Season 0
This pilot season was an hour special released in 2014 in two parts, the first part begins focussing on Naoki Urasawa.
In this season Urasawa finds his method of filming and interviewing his guests. This was essentially a “test” season, but there are a few nuggets of wisdom sprinkled throughout and it’s worth a watch for the introduction in the Kawaguchi Kaiji Segment.
The whole Urasawa Naoki no Manben series is inspired by the 1985 NHK documentary featuring Osama Tezuka, The God of Manga.
If you want to skip to the good stuff. Head over to Season 1.
Kawaguchi Kaiji
川口 開治
- Born July 27, 1948
- Works include Eagle and Zipang.
- Received the Kodansha Manga Award three times, for Actor in 1987, for The Silent Service in 1990, and for Zipang in 2002.
- Received the Shogakukan Manga Award, for A Spirit of the Sun in 2006.
Quotes from the Episode:
NAOKI URASAWA:
‘…the most important thing really is the idea that “you are not drawing a picture”.
You’re projecting a performance.’
KAWAGUCHI KAIJI:
‘”Emotions are expressed through the eyes, so when they’re small, it’s hard to understand them.”‘
Yamashita Kazumi
山下和美
- Born August 15, 1959
- Best known for The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa
- 2003 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga – The Life of Genius Professor Yanagizawa
Quotes from the Episode:
NAOKI URASAWA:
‘With reference photos, like for sports scenes and stuff, if you draw it how it looks in the photo, it’ll be too compact.
It feels more like manga if you draw it without looking at it, right?’
YAMASHITA KAZUMI:
‘If I don’t keep things on the edge, then I feel like I wouldn’t be able to make anything new.‘