 When Hiroshi
Aro, the creator of the Futaba-Kun Change series about a gender-bending
teen, appears at conventions, fans want to know his favorites and his influences.
Aro tends to be modest about his feelings, but Steve Bennett of Studio
Ironcat (on the left, next to Aro) told fans that the artist is just being
modest and courteous to his fellow creators. Aro said that he doesn't read
many other manga, but he also noted that his experience as an artist makes
it a little hard to appreciate the work as a fan might appreciate it. "instead
of reading the comic as a whole, I see the individual drawings," said Aro. |
 Aro did admit
that he tended to get in trouble with his parents when he was a child because
he insisted on drawing on the walls of his home. Aro progressed past that,
of course. Then there were the sentai superhero shows that he watched while
young: "I lived with those shows. I always wanted to become a sentai,"
he said. "Instead of copying the shows, I want to pay homage to them."
Aro also is modest when he s peaks of the need to please the people who
buy his manga. "If I draw something for myself I'll understand it, but
I have to consider the readers," he said. |
 If you've read
Aro material, you've seen the alligator who pops up and says "I didn't
intend for this to happen." That's Aro's modesty speaking again, talking
about how he wanted a scene to look a certain way or a story to head in
one direction when another direction resulted. What about the infamous,
laxative-laced beauty contest in Futaba? Aro said that was his attempt
to change the series and take it out of its high school setting. Also,
Aro admitted that "I was interested in drawing the bathing suits." |
