My Hero Academia and Kagurabachi Authors Discuss Why Weekly Shonen Jump Is the Budokan for Manga Artists and Why the Final Four Pages Matter

Visiting the My Hero Academia Studio Before Kagurabachi Began

――I heard that before Kagurabachi started its serialization, you visited Horikoshi sensei’s studio. Did you learn anything from that experience?

Hokazono
Seeing someone as incredibly skilled as Horikoshi sensei drawing right in front of me at unbelievable speed made me think, It really is a human being drawing this. It was good to feel that firsthand. When someone is that amazing, you tend to put them on a pedestal like a god, but once I was standing on the same playing field as a manga artist, I felt I had to aim for that level. It was huge for me to come away thinking that if I work hard, I should be able to reach that point too.

That said, by coincidence my visit happened to be on the actual deadline day. I arrived around noon, and as the sun started to set, the atmosphere in the room gradually grew more tense. Even the editor began to look restless.

Horikoshi
It really was a crunch time, so we ended up having Hokazono, who had come just to observe, actually help out.

Hokazono
It was an episode with a lot of Twice clones appearing, and I got to draw some of them. It was an amazing experience. The assistants at Horikoshi sensei’s studio also worked incredibly fast, which really surprised me. On the way home, I was thinking, I cannot draw that quickly, so can I really manage a weekly serialization. But it was great that the vague idea I had of what serialization would be like became something very concrete.

――As creators who have both serialized works in Jump, what do you feel is particularly good about being in Weekly Shonen Jump?

Horikoshi
For me, it is the severity of the survey system where a series ends depending on the results. That level of harshness is a good thing.

Hokazono
I agree. Having a series brought to an end when it is not interesting might actually be a good environment.

Horikoshi
If you draw something that is not up to par, the rankings really do drop. The moment you let your guard down, readers notice. The Jump environment does not allow you to draw on autopilot, and I think that is great.

Hokazono
Yes, I think that is the biggest part for me too. But my own taste seems to be a little out of sync with the survey trends. When the series first started, there were many times when developments I personally thought were fun did not really connect with readers. Only recently have I started to understand the tendencies of the readership and make a conscious effort to adjust.

Source : ORICON NEWS