Togashi interview translation
Hey everyone! I translated an interview with Yoshihiro Togashi from a magazine I bought in Japan. There's some questions in there we've seen him answer before, but also some interesting new stuff, so I thought I'd share. ^^
Super Otaku Magazine, issue 297 (January 2013)
Togashi-san has agreed to answer some questions for us today. Much thanks to Togashi-san for his cooperation, despite being busy with writing the movie script and the preparations for re-starting the serialization of Hunter x Hunter.
N= Nirazaki Tihashiberi (Interviewer)
T= Togashi Yoshihiro
N: Where did you get the idea for the movie story and characters?
T:It is based on a manuscript which I wrote 10 years ago, while I was working on the Yorkshin arc. I wrote several alternative setting while thinking about which direction the manga should take. The plot for the movie is one of these alternative settings that I wrote back then.
N: Togashi-san, before this movie your manga has been adapted twice, by two different animation companies? Which of the two anime adaptations of your work is better in your opinion?
T: It is a great honor to have received not just one, but two adaptations. The new version follows my original work more closely, but I also liked it when the scriptwriter of the previous anime, Furuhashi-san, added his own vision to the story. It made me think "oh, it can be like this too!", I enjoyed that very much.
N: The revelation that the world of Hunter x Hunter is much bigger than what we have seen up until now, had you been planning this all along?
T: Yes, the story up until now has merely been a prologue of what's about to come.
N: Leorio finally appeared again, and we found out that he has been studying hard (?) all this time. Why has Kurapika not appeared for such a long time?
T: He has been busy collecting the scarlet eyes.
N: What will happen to Kurapika and the Genei Ryodan from here on out?
T: Everyone dies.
N: Everybody has been wondering, is Alluka a boy or a girl?
T: Well, the Zaoldyeck family has five sons, so it is certain that Alluka was born as a boy. The reason why only Killua calls Alluka his 'sister' has yet to be revealed. Maybe it is some kind of secret between them as close siblings? (laughs)
N: There have been rumors that Gon and Killua, and also Leorio and Kurapika might become boyfriends in the future. What do you think about this idea?
T: Considering how close those two pairs are, that might very well happen, yes, I cannot deny that.
N: Lastly, What are your plans for the future in regards to drawing manga?
T: I want to draw a manga that I can't show to anyone, just to amuse myself. I have been working so much on Hunter x Hunter that I can not do much else. So it is about time to conclude it.
N: So no more professional manga from you after this?
T: I have no plans for that, no.
N: Thank you very much
Edit: Happy April Fools day! =3 I wonder how many of you thought it was real~ XDD
- Super Otaku Magazine doesn't exist, I can't even imagine a Japanese magazine using "otaku" in it's name because of the term's negative connotations in Japan.
- The interviewer name isn't a real Japanese name, the 'ti' sound doesn't even exist in Japanese (Also, I got those names and the issue number from a fake interview with Akira Toriyama that's been floating around the internet for as long as I can remember, so anyone who's into Dragonball would get that it's fake immediately from the names I used, I wonder if anyone caught on to that... ^^; )
- Any real Japanese interviewer would adress a mangaka with -sensei, not -san.
But in order to make it look more legit I put in a few real questions too. First one is from a comment Togashi wrote in Shonen Jump back in January, the fifth one is from Volume 0, and the two last ones are based on the author's comments in Togashi's Yu Yu Hakusho doujinshi from 1994, "Yoshi-rin de Pon" (And he said those things after writing YYH, but he still wrote HxH after that, so he lied... XD )
Sorry for any confusion I caused, I just wanted to try something like this once... ^^;;;;
Super Otaku Magazine, issue 297 (January 2013)
Togashi-san has agreed to answer some questions for us today. Much thanks to Togashi-san for his cooperation, despite being busy with writing the movie script and the preparations for re-starting the serialization of Hunter x Hunter.
N= Nirazaki Tihashiberi (Interviewer)
T= Togashi Yoshihiro
N: Where did you get the idea for the movie story and characters?
T:It is based on a manuscript which I wrote 10 years ago, while I was working on the Yorkshin arc. I wrote several alternative setting while thinking about which direction the manga should take. The plot for the movie is one of these alternative settings that I wrote back then.
N: Togashi-san, before this movie your manga has been adapted twice, by two different animation companies? Which of the two anime adaptations of your work is better in your opinion?
T: It is a great honor to have received not just one, but two adaptations. The new version follows my original work more closely, but I also liked it when the scriptwriter of the previous anime, Furuhashi-san, added his own vision to the story. It made me think "oh, it can be like this too!", I enjoyed that very much.
N: The revelation that the world of Hunter x Hunter is much bigger than what we have seen up until now, had you been planning this all along?
T: Yes, the story up until now has merely been a prologue of what's about to come.
N: Leorio finally appeared again, and we found out that he has been studying hard (?) all this time. Why has Kurapika not appeared for such a long time?
T: He has been busy collecting the scarlet eyes.
N: What will happen to Kurapika and the Genei Ryodan from here on out?
T: Everyone dies.
N: Everybody has been wondering, is Alluka a boy or a girl?
T: Well, the Zaoldyeck family has five sons, so it is certain that Alluka was born as a boy. The reason why only Killua calls Alluka his 'sister' has yet to be revealed. Maybe it is some kind of secret between them as close siblings? (laughs)
N: There have been rumors that Gon and Killua, and also Leorio and Kurapika might become boyfriends in the future. What do you think about this idea?
T: Considering how close those two pairs are, that might very well happen, yes, I cannot deny that.
N: Lastly, What are your plans for the future in regards to drawing manga?
T: I want to draw a manga that I can't show to anyone, just to amuse myself. I have been working so much on Hunter x Hunter that I can not do much else. So it is about time to conclude it.
N: So no more professional manga from you after this?
T: I have no plans for that, no.
N: Thank you very much
Edit: Happy April Fools day! =3 I wonder how many of you thought it was real~ XDD
- Super Otaku Magazine doesn't exist, I can't even imagine a Japanese magazine using "otaku" in it's name because of the term's negative connotations in Japan.
- The interviewer name isn't a real Japanese name, the 'ti' sound doesn't even exist in Japanese (Also, I got those names and the issue number from a fake interview with Akira Toriyama that's been floating around the internet for as long as I can remember, so anyone who's into Dragonball would get that it's fake immediately from the names I used, I wonder if anyone caught on to that... ^^; )
- Any real Japanese interviewer would adress a mangaka with -sensei, not -san.
But in order to make it look more legit I put in a few real questions too. First one is from a comment Togashi wrote in Shonen Jump back in January, the fifth one is from Volume 0, and the two last ones are based on the author's comments in Togashi's Yu Yu Hakusho doujinshi from 1994, "Yoshi-rin de Pon" (And he said those things after writing YYH, but he still wrote HxH after that, so he lied... XD )
Sorry for any confusion I caused, I just wanted to try something like this once... ^^;;;;