Assistant Commentaries
The following features commentaries from the assistants who worked under Watsuki-san: Eichiro Oda and Hiroyuki Takei. Thank you again Janice for translating this.
Eichiro Oda
About Rurouni Kenshin
“Rurouni Kenshin” is a very interesting work. And very deep. Because it was drawn about “The true meaning of fighting”, which not many shounen series were able to cover. Therefore, it had the heaviness of someone who’s really worried about what he’s doing. Which really read what the readers wanted. By the way, I like Kenshin the most =)
About Watsuki-sensei
Watsuki-sensei is my teacher and friend/ally at the same time. A long time ago, when I was looking for a job as a mangaka assistant, the topic of Rurouni Kenshin arrived. Because I loved the story of it, I went and applied. That was when I first met Watsuki-sensei. I thought that, “What a HUGE person!”
(Note: by HUGE, he meant that Watsuki-sensei left a very strong first impression)
Something about eyes are sugoku-something? Especially his eyes, which was almost like a strong glare, left a great impression on me. However, once you talk to him, you’d realize that, “What a nice person!” In fact, he’s a really, really nice person. Watsuki-sensei is like a soft type of Bakumatsu samurai. Shall we call it Manga Algorithms? – He has a firm belief and clear shape of what he believes in manga-making, which makes our conversation about manga extremely interesting. Ever since I became his assistant, we’ve always had a great time talking about all sorts of things, which continues to this day. Also, he has a mountain load of action figures from AmeComi (American Comics) in his room. Really, does this person like Japan or America more…?
Message to Watsuki-sama
Watsuki-sensei, thanks for all the work ’til now. When I was working under you as an assistant, even though I’ve always stayed over at your place for 4-5 days straight each week, I’ve hardly seen you sleep at all. The fact that you always tried your hardest ’til the last second really left a strong impression on me. Anyhow, please take your time and rest for now. And looking forward to your new work soon.
Hiroyuki Takei
About Rurouni Kenshin
“Rurouni Kenshin” is a work that broke the general trends of manga at the time: it took up ancient tales with a casual, pop-ish yet somewhat Americanized style. Even though it was a work with such a difficult theme, I was really impressed by Watsuki sensei’s spirit as a challenger of the time. By the way, my favorite character (from RK) is Kujiranami.
About Watsuki-sensei
I was introduced to the job as Watsuki-sensei’s assistant around 4-5 years ago, when I first won the Tezuka award. (Tezuka award = some manga field big award held by the original author of Doraemon). I remember my first impression of Watsuki-sensei being “a person who’s not very easy to get close to.” He was a person who would stab my arm with his long hair (which reached his waist) whenever he turns to talk with me. Just like a bestseller would look like.
Message to Watsuki-sama
I really love sensei’s stoic personality – it’s so cool. That’s why, I hope that sensei will show and improve the stoic side of him through more and more of his manga works as well. Though it’s a little difficult to keep work and entertainment at balance, I’m sure it will be solved eventually. I’m really looking to your next work. – or rather, I really should do something about my (weird) self first!
