Kazuo Koike, famed manga artist and writer of classics like Lone Wolf and Cub, Samurai Executioner, and Lady Snowblood, joined English-speaking fans on Reddit for a “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” session this past Thursday, March 3rd. Fans has plenty of questions, both about his career, his feelings on up and coming artists, fan translations, and… cheese? Below are 6 interesting things fans learned from the AMA.
Kazuo Koike on print, digital, and his favorite manga:
From the standpoint of the environment, manga and the amount of paper it uses, may definitely be a problem. Printed manga may be completely supplanted by digital. You won’t flip pages anymore, but swipe them. Because of that, how manga are presented will change. I do not have time to read them. Even now I am still writing them.
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I like them all. It really is hard to pick a favorite. I would have to say that the manga done by my students are my favorites.
On… moe?:
Some of my pupils ask me about moe manga as well, but I’m afraid that an 80 year old like me does not know very much about the moe genre.
On adapting to the industry and creating memorable work:
Don’t think of the story first, but instead think of creating a character and various problems that will entice the reader. By doing this, it becomes unnecessary to worry about those changes of the time.
On easing visa rules for artists and, uh, Japanese swords:
This made me remember a trip I took to San Diego while carrying a real Japanese sword with me. I was stopped at customs, but one of the employees there was a Lone Wolf and Cub fan, so they let me through normally.
I believe that the Japanese government should value artistic content more. There are lots of students from abroad studying at my school. Having quality communication with those students is rather hard however.
On fan translations:
I think the least you can do before translating is getting the author’s permission to do so. I feel that publishing translations online without getting permission is not a good thing.
On… cheese and steak?
Yes, I do like cheese, even though I don’t eat it that often. I tend to eat steak more often.
Check out even more of Kazuo Koike’s AMA over on Reddit!