Isaki Uta’s Highly Anticipated Doujinshi Collection | Exclusive Interview

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ISAKI UTA

We had the opportunity to interview ISAKI UTA about his upcoming doujinshi collection. Special thanks to Irodori Comics for this wonderful opportunity.

Krystal: As an author recognized for your unique focus on LGBTQ+ themes, what draws you to explore this subject matter (Why is the LGBTQ+ subject important to you)?

Isaki Uta: I recognize that I am not part of the so-called “majority” myself, and I have identities that are ess acknowledged even within the LGBTQ+ community compared to gay or lesbian people. Because of those reasons, I’ve wanted to draw a manga about LGBTQ+ themes for a while.

K: When faced with writing about sexual orientations that may be unfamiliar to you, how do you approach your research? How do you ensure that your LGBTQ+ audience can fully relate to the story and its characters?

IU: As for the research I did when I created these works, I based it on my own experiences and the information I gathered from interviews with people of similar sexual orientations. I also collected some information from a few books and online resources. I find it significant that I depict those matters in a way that they actually exist in reality.

K: “Isaki Uta: The Lost & Found Collection” marks the first time your doujinshi works will be published in English. What are your aspirations for this project? What do you hope it will achieve?

IU: Self-published manga is a medium that only reaches a limited number of people. I hope that the readers of my works can tell me that they’ve read the collection and report to me what they liked about it. Each piece of feedback greatly encourages me. Please consider leaving a review.

K: Could you provide a brief overview of the influences that have fueled your creativity in crafting the stories featured in this collection? (What inspired you to create works like “Mine-kun is Asexual,” “Leaper,” “Mermaid in the Bottle,” and “Silkscreen”?)

IU: For “Mine-kun is Asexual”, I wanted to draw a romance-centric manga from the perspective of an asexual person. For “Silkscreen”, I drew this with the thought, “It is something that can happen in life that even if you love someone a lot, a romantic relationship may fail when the other person changes gender. For “Mermaid in the Bottle”, I love stories about a complicated relationship between an older brother and a younger sister. So, for this story, I just drew about a theme that I really like. For “Leaper”, I wanted to debut as a professional manga artist, so I sent this story to Afternoon Magazine (Kodansha). This is the first manga that I’ve ever received a small award for, and I was happy about that.

K: It is not often that our readers have the chance to hear from a highly accomplished mangaka like yourself. Is there anything else you would like to convey to our readers, whether about your creative endeavors, your personal journey, or this specific project?

IU: I really hope that there will be more manga about asexual people or manga with characters that are openly asexual. I would love to read more manga like that!

K: I am a transgender individual myself; I’m highly interested to know if you would be open to the idea of creating a story that explores transgenderism?

IU: I’ve never stayed put in one genre for long. When I feel like I’ve pretty much drawn out everything that I wanted to in one theme, I tend to move on to the next one. (I’ve done genres including fantasy, seinen manga, sci-fi, LGBTQ+, yuri, comic adaptation, and shojo manga so far.) I’m not sure what the future holds for me, but perhaps there may be a time I’ll be struck with the inspiration to draw manga centered around transgender identity.

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