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Q: Please give us your thoughts, having just gone to see the dubbing.
K: I was excited. The recording was with the same cast as the drama CD, but an anime is embarrasing because there are pictures as well. But it was like a stranger to me, it was so beautifully made. I felt that I shouldn't be afraid because it's not mine (laugh). (Being a voice actor) is truly a difficult job, isn't it? In a drama CD there are no pictures and they don't have to say their lines in so many seconds, and so they can freely express themselves, but this time they have to match the pictures and the timing. And yet they have to act...they have a lot they have to do, so it must be difficult. I got the sense that if in the drama CDs they could freely express their characters artistically, then this time they were showing their craftsmanship.

Q: A particularly fantastic scene?
K: The scene where Ritsuka is first introduced as the new transfer student was good...things like the "Why are you crying?" from the scene where Soubi and Ritsuka first meet were good too. I was very surprised at what a beauty Soubi was (laugh). His sparkliness was...

Q: The fight scenes?
K: They've become animation-esque, in that they are drawn in a way that says there's a significance that it is being done as an anime.

Q: Any parts that were embarrassing?
K: I'm embarrassed when Soubi opens his mouth (laugh). His lines, his existence itself is embarrassing. How do you put it, even when he says "Ritsuka" it's embarrassing (laugh). I wondered...Is it because of Konishi-san's voice? Is it not good because Konishi-san's voice is too erotic?

Q: What did you think when it was decided that your manga was going to be made into an anime?
K: The first thing I felt was that if they couldn't reproduce what I had drawn, it was pointless to make an anime...if you think this can't be done or that can't be done, then there is not point in doing it, right? That was my initial reaction. But the editorial department of course had the attitude that it'd be pointless to make something like that and if they were going to make it then everyone needs to make up their minds and do what they can. They would say that this can be done, but this would be difficult but this much can be done. One by one the worrisome parts were resolved and I came to think that if they were going to do all of that, then by all means I'd like to do it. I also strongly felt that the producers and other members of the staff understood the work very well.

Q: Were you quite involved with the script and other things?
K: I prefer to leave it to the staff once I understand how they will go about doing things. It isn't my style to meddle with the details.

Q: We have questions from our readers as well. "Are there characters who appear more in the anime than in the manga?" (Kyoto-fu/Akakage)
K: Yes. Yayoi-san's appearances have increased. His character pops up...Um~he's become the comic relief (laugh). Humor is desirable, so I think it's possible. It's intense for myself and the readers when I persist in seriousness in the manga. Even in reality, things that are funny and sad like being unable to stand because your legs fell asleep at a funeral go together. I felt that they really understood that kind of thing.

Q: "Will we be able to see Soubi's pervertedness in the anime as well? What about my particular favorites such as the piercing scene or the needle in the hand?" (Aomori-prefecture/Mitsuru)
K: This person's spirit is very close to mine (laugh). The piercing is OK, but the needle might be overdoing it...which reminds me, this manga has no H.

Q: The premise is erotic, isn't it? How could you say that kind of thing to an elementary school student?...
K: But Minagawa-san manages it very well. If Soubi's eroticism prevailed, it'd be really pathetic, or rather pitiful. But when Minagawa-san voices Ritsuka, she half accepts and half rejects him. Konishi-san is mercilessly erotic, you see (laugh). But while Soubi is mercilessly erotic, Minagawa-san brings a wonderfully refreshing impression. If she was simply swept along with Soubi, it'd end up with terribly lewd scenes, but I feel that Minagawa-san makes the scene delightful in a different way instead of ending up delectable in a BL way. I believe that Minagawa-san is someone who has great comprehension of the material.

Q: "Did you suggest anything to the staff regarding the fight scenes?" (Kanagawa prefecture/Kodou Rena)
A: No, though I did ask them to use words.

Q: It must be hard since you have to think about things beyond the story, since the battles are with words.
K: That's true. If I don't firmly plunge into the battles and properly construct them, it becomes a big problem in the anime, so I feel that I have to brace myself up. But this time the director put things nicely in order. You will have to watch it...

Q: "Will the end of the anime be different from the manga's ending?" (Ishikawa Prefectura/Nira Ouji)
K: The anime will not even reach the part of the manga being serialized now, so I believe it will follow the progress of the manga and reach it's own ending.

End in three more volumes!?

Q: Have you decided how "Loveless" will end?
K: I have, but...

Q: But...?
K: But, my editor is objecting strenuously to it and we're currently fighting about it (laugh). Basically about who dies and who survives...

Q: Then that's about the very last part. How about which mysteries are resolved in what way?
K: Well, the general outline...

Q: How far has the story progressed?
K: Um...I think about halfway. About three more volumes?
Editor: It sounds like only one third of the way through from what I've heard.

Q: How far has the story progressed, in abstract terms?
K: When I counted the number of chapters left I thought there was about half, but each chapter is really long! (laugh) When I think about having those two people settle things or this person doing that....Plus, there's no one that can rival Soubi yet.

Q: That is a big point, isn't it.
K: Right, there's no big, strong man around twenty around, right? The truth is, there is. A person who can grapple with Soubi on an equal basis. He's at least about the same height as Soubi (laugh).

Q: And Seimei...he's somehow turning out to be a bit wicked~.
K: Thank you very much (laugh).

Q: Didn't everyone go "What!?" about Seimei being alive?
K: Until around volume 3, naturally most people thought he was dead. And since I was writing it that way that was the correct way to read it. It's what I like, to have a person who isn't alive...who isn't around to be shown in relief by depicting the people around that person. To sketch out a person who is not there by accumulating memories about that person.

Q: The interesting thing about Seimei is how he's like a different person according to who is seeing him.
K: That's true. At first it was only Ritsuka's view of him as the gentle older brother.

Q: But information that makes that impression seem wrong gradually comes forth...
K: But it's all only one person...The phrase "Living is not simply fun, neither is it simply suffering" can also be applied to people. The various aspects of a single person...There are parts that make a good person, as well as parts that make a bad person. There isn't anyone who only has one aspect. For example, Ritsuka is a cool boy in class when he's with Yuiko, seems very innocent and fleeting when he's with Seimei, and dispirited when he's with his mother--so much so it's hard to think of him as the same person as when he's with Yuiko. But it's when you add all of that up that you get Ritsuka. I wanted to depict something like that, though doing that too much makes it hard as a manga. When a character says something different or has opposing reactions depending on the scene, the people involved or the event, the reader ends up getting thrown this way and that. The most extreme case in this story is Soubi. Even people who like him say, "He's quite elusive. I don't understand him." To a certain extent I deliberately write him like that. I don't mean to give the reader the slip, I'm simply investigating in my own way what will happen if he acts according to his feelings at the time. The idea is not so much about being inconsistent, but rather about not having to act for the convenience of the story. In reality people's words and feelings change, right? I thought it'd be okay if [my characters] were elusive if I could depict that flexibility.

Q: It's easier to write short-tempered people as always mad, but they also have times when they feel timid. Though it's harder to depict that kind of thing, is that what you want to do?
K: That's right, I think that's interesting. For example, if I do that in a 32 page one shot, someone might point out to me that "Here and here run counter to each other." I'd want to force it to work because it might be possible if I could get the space! If have the pages I can depict the "transformation." As to whether it's bad to be inconsistent, I don't necessarily think it's bad. There are times when people's actions are consistent and there are times when they aren't. I want to write with that kind of realness or naturalness.

Q: And that applies especially to Soubi.
K: Yes. The reason why people can't understand Soubi easily is--despite the fact that he shows up so much he even has monologues--because they can't see who he really loves, who he's listening to, and who he's rejecting. You probably can't glimpse his true feelings until about volume 5.

A: Is that because Soubi himself doesn't know either?
K: Yes yes, that's it. I plan on making the moment when the fog-like something blanketing Soubi's mind is completely lifted and he realizes what it is he seeks and what he wants to do the climax of the story. He's given up. He's despaired and abandoned [everything]. He doesn't care about himself or about others, though he is swayed by liking Ritsuka a bit or feeling like he should listen to Seimei. The feeling that "It does matter!" will well up from within him, and that will be the climax.

Q: Is that the focal point of the theme?
K: Yes, that's right. Most people live their everyday lives with an attitude of "Oh well, it doesn't matter." But I want to do a story where it does matter, with the idea of "being reborn" in mind...People are born as babies. But their birth isn't from their own volition. Their lives start regardless of them. Ritsuka and Soubi have both failed somewhere. It wasn't supposed to be this way...They weren't able to proceed towards the ideal that they want to be, and ended up going in a different direction. I think there are a lot of real people who wonder what they should do in that situation, because they don't like how they are now very much. What can they do then? They can say "This time I'm going to remake myself." That can be triggered when they feel that "It does matter!" That life isn't trivial, that they want to start over, that they want to change...But Ritsuka and Soubi are both lacking the internal strength to do that. And so they have to change little by little as they interact with others and as the situation changes. When someone is trapped in a shell, unable to escape even though they want to, one can be deeply moved when a crack is formed for some reason and that person can emerge [from that shell]. That's why this is not a story of someone who dies while still an egg. Even as they receive assistance, they break the shell from the inside and make themselves over once again. I want to make that the climax of the story.

But the story from now will be extremely serious...(wry laughter). It's dark...I worry about how far to take it, because even I think it's depressing. Should I just make it thoroughly depressing, or by some means...I wonder...What kind of things makes readers feel bad? Can I even write something that will make people feel bad?...I think that to make people feel bad would be pretty great (laugh). As a writer, being told that "I felt bad when I read [your work]" is great in and of itself. I want to challenge myself to do that, but it'd be hard on me if I was told "I couldn't read this" (laugh). I really respond to the idea that the more intense the distress the more a person can gain from it, and I've brought some of that feeling into "Loveless." Kind of like "the more danger the more honour." Or not. (laugh)

The ears and tail that fall off

Q: To talk about something completely different, there haven't been any deaths in the battles.
K: That's so that the deaths that are to come will be shocking (laugh).

Q: Then, right now the development of the story is still peaceful?
K: Oh yes, peaceful. I've become used to the peace as I've been drawing it....That's why it's becoming hard to draw the hard parts (laugh).
Editor: When she told me "Why don't we do this to Yuiko-chan?" to build up the story, I wanted to cry. Why do you want to put the heroine through that after getting this far!? (laugh)
K: I just can't get any sympathy (laugh).

Q: Yuiko-chan really is a good girl, and she's quite popular. Do you put double the effort in drawing her?
K: Thank you very much. I do like Yuiko, but in any case, Ritsuka came first. She emerged when I wondered, "What kind of girl would it take for Ritsuka to be happy?" While she was created to match Ritsuka, she changes from meeting him...with some injection of intelligence (laugh). She honestly wants to change to become worthy of Ritsuka because she likes him. So if Soubi wasn't around, they'd make a great couple (laugh). The "innocent one" is an eternal theme for me.

Q: The girl couple Yamato and Kouya's story was also popular.
K: Those two as well, the next time they appear it'll likely be tragic, so it'll be hard to draw (laugh).
Editor: You're telling quite a bit of the story. Is it okay?... (laugh)
K: To talk about something trivial, I was thinking of the woodlands of Fuji for the location of the "Seven Moons" (laugh). Lately I've thought of putting it underneath the [Roppongi] Hills. A foreign country might be good...Speaking of which, we even talked about whether there were foreign Fighters, and how a battle where [the participants] can't understand each other's words would work (laugh). The editor and I talk about things like "What does it actually mean if a person's ears to fall off after sleeping with someone of the same sex?"

Q: What happens to ears and tails that fall off?
K: They are essentially like baby teeth or the umbilical cord, so there are people who throw them away and others who keep them. I also think about trivial things like whether they sell pants and hats that have holes in them and those that don't. What is very debatable is whether their tails are like those of cats or dogs, and whether there are such things as "cats" in this world. We concluded that there was, because it'd be sad if there wasn't (laugh). It's like how Kitty's pet is also a cat (Sanrio's Hello Kitty)!! Their tales are cat's tails.

Q: Seimei's ears are...
K: They don't suit him, do they? They're unpleasant (laugh). I always think they look like a German Shepherd's.

Q: How much of Seimei and Soubi's relationship does Kio know about?
K: He probably understood the essentials, despite the fact that he knew almost nothing about Seimei. How do you put it, it's like sniffing out something wrong...There are people who detect that kind of thing from first impressions, right? In this story Kio and the little Zeros are keenly intuitive people.

Q: Is it significant where the name emerges on the body?
K: Oh, that is significant. Like where Ritsuka's name will emerge, or why Seimei and Soubi's name were in different places...You've hit on the core of the story (laugh).

Q: Then let's wrap it up here (laugh). A word to the readers of "Pafu," please.
K: Thank you very much. I've been looking forward to the anime very much, and I am quite excited actually seeing it (laugh). This is all thanks to everyone's support, so I will to continue to work hard. The manga will be about three more volumes...or a little less than that. I want to steadily speed up the progression of the story, so I'd like everyone to follow along...what a confident thing to say (laugh). I will work hard and draw a lot, so please continue to read it.

Q: Thank you very much.

I loved the fact she kept talking about "Soubi's eroticism". xd
She seemed so tempted to give the entire ending away. xp Some people won't be shocked at the end because of this interview.

She sure doesn't care about giving huge hints away, does she? However, thanks for posting this. It's neat to to see their view on the anime.

*.* She's my hero! whee

redface wow.. how I can't get my mind away for all these detials.. stressed .. but.. wow. ....humm where the name will show.. ........... whee . loveableneko, Thank you soooooooooo much.. whee heart I can't wait for the books to come out..

and, wait.. this also means.. there will be more anime to come O_O.. right! right!? whee xd

thank you for posting this ^__^

wahh she gave out so many hints >_<;;; when she means 3 more volumes.. does it mean itll end at 9? or was this interview taken a long time ago?..