool. From there, my path to becoming a mangaka started when I came to Tokyo when I was 18. Everything was still blurry for me at the time. I had a child after I turned 20. I had to find a job, this is when I turned to manga. I became an assistant when I was 20, I stumbled upon the Famitsu magazine by chance, this is where I saw an ad saying that the mangaka Sakura Tamakichi was looking for an assistant. I tried applying and eventually got hired. Things took a big turn from there. This is where I took on an unorthodox path. When I was 22 or 23, I won the Tezuka Award from the Jump magazine. This led me to being introduced to Nobuhiro Watsuki. My workplace was one minute away from my apartment at the time. I was surprised. We would work four to five days per week, however everybody would stay overnight. So I would stick together with the group and stay too, although I was one minute from home. At the time I joined, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda was also working there. There was also Oni ga Kitarite author Gin Shinga, who passed away. Then there was Mikio Ito, who did multiple series in the Jump. That was the team at the time, we were all motivated. When we had a bit of free time, we would all passionately talk about manga. After work we would draw characters together, that was the atmosphere at the time. At the very beginning, I wanted to do something that no one had ever done before. I had always liked Jump manga. The theme I ultimately chose was Buddha statues. What made me move to shamans... what was it. It was a bit in the continuity of things. What brought the initial idea though...? A flash? I can only draw things that I feel close to. The main character is usually a projection of myself. Then I make sure to make something different, this is what led to the creation of Yoh's character. After that it came to enter the codes of Shonen and Jump manga. It is a bit stereotypical, but this led to creating the Ren and Horohoro characters. They stand on the opposite end, differing from the main protagonist. It's like they represent what a Jump manga is. I proceeded by creating this axis, where the main character is the one achieving different things. I went for a big place at first as I wanted to accommodate a production team, having young creators who would draw for me. That's why I chose a spacious place. Now that everything went digital, everyone is working from home. So I ended up alone here. I am comfortable with being alone though. It's important to have things you like too. It sets up your standards, it's a source for creation in a way. This is why I have all these things. I don't want to collect things, after I bought what I liked it just ended up being like this. not being able to throw anything away. Places are important to me. I enjoy service areas a lot, back in the Jump days, I would go have dinner at the closest service area after work. I like the atmosphere at night. It's like a place where I can go back to basics. This is how I set the concept of "best place". The things I wanted to make... At the time I wanted to look cool. I wanted to make something more artistic, I went towards that direction. Now that I think of it it wasn't a good thing. The will to show off a performance was always in the way. Rather that drawing for the readers, part of me was making things to have fun myself. That wasn't a good thing. Indirectly, when my manga started to drop in the rankings, it felt that I wasn't needed anymore. From there, finding the energy to end a series requires a lot of effort. I started not knowing what to draw anymore, I was also tired from all those years of weekly chapters, so I couldn't find the energy to put it together. In the end, having the plug pulled was important, being asked to finish at a said time. I kind of wish I had been told sooner though... There is a part of frustration of course, but there is also some relief. Losing popularity and getting cut off hits a blow on motivation. Rather than getting canceled, the fact of losing popularity is hard to cope with. Part of me felt rescued when I was cut off. There are different feelings I experienced, It's never a single emotion. My soul would slowly wear off from losing popularity. There was some relief, but part of me was frustrated that I couldn't bring my story to the end. There were readers who were looking forward to the end of the story. I wanted to give it a proper ending someday. There are those cheap manga editions that are sold in convenience stores. When I received the offer, I said that I wanted to draw the actual ending. By that point I had had time to rest. I had found my energy back and could draw the end of my story. I feel grateful for that. I don't feel I have a place in the manga world. I don't think on how to position myself in this field. I always take a step back from manga when I look at it. I was confronted to Eiichiro Oda from the beginning, from that point I knew that the mainstream road was not fit for me. If I had sold more manga and were more popular, I would probably have thought more of my position as a mangaka. However I thought that I wasn't made for mainstream. I gave up from that point and didn't think of it. Even if it wasn't doing manga and made animation, games or figures instead, I just want to make cool things. I feel like I want to give up on my identity. I don't think it's necessary. I don't really think of it anymore. The fact that I actually don't think anymore may have now become my identity. Currently, I am filling up pages just to take responsibility. The fact that I am not being creative now is what frustrates me the most. I am planning my next series, I want to go all in on it, right now I am clearing things up towards that. it's tough not to be working on it now. What I want to focus on the most for my next manga is to apply more care than ever before. I aim at making something I can be proud of in Shonen manga. I want to make a solid series. I feel that Shaman King is a series that is somewhat being looked down on, I want to prove that it's a proper series and that it deserves its place.

Channel: Archipel

Views: 940,171

Keywords: hiroyuki takei, shaman king, butsu zone, nekogahara, 武井宏之, シャーマン, シャーマンキング, 仏ゾーン, 猫ヶ原, ユンボル, jumbor, jump, manga, mangaka, 週刊少年ジャンプ, 少年マガジンエッジ, 集英社, 講談社, documentary, manga artist, 漫画家, weekly jump, ジャンプ, 漫画, japan, pop culture, サブカル, ポップカルチャー, anime, shaman, shonen, 少年漫画, takei, wacom, drawing, clip studio, clip studio paint, design, illustration, interview, art, shonen jump, shamanking, shaman manga, takei manga, manga studio, drawing technique, manga drawing, ultimo

Id: zp6_kvcEI_4

Length: 17min 56sec (1076 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 24 2019