Thread by @Dandadanverse

Here is an interview on Yukinobu Tatsu-sensei and his editor Shihei Lin
#Dandadan #ダンダダン

Do you remember what made you say to yourself
"I want to become a mangaka"?
After my studies, I couldn't find a salaried position, so I continued my student job. I had a small job in a konbini (convenience store), where I worked at night.

I happened to scribble on the back of receipts. Seeing my drawings, my manager told me: "You draw very well, you should do mangaka." It was the click that pushed me to embark on this career.

What steps did you take once you decided to become a mangaka?
I immediately wrote a manga to submit it to a competition. Since I liked Gundam , I wrote a 100-page history of Gundam . All in pen. But the pen doesn't scan and print very well (laughs)… Ignoring the basics of manga,

I submitted my manuscript to the competition. In the end, I was not selected, but the editorial team contacted me to say "as you draw well, even if you did not receive the prize, would you not like to join the team in as an assistant?"I then started working in the world of manga.

Can you tell us on which title you started as an assistant?
on a manga called MS Gundam Orera Rempo Gurentai , a sort of spin-off of the one-year war. Sono-sensei working on the Freedom project , I had the opportunity to help him as an assistant.

What are your main influences?
In manga, what influenced me a lot was Lampo by Tetsurô Ueyama. I also watch a lot of movies. It's the medium that inspires me the most, both for writing and directing.

You published your first series in 2010 at the age of 25 in Monthly Shônen Magazine , Seigi no Rokugô , then in 2013 Fire Ball! . Between the two series, there is already a first graphic gap, in particular on the expressions of the characters. What have you changed?

Yukinobu Tatsu : my line progressed without it being a goal in itself. I didn't say to myself: "I have to draw better". On the other hand, I am very careful to convey the emotions of the characters to the readers. This is probably why they have gained in expressiveness.

Shihei Lin : To me, you are always thinking about improving yourself. And at all levels, not just in terms of drawing. Of course, by reading the first volume of Dandadan , you can surely say to yourself "I have progressed" between certain chapters.

Feel free to enjoy the progress of your drawings. For me, your desire to improve yourself is undeniable and this is obviously reflected in your drawing, which is refined over time.

These first two series ended after 2 and 5 volumes. What did you take away from these experiences?
I learned that it was crucial to know how to capture the attention of readers. Guide their gaze with lines of force or by adjusting the centers of gravity of the boards.

After these first experiences at Kodansha, you call Jump Square and Mr. Shihei Lin picks up. How did this first exchange go?
Yukinobu Tatsu : I first thought to myself: "Mr. Lin speaks devilishly quickly!" (laughs)

Shihei Lin : You gave me manga pitches. We made an appointment and he came to the office to show me his boards. We exchanged about them to try to draw stories from them.

Did you expect to become so close?
Yukinobu Tatsu: it's true that we are very close today
At first no,we didn't think about it.When I left Monthly Shônen Magazine (Kodansha),I didn't get along very well with my editor and I was looking for a new monthly mag where I could blossom.

Shihei Lin : He had applied to several magazines. Including at Kodansha. At the time, he had already worked with several tantô (editorial manager), so he knew a little about what he wanted as a working relationship. Following his candidacies, he had several touches

Yukinobu Tatsu : But in the end, I only signed with Lin.
Shihei Lin : I thought that at the time several tantô supervised your work.
Yukinobu Tatsu : I said to myself: "Since Mr. Lin seems very interested and involved, I might as well only work with him."

In 2015, you published two one-shots in Jump Square. How do you manage to be so fast?
Yukinobu Tatsu : The most important thing is to set a schedule and stick to it rigorously.

Shihei Lin : I think your work at konbini has made you realize how precious time is and how to optimize the way you use it.
Yukinobu Tatsu : It's true, even if I only have 5 minutes free, I manage to
Shihei Lin : using them for work At first, I also wondered why you were so fast.

You followed Shihei Lin at Jump+, but your dream was to publish in Weekly Shônen Jump and no project was validated. Was it difficult to become an assistant again after having already been published?
Shihei Lin : In fact, even when he published his one-shots in Jump Square

Yukinobu continued to be an assistant in several studios. But there were several problems of non-payment and financially the situation was not tenable. He asked me if I didn't have a place to advise him to be an assistant. I introduced him to Fujimoto's studio.

He left the other studios to become Fujimoto-sensei's assistant. Before Dandadan, he never stopped being an assistant, it seems to me.
Yukinobu Tatsu : Yes absolutely. And I was tired of working in the eye because it had already happened at my previous workplace.

I wanted to work for someone who would pay me properly at the end of the month, so working for Mr. Fujimoto was a real pleasure.
Shihei Lin : Until you got your own series published, you were always an assistant. Afterwards, you stayed with Fujimoto-san all the time, Tatsuya-san

and Kaku-san
Yukinobu Tatsu : Yes, absolutely.
So you were assistant to Tatsuki Fujimoto and Yûji Kaku. What did you learn from these two mangakas?
Yukinobu Tatsu : the importance of the majikan . What defines "reality", the realism of a work.

For example, this human is not going to say that, this character is not going to behave like that, he is not going to place this object here… General consistency. The three of us talked about it a lot, I don't know if it's something I learned, but we discussed it a lot.

here is the continuation

https://twitter.com/DandadanMoments/status/1586793891067531266

This was an interview done by a major french news site here is the link if you want to have a look but it is in french i translated it to english there were some abt 3 or 4 japanese terminologies i couldnt really understand so i left it as it is linternaute.com/livre/mangas/2…

Obviously there are terms that didnt make sense since i used google translate but at least we can get the context