TOKYO CUTTING-EDGE CREATORS by Julie Watai #1 : Past and Present of Akihabara with Ai☆Madonna

『TOKYO CUTTING-EDGE CREATORS by Julie Watai』#1 : 愛☆まどんなと語る、秋葉原カルチャーの過去と現在

| Culture | Posted by Julie Watai on Mar.18.2016

TOKYO CUTTING-EDGE CREATORS by Julie Watai #1 : Past and Present of Akihabara with Ai☆Madonna

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Ai☆Madonna: Actually recently I’ve begun drawing a manga.
実はここ最近、「漫画」を書き始めてます。

Julie: Oh?!?!
おおおおお！

Ai☆Madonna: I’ve been working on it with Reiji Yamada. He came to my solo exhibition and liked my work, so we began talking about drawing something together and splitting the story and the artwork, and regarding each other with mutual respect, we’re in the middle of drawing it now.
山田玲司先生と。玲司先生がわたしの個展にきてくれて、絵を気にってくれて、原作と作画を分けて二人で描こうというお話になりまして、絶賛今描いてる最中です。

Julie: He’s the influential manga artist behind the masterpiece B Virgin, right? Mr. Yamada’s got his own story structure and artistic style, and he seems like he’d be easy to get along with.
名作コミック「Bバージン」の大御所漫画家さんじゃないですか。玲司先生もストーリー構成とかアーティスティックな作風な方だし、すごく相性良さそう。

Ai☆Madonna: To be honest I’d never read his work! (laugh) It was interesting hearing stories about all these “mental health” (“mental health” girls) flocking to him.
正直、玲司先生の漫画読んだこと無かったんですがね（笑）！　メンヘラホイホイ（*メンヘラ女子が集まってくる）の先生の話きくの面白い。

Julie: He’s quite popular with guys as a manga artist, isn’t he. (laugh) Recently his relationship advice column for women was turned into a book. It’s a really deep and interesting read. The character all the “mental health” flock to is fascinating from a female’s perspective, and the fact that he’s a writer that’s also an expert when it comes to love. By chance are you two writing a love story?
漫画家としては男子には有名な方よね（笑）。最近では女性向けの恋愛関係のコラムとかが本になったりしてる。内容めっちゃ深くて面白いよね。メンヘラホイホイキャラも、女子からすると魅力的だし、実は恋愛の達人すぎるという一面がある作家さん。もしやラブストーリーだったりする？

Ai☆Madonna: He interviewed me on many different topics, and wrote that into the story with my name. You could say it’s kind of like a love story, or a yuri (girls’ love) story.
私のことをいろいろインタビューされて、それを原作にネームを書いててくださました。ラブストーリーというか、百合というか。

Julie: I see, so Mr. Yamada wrote the original story. And a yuri one on top of that! My favorite genre! Was it your first time to illustrate a manga?
なるほど、原作が玲司先生なんだね。しかも百合（二次元的かつ幻想的な女性同士の恋愛を描くストーリーのジャンル）！　私も好きなジャンル！　漫画描くのは初めてだっけ？

Ai☆Madonna: It was the first time for me to seriously draw one! I’d been wanting to as part of my work, and had been thinking about it for some time, but hadn’t been able to go through with it until Mr. Yamada nudged me into finally doing it.
漫画ちゃんと書くのは初めて！　作品のひとつとしてもやりたいなって、ずっと思っていたんだけど、なかなか現実化しなくて、先生に引っ張ってもらったかんじです。

Julie: With Mr. Yamada doing the story and you doing the artwork, on top of it being a yuri story, it sounds like it’s really got everything going for it. I can’t wait to see it!
玲司先生のストーリーで愛☆まどんなちやんの作画でしかも百合だなんて、もう最強じゃないですか。発表が楽しみすぎます！

Ai☆Madonna: Mr. Yamada may be a love expert, but he said he’s not good at drawing erotic manga. So the left that part to me. (laugh)
玲司先生って恋愛マスターだけど、漫画でエロが描けないんだって。だからわたしにエロを託したいって言ってた（笑）。

Julie: Was there any part you found difficult to illustrate?
漫画描くにあたって苦労しているところはある？

Ai☆Madonna: Naturally because each panel of a manga is made up of descriptive pictures, it can be hard to draw in a way that conveys what you want to the reader.
やはり漫画は、１コマ１コマが説明的な絵でもあるから、伝わるように描くのが難しい。

Julie: So the panel layout, then. I see, it’s like they say, manga is its own art form.
コマ割り。そうか、漫画はそれも技術って言うよね。

Ai☆Madonna: The pen you use to draw the main lines of the manga art was puzzling and also took some getting used to. By now most people around the world draw using their PC.
つけぺん（漫画では主線を描くための画材）も慣れるまで戸惑いました。今、だいたいPCで描いてますもんね、世の中は。

Julie: So you even had to change your medium. That must have been hard. When do you think it’ll be ready?
画材まで変えたんだ。そりゃ大変だ。そして漫画の発表っていつ頃になりそう？

Ai☆Madonna: We were working on it so it’d be ready sometime this spring, but my progress on it has been delayed a little, so it’ll probably take until summer to finish it. Possibly longer. Or perhaps next year… But I’ll do my best so it doesn’t end up taking that long!!
今年の春の予定でプロジェクト進めていたんですが、わたしの進みが遅くて夏までかかりそう。もっとかかるかも。来年になったりして・・・そうならないように、が、がんばります！！

Julie: I see. I’ll be waiting to hear the official announcement about it on SNS! Thank you for such an interesting talk today! It was really a treat to listen to what you had to say, as someone who has experienced Tokyo’s otaku mix culture firsthand.
なるほど。公開情報、SNSでの告知も待っています！　今日は興味深いお話をありがとうございました！東京のオタクミックスカルチャーを体感してきた愛☆まどんなちゃんにお話を聞けて、本当にためになりました。

Ai☆Madonna: The pleasure was all mine… Thank you very much!
とんでもございません……ありがとうございました！

去年のクリスマスに久しぶりにDVJユニット、コバルト爆弾αΩとタッグを組んだ時の写真

I was feeling really nervous and hopeful about interviewing talented artist Ai☆Madonna, but our talk held the same friendly atmosphere as when we first met. Occasionally on the forefront, because you only know someone from the pointed expression of their work, you might be surprised to see how full of love their personality is. There’s something else I realized during our discussion, too. I got the distinct feeling that quietly capturing the city’s movement and trends is one of the marks of a great artist.

憧れの美術家、愛☆まどんなちゃんとの対談という事で、連載第一回目から非常に緊張してのぞみましたが、お会いした時と変わらずフレンドリーな雰囲気の中お話出来ました。最先端を走り続け時には尖った表現もされているため作品しか知らない方からすると、愛に溢れる人柄にも意外性を感じるかもしれませんね。そして対談を通して気づいた事。街の動きや流行も静かに俯瞰で捉えられているのも、多彩な才能の一部なんじゃないかなと感じました。

Street photo at Akihabara by Julie ( model : Yurika Kubo, 2013) / Julieによる秋葉原ストリートフォト（モデル：久保ユリカ　2013年）

Related links
Julie Watai official site : http://juliewatai.jp/
Ai☆Madonna official site : http://ai-madonna-pro.jp/
Ai☆Madonna’s webshop : http://ai-madonna.jp/

Author

Julie Watai

After working at an idol in Japan, Julie Watai moved by herself to Italy, publishing SAMURAI GIRL in 2006 while working as a photographer for Italian publishing company DRAGO&ARTS. She quickly became an international Japanese pop culture figure, gaining a large following. After returning to Japan, she continued her work as a photographer, along with developing electronics as a hobby and iPhone apps, and has been remarkably successful as part of the Akiba-style geek culture, too.