Assistant for many mangakas including Tsukasa Hôjô (City Hunter), Koiwai Osamu very quickly specialized in creating sets. Today, he is a freelance collaborator on several mangas, including the very famous Kaiju n°8. He returns, for Linternaute.com, to his career and the specificities of his specialty.
Today, mangas have become part of French customs. The French readership has understood that the field of subjects covered is almost infinite, and this is surely one of the reasons for the breakthrough of this medium in France. But beyond the incredible qualitative and quantitative richness of manga, one of the keys to their success is their frantic publication rate. The mangakas thus deliver dozens of pages every month, even every week, and if certain extraterrestrials like Nakaba-Suzuki manage to keep up this pace on their own, the majority of authors need help to finalize their boards. Koiwai Osamu was an assistant to mangakas for many years, before setting up his structure with his wife, Osa-Pro. Today, he designs the sets for numerous manga, including for the best-selling Kaiju #8 by Naoya Matsumoto.
Linternaute.com: how did you get into the world of manga?
I love manga from a very young age and I have always been intrigued, attracted by this job. I wanted to work in the world of manga at all costs. I admired the profession of mangaka and those who practiced it, without really realizing what was actually hidden behind this profession. When I was still a student, I saw a job offer for a job as a mangaka assistant. I drew examples of still lifes – buildings, cars and nature scenes – to show off my drawing skills and applied. Luckily, I was accepted and I found myself assistant to the master Kei Satomi (a prolific but unpublished author in France, he notably wrote No Sidea series about rugby with a touch of fantasy, and Zero: The Man of the Creation, the story of a man capable of unraveling the mysteries of any antiquity, Ed). I then also worked as an assistant for Tsukasa Hôjô (City Hunterr/ Nicky Larson) and other mangakas and even collaborated on video game projects. Today, I am a production collaborator in charge of the sets for Kaiju #8 by Naoya Matsumoto.
Did you specialize in sets when you started as an assistant?
When I started as Satomi Kei’s assistant, I was really a rookie, completely immature artistically speaking. I can’t say that I really contributed anything. On the other hand, I learned a lot, by dint of hard work. I was incredibly influenced by Satomi Kei and Tsukasa Hôjô who somehow forged the artist I am today. I also consider my time in Master Kei’s studio as an apprenticeship more than a job. It was after four years of assistantship that I consider myself capable of drawing sets worthy of being used in the master’s boards.
When I arrived in Tsukasa Hôjô’s studio, I had a sufficient level and I was able to work on the landscapes but also help to finalize the boards (inking, frames, etc.). We can say that Satomi Kei and Tsukasa Hojo allowed me to progress on sets and inking, an area in which I ended up specializing quite naturally. At that time, everything was done analogically.
I particularly like the atmosphere of the sets of Mitsuru Adachi’s work.
And today, you work 100% digitally?
Yes, I work with an iMac and a tablet Wacom Cintiq with 22 inch screen and I exclusively use the software Clip Studio Paint. It’s a financial investment to go digital, but it represents such a time saving in production, if only with the only uses of copy-paste or brush. Particularly when dealing with the sets of a manga.
What are your references and sources of inspiration in terms of set designs?
More than a work, I am mainly influenced by authors. Obviously my elders like Satomi Kei and Tsukasa Hôjô are major influences on my style, especially since they taught me the art of drawing well. I also soak up a lot of my manga readings: as soon as I like the line of an author, my mind is imbued with his style and unconsciously enriched. I particularly like the atmosphere of the decorations of the work of Mitsuru Adachi. On the other hand, I read very few architecture magazines.
On Kaiju No. 8, you are no longer an assistant but a production collaborator, what are the differences?
In terms of the creative process, there is no difference, but as far as I am concerned, when you are a production collaborator, you feel a stronger sense of responsibility for the work. We can, depending on the mangakas, negotiate different types of contract. For my part, I contribute to Kaiju #8 as a professional designer, so rather than being called an “assistant”, I preferred to sign a contract as a “production collaborator”. In addition to feeling responsible, the fact of being recognized and credited in the manga for this work fills me with pride and pushes me to support the work in the shadows, through my work.
Talking about your job. What is a typical week like?
I work on a weekly cycle: one week out of Kaiju #8, a week on another project and for now a week off. For the week of Kaiju #8, Mr. Matsumoto contacts me when he has finished his storyboard. He sends me the storyboard enriched with the characters and, once I have gone through it, we have a meeting via Skype for one to two hours. I never have an exchange with the tantô (editorial manager, editor’s note). I start working by doing research and compiling possible documentation. And then I make a draft that I send to Mr. Matsumoto. If he validates the latter, then I move on to inking.
I generally work 10 to 12 hours a day, my schedules are flexible and variable. For a complete chapter, I generally take a day to produce the draft and 3-4 days to produce the final inked and clean version.
How do you generally document yourself for a set?
I look at photos to find inspiration for what to draw. I also sometimes draw inspiration from scenes from films or television series.
Is it more practical to be able to draw inspiration from places that really exist for the sets?
Absolutely, when the decor really exists, it’s easier to imagine even if you project it into a different situation, because it’s easier to find references.
I hate drawing objects, for example weapons, because you can’t cheat.
What is the most difficult to illustrate?
I hate drawing objects, for example weapons, because it’s tedious and you can’t cheat, every detail is important. Conversely, drawing an ordinary city in scenery is easier, because I can easily cheat.
To cheat ?
Let me show you a drawing, it will be clearer. With a city we can content ourselves with highlighting the general atmosphere of a landscape, rather than drawing it realistically.
In your videos on Youtube we see that you use a lot of perspective lines during creation. Why is this essential?
It is simply essential. The essence of a decor lies in its lines of perspective. Clip Studio Paint’s perspective lines tool is an important and handy one. I rely a lot on these lines.
What decor are you most proud of?
What I’m proud of, um, it’s hard to choose… Let’s say that the one that struck me the most is the first scene where the “kaiju cleaners”, of which Kafka is a part, intervene. To create this decor which introduces the world of Kaiju No. 8, I consulted Mr. Matsumoto several times. In order to be sure to understand the details of his universe but also the different points of view that he wanted to convey. This is also the page that took me the longest to complete.
Who is your favorite character from the series Kaiju #8 ? And why ?
Kikoru Shinomiya is my favorite character. I love her figure when she’s standing up. No matter the situation, she always exudes a certain class.
I don’t listen to a lot of music while working. Instead, I put in the background comedy-style shows or foreign TV series on Netflix and Hulu. For the videos that I share on YouTube, I put rock because I think it sticks well to the work.
You also share a lot of beautiful illustrations in “SD” form, why this style?
Thank you, my wife draws them. At first glance, one might think that Super Deformed drawings (graphic style where the characters have a small body and a disproportionately large head, sometimes called “chibi”, Editor’s note) are just cute, but it’s also a drawing style that benefits from the popularity of the works he sketches. That’s why this style is timeless.
When you manage to improve your drawing by putting fewer lines, fewer strokes, fewer frills, you achieve the goal.
What advice would you give to a young person who would like to become a mangaka?
Not being myself a mangaka, I can’t give advice on how to become a mangaka. On the other hand, I can testify that all the mangakas that I know have continued to draw tirelessly, even after 1 year, 2 years or 5 years without experiencing success.
Regarding my specialization as a background designer, here are the tips I can share. You have to start by drawing by copying photos of landscapes using a layer, that’s what I did when I was young. At first, draw day plans by tracing them, and then go beyond the tracing little by little by wondering how to get the perspective on your drawing. The next step is to juggle the power of the lines and their diversity. Finally, the most complicated thing is to master precision through omission. When you manage to improve your drawing by putting fewer lines, fewer strokes, fewer frills, you achieve the goal.
To practice, you have to draw tirelessly, take everything you can as sources of inspiration and references. Do not hesitate to draw inspiration from videos I share on YouTube. Once you feel comfortable with these settings, move on to nighttime or late afternoon. Change the tone and expression of the scenery by adding rain or snow. It’s very important to practice playing with the tone like this, even if it’s difficult. Then you can enrich this drawing with a building, a car, etc. If you manage to add content to your drawing that is not traced, then that means you’re there.
In the end, making sets is a craft, technique comes with practice. Good luck to everyone !
Kaiju n°8, Kaze editions, €6.99