URASAWA Naoki (mature)

[come come paradise]

I also like how he doesn't drag on a series by adding superfluous things to it; the stories end organically so to speak.

Hmm, 20th Century Boys felt a bit stretched to me... The first 6 volumes (I think?) were absolutely perfect, so condensed while keeping all of its coherency, I really thought I held the ultimate manga between my hands :P The post-time skip chapters were also brilliant, but I really felt that the series just wasn't as good when Kanna became the main character. Some parts felt redundant and overall the manga could've ended sooner. Not to mention Kanna suffers from one of Urasawa's flaws imo; he idealizes women too much and a lot of his heroines (Kanna, Nina, Miyuki...) just aren't as complex and interesting as his usual characters. I'd say Urasawa 'reset' the storyline one time too many in 20CB. Monster was also a tiny bit stretched. Pluto was framed from the start, so it doesn't have that problem.

i wonder can Urasawa write a long running manga..

Urasawa actually writes exceptionally long series ^^" I think Yawara is his longest series? It's 29 volumes long.


Speaking of Yawara, has anyone here read some of Urasawa's 'lighter' series? I remember reading somewhere people criticizing Urasawa for sticking to one genre (mystery). It annoyed me a lot because there actually are few authors as eclectic as Urasawa - his earlier series just aren't well known outside of Japan, and people forget he's been published since the 1980s.

I'm in the middle of buying Happy!, which is a bit of a sports manga and a bit of a slice of life, and I love it. Obviously it isn't the same Urasawa as in his later series; there is neither suspense nor mystery, and the psychological aspect is toned down a lot... But the realism is still there. That realism is what makes him one of my favourite authors, for instance one thing I liked so much about 20CB were those flashbacks of Kenji's childhood that are so absolutely realist they have to echo Urasawa's own childhood (the fact they are born the same year isn't a coincidence imo). Plus, Happy! has all the happy feelings that are more typical of shonen than seinen and it's another side of the Tezuka influence that he masters well.

Sadly, neither Yawara nor Master Keaton were published in my language, but I'm hoping. If anyone here has anything to say about these, please do ~ Oh, and I'd also love to know more about Pineapple Army, which was his debut I think?

[Asarii]

Hmm, 20th Century Boys felt a bit stretched to me... The first 6 volumes (I think?) were absolutely perfect, so condensed while keeping all of its coherency, I really thought I held the ultimate manga between my hands :P The post-time skip chapters were also brilliant, but I really felt that the series just wasn't as good when Kanna became the main character. Some parts felt redundant and overall the manga could've ended sooner. Not to mention Kanna suffers from one of Urasawa's flaws imo; he idealizes women too much and a lot of his heroines (Kanna, Nina, Miyuki...) just aren't as complex and interesting as his usual characters. I'd say Urasawa 'reset' the storyline one time too many in 20CB. Monster was also a tiny bit stretched. Pluto was framed from the start, so it doesn't have that problem.

I agree with your points about 20th Century Boys, and even so it doesn't seem THAT stretched compared it to other long-running series; then again I'm including shonen manga in that statement so I'm afraid my idea of pacing is different.

An appropriate ending would have been

after the first Friend was killed.

The manga still managed to say what it needed to say after that so the length didn't seem wasted IMO.

For me, Monster is a series where everything counts- remove one detail and the themes of the characters won't be as dynamic. The main plot was about Johan, but I felt that it was also about the complexities of the other characters who were involved.

Interesting point you make about the women in Urasawa-sensei's works.

[come come paradise]

An appropriate ending would have been

after the first Friend was killed.

The manga still managed to say what it needed to say after that so the length didn't seem wasted IMO.

I whole-heartedly agree with both of your points here, that's exactly what I think And yes, 20CB is still a long ways from your average shonen in terms of pacing.

Ditto with Monster, I felt the stories had two sides to it - the main plot was about Johan obviously, but there is also a "road-movie"-type subplot to it, about all the people Tenma meets across Europe. And all of it is so realist and accurate. I agree when you say there isn't a single detail about this that ought to have been removed, but I kind of had the feeling Tenma and Johann were running around in circles a bit too much towards the end, but maybe that's just me.

About women in Urasawa's works, that's just my opinion, many people don't agree with it - but yes, I do feel some of his female characters are more idealized than realist. Kanna would be the better example of that.

[hisoga]

Urasawa actually writes exceptionally long series ^^" I think Yawara is his longest series? It's 29 volumes long.

owh.. thank you sir. heard of it in Urasawa interview by NHK but never had a chance to read it.. but its not that heavy like his other work, right? or not.

---------- Post added at 12:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

I agree with your points about 20th Century Boys, and even so it doesn't seem THAT stretched compared it to other long-running series; then again I'm including shonen manga in that statement so I'm afraid my idea of pacing is different.

this is some of the thing that i always feel about his work thats make me ask myself, "can he write a long story without it feels stretch".

[Endo Kana]

What a pitty there is no news on this topic
Nevermind, I've got some for you

Urasawa is coming to Paris next July at Japan Expo in Paris, he will be the guest of honor of the festival this year! There will be conferences, expos, signings and surely other suprises... I'm going for sure, this is the occasion to see the best mangaka ever (according to me ^^) in the flesh! You can check on Japan Expo's website for more infos here Japan Expo website

[Asarii]

90% of mangaka tend to be secretive and shy so kudos to Urasawa-sensei for getting a chance to interact with international fans. If you get a chance to take a photo of him or even better, take a photo with him, please do post them here!

[Josef K.]

An interview with the king.

[Asarii]

Professionals is a TV programme that features prominent people in their field of work so it's considered a great honor for Urasawa to be featured here. (The other day I watched an episode about the heart surgeon who operated on the Emperor.)

Not many mangaka allow cameras to roll while they're working so this was enlightening. I've always been interested in the behind-the-scenes.

[Josef K.]

Urasawa was compared to a world class writer as well, his manga are the closes thing any manga get to books, plus he mixes in genre fiction as well. Pure genius.

Is everyone caught up with Billy Bat here?

[come come paradise]

Ah, I completely forgot about this thread! Shame it's not very active :/

What a pitty there is no news on this topic
Nevermind, I've got some for you

Urasawa is coming to Paris next July at Japan Expo in Paris, he will be the guest of honor of the festival this year! There will be conferences, expos, signings and surely other suprises... I'm going for sure, this is the occasion to see the best mangaka ever (according to me ^^) in the flesh! You can check on Japan Expo's website for more infos here Japan Expo website

I was there!! It was absolutely wonderful, I had such an amazing time. Very surprising as well. The main event took place on a concert stage, which usually terrifies most people, and of course the fact that every sentence had to be translated doesn't help, and yet Urasawa absolutely owned it. He was incredibly comfortable during the entire interview, gave interesting answer, made jokes, managed to interact with the (very large) audience despite the language barrier. By far the most surprising part was when the topic of music was breached, and it turns out he really is a musician. He really did compose that famous song in 20th Century Boys, and he even played it for us! He had a guitar and a harmonica brought to him and he sang/played the entire thing, along with another Bob Dylan song. It was completely out of the blue, and utterly amazing, he has everything of a rock star. It's a shame I didn't write a summary of what happened as soon as I got home because I don't remember everything that was said now, but he did give some interesting tidbits about the creation of 20th Century Boys and Monster, his debuts, the adaptations of his works & his work process. He also said some nice things of Moebius, who had recently passed away, which was surprising but lovely. Then he had a huge sheet and a marker brought up stage, and he drew the characters which were shouted at him by the audience. This is the only time I got to see him during the convention as the other conference was full and I didn't manage to get a signature (despite queuing for 3 hours twice :/) but it was great so I'm not that disappointed. I hope he'll be coming back. We really love him in France!

And yes, I very much agree he's the greatest mangaka alive.

[jakensama]

True geniuses are rare, not talented individuals...but those one in a million geniuses. Naoki Urasawa is one of those. I've read/watched Monster, watched Master Keaton, and read PLUTO (yeah a lot of his masterworks I still have not gotten to)...and I am constantly blown away how every single moment is incredibly well thought, there is no 'boring' parts...or fluff.

Greatest mangaka alive? Yeah, and it isn't even close.