XG: The “punk attitude” is very tangible in Bambi. That reminds me of Inoue Santa’s work and his hip-hop sensibility. But reading what he’s been doing, there’s the question of his capability of doing something else than Tokyo Tribe. While in your case, after finishing Bambi, you started SOIL that is almost entirely devoid of this “punk attitude”...
KA: In a way, Bambi is garage punk, while SOIL is alternative — from a musical standpoint, something aking to noisy industrial. (smile) I have many interests, and I try to use them to produce different things.
XG: I also get the impression that, since your debut, there has been an evolution not only in your themes, but also in the narrative structure. A lot of short stories at first, then Bambi, which starts off as a “road-manga” with shorts sequences, but becomes more structures along the way with the introduction of the three killers, to culminate with SOIL where the story structure is essential, since there’s a mystery on which everything relies. This progression, is it because you built up self-confidence, or is that from a desire to tackle more complex stories?
KA: When I started drawing, I had an idea of how to do it. For Bambi, even if it looks very different on the surface, I wanted to use techniques from “deeply manga” manga — there’s a main character, things happen to her, and the story follows that. And using all the dynamism from manga, for the atmosphere, the reactions, that I could use freely.
But while Bambi was very free-form in its construction, on the opposite, for SOIL I wanted to create a story where everything was decided from the beginning. Among the stories that rely on a mystery, those where the enigma holds up are the most interesting, and I wondered if I would be able to create such a story. But to do that, it required preparation, and when I finished Bambi, I took about half a year to write down the scenario, and only then I started drawing SOIL.
That being said, before SOIL, I never had that freedom. How to put it? I had always had the drive to go further, again and again.
XG: So for SOIL, the conclusion is already decided?
KA: That’s right.
XG: Five volumes have been published so far, how many for the complete story?
KA: Most likely seven. With Bambi, I was always looking for places to take the story, and I was worried to see if it could work. While with SOIL, it’s far more relaxed, I only have to drawn and stick to what has already been decided.
XG: In SOIL, I have the impression that the drawing is a little looser, there are little hints in the line work, as if to balance the story where everything is set. There is a distinctive pleasure from drawing that can be felt, do you have the impression you’ve reached some sort of mastery?
KA: Oh no, absolutly not! (laugh) When I look back on something I’ve drawn, be it for Bambi of for SOIL, I’m always a little disappointed, and I have this urge to correct my mistakes. But well, I still hope I’m progessing as books go by ...
XG: There is another rupture between Bambi and SOIL. On one hand, Bambi shows a fantasy Japan, deeply transformed by American influences, while on the other hand, SOIL is set in a nearly realistic Japan...
KA: That’s not something I was specifically looking for. But for Bambi, I didn’t have a set narrative, I was improvising. For SOIL, story and characters are already well defined, and that allows me to put in more details, and then it’s easier to be more realistic.
XG: What were your sources for inspiration for SOIL? I find it rather close to the universe of David Lynch, with the irruption of otherworldly forces, and a very specific atmosphere ...
KA: How to put it? ... At the start, I had this idea of relics. With the idea that the first relics had something to do with sex — with a magical dimension. And starting from there, I started building my story. But it was only a starting point, and little by little it grew to encompass broader topics. And the relics ended up being at the center of the key situations.
XG: We’ve made a point that Bambi looks like no other manga, and even if it’s about a more realistic Japan, SOIL is also very much aside from the Japanese tradition of horror manga. In fact, there’s almost no manga-ka that could be likened to you. Is that something you miss?
KA: In fact, not at all. If my books are different, it’s because I almost don’t read Japanese manga, I don’t know anything about them. Therefore, it’s normal there’s no similarity.
(Interview made in Angoulême, on January 27, 2007)
or books like The Plague by Albert Camus or Tempête sur la ville by Gorki (did not find the English title). There is always this oppressing atmosphere that reveals a lot of things about people and in Soil the author abuses of graphical details (e.g. sweat) to make the reader feel it. 
