One of the guests of honor at Anime Expo 2016 was Kazue Kato, the creator behind the hit manga series Blue Exorcist, which is also a successful anime series (season 2 comes out in 2017 and there is also a film). She took a moment to speak with us (via a translator) about her process, her visit to the United States (this was her first time here!), and more!
Read on to learn about the beloved series creator Kazue Kato!
How has your experience at Anime Expo been?
I wasn’t sure how many U.S. fans there are, and I came to Anime Expo not really understanding that. It was my first time seeing my U.S. fans, and it was the first time that I could visually see all of these fans that are reading my comic. Yesterday, I was able to meet them during the autograph signings. I was actually able to meet all my fans live and in person and get their reaction and feedback. They are very warm. I was very touched by their friendship and support.
Did you see many cosplays of your characters?
Yes. Yesterday, at lunch, there were some Rin cosplayers who came in to where we were having lunch just by pure accident, so it was fun.
There were a lot last year.
You are saying compared to this year?
Yeah, because they screened the film.
I see.
You kind of touched on it a little bit, but how has your stay in the U.S. been so far?
My stay in the U.S. has been a lot of fun. I have been doing some sight seeing in between too. It was my very very first time in the U.S. so…
Welcome, welcome.
I’ve always kinda looked to the United States through movies and TV that I see, so I am really excited to be here.
Who and what inspires you?
Oh, Hollywood films and TV. I get a lot of influence from anything overseas pretty much.
How do you come up with your character designs?
I try to read as much manga as I can and design things in a way where they are easy for readers to understand. That aspect is really important to me. I work in my own tastes while taking that into account.
AO NO EXORCIST © 2009 by Kazue Kato/SHUEISHA Inc.
What are some of your favorite mangas to read?
I get asked that pretty often. At this point, it is getting hard to have a favorite.
What are your top three manga?
Maybe Sato Zakuri, but I’m trying to think of what I have read lately, but I can’t think of anything. In the past, there was Akira and Neon Genesis Evangeleon, but lately Attack on Titan and what else… There is also Kimi ni Todoke… but I am not sure there is a U.S. release for that [ed note: it’s published in North America by VIZ Media]. Oh, From Me to You is the English title. My Love Story and some other Shojo manga. So, not the top three, but those are the ones that are current.
Your art has changed a little bit over your career. Would you like to talk about your growth as an artist?
So, this is based on Time Killers?
Yes. (In Time Killers, a collection of Kazue Kato’s short stories, she talks at the back of the manga about how her art has changed over the past 5-9 years).
Back in the day, I was just drawing because I liked to draw. But now, I am very conscious about how my fans, how my readers, will understand and read my works so it has changed that way. There is more of a fan input influence compared to when I first started. So, now, I feel like my older habits are starting to come back these days. I am always sort of teeter tottering between my habits versus giving my fans what they want. Yeah, that is about it.
What do you enjoy drawing the most and what is the hardest thing to draw?
Let’s see. Do you mean characters or manga?
In general.
Let’s start with the hardest – the story and how to build the story is really difficult. The regular pattern is that we are really working on the story so much that I have to cram the drawing process. I feel like I have more… I am starting to feel a little bit more joy in the story and the storytelling process compared to back in the day when that was just really hard. It was a struggle. I am starting to find the joy in the storytelling part too. As far as the drawing… Yeah, there’s parts where I can just… like it was breathing air, completely effortless. When I am really in that concentration zone, it is great.
With the first question we kind of touched on this, but when you started drawing characters for Blue Exorcist, did you have any idea that it would be as big as it is now?
My life has had a lot of mistakes and things that haven’t gone well, so being able to… At first I thought, I mean now it is series, but I thought I would only have one or two volumes and that was it, but it is an entire series now, so that was unexpected.
Who is your favorite character?
I get asked that often, but I keep answering that I don’t really have a favorite. I might pick one now… I like everyone. Maybe, just for the record, I will say Rin. Yeah, because Rin took a lot of effort to develop his character.
AO NO EXORCIST © 2009 by Kazue Kato/SHUEISHA Inc.
It is like a parent having to pick their favorite child.
It is very similar, yeah.
Do you have more in store for Blue Exorcist?
In the manga or the anime?
Manga.
There are things coming up. I would definitely like to make it more fun and entertaining.
Your self-portrait is a rabbit… Why the fascination with rabbits?
Yeah, people ask me that pretty often. That one derives because I just generally like animals. When I was a child, I tended to draw more animals than humans. In Japan, there are a lot of rabbit toys. There are these little characters called Sylvanian Families and they are these biped animals that are about this big and a little bit furry. And the main family of the Sylvanian Families series is a family of rabbits. So, with that, I would always be drawing rabbits all the time. So when I would write letters to friends, in the little corner next to my names I just draw a little rabbit. It is from those days and I kind of continued doing it.
Ah, kawaii (cute). Have you been to the bunny island in Japan?
I know about the cat one, but… is it a theme park?
No, I went in October. It is just an island where there is a hotel and you can stay there. When you walk out the front door, they are everywhere. You can feed them and they will come sit on your lap.
Kawaii.
It is very pretty. It is a beautiful island.
Yes, I am Japanese and I didn’t even know that.
Next field trip – it is research.
*laughs*
You can pick which one speaks to you, but which character, short story or manga are you most proud of?
Hmm what am I most proud of? That is a cool way of phrasing it. I wish I had a really good response. Maybe just having had a career in drawing. Maybe, overall… Right now, there is nothing I could say I am really proud of because I am in the middle of that career process, but having not quit. Yeah, I think I am about to come upon that… This is what I am going to be proud of. That is definitely a goal, to create something I am proud of.
What are you currently working on?
Mostly Blue Exorcist and maybe contributing a little bit to the anime, but nothing outside of that. Yeah, and developing the next big storyline.
AO NO EXORCIST © 2009 by Kazue Kato/SHUEISHA Inc.
Another one stemming off that, as a manga artist and character creator, how are you liking the anime version of your creation?
Yes, so Sasaki-san, Keigo Sasaki, is the character designer. So my manga is actually living and breathing, moving on the screen. Everyone has been telling me that he has really captured who and what my characters that I created are about. I have been getting good feedback. Before the anime started, I was told that there are some isms, my isms that in my characters and I was worried how that would transfer over to anime, but now Sasaki-san … you know his version of my characters are obviously equivalent, but it has been a smooth transition. I think it really had to be Sasaki-san doing the character design, otherwise, it would have been difficult to capture everything. There is a new season of the anime coming out and Sasaki-san is in charge of that as well.
How did you feel when you first watched the anime of Blue Exorcist?
It didn’t really hit me, there was no, “this is really happening”, it did not quite hit me. It was like, “oh. they’re moving.” And even around me too, everyone is like “Wow, it is an anime now”.
That is great. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
