Editor’s Note: This is a reader request! This morning, I received a direct message asking if I could repost the interview with Hirofumi Ichikawa that ran on the old AlteredStatesMag.com site. After doing some searching, I was able to download the HTML potion of the interview and reformat it for the blog. Enjoy this blast from the past, a translation of an interview conducted in March 2004.
Congratulations on Ten Years with DENGEKI DAI-OH!
From Dream to Reality: An Interview with Hirofumi Ichikawa
Dengeki Hobby Dai-Oh
Interviewer: Noyaka Kayano
The following is a translation of an interview with Hirofumi Ichikawa that originally appeared in the April 2004 issue of Dengeki Dai-Oh Comics Monthly, a Japanese Publication. ASM would like to thank Doug Dlin for his work in translating and providing editor notes (printed in [brackets]), and Matthew Karpowich for being the go-getter and obtaining this from Doug.
Mr. Hirofumi Ichikawa. Our teenage readers might not be aware this, but Mr. Ichikawa is an established author in the mecha genre–having been published in DAI-OH’s predecessor, CYBER COMIX*–as well as a primary member in DAI-OH’s first issues. Well-known as a toy enthusiast, especially as a fan with his own ideas on Transformers, his most current work includes the toy design for Grand Convoy, the lead character in TRANSFORMERS: SUPER LINK. We’re sure there are many among our readers who’d like to get work in the toy field in the future, so along with the folktales, we’ll ask about making that dream job a reality.
*[The sequence of title changes actually goes CYBER COMICS -> COMIC DYNE (which had 3 issues total) -> DENGEKI DAI-OH.]
Noyaka Kayano: So, tell us about your current job title.
Fumihiko Ichikawa: I’d love to call myself a toy designer, but the real toy designers work at the toy companies. I do sketches of what they want with some design work or character creation attached. Sometimes I get some design-type work, but basically I’m an illustrator or a renderer.
NK: So your main work is doing illustrations?
HI: Mainly. I do stuff like package art, too. And since character background is so important for Transformers, I also do text for the cards that come with the toys. I also write the technical and background explanatory text for the Binal-Tech series.
[His work has been almost entirely on limited-edition items such as Binal-Tech and e-Hobby exclusives, as opposed to main-line, mass-marketed toys. Thus he is not, for instance, writing Super Link (Energon) bios.]
NK: So you’re the source of the back-story in that area? Or was there some degree of background material already there?
HI: Well, they pretty much let me do almost everything.
[While he was given free reign for a fair portion of the e-Hobby character background text, almost all the product color schemes were set in advance by Takara. He was able to choose the window colors for Nucleon Quest Super Convoy and Hauler, the colors for those G1 GoBots that didn’t already have prototype color schemes, and all the colors for Detritus. He had nothing to do with the colors for Sunstorm. The character names Megaplex and Hauler were picked out by Takara. He’s heard that the fellow at Takara in charge of these things got the first-draft idea for Hauler from Ichikawa-san’s glossary info in the TF: 2010 DVD Box booklet.]
NK: So the stuff you made has now become official?
HI: As far as those toys are concerned, yes.
NK: Your debut was in a general submission call from Bandai, right?
HI: Yeah, I wanted to make contact with the toy industry somehow. Starting with contributions to MOKEI JOHO (MODEL NEWS), I collected together various stuff based on my hobbies of the time, project memo-type items, and sent them off to Bandai’s B-CLUB MAGAZINE [DENGEKI HOBBY MAGAZINE’s predecessor], and I got a call from their editorial department. They asked me “Could you do some stuff for us?” and “Could you come and see us?” I said “yes” to both. (laughs)
NK: After that, you got into a toy design company.
HI: I did things like toy extras for items like “Gegebo Majuu” [roughly, “Ugh-lies,” model kits of gross monsters] and the dot-images for the SAINT SEIYA Famicom game.
NK: And after that you mainly did manga work?
HI: Someone asked me if I’d care to draw manga, and I got a job at CYBER COMIX. I drew for them on and off from their second issue ’til their last. I’m sure I was their most frequently published contributor, at least in that title.
NK: After CYBER COMIX was canceled, you also did some American comics work, didn’t you?
HI: Some translated American comics were making inroads into Japan, so I got a job in that area. I did explanatory text and a little translation for titles like X-MEN and SILVER SURFER.
NK: Would you say you’re an American comics fan?
HI: Yeah, I love the superhero genre. However, my favorite title isn’t American-made, but the British MARVELMAN (known as MIRACLEMAN in the U.S. owing to copyright matters). It was the first work by Alan Moore–who’s now famous even in Japan–a masterpiece that probed the idea of superbeings to the Nth degree. American comics have become my flesh and blood.
NK: You also drew the X-MEN manga.
HI: Take Shobo’s BAMBOO COMIC X-MEN. [“Take Shobo,” the publisher’s name, translates as “Bamboo Books.”] This was an anthology book that did comics adaptations of the ’92 TV cartoon. There were two books, a total of 120 pages, that came out between my second and third serializations in DENGEKI DAI-OH.
NK: That must have been really hectic.
HI: They completely wore me out.
NK: I’d like to start with a really basic question: How are American comics treated over there?
HI: There they’re mainly for kids and hardcore fans. (laughs)
NK: They don’t have very high print runs, either, right? [This, of course, implies “by Japanese manga industry standards.”]
HI: Well, I did hear the TRANSFORMERS comics were selling well recently. There’s a bit of an ’80s nostalgia boom going on. A number of TV cartoons from that time are being turned into comics.
NK: Aside from that, what game work have you done?
HI: There was MILLENNIUM FIRE–but it never came out. (laughs bitterly) I also did the main mecha design for SPIRIT MACHINE RAYBLADE [pronounced “rye-blade,” a game from WinkySoft, makers of the Japanese PS2 TF game], which did come out.
NK: You were also briefly serialized in DENGEKI DAI-OH. Through what channels did you get that job?
HI: I got an introduction from a person with Media Works. It seems I was nominated by the maker, who’d seen BOLDOR THE INVISIBLE NEIGHBOR [KONKOH SEKAI BORUDOH, or “The Tangled World of Boldor”].
NK: That’s the kind of work you might find if you hang in there and draw manga, all you serialized artists out there!
HI: There’s times you’ll be out of work too. (laughs)
NK: You’ve also drawn Transformers comics independently, yes?
HI: Yes, I have. That was during a dry spell when I suddenly stopped getting work with the manga magazine COMIC MAKER. Since I was just playing around in the meantime, I figured I’d draw a dojinshi which my friends were kind enough to fund.
NK: Was this seen by people at Takara?
HI: Yep, they saw it. They saw the whole thing–not just the comic, but the text dojinshi that did nothing but flame the JTF shows and staff. (laughs) [This would have primarily targeted the scriptwriters for the Japanese-original TF series and the voice director for the Japanese dub of BEAST WARS.]
NK: Caught red-handed! (laughs) So, could you say the dojinshi work you did as a hobby is still providing you opportunities today?
HI: No, the dojinshi wasn’t the direct cause. Takara offered to Media Works that they wanted designers introduced to them, so I had myself introduced as doing toy-related work at the time and liking Transformers.
NK: The work certainly piled up for you then. What’s been your main job with Takara?
HI: The most recent Microman. [The revival begun in 1999.] I did the design drafts for the characters appearing in the anime, starting with Microman Arthur. I also did the Robotman designs, etc.
NK: So when that Microman ended, you gradually started getting Transformers work?
HI: No, not quite then. I did work with affiliated lines, like the sketches for the molds of the SCF (Super Collection Figure) series, but I had no connection with the main toys. After Microman, I did some of the robot designs for “Cyber-Adventure Web Diver,” then I was put in charge of the robot designs for “Blazoned Battle Blast DaiGunDer” and the articulated core body designs for “Microforce.” At the same time, I was drawing countless idea sketches and illos for various projects. Basically, I thought it might be better if I didn’t work on Transformers. I believed that one-time fans shouldn’t get jobs involving the objects of their fandom. So I never took the initiative to say, “Please let me do this.” Well…although I did think it’d be nice to be able give that work at least one shot.
NK: Any prejudices when it comes to Transformers?
HI: Oh, let’s see…. I think I first saw them about a year before they came to Japan…when I saw them as imported toys brought over to test-market that previous fall. After that, I caught a video of the third episode in English playing at the Sapporo Train Station’s Sogoh Department store–which is no longer there–and was just blown away. I couldn’t believe how cool it was. Basically, Transformers appeals to me as an American product. More than anything else, I’m enamored by the design of its universe. Back then, it was a toy line and cartoon aimed at kids, and it still is, but at its foundation, it had a world-image that was beautifully constructed by the literary staff at Marvel Comics at the time. There’s a delicate difference in the ways Transformers are viewed in American and Japan; over there, the background setup and narrativeness are taken rather more seriously. First, we’ve got some severe conditioning toward hero robots in and of themselves. Generally, hero robots are, in short, a metaphor for super powers, but in America, they basically don’t consider that “Power makes that person a hero.” The focus is on how the power is used and those who understand its use. Therefore, someone who only has power with no purpose could not become a hero. That’s why they gave personalities to the robots themselves.
The material for the idea was originally presented from a toy company, but I believe Transformers succeeded as a series because it was provided reasons that Americans could first understand. To be frank as possible, the robot culture cultivated to date in Japan was a touchstone for creating TRANSFORMERS. (laughs) It seemed to me that TRANSFORMERS was the first time robots had gained rationality. The story itself is the traditional theme of Good versus Evil, but because of that, its basic structure is very simple and strong, and it endures very well besides. Thus it has a clearly understood story, like a TV cartoon, from which you get groundwork in which harder elements can be depicted, like in a movie or comic. And depending on the writer, it has the possibility to become a strongly SF-flavored story. That’s what I find so irresistibly enjoyable about it.
NK: So you fell in love with the Transformers’ universe rather than the Transformers themselves as toys?
HI: Well, there’s love for the toys at the same time–it’s an overall affection. I like them as toy products, and I love them as a continuity. The stories are filled with great stuff too.
NK: Your work on Takara’s leading robots began with Blazoned Battle Blast DaiGunDer, correct?
HI: That’s right. In particular, I managed the transformation/combination of the #2 robot, Drago-Burst, starting from the basic idea stage. I felt really satisfied to complete a robot that could manage a transformation involving all sorts of things, on top of it containing a motorized gimmick. Adding in a combining mode that Takara hadn’t requested really was overdoing it. After DaiGunDer, I got a request to work on Transformers. My destiny had arrived at last. I gave a shout and did a little dance of joy–in my head. (laughs)
NK: Your time certainly had come.
HI: Unlike my other work, this was what you could call a collaboration with overseas people. Since Hasbro and Takara were conducting joint product development, this wasn’t a project one designer could do freely. For Grand Convoy, it felt like I was drawing a picture by collecting together the respective demands from Takara and Hasbro. The results didn’t have quite the same sense of sufficiency as if I’d done it all myself, but there’ve been who knows how many Convoy designers in the world, and it’s a real privilege to be counted among them, even as the least of them.
NK: What’s it like doing the work?
HI: At first it felt like I’d have no regrets, but now I can’t die until I achieve that level of quality where I can say, “THAT’s what I wanted!” (laughs)
NK: Any advice for people looking for work in the design field?
HI: Since it’s a group effort, it’s important to make allowances for the ideas and ideals of the people involved, and using the abilities you have to present these essential. So refining your own little world is important, but at the same time, it’s also important to maintain a constant interest in the world outside of you. Isn’t that usually how it is?
NK: Well, maybe. Okay, to wrap things up, let’s talk about something I’m sure our more longtime readers are just itching to ask: What’s going on with BOLDOR THE INVISIBLE NEIGHBOR? (laughs)
| BOLDOR THE INVISIBLE NEIGHBOR Hirofumi Ichikawa’s masterpiece, famed for having influenced numerous industries. It’s the story of the adventures of the sapient robot Branxeror (bran-zehr-er) and Kazuma, a young man sent from another world. It’s currently out of print, so try looking for it at used-book stores. |
HI: I’m still waiting for them to schedule Chapter 4 of BOLDOR. It’s only been ten years. (bitter laugh) [BOLDOR’s publication was cut off rather abruptly at the end of Chapter 3, with no word from Media Works’ editorial department as to whether it was just a hiatus, if he was being fired–nothing. Its official status is still something of a mystery.]
NK: Care to continue frankly?
HI: My desire to create hasn’t declined at all. I feel I’ve still got some popular ideas left. If the opportunity presents itself, I have no intention of wasting it.
NK: Finally, how about pitching your current work to the DAI-OH readers.
HI: I’ve drawn a MICRON LEGEND side-story comic that comes with the DVDs. I concentrated as hard as I could on bringing the “Tale of the Microns” to a close, so please be sure to read it.
NK: And what if they don’t buy the DVDs?
HI: Sorry, you have to buy the DVDs to read it.
NK: But the quality is really something else. Anyone with the cash to spare should really pick them up.
HI: I’d also like to say keep looking for my work in the Transformers series, as well as whatever I have coming next.
NK: Thank you very much.
Interview recorded in Dai-Oh’s editorial department on March 27, 2004.