Alumni Dialogue - Rumiko Takahashi vs Yoko Kondo
We've Been Drawing Manga Together
Translated by: Harley Acres
Rumiko Takahashi, who won this year's Shogakukan Manga Award and is popular for her work Urusei Yatsura, and Yoko Kondo, who exhibits a unique sensibility in this magazine and elsewhere, are high school classmates and good manga friends. [1] They talked about a variety of anecdotes, from their memories of high school manga club to the present day.
I heard that the two of you were classmates in high school, but which high school did you attend?
Takahashi: Niigata Chuo High School. [2]Kondo: It was a girls' school.
Were you always in the same class?
Takahashi: No. We were in the the same class for the first year, but different for the second and third years.Were you in the same class the whole time you were drawing manga?
Takahashi: That's right.Kondo: I didn't draw much, but this one...
Takahashi: No, I wasn't drawing manga per se, it was more like doodles. I actually started drawing manga in my second year when we created the manga research club. There were three of us at the center of it, Kondo-san and I were the vice managers, and the other was the manager... [3]
Kondo: That's right (laughs). First, to get approval, we went to the student council president and told them that we wanted to form a manga club, but she told me that we would have to listen to the opinions of all the students.
Takahashi: Yes, but it was received rather indifferently. We initially didn't have a teacher assigned as our supervisor. At first, the vice-principal was in charge, but then he was transferred, and then the ethics and social studies teacher took over (laughs). However, although they had nothing to do with the club, our English teacher helped us with everything, including creating the club bulletin, which made me very happy.
Was your bulletin pretty good? [4]
Takahashi: It's wasn't anything fancy, it was just paper stock (laughs). These days kids probably rely on printers and bookbinders, even though they don't know how they're going to recoup the money they spend on that stuff. We couldn't do that in our time. Actually, I didn't have any intention of spending money on it, and I didn't have the energy to find a print shop...Kondo: And we didn't even know about that kind of technology. Nowadays, you can find advertisements in dojinshi, but in the old days, when we were making these... and we're talking about doing this in Niigata (laughs). Anyway, we borrowed all the machines from the school and did it that way.
Did you have any desire to become a mangaka back then?
Takahashi: Well, when I was in my second year of high school, I couldn't admit this at the time, but I submitted a work to a certain shonen magazine and lost (laughs). Of course, my submission was really bad, so I had no chance. I gave up on the thought of becoming a mangaka. The person who became the head of the club was also very good, and I was a little impatient to discover that there were people who were that talented. [5]Does that mean you were spending all your time on manga?
Takahashi: In addition to manga, we also both joined the literature club, which was also surprisingly interesting...Kondo: Around that time, I liked Yasutaka Tsutsui, so I started thinking about his work... [6]
Takahashi: Most of the books I read when I became a high school student were introduced to me by Kondo-san. I borrowed a lot of your things.
Kondo: Akiyuki Nosaka, for example. [7]
Takahashi: Yasutaka Tsutsui and Kazumasa Hirai are mostly from Kondo-san's influence... [8]
Kondo: Is that so?
Takahashi: That's how I first learned about them, and later, I collected them myself because they were interesting.
Kondo: The decisive reason why we became acquainted was that we both liked Ryoichi Ikegami. [9]
Takahashi: One day after school, while I was cleaning up, I heard a voice saying, "Ryoichi Ikegami," and I jumped at her and said "what did you just say!?" (laughs). I think we talked all day until after school. It was around the time Spider-Man (スパイダーマン) was finished and Ikegami-san had been in hiding for a while...
Kondo: I wanted to read Spider-Man, so I made a lot of effort and searched for used copies. Ikegami-san's drawing of women was really great, and we were both fussing about it.
So were you manga maniacs?
Takahashi: I think I was a maniac, but for a maniac, I was a kid who didn't know a lot of things, I guess (laughs).Kondo: I was still reading shojo manga. Hagio-sensei, Oshima-sensei, etc. [10]
Takahashi: At that time, for me, all I could see was Ikegami-san.
So there was almost no possibility that you would go in the direction of shojo manga.
Takahashi: I don't think I could have drawn it even if I wanted to. That would be really difficult. I don't have the sort of sensitivity needed for it.Kondo: It's difficult...
Did you ever read each other's works and critique them?
Kondo: Well, I didn't draw much... (laughs).Takahashi: I would draw just to draw, but I was the one who wanted to share my drawings, so I think I showed them all over the place, but the problem was, and I still have a copy of it, that when I read it over again, I realize that what I made was pretty terrible (laughs), and I must have been very annoying...
Kondo: No, it was interesting.
Takahashi: I remember seeing Kondo-san's work as well. [11]
Kondo: Not much has changed. It's not getting better (laughs).
Takahashi: She's always had this kind of sensibility...
What kind of stuff did you draw?
Takahashi: For me, it's a slapstick sci-fi gag. In the end, it was Yasutaka Tsutsui's influence that became the predecessor of what I'm doing now.Were you influenced by shojo manga?
Takahashi: I used to borrow them and read them. Kondo-san was certainly a fan, so I read The Poe Clan (ポーの一族/Po no ichizoku) and so on. I was influenced by that at the time, but I couldn't make it my own...Kondo: I was influenced by shojo manga at the time, so in a way I was drawing things that depicted the lives of girls my own age.
Have the trends of what you draw changed much since then?
Kondo: Not a bit (laughs).Takahashi: Nothing has changed at all (laughs).
When you entered university, you both joined the manga club, were you both hoping to become professional mangaka at that point?
Takahashi: I was more of a "show-off" type of person when it came to manga, so in my first year of college, I was taken to some publishers by people in the manga club, but I just showed my face, I didn't submit anything or bring in my own work. But after I was exposed to that kind of atmosphere, I felt that I wanted to give it a try.Kondo: In my case, the manga club wasn't really a manga drawing club, so I didn't draw much myself, and there weren't any professional-minded people around me...
So you frequently went back and forth on the idea [of becoming a professional] even after entering university?
Takahashi: It seems like we met up quite a bit. When I look back at my old diary, I see that we meet at least once a week (laughs).Kondo: Yeah (laughs).
Takahashi: That's how intense our meet-ups were. Whenever we met, I would always bring a copy of my manga club's magazine and ask her to take a look.
Kondo: It was a lot of fun.
Takahashi: Sorry for showing you something even more corrupted (laughs).
Kondo: No, Takahashi-san has always had a high level of perfection to her work, so it was interesting.
Takahashi: Well, I can say that because I vaguely remember what I would show you (laughs). I guess I shouldn't have shown it after all (laughs).
Kondo: But Vivid (びびっと/Bibitto) was a pretty high-quality dojinshi coming from a university manga club... [12]
Takahashi: The book itself was a lot of fun to work on, and everyone was pretty motivated. I think we were able to do it because we had that sort of environment around us.
Kondo: Well, the people around you, Takahashi-san, were no doubt inspired by you, and they worked harder as a result...
Takahashi: I think that's an exaggeration...
Kondo: No, I definitely think so. I think that must have been the case...
I wonder if Takahashi-san is a person who easily influences those around her.
Takahashi: I don't think so. If anything, I'm the type of person who gets snubbed. Even when I get angry, the other person doesn't understand that I am angry at all...Kondo: Also, for example, the first time I read Katsuhiro Otomo-san's manga was because Takahashi-san told me about it. I tend not to read things that I don't think I'll like, but she has a broader perspective, so I had a lot of fun with her. [13]
Takahashi: That's because it was thanks to Kondo-san that I read that book (laughs).
What year were you in at university when you made your debut?
Takahashi: I was just starting my third year, and Kondo-san, you were...Kondo: I was published in Garo in the spring of my fourth year, and Gekiga Alice (劇画アリス) was published at the end of summer. [14]
Takahashi: I remember the phone call I got when you were published in Garo. I still have the magazine you debuted in, I collect as many magazines as possible that feature Kondo-san.
Kondo-san, were you inspired by Takahashi-san's debut?
Kondo: That wasn't the case. I wasn't thinking of going pro, and she and I are very different types of people, so it wasn't like that, but I was very happy that someone I knew went pro, I thought that was great...Takahashi: I'm glad to know that Kondo-san is still drawing. I've been interested in her drawings since I was in high school. There's a part of me that judges a person's character by their drawings, and I hope that people who draw the kind of pictures I like will continue to do so forever. It's easy to socialize with them while they are drawing manga, and we have something in common to talk about.
It's been about eight years now.
Kondo: That's been a long time, hasn't it? (laughs)
Maybe it's because of your connections through manga.
Takahashi: Also, I like Kondo-san (laughs).Kondo: That makes me happy. But if the words "Ikegami-san" hadn't been spoken at that time, we might have remained ignorant of one another forever...
Takahashi: Actually, we were both in the art club in high school (laugh), and the first time I saw her was when I saw another friend of mine, who is now an animator, sitting with Kondo-san and they both had the same hair style. I thought they looked kind of smart (laugh). I could tell they were in the same class, but they looked so serious that I thought we might not have much in common. I was surprised to hear her say "Ikegami-san." Ikegami-san had not yet become a major player at that time, so he was working to spread the word through promotional activities, but it was reassuring to know others were familiar with him.
Kondo: Also, since it was an all-girls school, there weren't that many people who liked shonen manga, so I thought of myself as a kindred spirit (laughs).
Do you have any other influences besides books and manga?
Takahashi: I'm not sure, but our conversations were really fun. Kondo-san has been reading a lot of books. The story of Man'yosu (万葉集)... [15]Kondo: Quite academic (laughs).
Takahashi: It was really interesting, I learned a lot from you.
Kondo: When the people around me listened, they said it sounded like I was doing a manzai routine.
Takahashi: That's because the recitation included not only that, but also gestures, so you were overacting (laughs).
When you made your debut, did you feel that you'd be able to make a professional career out of it?
Takahashi: Well, I had to do it. I'm a shy person (laughs), and I have a strong sense that I would be embarrassed if I blew it. I was anxious, but I just had a strong desire to make it.Kondo: I want to be in a position where I feed myself just from manga as soon as possible (laugh).
Did you make frequent submissions?
Takahashi: I did it in high school, and the next time after that was when I received the honorable mention in Sunday. [16] Before that, when I was in junior high school, I drew strange four-panel drawings and sent them in to Sunday (laughs) and did other strange things, but those were the only two times I would really call them submissions.Kondo: I may have done it at least once. My attempts were pretty lacking until I submitted to Garo...
What kind of things do you the two of you usually talk about?
Takahashi: There are quite a lot of stupid stories, and I keep chatting away while watching TV (laughs).Kondo: What's going on in the news is the most interesting thing we discuss.
Takahashi: Also, wide shows and Weekender (laughs). [17]
Kondo: Horrifying ghost photos (laughs).
Takahashi: That's great.
Then, your hobbies and tastes are pretty similar?
Takahashi: Anything that is indelicate is welcome (laughs).I heard that you are a fan of Tanokin Trio. [18]
Takahashi: They are fun, aren't they?Kondo: I like them but... (laughs).
Takahashi: I'm happy when I see them.
Besides Ikegami-san, who are your favorite manga artists...?
Takahashi: Hmm. There are a lot of them. However, when his books comes out, I always buy them.I heard that in a meeting beforehand, the two of you talked about having a "sailor suit discussion" together.
Takahashi: I've always admired sailor suits, but I've never worn one.Kondo: Or rather, we never saw the genuine article. There weren't any schools in Niigata City that required proper sailor uniforms.
Takahashi: Sailor collars were all the rage when I was in my second year of junior high school, and I wanted one so badly that it's been nagging at me ever since...
Kondo: But our high school uniform was pretty cute too (laughs).
Takahashi: Originally, I felt like I went to our high school just because of that uniform (laughs).
Kondo: Is that so?
Takahashi: That's right. When I was walking around when I was a kid and saw the uniforms of Chuo High School, I thought they were really cool (laughs).
Kondo: We would tie a ribbon around the collar, and it was red for first-year students, green for second-year students, and navy blue for third-year students. That made me happy (laughs).
Takahashi: And the way you could wear your jumper skirt with the sleeves rolled up was pretty good. It was really like the girls in the jumperskirts that Fumio Nakajima-san had drawn. [19]
Kondo: But it was a nice and calm school.
Takahashi: I didn't feel like I had to do much studying either.
As you are both from Niigata, is there anything you can tell us about the area?
Kondo: There's not much of a sense of our locality. I don't have the "Pure Hearted Hakata Children (Hakatakko Junko/博多っ子純情)" feeling for instance, or a particular feeling about my hometown, so I can't say I have a particular sense of pride about it... [20]Takahashi: Or rather, I feel like it's because Niigata doesn't have many specialties... Festivals etc...
Kondo: The kind of thing that the people of the prefecture gather in droves to do...
Takahashi: I suppose it'd be different if we had some sort of ceremonies. But I took some pride in our rice. I would only eat Koshihikari rice.
Kondo: I'm not sure I'd be with someone who would prefer Sasanishiki after all... (laughs). [21]
Takahashi: We also try to use Echigo miso as much as possible (laughs). Also, there is a famous Niigata sake called "Koshino-Kanbai," which is a miraculous sake. I'm proud of the fact that we can get such a sake quite often (laughs).
Kondo: When I tell people that I'm from Niigata, they say, "You can ski behind your house, can't you?"
Takahashi: Niigata is huge.
Kondo: I guess they think we come in and out of our house from the second floor in the wintertime (laughs).
Takahashi: My assistant's child lives in Niigata, and he told me that it snows a lot in that area and that he has a hard time opening and closing the doors in winter and as soon as he gets back home, he has to clean the snow off the floor. Well, there are many things like that in Niigata.
Do you have any plans for what you'd like to do next?
Takahashi: I think that I am missing the kind of outrageous, slightly absurd quality that was present in my debut work, where I couldn't be pigeonholed into a specific category. I also want to have the compositional skills to be able to draw proper, ordinary manga, among other things.Kondo: I want to get better at writing dramas.
Is it easier to draw without restrictions?
Kondo: I think that's true.Takahashi: I prefer to have them. I'm happy if I'm told that I can do whatever I want as long as I can get basic information: how many pages, what genre, for example, if it's a comedy, it should be a comedy.
Kondo: When I read your previous work Maison Ikkoku, it became a bit more serious, and I wonder if things like that will open up new horizons in the future for you.
Takahashi: I wanted to do something like that, and I would like to continue to do so going forward. Anyway, that was like a practice run, if I may say, and I'll use that as a jumping off point to continue to climb the stairs so to speak.
If you were to draw a drama, Kondo-san, what kind of drama would you draw...?
Kondo: Basically, something with a storyline (laughs).
Takahashi: For example, the setting, is it reality or a dream-like scenario?
Kondo: I want to draw a variety of things. However, now that I'm reading Yamagishi-san's work, I think something like that's what I want to draw the most... [22]
Takahashi: Yamagishi-san's works often have unusual settings. I'd like to try something like that too.
Kondo: I'd like to try something like that, and I'd also like to make something that is more like a home drama, where the story progresses step by step over dinner. [23] But I think it takes a lot of energy to do that kind of thing. I also want to draw a proper science fiction story...
I guess you both like sci-fi.
Takahashi: Well, I like it.Kondo: I can only read short stories, so when it comes to foreign works, I only read short stories.
Takahashi: I don't really read foreign science fiction, and even though I like it, I like the settings and the way they are set up. [24] Even if you draw the work yourself, if you have an abnormal setting, it'll be easier to create how the character will function within that setting. When it comes to the development of human emotions, if there's an abnormal setting, the characters may do things that they wouldn't normally do [in real life], and if that brings out surprises in their development, it becomes much easier to craft. There were times when I felt like I didn't have to do anything at all [to move the story along].
Kondo: I love stories like Philip Jose Farmer's Mother, and I wish I could write a science fiction story like that. [25] I love things like unisexual reproduction.
Takahashi: Is that kind of thing reflected in Sahohime and Sahohiko (サホヒメとサホヒコ)? [26]
Kondo: I like the idea that the basic form of all living things is female, but then, I guess I would be accused of having a "woman's sensibility".
What would you order from each other?
Takahashi: We were talking about Carrie before, and she said she liked something violent, and she said she'd like to try something like that, so I'm looking forward to it. [27] I'd like her to draw all sorts of things, but she seems to like folklore, so I'd like her to pick up on those kinds of things and draw them over and over again. I'd also like Kondo-san to do dramas, I have a lot of expectations for her. I want you to keep drawing forever.Kondo: As far as I'm concerned, Takahashi-san's a plain-spoken person who doesn't get pushed around, and she's also a person who does a lot of self-analysis, I think she understands things well without having to say anything out loud. So I think she should do what she wants. Personally, I feel more at ease when I read stories with adult women in them, so I would like to read stories like that, although there may be more of them in the future.
And a word to each of your fanbases.
Takahashi: Thank you to all the fans for your continued support.Kondo: Thank you very much.
Footnotes
- [1] Takahashi won the Shogakukan Manga Award (小学館漫画賞/Shogakukan Manga Sho) in 1980 in the shonen category for Urusei Yatsura. She won again in 2001 for Inuyasha also in the shonen category.
- [2] Niigata Prefectural Niigata Chuo High School (新潟県立新潟中央高校/Niigata Kenritsu Niigata Chuo Koukou) was the school that Rumiko Takahashi and Yoko Kondo attended. It is still an active school as of 2024.
- [3] Takahashi's high school era manga has survived in small numbers. One such work is Star of Empty Trash (虚塵の星/Kyojin no hoshi).
- [4] In the interview they refer to a "bulletin" using the word "会誌" (kaisha). They are referring to a dojinshi (同人誌), a self-published book. However later in the interview they specifically refer to "dojinshi" so this term was used to be sure to convery the differential that is being mentioned in the original language.
- [5] Takahashi mentions in an interview, "I created my first story manga in my second year of high school, and I submitted it to Shonen Magazine. At the time I was a fan of Ikegami-sensei, so I copied his tough/macho style and drew a slapstick gag manga (laughs). It was a slapstick “sword-rattler in which everyone was attacked with biological weapons, and under the setting that no one would die in mediocrity, students and salarymen dueled each other with swords." Other than the plot described here it is unknown what this story was or if it was a reworking of her Star of Empty Trash story. She may not count this as "unpublished" due to it being prior to her debut. If we only count material she has made since 1978 (her debut) then there is nothing that she has ever mentioned that has not been published. However, there were some items that were published and then took many years before they were collected in easier-to-acquire anthology volumes such as her yearly short stories.
- [6] Yasutaka Tsutsui (筒井康隆) is a novelist perhaps best known to western audiences as the writer of Paprika which was turned into a film by Satoshi Kon. The Girl Who Lept Through Time (時をかける少女) is another well-known novel by Tsutsui.
- [7] Akiyuki Nosaka (野坂昭如) was a novelist, singer and lyricist. In the west is he best known for his short story Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓/Hotaru no haka) which was adapted into a film by Studio Ghibli and directed by Isao Takahata (高畑勲).
- [8] Kazumasa Hirai (平井和正) was a science fiction novelist best known for 8 Man (8マン), Genma Wars (幻魔大戦) and Wolf Guy (ウルフガイ). Takahashi illustrated a number of his Wolf Guy novels in the early 1980s. He published two interview books of discussions he had with Takahashi entitled The Time We Spoke Endlessly About the Things We Loved (語り尽せ熱愛時代/Kataretsuse netsuai jidai) and The Gentle World of Rumiko Takahashi (高橋留美子の優しい世界/Takahashi Rumiko no Yasashii Sekai) which is his analysis of Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer.
- [9] Ryoichi Ikegami (池上遼一) is by far Takahashi's biggest influence and favorite artist as she has professed many times. His work includes Crying Freeman (クライング フリーマン), Sanctuary (サンクチュアリ) and Wounded Man (傷追い人). Kazumasa Hirai (平井和正) is the creator of 8 Man and Genma Taisen and a mutual fan of Rumiko Takahashi. Takahashi has frequently mentioned Ikegami as her favorite and most influential mangaka. She particularly mentions these two series, I Don't Need Anything! (なんにもいらない!/Nannimo Iranai!) and Youthful Ardor (青春徒博/Seishun Tobaku) in her lengthy interview regarding Ikegami.
- [10] Moto Hagio (萩尾望都) is the legendary shojo manga artist best known for her series The Poe Clan (ポーの一族/Poe no Ichizoku) and The Heart of Thomas (トーマの心臓/Tooma no Shinzo). She and Rumiko Takahashi interview one another in "New Year's Special Project Rumiko Takahashi and Moto Hagio". In addition to Hagio, Yumiko Oshima (大島弓子) is a member of the Year 24 Group. Oshima is best known for creating the concept of the "cat girl" which can be traced to her Wata no Kuni Hoshi (綿の国星/Cotton's Country Star) about a kitten who dreams she is a little girl.
- [11] Yoko Kondo (近藤ようこ) is from Niigata and a high school classmate of Rumiko Takahashi's. She made her debut in Garo. Volume 2 of Bizarre Manga Road: Unusual Edition (怪奇まんが道 奇想天外篇/Kaiki Manga Dou Kisoutengaihen) has a story detailing her high school life with Rumiko Takahashi. Her Twitter account is @suikyokitan. Takahashi also thanks her in the final chapter of Urusei Yatsura.
- [12] Rumiko Takahashi graduated from Japan Women's University (日本女子大学/Nihon Joshi Daigaku) after the beginning of Urusei Yatsura. While in college she published some of her work in Vivid (びびっと/Bibitto) which includes Thus, Half of Them Are Gone (そして半分いなくなった/Soshite hanbun inakunatta), Bye-Bye Road (バイバイロード/Baibai Roodo) and A Band of Young Ruffians (不良青年団/Furyou seinendan).
- [13] Katsuhiro Otomo (大友克洋) is one of the most noted mangaka and film directors. He created AKIRA, Domu (童夢), Fire-Ball, Sayonara Nippon (さよならにっぽん) and many short stories. He has directed anime films including adapting his own manga AKIRA, Steamboy (スチームボーイ) and the live-action film Mushishi (蟲師). Takahashi discusses him in her longform interview.
- [14] Garo (ガロ) was an alternative, avant-garde manga magazine published from 1964 to 2002. It was fundamental in the development of the gekiga style of manga and known for publishing the work of Ryoichi Ikegami (池上遼一), Shigeru Mizuki (水木しげる), Sanpei Shirato (白土三平), Yoshiharu Tsuge (つげ義春) and many others. Gekiga Alice (劇画アリス) was a third-rate gekiga magazine which was published by Alice Publishing. It was sold through vending machines rather than via bookstores. Eventually the magazine came under the stewardship of Yoshihiro Yonezawa (米澤 嘉博), the founder of Comiket.
- [15] Man'yosu (万葉集/Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) is a collection of Japanese poetry which was compiled in 759 CE.
- [16] Takahashi won honorable mention for the 2nd Shogakukan Newcomers Manga Award (第2回小学館新人コミック大賞) in the shonen category. The way the Newcomer Manga Award is structured is there is a single winner and then two to three honorable mentions that are unranked. In 1978 the winner in the shonen category was Yoshimi Yoshimaro (吉見嘉麿) for D-1 which was published in Shonen Sunday 1978 Vol. 26. The other honorable mentions in addition to Rumiko Takahashi were Masao Kunitoshi (国俊昌生) for The Memoirs of Dr. Watson (ワトソン博士回顧録) which was published in Shonen Sunday 1978 Vol. 27 and Hiroaki Oka (岡広秋) for Confrontation on the Snowy Mountains (雪山の対決) which was published in a special edition of Shonen Sunday (週刊少年サンデー増刊号). Oka would also publish later under the name Jun Hayami (早見純). Other winners in various Newcomers categories include Gosho Aoyama, Koji Kumeta, Yuu Watase, Kazuhiko Shimamoto, Naoki Urasawa, Kazuhiro Fujita and Ryoji Minagawa, Yellow Tanabe and Takashi Iwashige.
- [17] "Wide Shows" (ワイドショー) are a Japanese term for chat shows that discuss current events and news. Weekender (ウィークエンダー) had the popular segment Television Three Page Article (テレビ三面記事/Terebi Sanmenkiji) that recreated trivial news headlines using flipboards and comedic illustrations. It was a popular show running from 1975 to 1984.
- [18] Tanokin Trio (たのきんトリオ) were a music trio comprised of Toshihiko Tahara (田原俊彦), Yoshio Nomura (野村義男) and Masahiko Kondo (近藤真彦). The trio were managed by Johnny's.
- [19] Fumio Nakajima (中島史雄) is a mangaka known for erotic works. His series Lolita Anime: Red Makeup in the Snow/Girl's Rose Punishment (ロリータアニメ 雪の紅化粧/少女薔薇刑/Rorita Anime Yuki no benigesho/Shojo bara-kei) has the distinction of being the first adult anime OVA ever produced.
- [20] Pure Hearted Hakata Children (Hakatakko Junko/博多っ子純情) is a manga by Norio Hasegawa (長谷川法世) about young people growing up in the Fukuoka area.
- [21] Koshihikari-style rice is stickier and has a fuller flavor. Sasanishiki-type rice is plainer and goes down the throat smoothly.
- [22] Ryoko Yamagishi (山岸凉子) is a member of the Year 24 Group like Moto Hagio and Yumiko Oshima. Her signature works are the ballet manga Mai-hime Terpischora (舞姫（テレプシコーラ) and Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun (日出処の天子/Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi).
- [23] Kondo's series Miharashigaoka (見晴らしガ丘) fits into the daily life story she speaks of desiring to write.
- [24] Takahashi discusses her sci-fi sensibilities more in this interview.
- [25] Philip José Farmer (1918-2009) is often cited as one of the first science fiction writers to introduce sex into the genre. He developed the "Wold Newton family" to tell complex crossover fiction featuring characters such as Tarzan, Doc Savage, Sherlock Holmes and Allan Quartermain. Farmer won the Hugo Award in 1953, 1968 and 1972 for newcomer, short story and novel respectively.
- [26] Sahohime and Sahohiko (サホヒメとサホヒコ) is an ancient Japanese myth from the Record of Ancient Matters (古事記/Kojiki).
- [27] Carrie is the 1974 debut horror novel from Stephen King. In 1976 it was adapted into a film by Brian De Palma starring Sissie Spacek, John Travolta and Piper Laurie.
マンガ奇想天外 No. 6 1981
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