There’s been a strong reaction among fansubbers to Paul “Otaking” Johnson’s “The Rise and Fall of Anime Fansubs” video.

In his video he discusses what’s wrong with modern anime fansubs and the future of subtitles in general. But why make a documentary to vent the pain? Paul was gracious enough to discuss with me his history with anime, his love of translation and just why current fansubs inspired him to create the video to begin with…

Interview With Paul “Otaking” Johnson

Rachel: How long have you been an anime fan?

Paul: Since the late 80s. Though at the time, I didn’t realize it was anime I was watching. My favourite shows here in the UK in the 80s were Ulysses 31, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, etc…all of which looked suspiciously much better than any other “cartoons” on TV at the time.

Later on, I learned the reason why: that they’d been drawn and animated in Japan. When I saw Transformers: The Movie, my eyes almost fell from my skull in shock (it’s not every day you get to see a hand-drawn and beautifully shaded planet torn apart in graphic detail). My interest was peaked. It was when BBC 2 aired Akira in the mid 90s that I became a full-blown otaku. And when I saw the legendary Otaku no Video, I vowed to become the English OtaKing.

Rachel: How does your interest in anime tie into your interest in translating?

Paul:Anime, being in Japanese, is incredibly fun to translate into English. Localisation is extremely challenging and rewarding, and finding a funny pun in English that keeps the same feel as the Japanese one is often like hearing the victory music from Final Fantasy 7 in your head. As a viewer of early subtitles (a special mention must go to Animeigo’s subs of Bubblegum Crisis and Kiseki’s Otaku no Video subs), I like to think I’ve been influenced by the best. Plus I have a passion for what I translate, which always helps.

Rachel: What got you into becoming a professional translator?

Paul:Well, after working at McDonald’s for 4 years, I finally decided to throw off my McDonald’s tie (as in Otaku no Video) and go totally otaku. After doing the University of Sheffield’s Japanese course for 4 years (with one year in Japan) and then an MA in Translation Studies, the path was open to start contacting companies and getting my name out there. Being part of an industry you love is a nice thing…though competition is fierce and often you’ll have to translate boring legal documents just to make enough money to eat.

Rachel: How long have you been a pro translator?

Paul:Around five years now, though I was moonlighting a little whilst still technically on my Japanese course.

Rachel: What projects have you worked on?

Paul:Unfortunately, non-disclosure clauses prevent me from naming titles until they’re on the shelves. I’ve translated several light novels for Del Rey and others, now, and the first one I did (ages ago now) STILL isn’t on the shelves, so a large portion of my name-dropping isn’t allowed unless I want to get sued!

In terms of games, I can say that I worked on in-game text for Half Life 2: Survivor (the Japanese arcade game based on the PC version), a great many instruction manuals featuring a certain Italian plumber and a guy in a pointy green hat, and quite a few press releases for Hudson Soft (Bomberman and the like).

Sadly I haven’t been involved with, say, Silent Hill (a personal favourite), but maybe someday in the future, eh? My pet project would have to be Namco X Capcom, but it seems unlikely that will ever be released in English. Recently, the DS has been kind to me, with many jobs translating games on that platform. A good agency-translator relationship is a must, and for that I’m glad to be working with the Spanish company Localsoft, who really go out of their way to provide me with all the research material and in-game terminology I need, as well as big-ass .pdfs of all manuals, etc.

Rachel: You speak of older fansubs with respect, and maybe a bit of admiration. What work, if any, have you done on fansubs?

Paul:Well, technically they’re illegal so I’ve never done anything substantial. I did help produce a rather nice fansub of Berserk to show at the Sheffield Anime Society though, but that was an exclusive that nobody has save one guy in Japan. I remember spending up to fifteen minutes arguing with my pro translator friend (the aforementioned guy) about how we needed to get the line “yonder knight!” in there.

Masterpiece lines included “Split the very sod if it you have to!” as a translation of “look everywhere to find him.” Fansubbers really are missing out on a lot of fun localization by insisting on leaving everything in literal Japanese. There’s a lot you can do in English that you can’t in Japanese (particularly with insults and sarcasm).

Rachel: Can you describe what precisely spurred you to create your documentary?

Paul:Anger, rage, hatred and more rage. My housemate was watching that awful Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei sub that I used in my video at the time, and that was the last straw. It was either make the video or throw myself from the Tower of London. I think most fansubbers would prefer if I’d done the latter. And ever since God of War, throwing yourself off large structures is a bit of a cliche anyway…

Rachel: Anger, hatred and rage…but what did your love of anime have do with it, or was it just the rage? Surely there was some love, albeit it tough love….

Paul: It’s because I love anime (well, not so much the modern stuff, but that’s a story for another day) that I hate seeing it ruined by shoddy translations. If fansubs had looked like they do now back in the early 90s, I wouldn’t have been able to understand what was going on and would have dropped the whole “anime” thing out of sheer frustration. Is it such a terrible thing to enjoy anime because of the story, characters and art? Apparently it is, because nowadays you need to love and have a reverential worship of Japanese language and culture to be allowed in.

You have to translate properly into English if you want new people to get into anime too… and what with “pro” DVD companies starting to follow modern fansub methods of leaving things in Japanese and refusing to translate cultural terms, I think that it’s going to be harder and harder for new people to discover anime without feeling excluded from some kind of “clique.” Of course, they can watch the dubs on TV, yes. But there’s one problem with that…The dubs are mostly utterly appalling in terms of voice talent (again, inexcusable when such dubs as Metal Gear and many Streamline Pictures and early Manga ENT. dubs show good dubs are possible.

Manga’s expletive-filled dub of Cyber City Oedo 808 is still one of my favourite dubs of all time!) and the shows as they appear on today’s mainstream TV (One Piece, Dragonball, etc) are so heavily edited they bear little resemblance to the original source matter. I remember well how Cartoon Network re-drew all of the pistols and revolvers in Outlaw Star so that the characters were holding cheesy, non-lethal “ray guns” instead. Or how Dragonball characters were “sent to another dimension” when in the Japanese version script they were dead.

Rachel: Why did you make it and what were you trying to accomplish?

Paul:Well, I never intended anyone to listen, to be honest. Fansubbers and modern anime fans are a cliquey lot who love their magical Japanese language, so I very much doubted anyone would change their ways just because I was presenting some arguments backed by mere academic research and fact. The reason I made it as a video, however, is that a picture paints a thousand words and I could hopefully show some professionalism by getting some hand-drawn animation in there. Although I think we all agree most people would have picked Starscream on the “Narrator Select” screen instead of my whiney, annoying voice.

Rachel: If you got through to some fansubbers with this video, and they reached out to you, how would you be willing to help them, or would you?

Paul: I’d happily put together some kind of article detailing tricky translation issues and how translators of video games/anime in the past have gotten around them. Though, as I’ve said in a number of posts, the best way is probably just to have a go on Snatcher on the Sega CD and see how that was translated. With emulation being what it is, it’s quite easy to contrast both the Japanese and English versions side by side on your basic PC, and experience for yourself how they went about it.

The translation is pretty much a work of art. For full-on localisation (and I’m in two minds about this one, because I think changing character names and countries is a step too far) then Phoenix Wright on the DS gives you all the examples you’d need to get around cultural in-jokes and render them into funny English equivalents.

Rachel: Your video raised much ire in the fansubbing and anime communities. How do you feel your message will get through with that kind of response?

Paul: I think this actual posted response about sums most of it up:

“FUCK YOU, you elitist nazi attention whore faggot, and enjoy your shitsucks old shows in video format with crappy subs. Otaking? Sounds more like Otacunt to me. Also, most fansubs are mach better then what you show. You have only showed the worst ones, which I can count on one hand, you retarded faggot.”

Actually, though, it’s not been that bad. This barely literate specimen was definitely in the minority. I’ve had quite a surprising amount of people agree with my points, and some very civil conversations via Youtube. One guy even said that he is a fansubber and my video has made him think twice about the way he’ll translate in the future.

On the whole, though, I’ve found on many forums, such as Animesuki and Kaizoku-Fansubs, that any opinion voiced in defence of my video is immediately labeled a “troll” and told to shut up. Nobody likes being told they’re wrong, after all, and I don’t expect my video will change a thing. I had to make it, though, or I would have exploded from pent up rage and taken half my house with me. The landlord wouldn’t have been too pleased.

Rachel: You cite many quotes from famous translators on the subject of translating. How do you feel their words as professionals translating literature and film some ten, twenty years ago, are relevant to younger people translating anime for free on their laptops?

Paul:Basically, good schools of thought never get old and this is a translation debate that’s raged since bible translation times whilst still being relevant today. One half thinks the original language is so great that you need to leave it all in the original format, and the other side says that defeats the point of translation, and wants to actually translate it into the target language. As an English translator, I follow Eugene Nida’s school, called “dynamic equivalence” that actually wants to translate Japanese anime, manga and games into English.

Famous examples of this method (and its relevance to today’s market) are games like Phoenix Wright, where all the jokes and puns are expertly localised, or games like the legendary Snatcher on the Sega CD, which is arguably one of the best translations of all time, done by Jeremy Blaustein who then went on to translate Metal Gear Solid into English. And we all know how good and well-received by the gaming press that script was.

Another fine example of dynamic equivalence is Dark Horse’s early manga translations. They’d flip them left to right, English style, they’d convert all honorifics and Japanese terms to English, and do a top class job. Their translations of Appleseed, Dominion and Ghost in the Shell were magnificent, and precisely what got me into reading manga. Totally localised into perfect English, making it a seamless read, whilst losing none of the original plot, story or character names.

Studio Proteus‘ translation of Shirow’s INTRON DEPOT is a flawless masterpiece, perfectly indicative of dynamic equivalence. All of Shirow’s comments are rendered into perfectly conversational English, slang included. If you check it against the Japanese that Shirow actually wrote, it keeps the tone perfectly. The amount of creative thought that must have gone into it is staggering. Modern fansubbers would hate it.

The other school - the one most fansubbers follow - is called “formal equivalence,” and it believes that if you change any of the source text, you lose the meaning and ruin it. Which is why fansubbers leave in honorifics, put everything in Japanese name order and produce incredible lines like the famous “Inawari Shiro’s Kame Hime-sama has sent the meat if a renowned Bushi from Izumo no Kuni for you to enjoy.” Faithful to the Japanese? Yes. Intelligible? Not even slightly.

Ironically, though, these same people enjoy Metal Gear Solid and its translation.

Rachel: What rules, if any, should these volunteers follow and why?

Paul:Definitely the rules of dynamic equivalence, which states that we, as translators, translate MEANING and not WORDS. So what if “onee-sama” has no English equivalent? Get rid of it, and make the difference in status between the two speakers apparent in other ways. The most basic rule of dynamic translation is that the finished product should sound like a natural read in English.

Lines like (as shown in my video) “For your exam…Do your best!” are not a natural read. They’re sticking to the Japanese word order and producing a clumsy mess that can only appeal to a cliquey Wapanese faction. I’m not for one moment saying that Japanese names like “Hiro Tanaka” should be changed to “Brad Spangler,” but what’s wrong with writing “rice balls” instead of “onigiri?” To most fansubbers, that would be tantamount to sacrilege.

To someone who just wants to enjoy the show, it’s plain, common sense. If the viewer has to pause the show to read a long-winded cultural note at the top of the screen explaining that “sensei” means “teacher” in Japanese, then they have failed as a translator and should hang their heads in abject shame. With enough imagination, most Japanese words can be rendered in English. And those that can’t can be gotten around in other ways that are maybe too long-winded to talk about here…

Rachel:Why should they adhere to professionalism when they’re not getting paid as professionals do?

Paul: Fansubs in the past were also free, but it didn’t stop them from translating properly, and in many cases they were better than the official DVD releases (when the official releases eventually came out, that is). Yes, some early fansub groups paid to get them translated (even more proof of dedication to the task, if you ask me), but anyone who says that evrey single 80s and 90s fansub group was paying professional translators to sub their favourite shows is clearly deluded.

Also, as I said, early fansubs were often better than the official subtitles. As has been mentioned on several forums, the OFFICIAL DVD subtitle of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has Kyon stating “I have a ponytail moe.”

If, as a young kid, I’d bought an official DVD to be met with a translation like that, I wouldn’t know what to think. “What the hell is a moe?” “Why do all the characters have the same surname - san???” You can see the problem when the fansub method is infecting the big companies who really, really should be setting a better example. “I have a ponytail moe” is not English, and it’s the kind of translation a professional DVD company should be ashamed of. Flip the DVD over and what does it say? “English subtitles.” “I have a ponytail moe” makes a mockery of that claim. And that’s just one example of how “fansub-like” many official DVD subtitles are becoming.

If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. My video was free and I got paid nothing, but it didn’t stop me researching translation theory for a year or hand drawing and animating the cut scenes just to grab people’s attention (they certainly wouldn’t stick around for my voice, that’s for sure!).

Also, the cancer that is honorifics and screen cluttering cultural notes is starting to infect “professional” manga releases too. Manga in English nowadays is printed Japanese-style, ensuring maximum difficulty for new fans to get into reading it, and this is part of the whole “let’s all be one big Japanese-speaking club” disease perpetuated in no small part by many modern fansubs.

I believe strongly that fansub groups (not all, as I’ve heard it said that there are still some good ones out there who translate properly) need to take a long look at how fansubs used to be done, drop the flashy effects, eat a few slices of humble pie and stop trying to make themselves bigger than the shows that they’d be nothing without. And everyone, without question, should go and read how Dark Horse translated the original Ghost in the Shell manga in the 90s, because it’s a paragon of how Japanese-English translation should be.

Rachel: How do you think the fact that more and more anime are being licensed, impacts the state of fansubbing?

Paul: Well, my main concern here is that the cancer that is honorifics and screen cluttering cultural notes, so beloved by lazy fansubbers, is starting to infect “professional” DVD releases too. This is a massive concern, as several “professional” DVD companies and manga/novel publishers are now leaving in honorifics and cultural notes instead of DOING THEIR JOBS and translating.

More anime being licensed can only be a good thing, but the amount of fly-by-night “let’s jump on the anime bandwagon” companies that are springing up is worrying to say the least. Their translations are practically on par with the worst fansub examples highlighted in my video. Even the once-great Dark Horse is re-releasing their already perfect English translation of Ghost in the Shell, only flipped to appeal to the Wapanese purists and, no doubt, filled with freshly inserted honorifics and notes (I pray to heaven that this isn’t the case). If it is, I’ll have to take down my thirty foot golden statue of Toren Smith,

Rachel: What would you say in your opinion are the main reasons people produce fansubs, contrasting them with the fansubbers from the early days and the present?

Paul: Essentially, fansubs used to be a noble cause. As the video says, it cost a lot of time and money and effort, and they fansubbed because the shows would never see the light of day otherwise, AND because they loved the shows so much they wanted everyone to see them.

Nowadays, it’s all about seeing which group can get the latest episode of Gundam out three seconds ahead of each other, and which group can do the flashiest, most obtrusive and distracting karaoke special effects.

Basically, it’s internet phallus-waving, and I find it disgusting. It should be about the anime, not the egotistical fansubbers who give themselves names like “samurai^pwn-master-sama or “ninjaX-box kid666.”

Rachel: Why do you think fansubs have evolved (or devolved) into some of the examples you give in your video?

Paul: See the above answer. It’s all about competition and ego-stroking now. To “pwn” the competition, fansub groups feel they must clutter the screen with flashing karaoke font and bouncing special attack names that fly across the screen whenever someone launches a punch.

Also, the “cult of weeaboos” has grown to such an extent that modern anime viewers demand a Japanese language lesson with each episode they download. We’re talking people who actually use words like “baka” and “san” in with their everyday conversations at the mall. The fact that anime was never meant to be a Japanese language learning lesson never crosses their minds. I’ve heard mention of fansub groups being flamed because they didn’t include large amounts of cultural notes explaining every little word or Japanese term.

Rachel: What do you say to fans who watch fansubs for the culture “lessons”? How much a part of the problem are they since they insist on all these bells and whistles?

Paul: In short, if you insist on massive amounts of explanation notes and watch anime because it “teaches you Japanese”, then go take a Japanese class instead and leave the rest of us, who just want to enjoy the show, in peace. Anime isn’t for learning Japanese - it’s for watching and enjoying. People like that are holding back fansubbers from producing legible, solid translations in actual straightforward English.

PLUS… if you spoke anime-Japanese for real in Japan, people would think you were insane. It’s not how people really talk there. Japanese people don’t really say “dattebayo” in conversation and “koko wa kisama no hakaba da!” when they’re having a fight in a bar. People who insist on Japanese lessons at the expense of watching the actual show are, in my opinion, being very disrespectful to the staff who sweated to create the anime and meet the strict, backbreaking deadlines. The directors did NOT intend their shows to be watched with three lines of notes covering their art in order to explain what a “nakama-doushi” means to a bunch of “Wapanese” wannabes.

Rachel: How fair are the examples in the video of the current state of fansubs?

Paul:Well, many of the comments I received criticized the video for deliberately picking the worst examples but, to be perfectly honest, I just grabbed a random batch of fansubs and that’s what I ended up with.

As I said before, I’m a professional translator so I’m not in with the fansub “scene” and don’t know which groups are supposedly good or bad, so I just grabbed what I could and took it from there. I really didn’t have the time (nor the inclination) to hand-pick bad examples just to prove my point.
I’m sure there are better fansubs than the ones shown in my video. At least, I sincerely hope there are!

Rachel: Which anime fansubs would you say modern fansubbers should aspire to?

Paul: Definitely Psycho KORps‘ mid 90s fansubs of Macross 7. Simple, easy to read font. Good, solid translation. No karaoke at all and just good, solid translation.

There are many more I could mention but the names escape me at the moment! Central Anime produced some good work in the 90s, too, as I recall. Cathedral Animation, too. All of the subs were simple, so your attention was always on the anime, where it belonged.

My first really bad experience with fansubs was HECTO and their fansubs of Rurouni Kenshin…which were almost entirely wrong and written in some kind of Chinese-English hybrid “grammar.”

Jimaku were another fine group who did excellent, simple, no-nonsense fansubs in the early 90s…though they may have fallen from grace now. I haven’t checked.

Rachel: How do you react to some fansubbers claims that fansubbing is about competition and fun?

Paul:I shall allow “N-Bomb” of the animesuki forum to answer that one for me:

“If you were doing it only as a hobby, you’d keep it to yourself. Bottom line. The fact that you’re releasing it is not some pity candy for the masses, it’s because you want to show off your skills or whatever to people and get praise and popularity for it.”

I don’t think it’s about fun at all. I think it’s about trying to, as they say these days “pwn the competition.”

Rachel: What would you like to see happen with fansubbers and their work?

Paul:I’d like them to bin the honorifics, translation notes, flashy, pointless karaoke effects etc and actually TRANSLATE for a change. Also, I want no more than two lines of song lyrics on an opening sequence. Seriously…What is the point of putting the kanji up there as well? That’s another thing which sickens me.

Basically, make it about the anime again, not the pointless competition.

Rachel: Going back to the irate fansubbing community, what would you like to say to them about the way fansubbing is headed?

Paul:Well, I shall quote the end of my video for this one, although you’d have to watch the Speed Grapher “ultimate fansub” mock-up I produced at the end of part 5 of the documentary first:

“Enjoy the following, because this is the way that fansubs are heading. And this is the kind of translation sandwich you’re going to be forced to feast on every day at the buffet of subtitle hell.”
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We’d like to thank Paul Johnson for giving us the opportunity to interview him!

So, how does his interview change your opinion of fansubs? Do you still feel modern fansubs are fantastic? Or has Paul inspired you to rethink your thoughts on fansubs?

Please share your thoughts on the interview in the comments section!

Hellsing: Ultimate producer Satoshi Fujii has worked on a variety of high-profile English anime projects for Geneon Animation such as the original Hellsing, Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy, Fafner, GUNxSWORD and Paranoia Agent. His latest productions are the insanely popular Hellsing: Ultimate and Black Lagoon. Mr. Fujii was kind enough to sit down with us during Anime Expo 2007 to discuss his latest projects (Hellsing: Ultimate and Black Lagoon), the current state of anime DVDs, digital downloads and more!

Rachel: So about the Hellsing you worked on. You worked on the previous one, and obviously you’ve worked on the new one that’s now in production. What sort of challenges do you face when you basically reboot a series? The first one was so well received. I mean, there were some critics, but at the same time, now you’re re-inventing it. Not really ‘reinventing’ it, but it’s new to some people.

Satoshi Fujii: As far as fan reception goes, I wasn’t too worried about it, because I knew that the first series was well-received. Even though the first two parts of Hellsing: Ultimate we’re re-telling the story (we haven’t gotten into the new story arc yet), I was very confident that the production value and some details that follow the original manga better…which I know the fans appreciate. Ever since the (original) animation ended, the manga has been really popular in America. And the animation in Hellsing: Ultimate is more true to the manga.

I was a little worried about the production schedule. We’re releasing it once every eight months. The good news is that the production value is high! Unfortunately it’s not a television series. With a series, it would be every week. But with OVAs, when the team is happy with the production, they release it. (That) almost guarantees high production. But it can be frustrating waiting in America for them to finish with the production.

Rachel: What were your main challenges?

SATOSHI FUJII: The main challenge was the one episode per release. I knew that would be a challenge. I wasn’t sure what to do. Usually American releases have more episodes than Japanese releases. I thought the most obvious thing to do (or normal thing to do) would be to release two episodes per volume. That would make each episode of Hellsing: Ultimate (equal to) two episodes. So that would make it four episodes long. At first I thought that would be the best we could do. However, in the beginning I thought I would be getting new episodes every three months. But it turns out that we’re not. So in retrospect, I’m happy with the decision that I made of one episode per release, because at least I can be more timely with the American release. Otherwise I would have to wait for every two episodes in Japan to be made before I could start production.

Rachel: You said that the American releases have more episodes. Can you highlight some of the other differences between the American and Japanese releases (in general)?

SATOSHI FUJII: I don’t want fans to take this in the wrong way, but I think American fans are kind of ‘spoiled’ – compared to Japanese fans - because the prices are cheaper. In Japan, DVDs can go for $40 for two episodes. (In American), you get more episode count per volume, plus you get two languages, plus sometimes we even upgrade to a 5.1 mix. We’ve been doing this to add value to the product. The expectation now is so high that it’s kind of hard to keep up.

Rachel: What’s the next step? You have all these ‘bells and whistles’, and you’re right – we do expect that. I hate to say ‘I want the liner notes’, sometimes they have little things like tarot cards or something to that effect. So what’s next? I mean, what are you going to have to do to keep the American market happy in that regard?

SATOSHI FUJII: In that regard, I don’t think we can do much more (we all laugh). I mean all those extra cards and tsotchkes cost a lot of money. And it reduces our profit margin. And I don’t know if fans know this, but DVD sales – although the popularity of anime has gone up – and I know more people are watching anime, but because of downloads, and also because of the fact that there’s too much anime on the market now, the industry as a whole is less profitable. And we kind of brought that upon ourselves by releasing too much anime – which means that not everyone can buy all of that anime. So basically my answer is ‘we can’t do much more’ as far as adding bells and whistles goes.

And also, it seems like everyone is going towards digital distribution and people are buying less and less DVDs. Once HD picks up, maybe people will start buying again. But we’ll see. I don’t think HD is going to be as big as DVD because I think that digital distribution will catch up by then. It’s kind of like the iPod – people stopped buying CDs because downloading is much more convenient. We’re hoping that HD helps our sales, but we’ll see. We’re crossing our fingers.

Rachel: When do you foresee Hellsing being released on HD?

SATOSHI FUJII: I don’t have the numbers, but there aren’t a lot of households with HD players yet. We’ll see how much the market turns out (and follow that). We’ll follow the ‘big guys’. Despite the fact that anime like Hellsing seems really popular - it’s still a niche market. We’ll follow Hollywood.

David: One thing you mentioned too, regarding what you can give fans (more) – I think you are, in a way, with the accelerated releases in North America (of anime series). I noticed you’re airing Hellsing: Ultimate volumes I, II and III with subtitles (at Anime Expo this year, so I think that’s good for the fans, because they’re like ‘wow, I can see this early’ and can feel special that way.

SATOSHI FUJII: Of course! We want to share the product with the fans as early as possible. As soon as we’re done with the production we’re showing it at conventions. Especially with Hellsing – I mean, it’s a good show! The title sells itself. So if you watch it, you’re going to want to buy it.

Rachel: How do you market to (the Japanese and American markets)?

SATOSHI FUJII: With the Japanese (release of Hellsing: Ultimate), there’s a little bit of a time gap, so that (they) have time to sell their product. The Japanese version has a staff commentary, which we did not include in our version, because if you’re that hardcore, I want you to buy the Japanese version! Of course (the American version) we have the audio commentary.

David: In terms of HD, I was in the Freedom panel yesterday and there seemed to be some interest in the crowd (in HD). So in terms of HD, digital download and producing the CDs (DVDs), do you see the features that you add to those things to be different? Like for the digital download, would you say ‘well you would get this commentary’ but maybe the one you purchased (at the store) you’d get something else? A few of the iTunes television series have included this feature…

SATOSHI FUJII: Digital downloads is still kind of a weird business. I still focus on the actual production of the content for the English version of the production. So I hadn’t actually thought about the content to include in the actual digital downloads because people are still trying to figure this thing out.

David: How did you approach the voice cast – I mean getting that all back together for Hellsing: Ultimate?

SATOSHI FUJII: I knew that the English voice cast was really popular from the first (Hellsing) series and I wanted to get them back. So I asked the production company to try to get everyone back – that’s all I did. And I think for Hellsing: Ultimate, this is a high-profile project for them.

David: Let’s stray a little bit away from Hellsing: Ultimate. I know you’re working on the Black Lagoon release. How do you feel about the reception?

SATOSHI FUJII: I think the reception for Black Lagoon has been very positive. One of the reasons I think Black Lagoon has been good for the North American market is because the original characters are supposed to be talking in English to begin with. You know how a lot of anime shows take place in Japan and they’re supposed to be talking in Japanese? Well all of the characters in Black Lagoon are American except for Rock, who is Japanese. Everyone else is American, which is one of the reasons why I think the reception has been really good.

It’s kind of like Hellsing (which) takes place in England, so you know, people are supposed to be talking in English. So I think those types of anime work really well when (it’s in) English. It feels like (it) was meant to talk that way.

David: You mention language. In Hellsing, I know you have some German characters and British characters. So I would imagine that creates some unique situations…

SATOSHI FUJII: For that sort of creative decision I trust New Generation Pictures to do a good job with, and of course Allyson the director he’s really anal when it comes to details and stuff like that. I think his approach is that since this is an English dub, if it feels natural for the English audience, then he’ll use an accent. So while a German character won’t talk in German, they’ll talk (with) an accent that feels natural for the audience.

David: I think they’ve done a really good job with that. Are there any unusual voice acting decisions that creatively they’ve had to go back to you to get it right (with Hellsing: Ultimate)?

SATOSHI FUJII: With Hellsing, I trust Allyson. When I first worked with (him) on the first tv series five years ago, I had him audition every cast (member). I was more ‘hands on’ with the production, because I wanted to make sure it got done right. But for the second series (Hellsing: Ultimate), we (had) gone through this before, which was very good and I have not complaints.

David: What (project) are you most excited about that you’re working on?

SATOSHI FUJII: I’m excited about Black Lagoon. I think it has potential to be the ‘next big title’. I think it’s the kind of show that does well in America. It’s going to be on tv. I can’t say where, but there will be an announcement soon!

Thank you Mr. Fujii for taking time out of your very busy schedule at Anime Expo to sit down and talk with us! Special thanks to Geneon for arranging the interview! Hellsing: Ultimate volumes I and II are in stores now – volume III comes out in October.

They say laughter is the best medicine. In fact recent studies have shown that laughing at least a few times a day significantly lowers the the chance of developing heart disease. If that’s the case, then fans who enjoy art should mosey down to John Su’s DeviantArt pages for their daily dose.

John has a unique sense of humor. Click on most of his pieces and you’ll laugh while simultaneously wondering where he gets these ideas. Take for example “Butter Knight”. A slip of the tongue, an idea was manifested and a picture was born. His style of anime art compliments his quirky sense of humor. After getting a week’s worth of heart prevention in from visiting his web pages, I talked with John about his process for his work.

Rachel: Can you describe the moment you decided you wanted to become an artist?
John: Probably not. It’s not like I was sitting on a bench one day and had the notion to become an artist. As I was growing up I found that I enjoyed drawing, and to this day I still do. Growing up is a very vague and undefined moment, but I guess that would be it.

Rachel: Why did you want to become an artist?
John: ‘Cause it’s fun! That’s probably the most honest answer I can give – the “decision” was made very early in childhood, so my memory’s a bit fuzzy.

Rachel: Where did you learn your skillz?
John: Time. I learned from years and years of practice, and leeched off the fruit of other peoples’ years as well. The first skill I learned was to copy – this has proved to be the most valuable skill since from then on the rest of my skills have been based on what I’ve observed and stolen. Anytime I see a piece that intrigues or amazes me I look for something that I can take from it and make a mental note to incorporate it in my future drawings. This is pretty much how I refine my anime technique.

Rachel: I see you create animations. Which do you prefer to create; animations or drawings and why?
John: Oh, drawings by far! Animations take much too much time, ranging from days to weeks. Months? Maybe, but I’ve never dared to take up something that large. Drawings, on the other hand, I can finish in a matter of hours. The reward is just that much closer. Plus, animating gets tiresome after a while – I can only draw the same character so many times before I grow weary of them. This is why I have virtually no recurring characters in my gallery.

Rachel: Two of your animations (Gift of Ages, Resanctification) have deeper, more spiritual messages to them. How does faith influence your work?
John: Ah, those two. In both cases the animations were requested by people from church; Resanctification was for a friend’s brother who was in need of something to illustrate his point in seminar, and Gift of Ages was for the coordinator of the Christmas program. Only those made for church have any faith-related material in them, which saddens me a little. I aim to be able to incorporate some values in my future animations, though not as obviously. I’ve seen some angry people on the net who’ve been harassed by Christians – I hope that the misunderstanding can be corrected subtly.

Rachel: How much time do you usually invest into a drawing or animation, from the time you get an idea, research it, sketch it, tweak it, and color it, and/or animate it?
John:The conception phase for drawings can be anywhere from spontaneous to, oh, say ten minutes. Then maybe another ten minutes to sketch a layout with character poses and positions, fifteen to find a satisfactory design, and an hour to do the line work. Then coloring and shading could take roughly an hour, and if I want to add a background, another hour. There’s a lot of deviation from this time scale, though, as I’ve completed pictures in under an hour and taken as long as a day to do another.

Animations take a lot more time. First I need to find the music I want to use; since I’m not a musician, I’m limited by whatever I can find, so browsing through my library can take a while. Ah, all this timing is reminding me of gate logic race conditions! Let’s just say animation = very long.

Rachel:Could you describe your process for drawing and animating?
John: Alright. Let’s start with drawing.

Assuming I have an idea of what I want, I open a blank document and proceed to scribble some hot-dog figures on it to get an idea for the posture and anatomy. I might do some rough erasures or some scaling, and when I’m done I fade the image so it’s barely visible. Then I proceed to the rough draft.

I sketch a rough image of the characters over the hot-dog skeletons, getting down most of the details of their clothing and hair. The face I leave alone. Once this is done it looks like a very basic picture and I can move on the final draft.

For this I use a smaller brush size and zoom in. With the roughs reminding me of the scale I should be drawing in, I proceed to “trace” the line art, maybe making small refinements and adding small details like folds, wrinkles, scratches, etc.

When that’s done I copy the lineart to a layer just below it and lock the original. The new layer becomes my color layer where I bucket fill the empty spaces with the appropriate colors. Once all the colors are there I go about cel-shading it using the brush tool to draw new regions and the bucket tool to fill them. I can be pretty sloppy here, sometimes crossing lines, because the line layer above it hides it from the finished product.

After that I follow a similar process for the background, though it’s shorter since there are no lines. I pretty much make shapes with the brush and fill them in with the same color, then use a lasso tool to select portions to change color, hence shading them. I prefer to do it this way since I don’t want it to compete with the foreground and I don’t want to work zoomed in all over the picture.

For animations it’s a lot simpler. Typically I’d make very quick, very rough sketches that just represent the basic anatomy of the moving person. I make a sequence of these and lay them out in the timeline, adjusting, removing, or adding them until the movement is as I want it to be. When I’ve gone through basically the whole animation and am content with the pacing, I’m ready to start.

The moving characters are done in a single layer instead of two (like in my drawings). It’s essentially the same process, except I use the sketches from before instead of making new ones. It’s basically a one-shot run. I need to keep a copy of the lineart in the clipboard to paste back down when I’m done coloring, so sometimes it gets complicated when I forget to copy it prior to coloring.

Backgrounds are done in pretty much the same way as for the drawings.

Rachel: What programs do you use for animating and, possibly, for drawing?
John: For both animation and drawing I use Macromedia Flash. I’ve grown quite comfortable with the shortcuts and layout, so I find work to be easier and more flexible when using Flash to draw – plus I enjoy the resolution independence.

Rachel:When you draw, what do you do to concentrate on your work and inspire your style? For example: some people listen to music, other people draw in the park, some people head down to a coffe shop, etc.
John: Since I have no scanner, all of my work is done at the computer and I don’t have the option of changing environments – the best I can usually do is browse through my mp3’s and listen to one that fits the mood of the picture I’m working on. But other times I just work in silence, since I already know what I’m going for.

Rachel: What or who is the biggest influence on your work?
John: Um…in terms of style, it’s difficult to pinpoint. I’ll just say I draw inspiration from anime/manga as a collective entity. Whatever thing I enjoy tends to have an effect on the way my style turns out.

Rachel:Most of your work is quite humorous; why do you draw more comical fare?
John: ‘Cause I like it. There are tons of artists out there whose work is of greater quality than mine, but they don’t quite catch my interest because the content doesn’t. To me the artwork is a medium which conveys a message, and if there is no message or the message is an old one, the artwork…falls short. I could draw an amazing picture of a spoon and impress no one. But another dude could draw a crude spoon in a crude situation and make everyone laugh. So rather than compete with all those awesome professionals, I choose to make an impression via humour.

Rachel: What can you say about your sense of humor?
John: I’d say it’s a bit satirical and at times a bit simple. Some of it is simply word play and puns, and other times it’s based on deriding myself or feigning arrogance. I’m really not sure what to say on it – if I find it amusing, I’ll share it, but being the teller makes the matter less funny. But the responses I get seem to indicate that I have a decent sense of humor (or my desperation shows so much that they shower me with pity laughs). On a side note I will say that Brian Clevinger (of 8-bit Theatre fame) is an inspiration for me; not just his comics, but the blogs he writes as well. His sarcasm rocks.

Rachel: How would you like people to view your work?
John: With both hands on their gut and not in their pants.

Rachel: What’s it like to be able to show people the random thoughts that float through your head, as illustrated by your drawing, “Genius”?
John: It’s a blessing, I say. It’s fun to be able to capture a moment of your life and even more so to have it entertain someone. As an introvert this may be my only means of sharing such things.

Rachel: If you didn’t explain some of your pieces, what do you think people would get from the picture?
John: They’d go “Aw, that’s cute/interesting/scary.” And that’d be the end of that. Thinking back on what I said about artwork and messages, I guess I’m implying that my artwork doesn’t convey a message well enough that I wouldn’t have to explicitly state it.

But there are times I really wish I could just let it speak for itself.

Rachel: When you do draw or animate a serious piece, what are you thinking and what do you prefer as your subject matter?
John:Hm, typically when a church member requests something the matter is faith-related and I don’t poke fun at it. When the work is requested by myself to be serious, it would be because I’m trying to capture a mood and don’t want it overpowered by humour like ketchup. I guess the theme would be…goth or fantasy. Hm, that’s a strange combination now that I put them in the same sentence…

Rachel:How does anime factor into your work?
John:It’s everywhere! Almost all my style is derived from anime.

Rachel: Why did you decide on this particular style of art?
John:When I was young, it looked really cool, and being an impressionable youth, it was impressed upon me.

Rachel: When you first started to draw, who did you base your first pieces from, if anybody?
John:I first drew out of a sketch book of basic shapes that my mother helped me with, but if you mean anime, then my first source would have been Robotech. From there I went on to Dragonball and Sailormoon, then practically every imported anime that made its way onto American networks (excluding cable).

Rachel: What can you say about your sense of humor outside of your art? (“Active Desk Top Recovery” almost made me snork coffee)
John:Ohoho, excellent – I am pleased with the coffee snorking. Anyhow, I like to hope that my humour is the same, since I don’t change identities with medium.

Rachel: Could you describe your work in five words?
John: It Would Most Definitely Be…

Nope, I fail.

Rachel: What do want to achieve with your work? (world domination, best artist eva, more money than you know what to do with, etc.)?
John: Hm, more money than I know what to do with sounds very attractive. But putting awesome selfishness aside, I hope that my work can expand concepts and open people’s minds to new directions.

Rachel: What’s your favorite style of art and why is it your fave?
John: lurves teh chibi. It is moé.

Rachel: What kind of routine do you have when you draw? What kind of schedule do you have if you have any?
John:Since I do this as a leisure activity, I have no schedule or routine. I just do it whenever it’s convenient and I have something to draw.
Or if I’m really bored and want some attention.

Rachel: I’ve noticed kanji in some of your pieces..what can you say about your language skillz?
John:Well, it’s been nearly 4 years since I’ve stopped taking Japanese and I haven’t written kanji since. Kanji would be my weakest point, and I have to use the computer’s IME to get it out. I can still recognize some characters, but only the basic ones. But I do have some chicken-sized confidence in my conversation ability.

Rachel: Can you describe your work station at your computer or drawing board?
John:There’s the computer, a mouse, and sometimes a tablet. Oh, and a keyboard. I’m there, too. Most of the time in a chair.

Rachel: Hypothetical question: You have access to a time machine and can meet any artist you want to; past, present future. Who would you like to meet and if you could ask them one question, what would it be?
John:Hm…maybe I’d go to the future and find an artist who was up to date on history and ask him what the most profitable stock of the 21st century was to be, preferably one that nobody today has heard of. $_$

Rachel: What do you do if you ever get “writer’s block” or in this case “drawer’s block”?
John: Would you try to poop if you had no poop to poop? No. You wait.

Rachel: If you had to label yourself, what kind of artist would label yourself as?
John: A dreamer. Like a dream, most of my art has whole worlds behind them (or partial worlds) but are rarely connected and almost never revisited.

Rachel: How do you use your drawing talents outside of deviantArt?
John: I draw to keep myself entertained when I have nothing to do, like before class (or during class).

Rachel: What would you like to use your drawing skills for overall?
Enjoyment! Mine and others’.

Rachel: What kind of art do you do besides drawing if you do other art?
John: Hahaha, if…

Rachel: Where do you see yourself at 15 years in the future with your art?
John: I see myself as an electrical engineer who draws as a hobby and has a small fanbase online, waiting for the day a prestigious artists opportunity jumps out at him that can support him and his family financially as well as or better than his current engineering career.

Rachel: What do your friends and loved ones think of your art?
John: They like it and hope I don’t waste it. Some are terrified that I’m not pursuing a career with it, but I’d rather not be drawing with the pressure that if it doesn’t sell I won’t be eating.

Rachel: Who is your harshest critic?
John: Me! At least, I’m the most voiced one. But if my ego inflates, this will likely not be the case.

Rachel: Where are you from originally and where are you working from now?
John: I’m from Orange County, California, and I’m currently studying at Los Angeles.

Rachel: What kind of anime and manga do you like? What titles?
John: Some titles off the top of my head would be Mushishi, Princess Tutu, and Hidamari Sketch. The first couple seasons of One Piece were also really awesome.

Rachel: What is your favorite genre of anime/manga and why? Ditto for least favorite.
John: I’m inclined towards seinen, slice of life, and comedy (mostly comedy) genres. Cuteness is a plus (Binchoutan~!). My least favourite would probably be romance. Their constipated emotions sicken me.

Rachel: It’s a fight between anime and manga; which would you choose?
John: Manga! It’s higher in the hierarchy – dubs -> subs -> manga. I can’t watch these things in the opposite direction.

Rachel: If you’re a video gamer, what are your favorite games and why?
John: I used to like rpg’s when I was younger, but nowadays I just don’t have that kind of patience. I suppose my favourite games are the ones that don’t fit in any genre, because they’re bold and pioneering instead of trying to milk an old formula for all its worth (*cough* X-box *cough*).

Rachel:What type of music do you listen to?
John: Generally anime OSTs and some old videogame tracks, sometimes arranged.

Rachel: Who’s your favorite band or musician?
John: The Kukeiha Club makes some pretty neat stuff, and Yoko Kanno is an awesome composer.

Rachel: I read on your DA profile that your fave genre of music is ondo. What do you think of the Pokemon Ondo? Do you ever participate in Bon Odori?
John:The Pokemon Ondo is the awesomest Pokemon song evar. Despite my claims of loving ondo, I’ve only heard four, all of which were from anime or video games (Binchou Ondo, Pokemon Ondo, Ichijou Ondo, and the Koopa Counting Song, which might not even be ondo at all). And no, I’ve never been in or seen a bon odori.

Rachel: What’s your favorite food?
John: Mayonnaise~! Not sure if that quite qualifies as food, though…

Rachel: If you had to choose a fave color, what would it be?
John: Blue. It’s easy on the eyes.

Rachel: Name some of your hobbies for us.
John: Drawing, programming, watching anime, reading manga, sleeping. I’m doomed to an early grave.

Rachel: If you eat Japanese snacks, what’s your favorite?
John: Hi-chew! That stuff is freakin’ awesome.

Rachel: What is/are your favorite movies?
John: Tough to say; I’m not much of a movie goer, but…I guess My Fair Lady was a very enjoyable one for me.

Rachel: What pets do you have and do they factor into your art?
John: My new pet laptop will now be my main drawing machine, if that counts.

Rachel: What do you do when you aren’t drawing?
John: Whoah, that’s a lot of stuff there. But if I had to say the one that took up most of my non-drawing time and that wasn’t essential and wasn’t extra sleep, it’d be procrastinating. How long do you suppose this response was ready before I sent it?

Rachel: What would you say is the most interesting thing about you that people might not know about?
John: My big toes have calluses.

Thanks John! John also shared some of his favorite pics with us with an explanation for the process of each:

1. Hollow Jacks
This is the latest of my “quality” pieces, so I’m quite proud of it and how it turned it. For this one I was listening to the opening theme of Bartender when trying to find a pose for him. His design is largely inspired by Vocal from Watanabe Michiaki’s Violinist of Hameln manga. I’ve attached a few pictures of the intermediate steps that I mentioned earlier.

2. Kurenaino Kyojin
This is one of those things where I like to broaden the image of a given character beyond their typical confines. Was this in a good direction? Not necessarily. But it was sure hella fun.

3. Wait
I also like to mix the mundane with the absurd. There are some modes of humor that throw all sorts of randomness out there (eg, Hale nochi Guu), but my preference is to sometimes bring it a little closer to home.

4. Mére Cabot
This was an effort to capture a feeling that wasn’t funny. It’s sort of a vague grasp at the mysterious; for this Mushishi was a great inspiration, as it managed to present the unknown in such a way as to instill a sort of wonder at something that wasn’t supernatural, but not natural either.

5. Belyzabess
Ew, kind of old, but the content remains to my liking. Like usual, I enjoy mixing contradictory material: the cute with the creepy. This kind of culinary blasphemy is a hobby of mine.

Often times when a great anime artist comes to my attention, they’re almost strictly digital media artists. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a digital media artist (most of my fave artists are strictly digital) but there’s also something that can be said about an artist that uses traditional media as well. Specifically, that they have a wider range of experience in their art. That said, a combination of both media, and their unique, individual techniques, can result in some truly deep work.

Tan Kit Mun, aka Kidchan, has a blended style of art she first developed using traditional materials. After discovering digital media, she started incorporating it more and more into her style. Kidchan’s work is evocative of the surreal moments we experience on the threshold of waking and dreaming. Her color palette, while deep and saturated, tends to throw my own color sense off if I examine it for too long. It’s very effective in creating a surreal experience, I must say.

What spurred me to interview Kidchan is her piece titled “From A to B +work progress+“. It details her first foray into the digital art world and chronicles her successes and evolution. It’s a truly fantastic thing to watch an artist evolve and a truly brave act to show something that personal. Kidchan told me about the road she’s now traveling as an artist:

Rachel: When did you decide you wanted to draw?
Kidchan: When I listen to songs, or when there is any event that inspired me to draw.

If it’s about age then I started to draw when I was very young, because my elder sister can draw very well, so I decided to follow her.

Rachel: What prompted you to start down the path of an artist and why?
Kidchan: Erm…It started ever since I was in high school. I am interested in science but my calculation is very bad. And I noticed that I pay attention to doodling on my textbooks more than I pay attention to the teacher in the class. I can express myself in art but I can’t express myself in science. So I decided “Yeah!! I think I should become an artist!!”. Though I have to sacrifice my childhood dream as a scientist haha ^^;

Rachel: What kind of formal training do you have if you have any? If yes, where did you get formal training?
Kidchan: I am currently studying at The One Academy of Communication Design, located in Malaysia, under the major Illustration. I did have some basic art training when I was in primary school at an art center along with my sister bu I just managed to learn how to draw an apple and how to make stuff with paper clay at that center.

Rachel: Your work has a very free flowing watercolor look What traditional media do use, if any, to make your prints?
Kidchan: I usually use 2B pencil, most of my traditional mediums is used on my assignments, such as acrylics, airbrush, pastel, colour pencils.

Rachel: I was reading your journal on deviantArt and noticed that you had a entry titled “kidChan’s Tale of CGing“. What can you say about your progression from traditional to digital media?
Kidchan: Actually I find that I can colour better with digital media rather than traditional ^^;;;. But after learning digital media and experiment a lot with it, I can relate traditional media with it, and I start to apply what I learned thru digital media on traditional media and vice versa. I still prefer drawing using a pencil tho :D.

Rachel: When you worked with traditional media, what type did you prefer to work with?
Kidchan: I prefer to work with pencils, and water colours.

Rachel: Which do you prefer to work with now that you’re more familiar with CG: digital or traditional media and why?
Kidchan: I like both mediums so it is very hard to choose which one I prefer. I would like to combine both, because, there is something that traditional medium can’t create, and there is something that digital medium can’t achieve. By combining both media, it’ll be great for me.

Rachel: How much time do you usually invest into a drawing from the time you get an idea, research it, sketch it, tweak it, and color it?
Kidchan: Usually it’ll take me three days or more. I get the idea in my mind, and I will sit down and draw it out, and colour it. I take some breaks, and continue the drawing again.

Rachel: Do you make a sketch first and then scan it in or do you the whole process on the computer?

kidchan: Depends, I prefer to sketch on a paper and colour it on the computer. Sometimes I need to draw it quick, so I will draw everything on the computer.

Rachel: What’s your favorite reason for working with the computer?
Kidchan: The CTRL+Z / undo button! And also the colour palette XD. I can also experiment with more textures and more experiments with the computer.

Rachel: What strikes me most about your art is two things: The first is the wispy dream-like quality in your style and the second is your color palette. Your colors make me feel that I’m not quite dreaming not quite awake but in a state in between the two where everything and nothing is real. They’re very saturated as well. What do think of your color palette and why did you choose the colors you work with now?
Kidchan: Thanks thanks thanks a lot for the comments TToTT

I actually don’t really like to work with solid black. I don’t like the shadows to be completely black. That’s why I tends to choose other colours than black to colour darker area. I guess that’s how I developed my colour palette. I also like to add bright red colours on some certain area in my drawings.

I don’t really find my colour palette that interesting ^^; .I mean, there are still many things that I need to explore.

Rachel: Can you comment on the surreal feel of your work?
Kidchan: I like to day dream a lot XD. All the things that I see, I find it boring to see them in the state they are at the moment. I think, they want to have another form too. I think, they want to be something else, sometimes.

Rachel: How did you develop your current style?
Kidchan: When I am in my foundation year at my current college, there is a subject called DESIGN 2. My lecturer, Denise, encouraged us to develop our own style. I did a lot of research on patterns, and I stumbled upon on a lot of artists, who focus more on style rather than technique. I started to add patterns in my drawings. Later on, I focused more on concept and meanings. I want to portray feelings, rather than just technique alone.

Rachel: What kind of feelings do you want to portray?
Kidchan: I want to portray feelings that people will wonder, “Is there something behind that smile?” “Is there a reason for those blank eyes?” Sometimes a blank expression holds a feeling that no one knows. I want to capture that kind of feeling.

Rachel: Where do you find your ideas and how do you make them your own?
Kidchan: Usually, I find ideas thru lyrics, and also the things that surround me. Ceiling fan, window, water, paper, spider webs, plants, stars…all these things, they don’t belong to me. I just give them life on the paper.

Rachel: When you draw, what do you do to concentrate on your work and inspire your style? For example: some people listen to music, other people draw in the park, some people head down to a coffee shop, etc.
Kidchan: I just need to play the music that inspired me and put it on loop :D. It’ll be good if I am in a messy room…because some of the stuff in that room can inspire me as well…hence my room is super messy!! XD;;;

Rachel: What or who is the biggest influence on your work?
Kidchan: There are a lot of people and things that influence me a lot. Japanese artists Sumomo Yumeka, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Takaya Miou, Ayumi Kasai, Mamiya Oki, Thailand artist Meisan and China artist RAIN influenced me a lot. Elements like water, flowers, plants; they play important roles in my art.

Rachel: I read something in your deviantArt journal I wanted to ask about…what is Genesis and what is RAWR?
Kidchan: GENESIS is an artbook by my fellow artist friend Toounit.

The book features his drawings, and I am the guest artist in his artbook. RAWR stands for Rolling Along With Rojaks, its actually a group of artists in Malaysia, and I am one of them. We have two artbooks released so far. More information is available at our DA site.

Rachel: Could you describe your work in five words?
Kidchan: That’s a very hard question to answer…haha ^^;;;; I can only say…
“I draw very girly men” *hide self*

Rachel: My favorite drawing of yours is “Artificial Maiden“. I like it because of all the contrasts in the image. One of the main ones being her sweet smile contrasted with her mechanical and bleeding arm. How did you develop this idea and what are your feelings on the picture?
Kidchan: Thanks a lot!! I am glad you like it *O*

Erm…I had a very hard time deciding on the background haha ^^;;;.

The drawing actually made my dad’s computer jammed a few times since the size is huge ;__;. I found the word online; I find it very interesting. In an era, which we have digital models, I want to create something that is created by human, and reflects their nature. She smiles, because we ask her to smile. We always create things that resemble nature. One day the machine will be rusty, and we’ll have to create more. It’s a very complicated feeling, I only hope that, a person who view the picture, has their own interpretation of it.

Rachel: What’s your favorite style of art and why is it your fave?
Kidchan: Surrealism! I like the feeling of “Oh my god! I didn’t think of this!” when I view a surrealist picture. It is fantastic and magical; I like it.

Rachel: What kind of routine do you have when you draw? What kind of schedule do you have if you have any?
Kidchan: First, I will imagine the picture, then I draw it out on the paper or the computer, depend. When the line art is done I will proceed to colour, and do any final editings and tadah~!

Rachel: Can you describe your work station at your computer or drawing board?
Kidchan: It is very messy XD;;;. When I am working on the computer, there will be a few chocolate bars, a mini mannequin I bought recently, my winamp player is on, a folder contains some of my references. On the floor there’s some of my comic books and art books. My table is very small, so I place my scanner on the floor, while I put my tablet right after my monitor and my keyboard. It’s a Graphire 2 so it doesn’t require a lot of space.

When I work on papers I place a drawing board on top of my old CPU casing and everything will be either on the board or on the floor. Sometimes I put the drawing board on my table so that I can be online at the same time.

Rachel: Hypothetical question: You have access to a time machine and can meet any artist you want to; past, present future. Who would you like to meet and if you could ask them one question, what would it be?
Kidchan: I want to meet myself in the future and ask her “Are you happy with what are you doing now?”

Rachel: What do you do if you ever get “writer’s block” or in this case “drawer’s block”?
Kidchan: I will be very depressed haha ^^;;;. I will lie on the bed, gift my self a rest, eat lotsa chocolates, and start another day. A walk at the shopping mall will brighten me a bit, since I stay quite near to it.

Rachel: If you had to label yourself, what kind of artist would label yourself as?
Kidchan: Very lazy artist. I tends to draw what I like instead of what I should ^^;;;

An anime-fantasy/surreal artist perhaps?

Rachel: What are some of the things you like that you draw?
Kidchan:Faces, eyes, human, topics that involve relationship between two people.

Rachel: How do you use your drawing talents outside of deviantArt?
Kidchan: I usually do freelances and demonstrations. I used to draw illustrations for a local event called Comic Fiesta. My last contribution was a cover art for their event catalog.

Rachel: What would you like to use your drawing skills for overall?
Kidchan: I want to learn more. If I can make a cover for a book, that’ll be good!

Rachel: What kind of books would you like to illustrate?
Kidchan: Fantasy with a bit of futuristic elements kind of novels. Romance is alright too.

Rachel: What kind of art do you do besides drawing if you do other art?
Kidchan: I draw realism/commercial art, such as drawing human figures and products, since it is a requirement in my college.

Rachel: How do you like doing drawings like the ones you described?
Kidchan: It was fun in the beginning, but…everything gets repetitive after 2 years. I am a person who prefers to draw concept art rather than plain posing figures, commercial product drawings, almost everything is formatted. I did learn a lot of techniques.
I really want to do drawings like a fighting scene between two fish warriors, but it’s not under my major.

But by learning how to draw realism and all the techniques, I can apply them in my style, which is good, I guess.

Rachel: Where do you see yourself at 15 years in the future with your art?
Kidchan: Working for graphics for boy’s love simulation game. I hope XD;;;

Rachel: What do your friends and loved ones think of your art?
Kidchan: My mom like the way I draw eyes. She said there’s something about it. Friends like my drawings too. I also get comments like “Draw different perspective!” ”I don’t see you draw animals.” ”Try draw something more different!!” “Weird proportion!” As you can see I have a long way to go ^^;;;.

Rachel: Where are you from originally and where are you working from now?
Kidchan: I am from Malaysia. My hometown is Ipoh located at Perak state. I am currently staying at Kuala Lumpur (Bandar Sunway, Selangor to be precise ^^;; ). I am going to work for DramaQueen’s RUSH after I graduate, which is August 2007.

Rachel: Why did you choose the name kidchan for your deviantArt name?
Kidchan: It’s an alternative pronunciation for my actual name, which is Tan Kit Mun.

kiD stands for Kit while Chan is the Cantonese pronunciation of my surname.

Rachel: What kind of anime and manga do you like? What titles?
Kidchan: I love to read any kind of anime or manga. Comedy, dark, romance, action. I take any of them. But when it gets too generic or the plots are way to similar, I will stop to follow them. My all time favourites are Neon Genesis Evangelion, Honey and Clover, Chibimaruko, DOGS, Get Backers and…Doraemon!!

Rachel: It’s a fight between anime and manga; which would you choose?
Kidchan: Tough question!! TT^TT I guess I will choose manga. It is amazing how the artists can portray everything without colours, everything is black and white, the arrangements of panels…It’s very artistic.

Rachel: If you’re a video gamer, what are your favorite games and why?
Kidchan: Fighting games…like King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown. I can only play games like this since I just need to press the buttons XD;;;. I know nothing about RPGs!! TT___TT And I also like ParaPara Paradise

Rachel: What type of music do you listen to?
Kidchan: Mostly rock and trance. I like traditional instruments too, things that is tribal and has some oriental feel in it. Any good music will do ^^

Rachel: Who’s your favorite band or musician?
Kidchan: Plastic Tree, Kagrra, Ryohei Yamamoto, Robert Miles, The Beatles, Taku Iwasaki, Kawai Kenji, GRANRODEO, S.E.N.S, Wang Lee Hom, TOKYO JIHEN,
The Offspring, ASIAN KUNGFU GENERATION, Sheila on 7, etc.

Rachel: What’s your favorite food?
Kidchan: Anything with soup! Chinese herbal soup, Korean kimchii soup, Bak Kut Teh ( a local Chinese soup dish, made of pork and herbs) are my favourites.

Rachel: Name some of your hobbies for us.
Kidchan: Listen to music, walking in the art store, browsing books in bookstores, going online, looking for pretty pictures…and sleep non-stop haha. And of couse, drawing!

Rachel: Which season of the year of the year is your favorite as an artist?
Kidchan: We don’t really have seasons in Malaysia It’s summer all year round!

Rachel: What do you do when you aren’t drawing?
Kidchan: I will be caught reading some boy’s love manga haha XD;;; And sleeping…

Rachel: What would you say is the most interesting thing about you that people might not know about?
Kidchan: I used to draw girls more than I draw guys. Now everyone thinks that, “OMG kidChan you drew a girl!! The world is ending!!! I must buy lottery now!!!” haha ^^;;;; But yeah, if I count the number of girls that I drew and the numbers of guys that I drew, the girls are definitely more than the guys. hehe.And also, I am very shy. Especially when it’s about my art. I don’t think anyone will believe me when I say that TT^TT;;;

Rachel: How old are you?
Kidchan: 20 years old

Thank you Kidchan for an excellent interview! You can view all of Kidchan’s work at her gallery here.

*Note: All pictures used on this post are used with permission of the artist. All artwork in this post is property of Kidchan.

When going through DeviantArt last year I came across an artist with a portfolio so massive I took almost an hour to enjoy all his work. Almost a year later and it now takes me about an hour and a half to fully appreciate all his pieces. And you can’t just click, scan, and move on to the next pic with this artist. That’d be unfair to you and to him, him being Wen Li.

Wen is an anime artist with quite an imagination. He creates original characters with imaginative garb and fantastic weapons. Each pic has many layers along with serious depth so one would be cheating themselves by not taking the time to soak in all the textures and colors. I can’t even start to think up the minute details he incorporates into his pieces. Not only does he create detailed pics with such unique flair, he creates many, many, unique works of art while not repeating himself.

Some of Wen’s pieces have a decidedly shrouded feel of menace to them, while others seem as sweet as sugar. While darkness is a theme in many of his pictures, light does shine in Wen’s art. He told me how he creates the dichotomy in his art.

Rachel: How old were you when you started drawing?
Wen: I started doodling my own characters when I was 14.

Rachel: Tell us why you started drawing to begin with.
Wen: It was a way to get attention.

Rachel: What kind of formal training do you have if you have any? If yes, where did you get formal training?
Wen:I had two very good art teachers during my high school years. I took some beginning art classes at City College of San Francisco.

Rachel: What platform do you use to draw with, Macintosh or PC? Which do you prefer?
Wen: PC. I haven’t used a Mac enough to compare.

Rachel: How did you learn Photoshop? Where did you take a class if you took a class to learn?
Wen: I learned from tutorials I found online and from my friends.

Rachel: What other computer programs do you use besides Photoshop if you do use any?
Wen: Exclusively Photoshop.

Rachel: You have a couple of awesome picture series on your DA page;“Anima: Beyond Fantasy”and “Anathema”. What can you tell us about them?
Wen: They are both traditional RPGs but very different in vision.

Rachel: How are they different in vision?
Wen: Anima feels more to the “pretty” side when Anathema is rough and gritty.

Rachel: What would you like to see done with Anima?
Wen: That it becomes successful.

Rachel: Who else worked on Anima with you, if there was anyone else?
Wen: I am not familiar with the other team mates, as they are all over the world.

Rachel: Anima is a traditional RPG but will it be online or real life?
Wen: The main RPG can be played online I think…I am not too sure for I have yet to try it because the US version is still in translation phase. I do have the card game however, and that is played in person.

Rachel: All your pics can stand alone as works of art outside of your series. What do you draw outside of the series?
Wen: Whatever interests me at the time, today I sketched a few bikes for my small comic project.

Rachel: There are some pages on your site for tattoo designs and you also have people lining up to get ‘em. How did you set started with that and why?
Wen: Back in 2004 a couple of friends on DevianArt wanted a design for their personal signature, that’s what started me on the tattoo designs. Later on I find them interesting and I haven’t stopped since then.

Rachel: How would you like to use your mad tattoo designs outside of DA?
Wen: I had wanted to sell them to tattoo shops.

Rachel: The expressions on your characters are very emotive. How do you convey this through pen and ink? Where does it come from?
Wen: To be honest, I feel that my expressions are not good enough, so I can not answer this question…

Rachel: There’s quite an arsenal on your DA pages. What do you like the most about drawing weapons? Where do you get the inspiration for ‘em?
Wen: Weapons have a different silhouette that can sometimes be even more enjoyable than characters. I get my inspirations from seeing artworks or listening to music.

Rachel: What kind of music inspires weaponry?
Wen: Serene music would inspire the girly, feminine looking designs, while the
rock, heavy metal type would inspire the more vicious looking ones.

Rachel: Which do you prefer drawing; people or weapons?
Wen: I think I like drawing people more, just by a tiny bit.

Rachel: Going through your vast and impressive portfolio on DA I noticed several different styles. Your work on Anima, for example, varies from “Kiss on Arielle’s Ring”, to “OMG cell shading”, to “Lucent with the lute”. What can you say about these differing styles?
Wen: They are a witness to my journey of finding a comfortable style.

Rachel: What would you consider to be a comfortable style for you now?
Wen: I was a lot more towards realism in 2006, with the new year, I want to go back to a little bit more anime-ish in design while the coloring stays a bit more towards realism. I think I have always wanted that style, but from time to time my work would ask different things so I had to follow those guidelines.

Rachel: Why do you draw so many angels? I think I saw the whole heavenly host on your site ^^. I also saw some of the un-heavenly host as well…
Wen: The angels and demon series is just one of the series that I enjoyed drawing, much like other series I had done in the past. I started that series simply because I have not drawn them before, no special reason.

Rachel: When you refer to series, could you describe what do you like about them that you produce so many?
Wen: As for the angels series, I love drawing them because they have wings, more space for me to go crazy with detail, and I drew the demons just so I can draw the opposite side of things, to exercise my design skills. As for series itself, I love designing different things, and I usually make a series so that I will work within the theme and vision. Again, just to exercise my design skills.

Rachel: About how long does it take to finish a drawing from start to finish?
Wen: A character with no background takes about 6 hours. A full scene can be anywhere from 25 to 40 hours depending on size and complexity.

Rachel: Do you make a sketch first and then scan it in or do you the whole process on the computer?
Wen: Yes, I sketch on paper first.

Rachel: Do you use models?
Wen: When the job situation calls for it.

Rachel: What would you say is your favorite style of art?
Wen: Art nouveau is one of the many that I like.

Rachel: Who is your favorite artist and why?
Wen: Alphonse Mucha, his Art Nouveau style had influenced me before I knew who he was and what the style was called.

Rachel: Where do you find your inspiration for your work?
Wen: I visit my local bookstores a lot.

Rachel: Which books do you peruse to for that reason?
Wen:Fashion magazines, often teen fashion because I am really not into the crazy $50,000 Vogue pieces. Teen fashion is practical, eye catching and usually easily appreciated by my audience, who are mostly teenagers.

Rachel: What kind of routine do you have when you draw? What kind of schedule do you have if you have any?
Wen: This is the usual routine: decide on subject matter, research if needed, concept sketches, revision on concepts, final sketch, ink and color. I usually don’t have a schedule outside of work deadlines.

Rachel: Just out of curiosity where do you work that you get to utilize your talents?
Wen: I work for Anima studio now, from home. =]

Rachel: Can you describe your work station at your computer or drawing board?
Wen: I use a Pentium 4 PC with 1 gig of RAM, Photoshop 7 with a Wacom intuos 2 Tablet. I have an HP1220 printer and a flatbed scanner. I sketch at various places.

Rachel: What do you do if you ever get “writer’s block” or in this case “drawer’s block”?
Wen: I would stop drawing and figure out what the problem is, if my work schedule allows me to do so.

Rachel: What kind of artist would you consider yourself?
Wen: Anime style.

Rachel: What would you like to do with your drawing skills?
Wen: I draw what I want and what I do not have.

Rachel: What kind of art do you do besides drawing if you do other stuff?
Wen: I had wanted to learn sculpting but since I am still not happy with my drawing skills, I have yet to try that out.

Rachel: Where do you see yourself at 15 years in the future with your art?
Wen: Perhaps becoming an art teacher for a high school.

Rachel: What do your friends and loved ones think of your art?
Wen: My parents think I lack a lot of knowledge in realistic faces and I agree. My friends think my art has a lot of details…

Rachel: Your name on deviantArt is Wen-M. Real name or pen name and does it have any meaning?
Wen: Wen-M is a pen name, but not so far from my real name, since it is Wen. Back in 2001 I joined a local artist group called BAAU ( (Bay Area Artist Unite, for the San Francisco bay area). In the group is a girl also named Wen. To keep things clear, our friends invented the whole Wen-M and Wen-F business.

Rachel: You refer to yourself in your devious information as “Wen-monster” who is a “money hungry monster” Apt or do you just have a wicked sense of humor?
Wen: I was just being silly.

Rachel: You have excellent fashion sense when it comes to your character design. How do you feel your personal fashion sense compares to that?
Wen: I spent too much time on my characters’ fashion and left none for myself.

Rachel: What kind of anime and manga do you like, if any? What titles or genres?
Wen:Recently watched Samurai Champloo, I don’t follow any anime series. I follow a few mangas, one of them being Air Gear. I usually go for series that has good art.

Rachel: You’re working on a role playing game with Anima, yes? How big of a fan are you of RPGs in actuality? What kind of RPGs do you prefer; live action, video games, etc.?
Wen: I have actually never played a traditional RPG like Anima, so it will be interesting to try it when it comes out in the US. I prefer video game RPGs but I could be biased since I have not played a traditional RPG yet.

Rachel: What kind of games to prefer to play outside of RPGs and what are they?
Wen: My recent favorite is Sengoku Basara 2. Hack and slash with comedy.

Rachel: What type of music do you listen to?
Wen: Mostly J-pop and game soundtracks, with Chinese and US singers for alternative choices.

Rachel: Who’s your favorite band or musician?
Wen: Sarah Mclachlan, Josh Grogan, Aya Kamiki, etc.

Rachel: What’s your favorite food?
Wen: Pasta.

Rachel: Could you tell us what your fave color is?
Wen: Black.

Rachel: Name some of your hobbies for us.
Wen: Watching movies & playing Street Fighter 3.

Rachel: What do you do when you aren’t drawing?
Wen: Browse the Internet, talk to online friends.

Rachel: You mentioned that you draw “what I want and what I do not have.” If you had the power to draw anything and have it become a reality, just once, what would it be and why?
Wen: Money. There’s a lot of people, many of my friends included, that could use some of that.

We appreciate the time you spent with us for the interview Wen! To check out more of Wen’s art, you can go to his deviantArt gallery. To purchase his artwork, you can do so by visiting his deviantArt prints gallery.