The Eastern Edge

Following is a brief interview with Moebius, while he was here for his exhibit in Kyoto this past summer, about his thoughts on manga and Naoki Urasawa. Why an interview with a legend such as Moebius is this short, I have no idea. Seems like a huge waste to me. But then the magazine I translated this from is about Naoki Urasawa and maybe this is all they had that would fit the format.

While I love Moebius' work, I think his enthusiasm and admiration for Japan is a little naive. However, I'll also admit that my cynicism is a product of envy from the side of me that still wants to see Japan that way. I love this place, but I'm still picking up the pieces of my own shattered image of an idealized Japan. However, I'll save that for another time.

The point here is that Moebius absolutely loves Japan, loves manga (check out the Astro Boy cameo on the poster for his Kyoto exhibit following this article!) and loves Naoki Urasawa!
Stan lee and Hiroyuki Takei are cool, but if there was ever an international collaboration I'd like to see it's these guys.

Anyway, here's Moebuis on Urasawa:

Q: Your work had an impact on creators of the age such as Osamu Tezuka, Hayao Miyazaki and Katsuhiro Otomo, and you had a major influence in terms of the maturity of the lines and development of the perspectives in Japanese manga.
Also, since your first visit to Japan in 1982, you have developed deep friendships with many creators, and have become somewhat of a preacher for Japanese manga in France.　Honestly, how does one such as yourself view the work of Naoki Urasawa?

Moebius: First of all, Urasawa is without a doubt one of Japan’s elite manga creators whom I absolutely love. The very word “manga” is tricky and something you can’t just sum up with a brief description, though… It’s not what you asked me, but if I may I’d like to start off by talking about that.
I have traveled all over the world and there are many countries I’d like to live in, but Japan is the one country about which I can say, “I wish I was born there.” The high culture – gestures, philosophy, culture and figurative arts, are so pure they directly invoke affluence into human instincts and human nature. Japanese people probably don’t realize it, but that affluence is something that’s in a class of it’s own in this world. To me, manga is one example of a rich form of Japanese cultural expression. As a bande dessinée (Franco-Belgian comics, commonly abbreviated as “BD”) creator looking at manga, I am attracted to this expressiveness, which is more advanced than in any other country’s comics.　French BD even now are aimed at children, or they are treated as a marginal subculture, which leaves them cast in a “derelict” shadow. With American comics, the publisher’s political power is too strong and there is a tendency to simplify the characters and stories, but manga is different. Neither the art nor the stories have any commercial style, or complexes and constraints at all, and exist in society with a power of expression equal to that of literature.

In high quality manga, there is even a psychologically therapeutic effect.
And the variety!　The quality and amount, along with every imaginable type and level of work - yet it all still feels undoubtedly unified as “manga” - puts it on a mystic level. It makes me think of brilliant light actually being made up of 7 primary colours.

Q: And in that manga world, you see Naoki Urasawa as one of the elite.

Moebius: That’s right. He is right there with the greats like Otomo and Jiro Taniguchi. I really like his light, flowing style of art. In his simple lines, I really feel the strong character of his creator’s touch. There is a comfort, and conscious simplicity in his pictures, don’t you think? Here, take a look at the effect his lines have.(Opens up an art book given to him by Urasawa). The feelings like flight and floating are superb, and there is elegance. It’s great.
[Unfortunately the article doesn't show or explain exactly what picture(s) Moebius is looking at when he says this - gottsuiiyan]

Q： In France Urasawa’s long works in particular have been widely evaluated and have even won prestigious awards. What do you think of the story aspect (of Urasawa’s work)?

Moebius： He’s a literary man. His character development is so well researched. With the art being relatively simple, maybe it’s possible to pour energy into story composition and character creation… (thinks for a moment) Actually, more than being a literary man, it might be more accurate to say he amazingly observant He creates strong characters that reflect through human observation, right down to their clothes and movements.　Furthermore, he has a keen intuition when it comes to human nature and people’s destinies、and from that comes stories that are deeply literary.　I say affluence, but while of course there is always the obligatory story composition [introduction, development, turn, conclusion] in manga, Urasawa is different. Without neglecting day-to-day human observation, and making sure to not fall into a boring formula, he is constantly trying to add affluence to reality derived story worlds and I feel a sense of pensee and purposefulness.

The brilliant thing about Urasawa that other mangaka don’t have, is probably the sense of balance in his tales of profound destiny that are told with light, easy artwork that keeps readers hooked.

The Jean Giraud "Moebius" official website is here:
www.moebius.fr