I always wanted to be a manga artist, even as a kid.
One day, I saw something a veteran artist had said that shocked me: He had written, "It's more fun drawing manga as a hobby. You shouldn't make it your job."
I was looking forward to becoming a manga artist back then, and that statement really ticked me off. He was a pro, having fun and making a good living, and he wanted other people not to do the same thing? What kind of advice is that?! He was a master of the craft, and I was just a kid. Please forgive me. Anyway, then I became a pro.
Now I have a message for that master, who has since passed on. "See? It is fun!" The business changes as the times do, so I can't speak in absolutes, but I'm having fun right now because of my readers' support. Here's my eighth art collection!
Osugi, my editor at the time, asked me to do this idea for a color spread. Drawing it summoned a lot of feelings in me. We've come so far together.
This piece was a collaboration with an artist named Asami Kiyokawa, who adds physical decoration to photographs. She made the Straw Hats very striking and fashionable. This is the kind of art that a guy like me could never come up with!
This was on the cover of a special spin-off of Jump. My policy is that Luffy should only grace the cover of Weekly Shonen Jump. My editor, who is aware of this, said, "Draw the rest of the Straw Hats except for Luffy, then." Isn't that cheating? Ha ha. I did it anyway. This is Luffy's view looking at the gang.
When I was a kid, kung fu movies were all the rage. I'm guessing either Zoro or Sanji get killed by the evil Franky Army, so Luffy has to learn new kung fu from Master Usopp, then get revenge with his new Fire Dragon Kick!!
This was a piece I did while I was in the hospital recovering from my tonsillectomy. The color of the lights there was different from my studio, so the skin tones feel a bit different. It hasn't taken me so long to do a drawing in years.
I was really hooked on a zombie TV show when I drew this. You bet I want to draw zombies.
Is that ohagi, the famous treat of sweet red bean paste with sticky rice, on the sign of this tea house? No, look closer: it says oihagi, meaning "bandits". These guys are about to be robbed for all they're worth... by O-Nami the thief.
An illustration made during the production of the film Gold. If you look at the pile of clothes they bought, it's all the outfits in the movie.
