Gents' Bizarre Love!?
The Parallel Universes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Hirohiko Araki
Tamaki Saito[a]
Junko Kaneda[1][b]
Saito: Nice to meet you again[c]. We hadn't met since the Eureka Magazine April 1997 Issue ‘J-Comic Feature '97’[2], so it's been 10 years.
Araki: I'm very grateful, since I believe that this special issue was able to be organized all thanks to your interview from back then.
Saito: At any rate, even compared with back then you haven't changed at all. Dare I say you've turned even younger? You never cease to surprise me (laughs). As expected from someone who I'm suspicious of being a practitioner of Ripple, or in this case should I say a vampire, or perhaps even a clone... (laughs).
Araki: Please, but old age is steadily progressing. I've switched to a monthly serialization now since the quantity for weekly serialization became punishing by degrees.
Saito: Last time we talked, it was just around the 10th anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. You have continued to work on it ever since and now on its 20th anniversary, you are still exploring new fields of expression and of story with Steel Ball Run (hitherto SBR) which is serialized in Ultra Jump. Although it may seem a little late, I am happy to see a special issue of this magazine finally being published on this occasion. In terms of your recent activities, it seems you've been giving many lectures this year. Is there some kind of intention behind giving these lectures?
Araki: That's right. Since I have an exclusive contract with Shueisha, I always had the feeling that I was working only for Shueisha and myself. So I thought I should also try to contribute to society in some way all of a sudden when I turned 40. I thought it would maybe be a good idea to talk to junior high school students and people like that. But exactly like other manga artists, I’m not really good at that kind of thing. It’s sort of the reason why I became a manga artist. It’s not unusual for me to see only about 5 people in the span of a week (laughs).
Saito: It is true that manga artists, even if they are quite well-known, do not often give lectures. However, your lectures seemed to be quite popular according to some of the responses on the Internet, and I got the impression that you spoke openly about your own approach to being an artist.
Araki: Yes, I think that's an important thing. I have had more opportunities to do so since last year. I'm still not very good at it, though.
Saito: However, I get the impression that you're pretty skilled at making people laugh, right?
Araki: No, don't be silly (laughs).
Saito: There’s something really interesting about your popularity, Mr. Araki. It goes without saying you were very popular 10 years ago, but it was a bit unthinkable for a magazine like Eureka to take your work up as a subject for discussion. At the time of our previous interview, I thought it would be difficult for you to appear in the context of manga culture as covered by a magazine the likes of Eureka, which is precisely why I asked you to come speak in this magazine. And now after 10 years have passed, it’s the other way around with this magazine producing a special issue about you of its own accord. Have you felt some changes in your situation as an artist, the likes of which I just discussed now?
Araki: I guess to me, Eureka has the image of talking about things like the esoteric world of David Lynch and other artistic works like that. In terms of the image of my own work, the editorial department would severely criticize me if I drew the same type of work as manga artists my senior when I first started out as an author. So I intentionally tried to differentiate my work from theirs, although I respected my seniors. Even though I wonder if I may have differentiated my work too much (laughs). My stance was to tread into the little cracks, to step into fields where no one had explored before. But by doing that, I feel like the people in their 50s and 60s nowadays ended up looking down on me, or rather refusing to acknowledge me (laughs). But on the other hand, what with this and that after getting older and drawing manga for many years, young readers who are junior high and high school students nowadays tell me they like my work. So I think that in a sense I have come in touch with something Eureka-ish a bit in that even though I do respect my seniors, I haven't faithfully inherited their good aspects. What do you think??
Saito: I think you're right. Well, recently, some young best-selling authors have emerged who profess to harboring a “respect for Araki,” such as Mr. Nisio Isin and Mr. Otsuichi.
Araki: Mr. Otsuichi, whom I connected with through the novelization of Part 4 he is currently writing, told me when we discussed that he read JoJo when he was in elementary school. I thought to myself, "Wow, it's been that long already?" I didn't have many opportunities to talk with senior artists I liked, so whenever I have the chance, I try to talk with young authors who say they have read and liked my manga.
Saito: I see. But still, it is a bit curious that the older generation does not recognize you.
Araki: I think it is because of what I mentioned earlierーthe fact that I was instructed to never ever draw the same manga as my seniors. Also, I like to look at paintings. And painters who created new styles of drawing were recognized eventually, even if their art seemed strange at first. I think it’s like that.
Saito: You hold up paintings from the Renaissance period as your ideal, right? So in a sense, your drawing style is faithful to the art fundamentals.
Araki: I wonder if it's a bit like "neo-renaissance" or "neo-gothic."
Saito: On the other hand, manga artists have a drawing complex that hasn't existed before Osamu Tezuka. They think they should be able to draw properly like a first-rate painter. Is it that you are shunned, because of your superior drawing ability?
Araki: Who knows? But there does seem to be something forbidding about my work which turns people into the CEOs of judging books by their cover (laughs). I'm often told by fans and other manga artists that they at first thought: "What is this revolting manga...?" (laughs). But they said when they actually read it, they liked it.
Saito: I think your manga has a very distinctive style, but "revolting" is a bit of a surprising reaction.
Araki: Mr. Otsuichi, for example, told me that he fell in love with it when he saw an enemy character crush his own bones and go inside a vent (laughs). So it just wins over people like that from the outset (laughs).There seems to be a clear division between those who like it and those who say, "What is this?" and stop reading.
Saito: Who is someone from the previous generation that you would love to talk to?
Araki: When I first started out, I thought that it was great when I could tell what manga people were reading on the train, even when sitting as far as 10 metres (33 ft) away. What I mean by that is I thought great manga were ones with characteristic drawings, and powerful designs. The simpler it is, the better. In that sense, Mr. Masami Kurumada at that time was wonderful. That extreme simplification of the scenes and story was perfect and I would really like to talk to him about that.
Saito: We can recognize your work from 10 metres (33 ft) away too, don't you think?
Araki: Shonen Jump back then was remarkable, full of such drawings. That's why I thought I had to be like that too. But up until I started writing JoJo I had no idea what to do. After my debut I drew a few things[d] but I didn't have a clear direction, or perhaps I would say I didn't have a clear view on the essence of my work. Then I looked at some Italian Renaissance paintings and thought it might do me some good to draw them in a modern style And that turned out to be fun. I like and enjoy drawing the curves which result from twisting bodies (laughs).
Saito: I love those twists and turns as well. It’s present too in SBR recently, but the composition and poses are becoming more and more complex as well. In some places it’s even hard to tell what’s going on just by taking a quick glance at the panels (laughs).
Araki: I am trying my best to make it as easy to understand as possible, though.