 |
Yu Watase didn't expect to be treated as a conquering heroine when
she arrived at Anime Expo 98. The manga artist who created Fushigi Yuugi
received a pleasant shock when she was introduced to the crowd at the opening
ceremonies, and received a thunderous, cheering welcome. "I didn't know
how people would react to me," Watase said on Saturday at Anime Expo. "I
was surprised when there was cheering for me. The joy of being a manga
artist is to see that people enjoy what you do. I was happy when I heard
that people so far from Japan enjoyed my work." |
 |
Fushigi Yuugi's popularity has spread in Europe, and will expand in
the U.S. when Pioneer starts releasing the anime's television episodes.
The enthusiasm shown toward the series came despite the lack of a formal
release in America, where Fushigi Yuugi has been seen only in imports and
bootlegs. Watase said she never gets confused over what plot line is being
followed by her manga characters. It takes some work to create her stories
- or maybe it's a lack of work: "Sometimes when I'm dozing off, a story
comes into my mind. When I'm watching a movie or reading a book, I think
that my stories should be like that," said Watase. |
 |
Manga are aimed at narrow audiences in Japan, divided along lines of
gender and age. Watase wishes that wasn't the case. "It's kind of funny
in Japan where they have guys' comics and girls' comics. They shouldn't
separate the two. I think there should be comics for anybody and there
shouldn't be any stereotypes," said Watase. |
 |
Fushigi Yuugi's creator spends 12 hours a day with pen and ink, preparing
the pages that are then finished by her assistants. She gets to bed before
midnight "because it isn't good for my body" to stay up any later. Most
of her manga starts with the plots first, although when she creates a humorous
story, she'll sketch the characters first, then think up a story for them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
