In
its own way, the Wedding Peach anime and manga series may be the most
Japanese form of entertainment that the modern generation has produced.
"Japanese seem to be good at drawing cute things," said Nao Yazawa, the
creator of Wedding Peach. "I'd rather draw more serious things but it's
difficult. If it isn't fun you can't draw anything." It's not much of a
leap toward the modern Japanese tradition of elaborately staged
weddings and a manga series where weddings are turned into a sort of
superpower. "It's probably because of society - they corrupt girls at a
young age," Yazawa joked openly. In a more serious mood, she said that
her series is aimed at the girlish fascination with weddings and fancy
dresses. "As little girls get older, they start to show more of their
personality and they start to outgrow the wedding dresses and frills.
Being a slave to money, I try to appease my audience as much as
possible - it's a business."
Wedding
Peach stories are aimed at young girls, and its distinctive trappings
are intended to reach that audience. But beyond the cute characters and
fancy dresses, the personalities make the stories fun. "I think that
rather than the setting, for the manga, the interaction between the
characters is just as important," Yazawa said. Now the Wedding Peach
anime is headed to the U.S., something that the importer said wouldn't
have been possible a few years ago. The rise of the female anime
audience in the U.S. - the audience that is Wedding Peach's target -
made it a palatable property. "I had very little say in the anime,"
Yazawa explained. "I gave my original work to the director, and I think
the director put his own art in the anime. I don't think one artist
should control the other artists." Yazawa said she did get to think up
some story ideas and characters not in the original manga.
If
there's a dark side to Yazawa's fiction, it appears in her doujinshi.
Yes, Yazawa is one of the professional manga artists who publishes her
own comics just for the pleasure of creating something different. At
Anime Reactor, Yazawa had a book with an intriguing title: translated
into English, it's "If you're going to devour poison, be sure to lick
the plate clean." "Just kidding," Yazawa said. That book is
getting attention outside of doujinshi channels, as Yazawa said it's
being published in German. But the artist doesn't want people to think
she's aiming at darker stories. When asked what she thinks will happen
to young people raised on Wedding Peach stories, she said "I hope they
all grow up to be optimistic kids, or at least to realize that if a
person doesn't appear to be likable, they're good at heart."
In
its own way, the Wedding Peach anime and manga series may be the most
Japanese form of entertainment that the modern generation has produced.
"Japanese seem to be good at drawing cute things," said Nao Yazawa, the
creator of Wedding Peach. "I'd rather draw more serious things but it's
difficult. If it isn't fun you can't draw anything." It's not much of a
leap toward the modern Japanese tradition of elaborately staged
weddings and a manga series where weddings are turned into a sort of
superpower. "It's probably because of society - they corrupt girls at a
young age," Yazawa joked openly. In a more serious mood, she said that
her series is aimed at the girlish fascination with weddings and fancy
dresses. "As little girls get older, they start to show more of their
personality and they start to outgrow the wedding dresses and frills.
Being a slave to money, I try to appease my audience as much as
possible - it's a business."
Wedding
Peach stories are aimed at young girls, and its distinctive trappings
are intended to reach that audience. But beyond the cute characters and
fancy dresses, the personalities make the stories fun. "I think that
rather than the setting, for the manga, the interaction between the
characters is just as important," Yazawa said. Now the Wedding Peach
anime is headed to the U.S., something that the importer said wouldn't
have been possible a few years ago. The rise of the female anime
audience in the U.S. - the audience that is Wedding Peach's target -
made it a palatable property. "I had very little say in the anime,"
Yazawa explained. "I gave my original work to the director, and I think
the director put his own art in the anime. I don't think one artist
should control the other artists." Yazawa said she did get to think up
some story ideas and characters not in the original manga.
If
there's a dark side to Yazawa's fiction, it appears in her doujinshi.
Yes, Yazawa is one of the professional manga artists who publishes her
own comics just for the pleasure of creating something different. At
Anime Reactor, Yazawa had a book with an intriguing title: translated
into English, it's "If you're going to devour poison, be sure to lick
the plate clean." "Just kidding," Yazawa said. That book is
getting attention outside of doujinshi channels, as Yazawa said it's
being published in German. But the artist doesn't want people to think
she's aiming at darker stories. When asked what she thinks will happen
to young people raised on Wedding Peach stories, she said "I hope they
all grow up to be optimistic kids, or at least to realize that if a
person doesn't appear to be likable, they're good at heart."
