Looking for your own original style ～Moyoco Anno～

In this week's edition of asianbeat, we interview the top-running manga artist Ms. Moyoco Anno, known for her work that has diversified from girls' comics to young men's comic magazines and writing essays.

You are a native of Tokyo, but have you ever been to Fukuoka?
I've been there two times. The motsu-nabe was very good! One of my staff members lost her tooth implant while eating!

Many young people overseas also read your comics, but what do you think of so many people outside of Japan liking your work?
I don't think that there are any boundaries to romances, friendships, or hardships in life. I'm glad that many people think that "we share the same feelings" (through my work).

Which of your works is most memorable?
It's hard to name just one. However, my first work freelance that was read by many people, Happy Mania, was memorable.

Happy Mania was a big hit, and was adapted for TV in 1998. Did you intend to make it a hit?
Back then, I was fighting with my back to the wall, and I wrote trying not to worry too much about other stuff. It was in no way calculated.

We hear that you didn't watch the TV series.
I was still writing the original series, and the TV adaptation wasn't necessarily a loyal interpretation of the original, so I was afraid of the original being influenced by the adaptation.

Your current series, Hataraki Man (Working Man) has several unique characters. How do you create your characters?
Rather than people near me, I remember images of people that I've met only once. For example, the interviewer today (an asianbeat staff member) is sweating a lot, so I remember later on about what he's like, and it puts the life into the character.

We imagine that you had many hardships until your success with Happy Mania.
With the exception of a few lucky people, manga artists don't necessarily get work constantly after debuting. After going freelance, I was very disappointed with the gap between what I wanted to do and the stuff that I had to do as a professional. I adm

What has changed from then and now?
I can't say that I had a professional consciousness back then. I only drew stuff that made me happy. However, I now can't imitate the work that I did back then, which I did with so little time and extraordinary concentration. But now, I'm starting to be

There are many young people in Fukuoka who are your fans and want to be manga artists. Please give them some advice.
There are so many people that can draw well, and namy others that have great artistic sense.
But I'd like these people to really ask themselves if what they're drawing is really something that they felt and thought of themselves. Being able to distinguish between original and non-original is the first step in becoming a professional. Finding your own original style is the first step in creating stuff.