Manga creators Kohei Horikoshi of My Hero Academia and Takeru Hokazono of Kagurabachi sat down for a special conversation. When asked why they chose Weekly Shonen Jump as their platform, Horikoshi explained, Jump is like the Budokan(a venue regarded as the ultimate stage for performers in Japan) if you compare it to a live concert venue. Hokazono added, If you aim to become a manga artist, you want to reach the top. When I thought about that, there was no other option besides Jump.

Special Interview Part2

Horikoshi was born in 1986 in Aichi Prefecture. He received an honorable mention at the 72nd Tezuka Award in 2006 for Nukegara and made his one shot debut in 2007 with Tenko in Akamaru Jump. In 2008, he published My Hero, and in 2010 he began his first Weekly Shonen Jump serialization with Oumagadoki Zoo. After serializing Barrage in 2012, he launched My Hero Academia in 2014 and concluded the series in 2024.

Hokazono was born in 2000 in Osaka Prefecture. His work Enten (炎天) won the runner up prize at the 100th Tezuka Award in 2020. He published Farewell! Cherry Boy! (さらば！チェリーボーイ！, Saraba Cherry Boy) in Jump GIGA 2021 SPRING, CHAIN in Jump GIGA 2021 SUMMER, and two one shots, Knitting by the Window (まどぎわで編む, Madogiwa de Amu) and Roku no Meiyaku (ロクの冥約), in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2022. His first serialized title, Kagurabachi, began in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2023. The series won first place in the Comics category of the 2024 Next Manga Awards in August 2024.

Their First Manga and Why They Chose Jump

――How did each of you become a manga artist?

Horikoshi
I have loved drawing for as long as I can remember. My mother and friends would look at my drawings and tell me they were good. At the time I only knew manga artist as a job where you could make a living by drawing, so I thought, Then I will become a manga artist. When I was little, rather than making full manga, I would copy Goku from Dragon Ball or draw my own original Super Saiyans and be happy with that.

I really started drawing manga in earnest when I was in university. The first work I completed, Nukegara, was selected for an Honorable Mention in the Tezuka Award. Masashi Kishimoto was one of the judges at the time, and I heard he pushed strongly for my work.

Hokazono
I also began drawing manga seriously in university. My first work, a piece called Enten, received a runner up prize in the Tezuka Award where Horikoshi sensei was serving as a judge.

Horikoshi
All the judges were saying Enten was incredible. Some even said it felt a bit like Naruto.

Hokazono
I heard later that Horikoshi sensei praised it the most, especially the page turn direction.

Horikoshi
Right, the part where the chameleon appears. That scene made me genuinely go, Whoa. I was impressed and thought, This person is amazing.

Hokazono
Hearing Horikoshi sensei’s comments made me think, Maybe I am actually good at staging and direction. It gave me a lot of confidence.

Horikoshi
I could clearly feel the intention of I am going to surprise the readers here. I thought it was something that would absolutely hold up at a professional level.

Hokazono
He told me my staging was on a professional level, so I went around bragging to my family and friends, Apparently my direction is as good as a pro.

――Why did you both decide to bring your work to Weekly Shonen Jump?

Hokazono
Most of the series I liked were in Jump, so it was natural to think, I will take it to Jump first. My reasoning was pretty simple. Among manga magazines, Jump felt like the strongest. I do not think I thought it through very deeply beyond that.

Horikoshi
Same for me. I read other magazines too, but Jump had the highest number of titles I loved, and my feelings toward it were overwhelmingly strong. There was no hesitation. Jump is like the Budokan if you compare it to a live concert venue, a venue regarded as the ultimate stage for performers in Japan.

Hokazono
If you are aiming to become a manga artist, you want to stand at the very top. When I thought about that, there was no other option besides Jump.

――Tell us about the path that led to My Hero Academia and Kagurabachi.

Horikoshi
When I first started planning My Hero Academia, my second serialization, Barrage, had just ended. Up to that point, I had always admired Luffy from One Piece and felt strongly that I needed to create a main character like Luffy. But after having two series end, I finally realized that there is no Luffy inside me. That is when I decided to go back and search for a kind of main character that felt more natural for me to draw.

In the end, I found that the protagonist of My Hero, a one shot I had drawn earlier, suited me best. That is how My Hero Academia was born, with the mindset of Let me try making a manga again with the character I find easiest to draw as the main character. From the initial concept to the finished name for chapter one probably took about a year.

I made several different versions of just the opening name, and I had not settled on the characters’ traits yet, so it was a real struggle. But the character of All Might came together early on, and once I had him, I felt that everything would somehow work out.

Hokazono
I started forming the idea for Kagurabachi around the end of 2022. From the beginning, I was thinking of going with a dark protagonist. At the time there were not many cool, stoic leads in Jump, so I thought it might make for a fresh kind of series. I also decided early on that I wanted to set it in a slightly off kilter version of Japan like something you might see in a Hollywood movie.

While I was building the name with that sort of fake Japan as the stage, I added in concepts like demon swords and sorcery. I finished the first chapter around April or May 2023, and I remember rushing to complete the names for chapters two and three right after that.

Source : ORICON NEWS