Q: What is your history in terms of being a manga editor? How did you become an editor and grow your craft?

A: I wanted to work with books, so I took a job with a small editing production company. I am an avid reader of manga, and as a reader I found IKKI to be particularly interesting among the manga magazines of the time. When IKKI went monthly in 2003, I had the fortune to begin working as a freelance editor in their editorial department. I've been a manga editor for only about six years, so at the moment every day is a learning experience for me toward my goal of becoming a full-fledged editor.

Q: A mangaka may have a vision for his or her work that is extremely personal. In your experience, how long does it take to build up a relationship with a mangaka to the point where he/she welcomes your input?

A: I believe that it depends on each person's personality, compatibility, the moment or timing, and the manga itself. Every case is different, because "welcoming my input" doesn't necessarily equate to an "interesting manga."

Q: What is your work process with Children of the Sea? Do you receive a script or rough panels initially or do you discuss the proposed chapter first with Igarashi sensei? What is the editing process for a single chapter?

A: With regard to Children of the Sea, we already have an idea of how the story will conclude, so we discuss what we need to do in order to reach that conclusion. This process is done for each episode and for the series as a whole. When I say "we" discuss it, I'm not saying that I as the editor think up the storyline. Igarasahi sensei is a mangaka who is a very good writer, so I try to enhance that appeal by looking at the story from the reader's perspective and coming up with ways to make what Igarashi sensei wants to draw more affecting for the readers. After that, I have him create rough panels so we can check for portions that might be hard to understand before having him draw the final manga.

Q: Does Igarashi sensei provide an explanation of what effect he is going for in a given scene or panel, or do you deduce his goal from long-term involvement with the manga?

A: If there are scenes where I don't understand his intentions, I will ask him, but that hardly ever happens—not because I'm good at this, but because of Igarashi-san's abilities.

Q: Children of the Sea is an extremely visual manga, with the power of the images standing out as the most immediate and striking element. Does this present a particular challenge as an editor? When there is less text to deal with, does that put more pressure on the wording of the text that remains?

A: We're hoping Children of the Sea will be a manga that stimulates all five senses. Words are an eloquent way to convey feelings, but using language is often restrictive, so we try not to explain too much in words.

For the record, manga text is entirely written by the manga artists. Igarashi sensei decides what to write after I have given him my input.

Q: Children of the Sea is grouped with a wide array of manga stories in IKKI. What makes IKKI manga distinct from other seinen manga? What qualities does Children of the Sea have that makes it a good fit with IKKI?

A: Japan has a long history of manga magazines, so there is a tendency to consciously create manga to fit the style of a particular magazine. While this restricts the range of the manga—so that they can be read without any surprises—manga that don't fit within a magazine's framework will never reach the readers. IKKI is not like that. I feel that the flexibility to remain unbound by "what IKKI should be like" is what makes IKKI special. There's a spirit in IKKI of "if it's entertaining, anything is fair game." What I'd always like to cherish, however, are the things that make each mangaka unique—the aspects that make a reader realize simply by looking at the characters that this is a world that only one mangaka could have created. I truly believe that Igarashi-san's manga are like that.

Q: When people read Children of the Sea, what do you want them to take away from it?

A: I consider the whole story to include impressions that readers have after they've read it, so I don't want to say anything that would limit how readers interpret it. It would make me happy, though, if after they've finished reading Children of the Sea and put the book down, readers saw the world around them as being more beautiful and appealing.