Kazuo Koike, the writer of one of the best comics ever, speaks to Dark Horse.com.
Sample:
CARL HORN:
What’s happened in the last couple of years has been a tremendous expansion of manga readership in this country, beyond the comic book shops, into the major book chains and malls…KAZUO KOIKE:
The key factors for the recent “Manga Boom” are shojo, and the strong characters and storylines you can find in manga in general. Japanese characters are strong in a different way from traditional American comics heroes; they have the strength to fight, but at their core you find tenderness rather than righteousness. A manga hero is a person, and good or evil, their fight is with other people. Their weakness isn’t some trick, some element or color, it’s that they’re people. You know the legend of Siegfried-he battles with a dragon, and then bathes in his blood. It grants him skin of stone, makes him impervious to being cut. Except a single leaf fell onto his neck when he was wet with dragon’s blood, and so the blood never touched him there. It’s a symbol of how light and subtle, how soft our weaknesses are, even in the midst of might and victory. This kind of possibility of being hurt shows the person behind the character, and is why manga readers-persons themselves-feel tenderness towards these characters.
Unfortunately, nowhere in the interview does Koike say whether Itto Ogami or Ura Yagyu is the bigger badass. Koike’s top three characters of all time are choice, though.
Anyway, read the rest HERE.
