cj_iwakura
Member
I think this warrants its own thread. This is nearly 20 years old, and from the (fantastic) Digital Devil Saga Apocalypse artbook, but it's extremely candid and a lot of work went into it, so hopefully it's enjoyable.
Props to Eirikr and dijeh for the massive work involved.
https://dijehtranslations.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/the-other-face-of-the-demon-artist-kaneko-kazuma/
Posting excerpts, the interview is MASSIVE. Entirely worth reading.
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Props to Eirikr and dijeh for the massive work involved.
https://dijehtranslations.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/the-other-face-of-the-demon-artist-kaneko-kazuma/
Posting excerpts, the interview is MASSIVE. Entirely worth reading.
First of all, I would like to know why you are called the Demon Artist.
I received this nickname in the strategy guide for the NES version of Megami Tensei II back when I first started this job. I personally have doubts about it though. It stuck simply because my work was drawing demons. You see, I dont draw as a hobby. I dont want to do anything unless theres a purpose to it. I usually like tarrying and procrastinating, but since this is work, I will take my idiosyncrasies into account, but still wont turn it into a hobby. I will never get into the mood to do it otherwise. Maybe one day Ill do something about it, but I want to take my time for now. I hate overworking or stressing myself out.
What can you say about the motifs of your demons?
I love using natural phenomena as inspiration, so I reinterpret them in my own way to have them fit in with the game. Besides, the terminology expands as well, so lately Ive had all kinds of things to think about: focusing on particular mythologies, for example.
Do you mean that in the beginning you werent really taking the original mythology into account that much?
Yes. Now there are books coming out about imaginary worlds or about fantasy, but if these kind of ideas were used in games, theyd take hold of them in the end. When I started this work, Norse mythology wasnt that popular. People knew about Alien Baltan though.
So during those times, I had to take inspiration from those lesser known mythologies and beliefs. I was eager to give them a shape somehow. There was this train of thought back then that Indians should be the ones to illustrate Hindu mythology. Indian goddesses, for example, would all look like theyre floating and so on. But you see, thanks to RPGs and fantasy games, people became more aware and started doing research. That is why I figured I should tackle those differences that were now obvious.
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How about you?
I rarely go out with no purpose, I usually try to find one, even if its just Man, I kind of want to buy a bag. Speaking of which, Im a complete shopaholic. I start thinking that Im utterly hopeless unless I buy something. I do get bored really fast though. For clothes I prefer Jeans Corona, so I always look for them everywhere and if I cant find my size, Ill have them order a pair for me; if they dont fit, I sell them. Even if I throw them away, my garbage bags are transparent so its obvious a mountain of flashy clothes goes inside and it ends up looking like the garbage of an actor or something. I like Nicholas Cage, you know. Fashion like the one in Wild At Heart is really cool. For going out, I mean, since I usually work at the company during the day.
What about nightlife?
It exists. Im not against adult entertainment and I go to clubs by myself as well. I have to be careful if I go in a group so its rather difficult. I dont like it if theres no fun, so I take the role of making things entertaining for everyone. But, truth be told, I dont like that either. Even if I go to the club by myself, I just laze around. Since I go by myself very rarely, I dont really talk about these nights and keep them a secret. Theyre pretty fun.
Is it fun, going to those places?
It is. There are quite a lot of things happening around there. I get hit on by girls, for example. Its different from simply walking around with a camera. Im using CG now, so I dont take photos of backgrounds anymore and use a digital camera, and at times like these I attract quite a lot of attention. I wonder if theyre interested in dating.
What do you think about giving the origin of fear human shape?
Take night, for example. Its bright at night now, but it used to be completely dark before, so people would get scared just from hearing a strange voice or a sound. They gave it a form and blamed Azukiarai. Many of the demons I draw have the human shape at their base. If I go too wild though, they wont look scary anymore. If I mix them up too much, they might end up looking interesting, but not frightening. If there actually were beings of the underworld, then the Angels of Evangelion would work, and laughing at them would probably be natural thing to do, but they wouldnt be scary.
In the end, I have the feeling its not going to work unless you use humans as motif to transmit fear or awe. Putting a humans likeness in a costume is the same as in reality: doing things according to my own likes and dislikes, trying all sorts of looks, changing my hairstyle. Heres an old and embarrassing story, but I think Jeanne DArcs design is a good example. Her category: Hero. By putting her in a good costume, she gains that identity and becomes that person. Its a motif found since long ago among the image of French revolutionary heroes, so it was easy.
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Then what about humans themselves?
Pretty indifferent to them. My parents owned a sushi store, so I was able to see a lot of customers coming and going monks, yakuza, teachers. When I was in primary school, I saw my teacher doing lewd things to a young girl. I saw the strength of the yakuza. I guess I grew pretty indifferent after seeing all that. Theres also this service industry. Heres a strange story: even if I take my subordinates out for fun, I have this habit of making great efforts to make them feel good. Its like all my efforts come to naught. In the end I return to my old self, but wishing deep inside for sincerity makes me feel lonely. Perhaps thats why Im so cold towards people, since I have no expectations.
Even in the development of real life robots it is considered the ideal solution to give them humanoid forms in order for them to enter peoples daily lives unnoticed and do their job. Do Zouma have a human form for the same reason?
Real life human shaped robots, like P3, are pretty active, arent they. However, I think that Zouma were created to attain the most beautiful form possible from Victors point of view, rather than to be useful in daily life.
How about your personal point of view?
I personally think the spherical robots that fly around are the ultimate form. Theyre extremely simple and can change their form at will. But you see, Victor is rather special. He even created a maid for himself. She turned out nice though, kind of feels like Ayanami (laughs). At first, I imagined her as more of a comic relief, but the young staffs feverish romantic feelings crept in, so she ended up like that. I did imagine her to randomly have metal only around her mouth.
This is a strange topic, but for someone like me who does character designs, the feeling I get when I see a cosplayer is probably similar to Victors. Its probably different for those people, but for me, seeing the things I created move and dance really makes me feel like Victor. Isnt there something like a cosplay sex industry nowadays? I kind of want to try it and ask for Sonomura Maki (laughs). Theyd probably tell me Oh! I see, hmm and then look for her on the Internet. That would be really unpleasant.
You create strange shapes from all kinds of patterns, but what do you enjoy drawing the most?
I do love creatures with a lot of faces or hands. But my number one favourites are people who wear a normal suit but whose faces have something off about them. I really want to draw that kind of thing. Didnt they show up in Ultraman a lot? They were probably just cutting corners, but those characters looked really scary. Theyve got an abnormal atmosphere about them, but they also look like they could actually exist in reality if youre unlucky.
Like in the original The Fly.
Yes, thats right. Guys like that are scary. But on the other hand theyre also seen as attractive. Probably because of the headgear, with people thinking theyd also like to wear that kind of stuff and walk around. Perhaps that kind of desire to change into something out of the ordinary does exist. Costumes like the Jack Frost ones we used in CMs exist too, but putting something just on your head sounds fun.
And suddenly you start making cute movements.
You do, you do. Being able to transform to that degree is good. Maybe its even the impetus.
What are you aiming for regarding future unusual designs?
Details, as I mentioned earlier. Like one-point tattoos. I want to create these subtle differences in the future with a method I havent used before. I dont think I can get directly involved though.
By doing this, they approach functional beauty and dont even need to be women anymore. This time I have a feeling we can also talk about alluring male demons.
I am after all weak to fitting reason into functional beauty. It strikes home. However, I dont know if there are demons who have that sort of functional beauty. Strange story, but male demons are needed because female humans also have sexual needs. But how is it practically? The people who play this type of games love beautiful people and I do draw them more or less like that, but women have all kinds of passions as well. Hairiness for one. Kind of like Freddie Mercury. I guess this would be better suited for men though (laughs).
Nah, now that I look at it, hes sexy. He looks so cool in Another One Bites the Dust. Well, there are some things I rather want to draw even if theyre directed at women. The erotic type. Dont women suppress things, after all? We men can go to sex services, but usually there are no such things for women. They also cant help but be passive most of the time. That is why I want to draw just for them something that looks cool. I think there should be more sexy guys.
