|
Anime Central - Day One - Tomoko Taniguchi
|
| |
 |
What do Jalen Rose, Bambi and Tomoko Taniguchi have in common? both
Rose, the Indiana Pacers' basketball player, and Taniguchi attended the
University of Michigan (Taniguchi learned her fluent English in Ann Arbor).
The Walt Disney version of Bambi was one of Taniguchi's favorite drawing
subjects when she was growing up, along with Jungle Emperor from Osamu
Tezuka. Inspired by that art and anime series such as space cruiser Yamato
and Gatchaman, Taniguchi decided she wanted to be an artist. Ironically,
Taniguchi studied English at Ann Arbor to be ready for another career in
case her artistic dreams didn't work out. |
|
| |
| Taniguchi gets some of her story ideas from movies, but most of her
tales come from real life. She takes her experiences and those of her friends
and turns them into manga form...with one exception. In a country that
seems to prefer unhappy endings for its stories, Taniguchi likes happy
endings. "Japanese readers think real life is now easy. I know it, but
I like happy stories," she said. |
 |
|
| |
 |
Taniguchi's stories seem to come together quickly. She said she needs
only one week to write a short story, then another week to draw it. Longer
stories take more time, of course, and often she doesn't know how a long
series will end after she starts it. |
|
| |
| Taniguchi's appearance at Anime Central put her on the same stage with
Chiho Saito, the character designer and manga artist of the Utena series,
and Kunihiko Ikuhara, the man in charge of the animated Utena. "I'm excited,"
she said about being with the people who made her favorite anime. One thing
that doesn't excite Taniguchi is the trend toward making stories about
homosexual men for women to read in Japan - she does not create yaoi or
june stories. |
 |
|
