Interviews in 2023: Difference between revisions

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This page lists interviews in 2023.

UNIQLO UT Magazine Interview with Gosho Aoyama

Date: March 24, 2023
Published in: UT Magazine, UNIQLO official website

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Source: Link
Link

Raw:

描きたくて描きたくて仕方なかったあのシーンもTシャツに。
1994年の誕生以来、日本のポップカルチャー界の第一線を走り続けてきた『名探偵コナン』。遂に102巻に達したコミックスはもちろん、TVアニメ版や映画版も絶好調。25の国と地域で翻訳&販売され、全世界累計発行部数が2億7000万冊を突破し、今や世界的に愛される同作が、2023年、コレクションとしてUTに登場する。というわけで、とてつもなく心優しくて、ユーモアセンス溢れる作者の青山剛昌先生に、自身の幼少期から『名探偵コナン』誕生秘話、そして最新映画のことまで、いろいろ語っていただいた！

※文中の情報は2023年2月24日の取材時点のもの。

幼い頃はどんな子供でしたか？

変な子供でしたね。映画を観ては、「俺ならこうするのに」って頭の中で妄想を膨らませていました。まぁ、今も同じようなものなんですけど。映画を観ていて、「こうなったらいいな」って想像した通りのオチだと嬉しくて、それを上回るともっと嬉しくて……。

下回った場合は？

「こうなったらいいのに」ってアイデアを、『名探偵コナン』（以下、『コナン』）に使います（笑）。

素晴らしい活用法ですね（笑）。当時はどんな漫画を読まれていましたか？

いろいろ読んでいましたが、漫画家になる上で決定的に影響を受けたのは、あだち充先生とちばてつや先生とモンキー・パンチ先生。僕の絵を見ればわかります。くりくりした目はあだち先生、ちょんとした鼻はちば先生、ふみゅっとした口はモンキー・パンチ先生の影響ですから。それを合わせると俺の絵になるんです。島本和彦先生（『アオイホノオ』などの作者）にそれを言ったら、「ならねぇよ！」って否定されてしまいましたけど（笑）。

そんな秘密があったとは！先生は小学校の卒業文集に「私立探偵専門の漫画家になりたい」と書かれていたそうですね。漫画以外に、探偵ミステリーもお好きだったんですか？

もう大好きでしたね。アーサー・コナン・ドイル、江戸川乱歩、モーリス・ルブラン。おそらく学校の図書館で出会ったんでしょうね。その3人の本は、どこの図書館でもありますので。最初に驚いたのは、コナン・ドイルが書いた『シャーロック・ホームズ』シリーズの『踊る人形』。作中に登場する、人形が並んだような気持ち悪い暗号に対して、「これなんだろう？」ってすごく惹かれて。そこからですね、ミステリーにハマっていったのは。

じゃあ、幼少期の夢を『コナン』で叶えられたわけですね。

いや、漫画家になった頃は、卒業文集にそんなことを書いたなんてすっかり忘れていました（笑）。『コナン』は「探偵ものをやりませんか」と編集者の方に言われて始めたんですよ。「えー、めんどくさいなぁ」と思いながら描いていくうちに、「あ、そういえば俺は『シャーロック・ホームズ』が好きだったな」と思い出したっていう。

『コナン』の連載を始めるにあたり、「こんな作品にしてやろう！」みたいな意気込みはありましたか？

言っちゃなんですけど、すぐに終わると思っていたのでまったく意気込みはなかったです（笑）。

そうだったんですか⁉︎ 『コナン』は、青山先生の知名度を高めた『YAIBA』の次作なので、「ここが正念場」みたいな気持ちがあったのかと思っていました。

いやいや。どうせすぐ終わって、『YAIBA2』をやるんだろうなと思っていたので（笑）。何のプレッシャーもなく気軽に始められました。

にもかかわらず、30年近くも続けてこられた理由は何だったと思いますか？

「もう無理」って思ったことは何度もありますよ。特に最初の頃は。だけど、そのたびにいい転機が訪れてくれたんです。「めんどくさくて嫌だな」って思っていたらTVドラマ『古畑任三郎』が始まって、「こういう感じで俺もやってみたい！」と創作意欲を刺激されたり、「もうやることない。やることはやったよ」ってときにアニメ化や映画化が決まったり。運がいいんです。

毎回トリックを考えるだけでも大変そうですよね。

そりゃもう大変ですよ。時にはトリックになりそうなものがないかと、市販のマジックグッズを買うこともあります。まぁ、それは使えないことが多いんですが（笑）。

マジックグッズまで！『コナン』は子供だけでなく大人でも楽しめる作品だと思うのですが、先生としては少年に向けて描いているという意識が強いのですか？

いや、少年に向けては描いていないんです。少年に向けてしまうと、子供騙しだと思われてしまいますから。たまに簡単なトリックもありますけど、ほぼ大人向けです。子供って難しいことがあっても調べるじゃないですか。僕もさっきお話しした『踊る人形』を読んだときに、英語はわからないけど、辞書を調べましたもん。それで「Nで終わる単語が多いんだ」と知ったり。子供は調べるし、頭もいいから、難しく描いても大丈夫なんです。そして、大人に関しては、そんな子供時代を思い出して読んでいただけるといいかなって。

「すぐ終わっちゃう」と思って始めながら、30年近く描き続けられた『コナン』ですが、終わる時期は決めているんですか？

決めていないですね。あるファンの方に「サグラダ・ファミリアみたいだ」って言われましたけど、あっちはもう完成しちゃうんですよね？（笑）

とは言え、サグラダ・ファミリアは完成に100年以上かかっていますから。そのファンの方も100年以上続けて欲しいということかもしれませんね。ファンと言えば、今回のUTでは、『コナン』100巻発売記念の際のファンによる人気投票で、1位を獲得したエピソード「黒ずくめの組織との再会」の1コマがプリントされています。

これは力を入れました……もちろん毎回力を入れていますけど、特に入れた回だったんです。コナンたちと黒ずくめの組織が最初にがっつり対決する話でしたので。中でもこのシーンは特に好きですから、その思いが伝わったんですかね。映画にも出て来るし……なんならオレがそのシーンの原画描いているし（笑）

黒ずくめの組織に追われる灰原に、コナンが自身の眼鏡をかけてあげるというシーンですね。

僕、スーパーマンが好きなんですよ。いつも眼鏡をかけて正体を隠しているじゃないですか。コナンも一緒なんですよ、眼鏡をかける理由は。このシーンでコナンは灰原に「それをかけていれば絶対に正体がバレないんだぜ。クラーク・ケントもびっくりの優れもの」って言うんですね。もうずっと描きたくて描きたくて仕方ないシーンだったので、このときは嬉しかったなぁ。「やっと描けた！」って。

今回UTのためにこのシーンをあらためて描き下ろしていただきましたが、いかがでしたか？

昔とだいぶ絵柄が変わりましたよね。昔はもう少しコロコロしていましたよね。頭が大きくて。

他に気になるTシャツはありましたか？

怪盗キッドのやつ！あれはおしゃれですね。

ところで、先生は黒い服を着ている印象が強いんですが、ファッションのこだわりはありますか？

黒かグレーしか着ないってことだけですね。クローゼットの中もほぼ黒です。何でも合うじゃないですか。インナーに赤いTシャツを着ても絶対に合う。あと、自分を隠したいというか、あんまり見せたくないんです（笑）。

黒ずくめの組織の1人みたいな感じですね（笑）。最新映画『名探偵コナン黒鉄の魚影（サブマリン）』が４月に公開されますが、言える範囲で見どころを教えていただけますか？

がっつりコンテに手を入れさせてもらったシーンが一か所あるんですよ。監督がコンテの段階で挿入してくださったシーンなのですが、「だったら、こうしたほうがいいかな」って。そしたらすぐお返事が来て、すごくいい感じにまとめ直していただきました。とある人物たちの水中シーンなんですけど、それが見どころです。「おーっ」ってなると思います。

ちなみに、映画版は最新作を含めるとこれまで26作も作られています。先生の一番のお気に入りをあげるとしたら、どれになりますか？

「次の作品」と言っておきましょう。喜劇王のチャップリンは「あなたの最高傑作は？」と聞かれて「次の作品」と答えたそうですが、それの真似です（笑）。

Edited by: Manvel
English translation taken from the official UNIQLO website: Link
Additional fan translation by Sakaki is available for reference: Link

A favorite scene, now on a T-shirt

Since its debut in 1994, Detective Conan (titled Case Closed in the English version) has dominated Japanese pop culture, with a manga series spanning 102 volumes, a hit animated TV series, and numerous successful feature film spin-offs. Over 270 million copies of the manga have been sold worldwide, including translated versions available in 25 countries and regions. This year, Conan is returning to UT! We spoke with Gosho Aoyama—the manga’s extraordinarily kind-hearted creator, who also has a great sense of humor—about his childhood, how Detective Conan came to be, and the upcoming film.

The information in this article is accurate as of the interview date, February 24, 2023.

Interview with Gosho Aoyama:

Q: What were you like as a child?

A: I was a strange child. I used to watch movies and fantasize in my head about what I would do differently if it were me. Nothing has really changed since then. When I watch a movie, it makes me happy when things turn out the way I’d imagined and even happier when they surpass my expectations.

Q: And if things fall short?

A: Then I take my idea of what should have happened and put it in Detective Conan [hereafter Conan]!

Q: That’s clever! What kind of manga did you read at that age?

A: I read a lot of different things, but the artists that really inspired me to become a manga artist were Mitsuru Adachi, Tetsuya Chiba, and Monkey Punch. You can see it in my drawings—my characters’ round eyes are just like Adachi’s, the pointed noses are Chiba’s, and the slightly upturned mouths are Monkey Punch’s. When you put them all together, you get my style. I said as much to Kazuhiko Shimamoto (the author of manga such as Aoi Hono), but he reacted like I was talking nonsense!

Q: So that’s your secret! I heard that you wrote in your elementary school yearbook that you wanted to grow up to be a manga artist writing stories about private detectives. Have you always liked detective stories as well as comics?

A: I love them—Arthur Conan Doyle, Edogawa Ranpo, Maurice Leblanc. I must have come across them in the school library because their books are in libraries everywhere in Japan. The first story that really astonished me was “The Adventure of the Dancing Men,” a Sherlock Holmes tale by Doyle. In the story, there’s a creepy cipher that looks like stick figures, which I found bewildering and fascinating. That’s how I got hooked on mysteries.

Q: So your childhood dreams came true with Conan.

A: Not exactly—by the time I became a manga artist, I had completely forgotten about writing that in my yearbook! I started Conan because my editor asked if I’d do a detective story. It was a pain in the neck at first but working on it made me remember how I used to like Sherlock Holmes.

Q: When you started the Conan series, did you have an exciting idea of where you wanted to take it?

A: I hate to say it, but I thought it would be over quickly. I wasn’t enthusiastic at all!

Q: Really!? Conan was your first series after Yaiba, your first hit, so I thought you might feel as though you’d have to prove you weren’t just a one-hit wonder.

A: No, no. I thought it wouldn’t last and that I’d be able to do Yaiba 2 soon ! I didn’t really feel any pressure when I started Conan.

Q: What do you think has kept Conan going for nearly 30 years despite that?

A: There have been many times, especially early on, when I’ve thought, “I can’t do this anymore.” But every time, something comes along to change my mind. Just when I was thinking that it was too much work, the detective TV show Furuhata Ninzaburo started and made me want to write Conan stories in that vein. Every time I began thinking that there was nothing left for me to do with Conan, that I’d already done everything I wanted to, something would come up: like I’d learn it was going to be adapted into an anime or a movie. I’ve been very lucky.

Q: It seems like it would be a lot of work just to come up with a new “impossible crime” every time.

A: It is a lot of work. Sometimes I buy magician’s supplies to see if they might give me an idea. But it usually doesn’t work!

Q: I wouldn’t have thought of buying magic supplies! Conan is a boys’ manga, but I think adults enjoy it as much as children. Do you intentionally write for an audience of boys?

A: No, I don’t write for boys. If I were to write something with the intention of having boys read it, they would see through my childish tricks. Some of the mysteries are simple, but mostly I write the manga for adults. After all, if a child encounters something they don’t understand, they look it up. I didn’t understand English when I read the “Dancing Men” story that I mentioned earlier, but I looked up the words in a dictionary. That’s how I learned that there are many English words that end in n. Kids are smart, and they look things up, so they do fine with complicated mysteries. And when it comes to adults, I hope that reading Conan transports them back to their childhoods.

Q: You initially didn’t think that Conan would last, but you have been working on it for almost 30 years now. Have you decided when you’re going to end it?

A: Not yet. One fan said to me, “It’s like the Sagrada Família.” But that’s almost done, isn’t it?

Q: Maybe so, but construction of the Sagrada Família will have taken over 100 years. Maybe that fan wanted Conan to continue for over a century too. Speaking of fans, they were polled on their favorite episode when the 100th volume of Conan was released, and “Reunion with the Black Organization” came out on top. One of the designs in this UT collection is from that episode.

A: I put a lot of effort into that one. Of course, I put in a lot of effort into every story but especially so with that one. It was the first time Conan and his friends confronted the Black Organization directly. I particularly like the scene on the T-shirt, which I think the audience picked up on. It even shows up in one of the movies; and I did draw the original!

Q: It’s when Conan gives his glasses to Ai Haibara (Anita Hailey in the English version), who is being pursued by the Black Organization.

A: You know, I like Superman, who always wears glasses to hide his true identity. Conan wears his glasses for the same reason. In this scene, Conan tells Haibara, “If you wear my glasses, they’ll never discover who you really are. Even Clark Kent wishes he had a pair like these.” I’d been wanting to draw that scene for a long time, so I was ecstatic to finally get to do so. It was like, “Finally!”

Q: How did you feel about drawing the scene again for UT?

A: They look quite a bit different this time. They were a little rounder back then, no? Their heads were bigger.

Q: Did any of the other T-shirts catch your eye?

A: Kid the Phantom Thief design! It’s really stylish.

Q: Speaking of clothing, I tend to think of you as always wearing black. Are you picky about what you wear?

A: Just that I only wear black and gray. The inside of my closet is almost all black. Everything goes well with black, right? If you wear a red T-shirt underneath, it still goes well together. Also, I just like to hide; I don’t like people noticing me!

Q: You’re practically a member of the Black Organization! The latest film, Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine, will be released in April. Can you tell us about any moments to look forward to?

A: There is one scene where I made a lot of changes to the storyboard. The director had inserted it in the storyboarding stage, but I told him, “I think it would be better to do this instead.” He responded immediately and reorganized it in a great way. It’s an underwater scene featuring a few key characters. I think it will be a highlight—it will make people gasp out loud.

Q: This will be the 26th Detective Conan film. If you had to pick your favorite, which would it be?

A: Let’s say the next one. I heard that when Charlie Chaplin—the world’s greatest comedian—was asked what his best film was, he replied, “The next one.” So I’ll just imitate him!

Gosho Aoyama x Nao Kosaka interview

Date: March 29, 2023
Published in: Weekly Shonen Sunday issue 18/2023

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Source: https://www.sbsub.com/posts/sunday-202318/
https://websunday.net/37403/
https://x.com/shonen_sunday/status/1640734875912380416

Raw:

＼ #剛昌に聞け① ／
小坂：物語にある数多くの伏線は先に考えてますか？
剛昌：ほぼだいたい考えてます(笑)。

＼ #剛昌に聞け② ／
小坂：ジンとウォッカは裏でどんな会話をしていたりしますか？　組織っぽい会話ばかりなのでしょうか。
剛昌：なんかしらんけどジャズの話とかしてそう。「あのジャズバーは良かったぜ」とか(笑)。

＼ #剛昌に聞け③ ／
小坂：降谷さんや赤井さん、阿笠博士が乗っている車はどのように選んだんですか？
剛昌：降谷はアムロなので、ガンダムのRX-7にしました！　赤井のマスタングは、キャンティのバイパーに負けないスピードを出せる車ってことで決めました。阿笠博士は、かわいいビートルが似合うかなと思って決めました(笑)。

＼ #剛昌に聞け④ ／
小坂：もし少年探偵団のメンバーが大人になったらどんな職業についていると思いますか？
剛昌：光彦は両親が先生なので、先生かも。元太は親父の酒屋を継いでるんじゃ… 歩美ちゃんはがんばって日向坂に入ってるんじゃないかな(笑)。

＼ #剛昌に聞け⑤ ／
小坂：赤井さんのスナイパー能力は生まれながらの才能ですか？

剛昌：…と思わせつつ、陰でわりと努力してます(笑)。

Translated by: Manvel

＼ #剛昌に聞け① ／

Kosaka: Do you plan out the many foreshadowing elements in the story ahead of time?
Aoyama: I more or less think about them in advance (Laughs).

⸻

＼ #剛昌に聞け② ／

Kosaka: What kind of conversations do Gin and Vodka have behind the scenes? Are they always talking about organization stuff?
Aoyama: I don’t really know, but I imagine they talk about jazz or something. Like, “That jazz bar was great,” or something (Laughs).

⸻

＼ #剛昌に聞け③ ／

Kosaka: How did you choose the cars driven by Furuya, Akai, and Professor Agasa?
Aoyama: Since Furuya is “Amuro,” I gave him the Gundam RX-7! As for Akai’s Mustang, I chose it because it’s a car that can match Chianti’s Viper in terms of speed. For Professor Agasa, I thought a cute Beetle would suit him well, so I went with that (Laughs).

⸻

＼ #剛昌に聞け④ ／

Kosaka: What do you think the Detective Boys would be doing for work if they grew up?
Aoyama: Mitsuhiko might become a teacher, since his parents are teachers. Genta would probably take over his dad’s liquor store… As for Ayumi-chan, maybe she’d work really hard and get into Hinatazaka (idol group) (Laughs).

⸻

＼ #剛昌に聞け⑤ ／

Kosaka: Is Akai’s sniper skill a natural-born talent?
Aoyama: …He may seem like it, but he’s actually been putting in quite a bit of effort behind the scenes (Laughs).

Cine Magazine 2023 Interviews

Date: April 11, 2023

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Gosho Aoyama Shu-ichi Interview 2023

Date: April 30, 2023
Published in: Broadcast live on Nippon TV

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Source: (Video)

Gosho Aoyama & Hideyuki Nakayama & Erika Tokushima

Translated by: Manvel
Special Thanks to @TheConanner for the help

Key points from the video

On April 30, 2023, Gosho Aoyama appeared in a special segment on Nippon TV’s Shu-ichi, where hosts visited his atelier and interviewed him about Detective Conan and the then-current film Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine. During the segment, Aoyama referred to “that underwater scene at the end of the film” as another romantic-comedy moment. The hosts also commented on how closely he supervises the films and how extensively he communicated with the director of Movie 26, while Aoyama explained that he gives feedback whenever he feels a character is saying something they would not normally say or that feels out of character.

Aoyama also spoke about the origins of Detective Conan, explaining that the series began after the end of Yaiba, when he was asked to create a detective manga and drew inspiration from Sherlock Holmes. He further noted that Kaito Kid was incorporated into Conan by reviving the thief-like rival character he had originally created in Magic Kaito. When discussing the length of the series, Aoyama appeared surprised when told that 29 years had passed since the start of Detective Conan, before noting that the following year would mark its 30th anniversary. He also remarked that there were virtually no unused tricks left, and that devising convincing motives for culprits had become even more difficult than creating the tricks themselves.

In addition, Aoyama commented on Professor Agasa’s inventions, noting that some ideas he once treated as fantasy had later become closer to real-world technology. Near the end of the segment, he teased future story developments by revealing that Amuro would come into contact with an important person.