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Aired: March 3rd, 2012
The panel continued with Robert Newman from JManga reintroducing Tateno Makoto-sensei. Other titles that Tateno-sensei are known for in the shoujo genre include King of Cards, Red Angel, Happy Boys and in the BL genre is Blue Sheep Reverie, Steal Moon and the first volume of RomeoxRomeo which can be found digitally on JManga. They are also planning to release volume 2 in the future.
Something new in the introduction was that Tateno-sensei enjoys cooking as well. Newman noted there was wonderful curry that he was trying to get the recipe for. Than the Q&A began.
Q: How many assistants do you have currently and how many have you had over the years?
A: Currently, I have 3-4 assistants. Including all the assistants that I’ve had (with those that graduated and others who unfortunately had to quit,) I had about 10 assistants.
Q: Is there something you get excited and enjoy about drawing in your manga?
A: I don’t have anything specific that I like to draw but I like cutting and pasting in the [screen]tones.
Q: Have you ever had writer’s block and how did you get over it?
A: I drink. *gestures drinking* *audience laughs*
Q: Is there anything you have difficulty drawing? How did you overcome the situation of actually drawing it?
A: I like drawing action scenes alot but due to lack of information, I wasn’t able to do certain poses that I wanted to draw. So that was something very difficult to get out. To overcome that, I pause animation and use that as reference to draw poses more.
Q: Do you use live models?
A: I actually had a series that I needed live models for. For Happy Boys and Night Head.
Q: How were you exposed to manga?
A: Since I was younger, I was exposed to magazines with manga in them and anime that I love to watch.
Q: You wanted to become a mangaka when you were in junior high. Prior to that, was there another profession that you wanted to go into?
A: There isn’t. I used to like drawing on the side of my notes. From when I was young, I knew I wanted to be a mangaka.
Q: How did you get into the BL genre? Was it something you wanted to do?
A: When I debuted, the magazine that I was drawing for had me specifically working for them. After that, I became a freelance artist and the offers that I were given were from BL magazines which was the reason how I entered the BL genre.
Fan: And we’re really thankful for that. *audience laughs*
Q: Are there any mangaka or artists that you admire and respect?
A: There are many mangaka that I like and draw inspiration from. One of my favorites is Nagai Go-sensei of Devilman.
Q: Which is your favorite genre to create?
A: BL. *audience applauds*
Q: Was there ever a storyline that you wanted to write but your editor thought differently?
A: Yes there were some. I wanted to draw something like Vocaloid but I was told no.
Newman: Were you going to be do a BL version of Vocaloid?
A: No, I wanted to do shoujo version.
Newman: Maybe you should suggest the BL version. *audience laughs*
Q: When you look at clouds, do you see pictures that are different from others?
A: It may depend on the shape of the cloud, but I most often see animals or food. *audience laughs*
Newman: Do you see BL in the clouds?
A: I don’t see BL in there…sorry. *audience laughs*
Q: Do you listen to music while working? Which band or composer do you like?
A: I listen to visual kei bands, Vocaloid, anime songs. One of my favorite bands is actually L’arc~en~ciel.
Q: How did you come up with the penname, Shinjuku Tango? Why is your doujin circle EGGS’N THINGS?
A: Shinjuku Tango is actually my doujinshi name. My friend is actually Asakasa Samba and another friend who is Shinagawa Mambo. We were collaborating stations and a type of dance. We actually picked the names from a box. *audience laughs* We just randomly picked the name [EGGS’N THINGS].
Q: How do you like your visit to America? Any inspiration for your future manga?
A: This is actually my third time here. The first time was Otakon [2006] and next was Yaoi-Con [2009]. This is my third time and I’m enjoying it very much. The drinks are awesome. *audience laughs*
Q: Out of all the characters that you have created, is there one who is your favorite?
A: All my characters are very cute and I adore them very much. The characters from Yellow are very special to me.
Q: Does your family know that you draw BL? *audience laughs*
A: It’s a secret and they’ll never find out! *audience laughs*
During the following drawing session, Tateno-sensei drew Shiva aka. Segawa Kyoichi from Happy Boys. It was obvious from the hair and the outfit that he wore. What a cute smile!
There were more things to raffle off: more manga and eco tote bags including the first volume of RomeoxRomeo, How to Capture a Sidecar, Takatsukasake no Ninja by Tateno-sensei and Madoi no Tobira, Black Sun Silver Moon and Beyond my Touch by Maeda-sensei.
Due to the small audience, practically everyone got something. Everyone was allowed to participate in a mass jankenpon game for the two art pieces.
During the autograph session, I approached Newman to ask him a few questions concerning JManga. I confirmed with him that the 2nd volume of RomeoxRomeo will be released in the future. I also relayed that many fans wanted higher resolutions for the digital manga which he understood since many people currently have large HD monitors.
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