Err, well, okay? Here I go. \o\ Original interview http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/51522471.html (SITE NOT SAFE FOR WORK)
It was published at the time volume 2 of YagaKimi came out. I apologize for potential inaccuracies in the translation.
−−−−−−−−−−−
Special conversation between "Yagate Kimi ni Naru"'s Nakatani Nio and "Ano Ko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo"'s Canno.
From the origin of their fixation on yuri to their work ethics, to the works in which they "felt the presence of yuri", the two authors who carry the yuri genre on their shoulders openly talked with us.
−−Today we're having a conversation in which you two can't not participate, so I thank you both for coming while you're so busy. Is this the first time you actually meet?
Nakatani Nio: Since we met a few days ago at Yuri-ten in Ikebukuro, this is actually our second meeting.
Canno: Since Nakatani-san's manga has a very cool craft to it, I expected her to be equally cool. And when we met, well, she was, but she was also a very kind and lovely woman.
NN: Really? What's this all about! (laugh) I actually always bought Canno-san's doujinshis at doujin displays, so of course I've known about her for a while now.
Ca: Same for me, I've been reading Nakatani-san's doujins since before "Yagate Kimi ni Naru" started. I didn't know very well the exact genre of her works, but Melonbooks had a special page attached saying "It's an awesome manga!", so I bought them regardless.
−−So you knew who the other was before you were serialized. What started your interest in Yuri, Canno-san?
Ca: I guess the trigger was reading "Maria-sama ga miteru" (Shūeisha) in high school. I didn't really care much about the genre at first, but after reading it I became hooked on it.
NN: That's the most notorious entry point! What couple did you like the most?
Ca: My favorite character is Yoshino from "Yellow Rose", and I ship her with Rei-chan. Did you read MariMite, Nakatani-san?
NN: Since it's a sort of landmark for Yuri, I read volume 1 for my culture, and I liked it, but I don't have much time to read novels, so I haven't read the rest. For now I'm only reading one small bit at a time.
Ca: Please be sure to read at least to "Rainy Blue".
NN: I don't quite get that "stop at Rainy" phrase that Yuri fans always use...
Ca: Well, don't worry about that, buy them until Rainy Blue.
NN: Alright, I'll read it.
Ca: Have you enjoyed a particular Yuri series lately?
NN: In my last interview, when I said I like "Hibike! Euphonium" (novel by Takarajimasha, anime by Kyōto Animation), I was retorted that it wasn't Yuri. But there were scenes where I did feel a Yuri vibe, so it was fine by me.
Of course, Euphonium as a whole can't really be called a Yuri, but to me it counts as long as I can feel it in some parts.
Ca: Yeah, I'm that way too. Take "Precure" (Tōei Animation): I watch it as a goldmine of yuri, and in my favorite series, Doki Doki, there's that girl called Hishikawa Rikka...
NN: Oh yeah, Hishikawa!
Ca: She's the main character Aida Mana's partner, but as Mana builds relationships with other characters, Rikka gets jealous and uneasy. If you watch this as a grade schooler, you can think that it's natural to feel this way towards a friend, but when you watch it as an adult, you totally feel the Yuri!
NN: Ahaha! So you have more fun seeing Yuri in mainstream works than reading actual yuri?
Ca: I feel it has become this way, lately, yes. Before, I read only Yuri-hime Comics and such, works that I fully knew were Yuri, but these times I've started to look for Yuri in works that aren't generally lauded as such.
NN: Did it start when you started to draw "AnoKiss"?
Ca: Hmm, I wonder? Lately I enjoy feeling the Yuri in stuff like the yonkoma in "Kirara" (Houbunsha), but I think I also got tired with overly serious and dark works as I grew older. So more than "AnoKiss", it may just be that I'm getting old (laugh).
NN: Since I've started drawing Yuri manga, I've become more conscious of other Yuri works, but what about you, Canno-san? Has drawing AnoKiss made your Yuri antenna more sensitive?
Ca: Not that much, I would say. Even before my love for Yuri awakened, I liked same-sex romance in general, so outside of that and seeing Yuri and girly anime, my sensitivity is still pretty much the same.
NN: I think I feel the same. So more than Yuri itself, what you really enjoy is shipping, right?
Ca: Yes, I love shipping. There are a lot of people who are both into BL and Yuri, aren't there. (?)
−−Then why do you write Yuri rather than BL?
Ca: I love drawing facial expressions, and if I have to draw very expressive faces, I have more fun with girls. And if I have two girls, that's twice the luck. (laugh)
More than romantic love iself, I like ambiguous relationships that are close to love but might be something else. But if I write such relationships with a boy and a girl, everyone ends up naturally assuming that it's love. However, with two girls the feeling is a bit more balanced, I think. I guess it would be the same with two boys, but as I said I have more fun drawing girls, so… (laugh)
NN: It's true that in AnoKiss, the characters never use the words "love" or "romance". Is that deliberate on your part?
Ca: It's not exactly deliberate, but it's a natural result of that feeling, I guess. And you, Nakatani-san, what made you draw girl's love manga?
NN: I thought, "if a cute girl and a cute girl do cute stuff, it'll be hella cute."
Ca: So you're no different from me! (laugh)
NN: Your way of saying it was cooler, though. (laugh)
Ca: But in YagaKimi there's Maki-kun, who's a guy, right? Didn't you want to avoid featuring boys in a Yuri series?
NN: I didn't. In my interview for Dengeki Online, I said that "In a world where there are also men, I want girls to be chosen anyway." [sorry, I'm not quite sure what the original sentence means here > 「男性もいる世界観の中で、あえて女の子を選んだ形で描きたい」 ] But while there are girls that "fall in love specifically with girls", I think there are also girls "whose crush just happens to be a girl". I wanted to also show that side in the characters' personalities and specificities, and I didn't think I could really depict it if men were completely absent. What do you feel about the presence of male characters in YagaKimi's cast, Canno-san?
Ca: Since Maki-kun doesn't directly get involved in love affairs, I haven't really paid much attention to him, regardless of his gender. If he had made an obvious move on Nanami-senpai or Yuu-chan I would probably have thought "hey, he's a guy", but so far there's no indication he's going to approach them or any of the girls.
NN: I see, that's an original way to view it.
Ca: For now, I only think of Maki-kun as un uke, with Doujima-kun as the seme.
NN: Thank you very mu… wait, what? (laugh) In AnoKiss, however, there's not a trace of male presence.
Ca: Yes, right from the start I decided that there would't be any male characters.
NN: Writing the word "yuri" in the title feels like a sort of challenge. Didn't it take courage?
Ca: I thought that it might not reach the potential readers if I didn't say right away "this is Yuri". So I wanted to get that information across. Since the series was gonna focus on "yuri" and "kiss", the best-sounding title I found with those two words was "Ano Ko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo". How did you decide on the title "Yagate Kimi ni Naru"?
NN: I did put a lot of meaning in the title, but even in the prototypes I chose ones that had a sort of Yuri aura to them. When volume 1 came out, I was very careful to appeal to Yuri lovers, with the cover (two girls gazing at each other) or the the band around the cover.
Ca: But that's not the case of the title.
NN: Indeed, but many yuri fans told me that "One Day, I Will Become You" sounds extremely Yuri. But some also say "I thought it was a story of substitution".
Ca: Like some kind of horror story. "I'll gradually take your place…" (laugh)
NN: Exactly. (laugh) In "AnoKiss", you have one kiss per chapter, huh.
Ca: Yes, my editor told me to include a kissing scene every time. And to create highlight scenes, in a Yuri manga the kissing scenes might be a selling point, they said. (laugh)
NN: I can get that. You think carefully about where the kiss will be, won't you?
Ca: I think the place where a kiss is given is significant, so I don't choose it at random. My editor even keeps an Excel file where they listed who kisses whom and where. Like, in volume 3, "kiss on the foot, indicating submission." (laugh)
NN: A kiss list, now that's interesting! Although, when you say "Excel", it kind of takes the magic away. (laugh)
Ca: But making a list of "character X gives a kiss there in chapter Y" means that by chapter 20 we've almost run out of body parts to kiss. (laugh)
NN: It's important to have some variety in the kisses, I guess. So far, my series has only had 2 kissing scenes, but I still have that voice telling me "this, here, is the highlight!", so I put all my effort onto that point. It's like a fighting game, where you wait for the exact moment when your special attack is sure to hit hard.
last edited at Aug 12, 2016 10:53AM
