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Rumiko
Takahashi Interview, Memorial Art Book |
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(taken
from the Ranma FAQ)
Translation provided by Kota Fujimura
Part one, Secrets behind the creation of Ranma
How did you come up with the idea of a main character
that transforms?
If the main character can be male and female, I can
draw a lot of both boys and girls. To draw both male and
female is such fun, and it doesn't bore me out.
How did you think of transformation by water?
I had trouble coming up with the agent of transformation.
I was thinking about "getting punched", but
it would make a terrible face. I was thinking, "male,
female, male, female . . . " and it reminded me of
a shop curtain for public baths. The baths mean,
water, and hot water. I really liked it, because it's
idiotic and laughable. I wanted to make "Ranma"
a funny, kind of happy comic that can cheer up the reader,
therefore I was thinking it was a good idea . . .
The name "Ranma" is rare, but how did you
come up with it?
It was a cute name for either boy or girl.
Jusenkyö ("Country of Cursed Springs") was
an interesting idea . . .
When I decided "water" to be the agent for
transformation, I immediately thought of cursed springs.
I quickly decided on the place because "China is
the only place where those kinds of springs exist".
Part two, Hardship with 100 Ranma characters
Many springs appear in the series, like nyan-nee-chuan
and mao-nee-chuan, but did you already know what kinds
of "cursed springs" there are?
I was just thinking of a place with a bunch of cursed
springs, and I hadn't decided on what kind of curses there
were. When I made a new character, I thought what the
character transforms into that fit the image, and the
number of springs increased along with characters. I don't
even know how many there were.
If you are to fall into one of the "cursed springs",
what do you want to transform into?
I want something that can fly. I did introduce characters
like Pantyhose Taro and residents of Mt. Phoenix. I think
it'll feel great to fly freely.
Which characters came out with different personalities
from what you were originally thinking?
Ranma. Since he was into fighting, he was supposed to
be a clean-cut, nice boy with frank disposition, but he
turned out to be an indecisive, stubborn, sly guy. But
everyone has those kinds of emotions somewhere. Those
emotions inside me probably reflected into Ranma through
my pen.
To which character did you feel the greatest empathy?
Ranma and Akane had a little twist personality, but
Ryöga was easy to draw because he expressed his emotions
directly.
On the other hand, characters with strong will, like Shampoo
and Kunö, were hard to understand. In the case for Kunö,
I thought "There is no way I can handle him"
after I drew him two or three times. However, they made
it easier to develop a story, along with Happosai. They
kept the story going by causing a trouble because they're
too convinced. Like that, and it was very convenient.
There were a lot of sub-characters that appeared in
the series, and which ones did you really like?
I really liked King the gambling king for his looks.
It was a pure gag.
I also liked the tour guide for Jusenkyö, because drawing
him made me comfortable for some reason.
Among the animals, P-chan is my choice. I do like panda
bear and Shampoo's cat also . . . If there is a piglet
like that, I would
like to have one for a pet.
Part three, The basic is the gag that makes readers laugh
There were three elements in Ranma: fighting, love,
and gags. Which episode did you enjoy the most while you
were drawing it?
I like every single one of them. I just wanted to
draw fun and laughable manga, so I ended up including
gags in every episode. I like those classic gags like
you see a character goes flying to the sky after getting
punched, so I ended up drawing those too.
The term for serial publishing pretty long, therefore
it gets boring if it was fighting only, or love only.
So, if there had been a continuous fighting episode, I
drew a gag that lasts only one episode, or maybe a love
story for next one. To make a fresh "Ranma",
I let it rotate those.
Which "love scenes" did you like?
I like the atmosphere when Ryöga tries to talk to
Akane. He really gets embarrassed, or can't say what he
wants to say. I get embarrassed when I'm drawing a serious
scene, so I ended up including a gag.
This applies to things other than "love scenes".
Sometimes, I draw a little gag at the edge of a cartoon.
I don't really care if anyone notices it or not.
Which episode were you most impressed by?
That will be the one when Ranma learns the "Hiryü
Shöten Ha". Because of Happosai's moxa cautery, hinriki-kyodatsu-kyu,
Ranma became really weak, so all the characters who couldn't
win against Ranma gathered to beat Ranma. On the other
hand, all the characters who are trying to help Ranma
gathered as well.
All the sub-characters that appeared previously tangled
and mixed up, and moved the story. Since it's been hard
up to that point as far as drawing is concerned, so it
left me a deep impression as an episode that set the tone
for the rest of the series.
If I limit the subject to fighting only, that will be
the fight with Herb. Maybe because I could draw both male
and female with Herb. The gags by Herb's men was fun,
too.
Part four, This extra large poster is the best work
Which illustration in this book did you spend the most
time on?
Of course, that will be the extra large poster. This
was the first time I drew something of that size. I had
hard time with this because I had to decide on minor details
like to show the feel for the four seasons, and still
put down every character there were. It was hard to decide
which character corresponds to which season. Especially
for winter, I could only think of the fighting skaters
(Mikado and Azusa). After thinking about it for a while,
a kotatsu came to my mind, so I created a "slacker"
zone with bunch of characters at a kotatsu.
Which illustration in this book is your favorite?
I like every illustration for the calender, but I
especially like the illustration of Ranma on page 84.
After you collected all the illustrations, did you
notice anything?
Many of the illustrations I did for the cover of Shonen
Sunday looked similar. Since it was a comic magazine for
guys, I ended up drawing something that looks like it's
coming out. I didn't notice this until I gathered all
the drawings.
Actually, this is the first time the book is published
as a collection of illustration. I never had an opportunity
to see my illustrations side by side, and I'm happy to
see some of my old pictures.
To finish this off, a word to readers
Thank you for supporting "Ranma" for a long
time. I couldn't have published this serially for nine
years without your support. When I read a fan letters
from you, I knew you like my work and you are supporting
me, and it was very encouraging. I'll keep
on drawing something that's fun, so please continue to
support me.
Back
to Ranma 1/2? What's that?
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