#iromen

This year marks the 38th anniversary of Yumi Tamura's debut.

Tomoe ga Yuku!, BASARA, and 7SEEDS are big hit series, and her current serialization, Mystery to Iu Nakare, is also attracting a great deal of attention. Throughout her illustrious career, just as her portrayed protagonists have always been "fighting people," she herself has always been a "fighting manga artist.” This is a precious long interview with Tamura that reveals the path she has taken as a manga artist!

The Budding Worldview Begins in a Manga Club

Yumi Tamura opened the door to the world of manga when she was in junior high and high school. It was during this time that she first made many friends who drew manga together.

“I formed a manga club. We weren’t allowed to have a manga club at my school, so I formed an independent one with kids from other schools. After school, we would gather at the house of a member and draw various things. But it's not like we were making proper manuscripts yet at that time. It was more like relay manga [1.], where we would draw with pencils in a notebook. We also made photocopy zines and went to events to sell them. I liked horror and suspense [genres], and now that I think about it, ensemble dramas [2.]. I was creating a single world and putting various characters in it, each with their own story. It was like playing with worlds and characters.”

It was in this manga club that Tamura began walking the path of becoming a professional. In high school, her friends told her they wanted to become manga artists, and in her sophomore year, Tamura, too, finished her first real manuscript and submitted it to Bessatsu Shoujo Comic. It was selected as an honorable mention for the monthly award, and an editor was already assigned to her after her second submission.

“A career as manga artist finally became a reality at this point. When I was deciding on a career path, I thought to myself that I didn’t want to draw manga only as a side job, so I had no choice but to become a manga artist. I entered a design school in Tokyo and worked as an assistant here and there while aiming to make my debut.”

I wanted to draw a hard-boiled suspense with a male protagonist.

For Tamura, the manga club was not only the beginning, but also an important place where the foundation of her career as a manga artist formed.

“The person who influenced me the most in becoming a manga artist was a friend of mine from the manga club. She was a very unique person and a good artist. She would draw pictures of an old Black man playing musical instruments in color. She would also draw stories about the environment from the perspective of a wolf. Seeing her, I realized that I’d be in trouble if I couldn’t draw men and women of all ages too. I started practicing drawing animals, mechanical objects, and with colors. As many of the contributors often say, you should put yourself in an environment where there are people who are clearly better than you. You'll definitely learn a lot that way. If I hadn't met that friend, I don't think I would have become a manga artist.”

Friction Between One's Own Worldview and the Required Worldview

However, after moving to Tokyo, Tamura continued her work in anguish for a brief period. She struggled with the friction between her own view of the world and the so-called shoujo-manga-like worldview.

“I wanted to create a hard-boiled type of story with a male protagonist and with a sense of suspense. But I assumed I couldn't do that for a 32-page piece, so I ended up not knowing what to actually draw for submission. After about two years, I decided that I couldn’t continue this way, so I finally started drawing what I wanted to draw. That was my debut work, Ore-tachi no Zettai Jikan.”

[Image caption: This is Billy, who could be called Tamura’s own fighting game character that she would choose to play. The actions of this rookie newspaper reporter are dazzling! (From Ore-tachi no Zettai Jikan)]

This work won an honorable mention in the Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Award, and was published in an additional issue of Bessatsu Shoujo Comic in 1983. The story begins when Billy, a rookie newspaper reporter, meets a mysterious man who is carrying a dead girl's body.

“Billy is one of the characters in the world that I was creating back in my manga club days. I tried to draw him the way I would like my own selected character [in a fighting video game]. I submitted the work without even showing it to my editor.”

In the 1980s, shoujo manga was in its golden age of school romantic comedies. It could be said that Tamura had begun acquiring her own unique style since the time of her debut.

“It's true that I'm often told that my work is not limited to the boundaries of shoujo manga. But I've never thought of shoujo manga as having any boundaries, and I naturally believe that it has a wide range where anything can be done. I mean I've been reading such stories for a long time. From the perspective of an otaku of my generation, the school romantic comedy genre that everyone often thinks of [and associates with shoujo] is something that came along relatively later.”

However, even after her debut, Tamura still ran into a wall with the worldview requested by the [Bessatsu Shoujo Comic] magazine. Her first serialization was Chotto Eiyuu (Hiirou) shite Mitai. It's a story about a high school girl who plays tennis.

“The person in charge told me that the main character needed to be a girl; that a mystery/suspense was not allowed; that since it’s action, it should be about sports. And that’s how the setting came to be. But because of that, this is a pretty heavy and somewhat bitter memory for me.”

Wanting a Protagonist Who Fights Alongside Men on Equal Footing

The first breakthrough in Tamura’s career came in 1987 with the serialization of Tomoe ga Yuku!. The main character is Tomoe, a delinquent girl who formerly rode roller skates down freeways. She meets Iori, the heir of a business conglomerate, and together they fight to protect him against various threats. With this work, Tamura solidified her position as a popular manga artist. But above all, Tomoe established the heroine image of the "fighting shoujo [girl]" that came to symbolize Tamura's work.

“Tomoe is by no means a strong girl. She is troubled by her own weakness, but she earnestly tries her best to be strong. In Tomoe, for the first time, I put in my own thoughts and problems that I’ve been carrying--the weaknesses, complexes, and worries I had inside me. Though I don't know if that’s an appropriate form for creative work like manga. I'm not a strong person at all, so I tried my best during this time in hopes of becoming strong too. Tomoe runs while crying. I was very happy that readers could relate to that. For the first time in this work, I thought it was fun to have a girl as the protagonist.”

“Thank you for loving me, I will make you happy too.”

We asked once more: In the end, isn't the so-called normal girl, a girl who is loved by a prince-like boy and becomes happy, the kind of protagonist that Tamura should be portraying?

“Of course, I want the protagonist to be loved and happy. But there's a part of me that thinks that she can't really be happy in the way you describe. She’s not an equal [to her partner] somehow, and I feel like sooner or later she’ll be looked down upon or despised as long as that remains the case. It's tiring to be at the mercy of others. For example, even if I do feel loved, I don't want to just be patted on the head; I want to pat your head in return as well. I want to be treated as an equal human being. Thus, I want her to be a girl who says, ‘Thank you for loving me, I will make you happy too.’ For some reason, this kind of awareness has always been with me. When I was a child, I loved tokusatsu [3.] and anime, especially the ones where the lone woman in a group plays the same active role as the men. For example, Françoise Arnoul in Cyborg 009 and Yōko Nogiwa in Key Hunter, though it’s a drama.”

Tomoe was also taken from Tomoe Gozen [4.].

“Tomoe Gozen is said to have charged alongside Kiso Yoshinaka [5.] on the battlefield. I very much admire that kind of relationship. I don't want to simply be told, ‘I'll protect you, so stay back.’ I want to fight together, hand in hand, raising each other up. Well, that's the ideal, but...I know it's difficult to achieve.”

The Idea for Sarasa Came from an Egyptian Queen Who Dressed Like a Man

In 1990, the same year that the serialization of Tomoe ga Yuku! ended, Tamura started serializing BASARA. Including the Gaiden [appendix; side story], the series ran until 1999 and won the 38th Shogakukan Manga Award. This is Tamura's legendary masterpiece that is still loved by many fans. The story takes place in Japan several hundred years after the collapse of civilization. Sarasa, a girl born in the village of Byakko, takes the place of her murdered twin brother, Tatara, and grows up to become the leader of a revolutionary army to save the people suffering under the king's oppressive rule.

[Image caption: This Okinawa edition is full of tropical flair! (From BASARA)]

“The idea started with a trip to Egypt. There, I learned about the female king, Hatshepsut, who ruled as a pharaoh while dressed as a man, and so I thought it would also be great to have a story about a girl fighting in the disguise of a man. There were already a lot of Egyptian-based stories, so I decided to make a Japanese one, but I thought it would be difficult to portray an actual historical figure since my mind would be wrapped up in historical facts. Thus, it became a fictional war story set in future Japan.”

One of the major attractions of BASARA is the fictional setting of the war. Centered on the imperial capital, Kyoto, Japan is divided into four provinces ruled by the Black King, the Blue King, the White King, and the Red King. There’s a large temple in Kumano and a prison, Abashiri, in the far north. Okinawa is an independent country with a presidential system. It is a world that is slightly connected to the real Japan, yet far more original.

“As usual, I kind of started before really deciding on the detailed setting. I immediately got stuck on what to do next (laughs), but I finally grasped the general idea of how to proceed around the time I put out the Kanmon Tunnel chapters. I realized then that this was indeed going to be a story about Sarasa’s journey around the actual islands of Japan. I guess this was partly due to the influence of role-playing games [6.]. So, as she travels around like that, some real places, such as Sakurajima, appear in the story, while there are other places that have completely changed. I tried to mix in settings that overlap a bit with historical facts and folklore, among trying other things, so it was a lot of fun to create.”

Not Wanting Just Strength; Kindness is Also Necessary

The heart of the story in BASARA is Sarasa’s internal conflict and love. While leading the Tatara army, Sarasa continues to question herself. “Why do I kill people on the battlefield when I want to create a country where people are not killed?” She also then falls deeply in love with the Red King, Shuri, not realizing that he is her own enemy. Sarasa, like Tomoe, is a "fighting girl," but she anguishes and struggles the more deeply she fights and loves.

“Sarasa is also a girl who knows she is weak and keeps struggling to be strong. But in the latter half of the story, she realizes that it’s not enough. Strength alone is not enough; you have to be kind.”

Sarasa reflects: “I thought all I wanted was strength, but every time I come in contact with someone's kindness, I wish I could be kind like them too, I wish I could be even more so; not just strong like Byakko.”

Tamura continues:

“Sarasa is not solely trying to be her brother, Tatara, nor a beautiful woman dressed as a man. She actually loved and lived as a girl. From the beginning of the story to the end, the protagonist has been extremely conscious of the fact that she is a girl. This was a work in which I myself kept thinking about what it meant be a girl.”

After fulfilling her goal of overthrowing the kingdom, Sarasa does not become the head of the new country. She, along with Shuri, disappears from everyone's sight. In the Gaiden, it is mentioned that they crossed over to Europe and established a company called Green Shokai [Green Trading Company].

“I had trouble with the conclusion through the very end. There is still a part of me that doesn't know if them leaving the country was a good choice or not. Maybe Sarasa should have ruled the country. But then, she would have never been able to be with Shuri. I was also very worried about whether or not Sarasa could really forgive Shuri, or if she should. In fact, my editor at one point told me that the two of them should die. But I didn't want to do that. I believed they should live on because they had persevered through so much and fought so hard all that time to be happy. If it had been a short story, I think the ending would have been different. But for this story, it's more meaningful for them to live than to gloriously die a noble death, and even if it's hard, the two of them should bear the burden of their responsibility. The readers called it a job change (laughs), but it’s another way of supporting their country as merchants. In the end, that's how their future together turned out.”

7SEEDS is a School Drama

Tamura's writing prowess continued to grow. In 2001 following BASARA, she launched her other masterpiece, 7SEEDS. The series ran for 16 years and won the Shogakukan Manga Award as well. In the story, five teams of seven people each—Team Spring, Summer A, Summer B, Autumn, and Winter—are put under cryogenic sleep and awaken in the future after the extinction of the human race.

[Image caption: Natsu and Hana in their school uniforms. It certainly looks like a school drama! (From 7SEEDS)]

“Again, I started this one in a hurry before I could really decide on anything (laughs), so I had a rather rough time until about volume 6. I wanted to take a good break for a moment, but it was hard to get one. But then in the chapter arc about Team Summer A at the institute, the story came to me all at once, right up to the final selection test. That was when I remembered the sensation of ‘manga is fun!’ for the first time in a long time.”

Even though the setup can be seen as a future survival story, 7SEEDS is a human drama all the way through.

“In my opinion, this work is a school drama. I'm not very good at school stories, so I've rarely written them, but here, there are only boys and girls of about high school-age, and they live together. In the end, it's not a survival know-how story, and of course it's not science fiction; it's a story about how people interact with each other and how they go on living.”

Natsu, who was bullied; Hana and Arashi, who were lovers; Aramaki, a former high school baseball player; and Ango, who carries trauma from his time at the institution. This is the ultimate ensemble drama, with each character having a life of their own to the point where it can be said that all the characters play a leading role.

"Whenever I draw manga, I always think that the supporting characters are not living for the sake of the main character. All of them are living for their own happiness. And it’s when they collide and overlap with each other that the story forms. Also, as is the case with BASARA, even if the young people are the main characters, it’s necessary to depict an adult society in the background—the ideas, expectations, and interests of adults. Only then can that world become one, but that’s the most challenging part.”

There is one chapter arc in 7SEEDS that Tamura herself loves. It's the "Ryugu" shelter, which portrays the time when humanity is on the verge of extinction.

“It seems that many readers are reminded of Ryugu shelter now with the occurrence of Corona [COVID-19 pandemic].”

In the Ryugu shelter, a singer, comedian, ramen chef, dairy farmer, and manga artist all fulfill their professional duties up until the moment of their deaths.

“What would we do if the end of humankind became a reality? I figured that in the end we would do the same thing as they did.”

Dissatisfaction with Gladiator is the Inspiration for Toraji?

One of the most notable aspects of Tamura's career is that while drawing long-running big hits without interruption since the time of Tomoe ga Yuku!, she has been constantly releasing new serialized work and one-shot short stories to the world. When BASARA was in serialization, she created a number of masterpieces, including the Ryuzaburou series featuring a 10-year-old boy, Kinezukan in which a group of senior citizens play an active role, and the horror work 4nin no Onna. And since the start of 7SEEDS, she has started two other series, Neko Mix Genkitan Toraji and Iromen—Juunin Toiro—.

Toraji is a fantasy story set in a world where humans and mice are at war with each other. Hero Pai’yan together along with half-human (mix) cat, Toraji, is searching for his son, who was kidnapped by the Magic Mouse. In Iromen, Aoki, Akagi, Midorikawa, and other men and women with colors in their names fixate on colors and engage in discussions over them at a company.

[Image caption: Color-obsessed Iromen [7.]. Tamura’s hobby-filled pieces of tidbits and jokes are entertaining! (From Iromen)]

“The times when I’m in good form are probably when I'm able to work simultaneously on things with slightly different flavors, such as a serious story for the main magazine and a comedy for another. Toraji was inspired by the movie Gladiator. At the beginning of the movie, the main character, a Roman army general, finds his wife and child murdered while he was away in battle. Consequently, the story is about that man fighting as a gladiator for revenge, and of course it’s a magnificent movie, but there was something that made me pause. His wife and child become a very beautiful memory for him; however, he was always away at war and basically neglected them. Isn’t it possible that they hated [him] or was angry with [him]? They weren’t dolls, they were human beings who had feelings and thought about things. But the main character doesn’t think about that even for a minute. I was a little dissatisfied with that, and thus, decided to create Toraji. That’s why Toraji is a story about a son and mother who wants to say to their neglectful father, ‘We are living people too.’”

On the other hand, as for Iromen ...

“It’s like a compilation of myself (laughs). Because I put in real life works like tokusatsu and anime, along with other real products; in other words, I included all the things I like. Moreover, since it was the first time in a long time that I was depicting the present-day real world, it was actually serving as a stepping stone to Mystery to Iu Nakare. After I started the Iromen series, I wrote down notes of proverbs, famous quotes, and anything related to colors. I’ve utilized colors [words, phrases, titles, names, etc.] in BASARA as well. I don’t know much about poetry or literature, but maybe I’m interested in words themselves—in the history of specific words and kanji. I feel like that fixation is gradually showing in my manga.”

Totonou’s Discussions are Something that I’ve Been Thinking About for a Long Time

Mystery to Iu Nakare, which is currently in serialization, also began as a one-shot that was drawn during the same time as 7SEEDS.

“To tell the truth, I had already decided on a different story for the new series. I’ve been wanting to do something a bit like an omnibus for a long time. But fortunately, I received great responses to the Mystery one-shot, so I decided to make it a series.”

Mystery to Iu Nakare has acquired a readership that extends beyond traditional manga fans, and last year it ranked second in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2019 Onna Hen [Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2019 ranking for female readers] and the Manga Taisho 2019 award list. It is no exaggeration to say that it is one of the hottest manga right now. Perhaps the secret of its popularity stems from the fact that Mystery is packed with everything Tamura has ever done. For example, the main character is a university student named Totonou Kunou. Although he takes on the role of a detective, his true value lies not so much in solving mysteries, but rather, in his sincere point of view on the essence of society and people. He never stays silent when he thinks something is wrong. His inability to read the atmosphere and his reluctance to give up also make him a certain kind of “difficult person.” And Tamura has portrayed many undoubtedly “difficult people” in her works thus far.

[Image caption: Totonou, who is a difficult type of person, yet a beloved character. (From Mystery to Iu Nakare)]

“I’m the type of person who cannot speak up clearly even when frustrated, so maybe I admire people who don’t keep quiet. People who can think things through and put them into words. Like, ‘I’m not so sure that's the case’ to ‘I think this is wrong.’”

What strongly attracts readers is the numerous words from Totonou, who never remains silent. The gender inequality that still exists in society, the burden placed on mothers in raising children, what it means to love a child, and why it is wrong to kill people… for each of these topics, he gives his own well-thought-out response, addressing them to the people around him as well as to the readers.

“Originally, I didn't start this work with the intention of making it into a mystery, but rather, I was thinking of making it so that Totonou is just there having a conversation while the case is being solved on the side. I wasn’t thinking that he himself would be solving the case. That’s why I titled it with ‘Iu Nakare’ [‘Don’t Say It’ (is a Mystery)], and why the main focus is on his commentary. Everything he says is actually something I've always wondered and kept thinking about. Or, they’re unexpected facts that I learned, or something that surprised me. So, the questions and answers within me at the present moment have become Totonou’s words. Normally, it's not allowed in manga to include the author's thoughts or opinions as they are. However, since Mystery was a one-shot, I thought I’d experiment a bit.”

Among other aspects, Totonou’s strict “No” stance on gender inequality has garnered a great deal of attention.

“Of course, it's not that I want to talk about gender in particular. However, I want to depict what I can now about it too. I think the structure of the world as it exists today is something that was mostly constructed by a small portion of men. Languages, ideas, and systems of the world. Based on said men’s judgment and convenience at that time. That structure is passed down through generations as the natural order of things. I think it’s awfully difficult for women to live as equals with men in a world created in this way. It’s like a pentagon not fitting into a world that’s made for a triangle. In order to make life better for women, I think women need to be involved in the creation of things from the very beginning.”

In that moment, I firmly vowed in my heart: ‘I will become a manga artist!’

Tamura said that an old friend of hers recently pointed out that among all her main characters thus far, Totonou is the closest to Tamura herself. Tomoe, who wished to be strong so that she could fight alongside men; Sarasa, who found kindness before strength; and Totonou, who never averts his eyes from the true nature of society. It can be said that Tamura is a manga artist who is constantly thinking, and her manga is what derives from that. Well, to find out where that driving force to keep on thinking comes from, we finally asked her about it.

"Hmm, a driving force… it starts with the thought of ‘I want to draw this,’ or ‘This would be fun to draw,’ so it normally feels like that, but sometimes there’s an underlying ‘anger.’ There was a moment in high school when I really decided to become a manga artist. At the time, I was very confused about my career path, but there was this one teacher in training who had previously wanted to be a painter but instead chose to become a teacher for the sake of their family. So, I thought I’d try asking them for some advice. When I did, the teacher told me that I should quit if I had any doubts. I nodded my head in agreement, but then they added, ‘But you’re a girl, so you can do whatever you want, right? That’s not the case for men.’ I was both shocked and raging with anger. Angry by that kind of mindset which believes women will get married anyway, so they'll be provided for no matter what becomes of their career [i.e., it doesn’t matter what women do; women have it easy]. Is this something a person who is trying to become a teacher should say? I think on my way home as I rode my bicycle, fire was emitting from my entire body. In that moment, I firmly vowed in my heart: ‘I will become a manga artist!’ In a way, it’s thanks to that teacher…”

However, Tamura says that it doesn’t mean she wants people to agree with her way of thinking.

“I believe that everyone has their own way of thinking. It's also natural for people to think, ‘This seems different or wrong.’ So, it makes sense that the way we look at things changes depending on our situation and circumstances. Everyone has their own truth. That's why human relationships become so complicated.... It would be great if we could talk about that head-on with each other, but I don't think we've learned how to do that very well. It is up to readers to decide how they want to view what I’ve created, so I would be nothing but gratified if they could read my work as they please and enjoy it as reading material. However, there are times when readers tell me that they related to or sympathized with some part of a story, or that it somehow inspired them to think about many things, and that is another outcome that makes me deeply happy and most grateful.”

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Translation Notes

Relay manga: Manga drawn in relay by several people. For example, one person would draw a panel (without planning what would happen next) and then passes on to the next person to draw a continuation of the story, and this process would continue on until it reaches the last participant.

Ensemble dramas (“gunzougeki”): dramatic production with parallel storylines focusing on different characters; multi-protagonist story, film, etc.

Tokusatsu: genre of live-action film or television drama that makes heavy use of special effects, e.g. Godzilla

Tomoe Gozen: “A female warrior, who appeared in 14th century Japanese literature. According to lore, she served Minamoto no Yoshinaka during the Genpei War and was a part of the conflict that led to the first shogunate. Her family had strong affiliations with Yoshinaka. Although never proven to be a historical figure, her story influenced several generations of samurai. Tomoe is often celebrated in books, music, poems, films, historical novels and popular culture in general.” – Wikipedia

Kiso Yoshinaka: Kiso no Yoshinaka was a general of the late Heian period of Japanese history. – Wikipedia

Yumi Tamura was an avid player of role-playing video games.

‘Iromen’ means color men; a play on ‘ikemen,’ which means good-looking man/men.