Transcript/Interview: Kiyoshi Tane
Photograph: Yoshihiro Shinomiya
Profile:
Hirohiko Araki made his debut in Weekly Shonen Jump with Poker Under Arms, which was a runner-up for Shueisha's Tezuka Awards. He has serialized JoJo's Bizarre Adventure since the end of 1986. Part 7, Steel Ball Run, is currently in serialization in Ultra Jump.
"[Posing is] the border between fantasy and reality."
What were your thoughts when the decision was made to animate Part 1: Phantom Blood?
Araki: When the second half of Part 3 was turned into an OVA (1993-1994), the producer said, "Since we haven't depicted Dio (as he is in Part 1), writing the script has been difficult. As soon as we were done, we wondered whether we could do Part 1 as well." Thanks to the support of the fans from Part 1's serialization, it became a reality. I'm glad to have drawn it.
Did you have any specific requests for certain scenes?
Araki: Nothing that I wouldn't see done any other way. That's probably what I'd say, even if they asked me. It feels as though I'm giving away my own daughter as a bride. I've entrusted them with that responsibility, so I have nothing to say, except that I wish them the best of luck in their work.
What were your thoughts upon seeing the animated version of Part 1?
Araki: Animation is the work of its creator, so I see it as an expression of their individuality.
Part 1 really seems to emphasize muscles in its designs, doesn't it?
Araki: I'd agree. I suppose I'm focusing more on shading and mood at the moment. That's also a sign of the times, I think. Back then, Schwarzenegger and Stallone were big movie stars, so the main character simply had to resemble them. From then on, they got slimmer and slimmer. When I was working on Giorno (from Part 5) in particular, everyone said to me, "They've gotten quite small, huh?"
Are you conscious of the way you change your character designs?
Araki: I'm the type of person who doesn't want to stay in one place or fixate on any particular vision, so I'm quick to discard old designs. For example, when people ask me to draw Jonathan from Part 1, I have a really hard time doing so. I feel like I'm copying my own work, and it winds up looking ever-so-slightly off.
Your unique style prominently features what has been dubbed "JoJo posing." I heard they were inspired by seeing Michelangelo's sculptures during a trip to Italy?
Araki: That's right. Sculptures and paintings from the other side of the world twist as they stand, don't they? That felt fresh to me, so I tried to emphasize it. In any case, the goal is to make them stand in impossible poses. Those are the border between fantasy and reality, so it's strange that people actually try to do it (laughs).
So you're saying you draw them to be impossible (laughs). Was that trip also the reason that the main setting of Parts 2 and 5 is Italy?
Araki: Yes. At times, my editor just happened to say, "Let's go to Italy," or, "Let's go to Egypt." And when we went there, we ended up thinking, "Okay, let's have Dio live here." My editor back then had a massive influence on me.
It seems as though you're particularly attached to Italy. Araki: I thought even the table settings alone were interesting. I saw so many things I hadn't seen before, from the flowers on the table, to the bottles of olive oil, to the black spaghetti. It was nothing short of a culture shock. That was the first experience that really imprinted upon me.
An animation that will hold up to JoJo fans' aesthetic sensibilities...
I had the impression that the direction of Part 1 changed drastically when Dio became a vampire, but did you have the "Ripple warrior" idea from the beginning?
Araki: I did, in fact. When I was a child, there were a great many mysteries. The Loch Ness monster, UFOs, and so on. In that context, supernatural abilities had quite a Romantic spirit to them. Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga Babel II was about psychic powers, but he depicted them as invisible forces like electricity. That made me think, "What does it mean to depict a psychic power?" I started from the image of transmitting it like a wave. From there, the rules began to emerge, and I was able to understand its scope.
So what you're saying is, this is how psychic power can be expressed by scientific explanation.
Araki: Indeed. I wanted something a little more theoretical. I don't really like the idea of winning by guts alone (laughs).
Was the idea of the Joestar family lineage being passed down also there at the beginning?
Araki: Yes. There's a movie and novel titled East of Eden where the offspring atone for the sins of the mother across several generations. I wanted to show that the people of each generation are different, but are all connected by their karma and bloodline. So I worried about what I'd do if they made me quit early because it wasn't popular (laughs).
So the plan was to have Dio live on for about 200 years (sic)?
Araki: Yes. He would sink once, but then come back to life. I believe I was also thinking of having Dio take over another person's (Jonathan's) body. In Part 3, I planned to use Ripple again, but I wanted to depict the psychic powers more visually, so they became Stands.
That type of epic drama wasn't particularly common in manga, was it?
Araki: In the '70s and '80s, I was mocked for drawing similar manga to others. That's why I had to go after a different field entirely (laughs). But the prevailing theory at the time was, "Don't use a foreigner as the main character," and, "Don't set the story in a foreign country."
So you were going against the grain (laughs). When you submitted the idea to the editorial department, did they try to stop you?
Araki: They did for Cool Shock B.T. (lit. "Devil Boy B.T."), a predecessor. Mainly, they disliked the "Devil Boy" in the title. There was also a devious atmosphere to it, and they were absolutely opposed to that, and they would have forced me to drop it. But my editor at the time was on my side.
Is Dio's character also taken from Cool Shock B.T.?
Araki: Well, it's more of an extension of it.
If they were created nowadays, they'd both fit with the times.
Araki: That's very possible. Back then, books about real-life serial killers were hidden away in the backs of bookstores. That was the kind of thing I was fascinated by. What kind of pleasure comes from killing people? That kind of mystery is quite Romantic, isn't it?
Did Jack the Ripper also feel Romantic to you, Mr. Araki? Araki: Yes, quite Romantic. Generally speaking, in both manga and music, there are a lot of things that make you wonder, "Why is this happening now?" It's especially common in progressive rock. If you listen to something like Tubular Bells without any knowledge of it beforehand, it's a shocking experience.
I remember hearing that you have around 3,000 CDs in your office right now?
Araki: I really do have that many. I listen to everything, in any genre.
Many of your characters and Stands are named after music, right?
Araki: Some of them are, yes. But I try to make sure that the meaning of the name overlaps with the Stand's image.
Are onomatopoeia like "Zukyuuun!" and "Go go go..." also taken from music?
Araki: Yes. The tempo of drawing a manga is rather like a beat, like a thump, thump, thump, and then a bang, or something along those lines. Doing things this way in a weekly magazine was difficult because the panels had to be divided so that the pages would split a certain way. There were times when I just couldn't make the rhythm match, and it all came down to the last page.
The same goes for the panel layout, and the dialogue also has a beat to it.
Araki: Absolutely. I think they place emphasis on the sense of rhythm. I hope the animation is like that, too. Even during breaks, the voice actors seem to be practicing their "Aaaah!" and "Haaaa..." and such. They seem to really be into it. Dio's voice actor, Mr. (Hikaru) Midorikawa, even looks a little bit like Dio (laughs).
Speaking of Dio, where did his "URYYYYY!" come from?
Araki: I've completely forgotten. I think it was something like rolling one's "Rs." As though he was already sucking blood, going "uryryryry..."
A demonstration from the author himself (laughs)! In Part 1, there was a lot of emphasis on not only those superbeings, but also on the backgrounds of JoJo and Dio.
Araki: Yes. I believe that in any story, the writer must know the protagonist's father. What kind of personality and upbringing did they have? I think about what kind of character they possess and how they were raised before I draw them.
It seems like Dio's father has an even worse personality than his (laughs).
Araki: It really does. It makes you wonder whether anyone that awful really exists. I love TV dramas that air around 1:30 in the afternoon, and I also collect DVDs of them. I like they way they perfectly depict the muddier side of human instinct.
So, to close us out, can you tell us what you would like the audience to look forward to in this film?
Araki: There are, of course, the screams, the dialogue phrasing, and the poses. That said, there will obviously be people over the age of 30 watching the film, so I would be greatly pleased if the film held up to their aesthetic sensibilities.
Thank you for your time today.