In a lovely new interview, titans of manga Rumiko Takahashi and Junji Ito discuss their work over some tea.
Courtesy of Viz Media, the entirely lovely Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Ranma ½ and Junji Ito, creator of Tomie, talk about their work and admiration for each other’s creative output.
Takahashi is generally quite shy, so to have her talking publicly like this is a rare occurrence, and I’m genuinely elated to see her doing this.
For many, Takahashi’s manga and subsequent anime adaptations have been formative works for fans both in Japan and abroad.
Ito is a bit more gregarious, but his chilled demeanor often catches people off guard, as his manga is known to be quite gruesome.
In any case, both are immense figures in the world of manga, and I think this kind of interview is a wonderful format and something I hope Viz Media does more of.
If you’re at all interested in interviews with Japanese creators like this, then feel free to browse my collection of interviews with people from anime, games, music, and everything else.
Over the past decade, I’ve managed to interview around a hundred Japanese creators, and I am happy to see Viz Media finally doing likewise.
Follow me on X, Facebook , and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently writing a regular column in Japanese about mecha games for Game*Spark.