Article first appeared in "Animerica, Anime & Manga Monthly",
published by Viz Communications. Reprinted with (the generous) permission of
the magazine. All rights reserved. c 1993 Viz Communications, Inc.

ANIMERICA: By now you've seen Battle Angel Alita, the English version of you
manga Gunnm.  What do you think of it?

KISHIRO: I'm unsure what to make of it, actually...I can't read English
[LAUGHS].  I do notice all the mistakes in my art, now that it'd been
flipped.  (Flipping it) really brings out the skew in the line drawings.
Looking at it now, I wonder if this particular work isn't a little immature,
artistically speaking.

ANIMERICA: In the U.S., flipping pages is simply a fact of publishing life.
The pages which open to the right in Japan are opened to the left in
America.  There's no getting around it.  There are some artists who hate
flipping so much, they refuse to let their work be published abroad.

KISHIRO: Well, imperfections in the artwork do become more noticeable when
flipped.  Bu then again, they're usually the kind of mistakes which would be
there anyway.  They just don't stick out as much in the original.

ANIMERICA: As far as your English-speaking readers are concerned, I don't
think anyone regards Battle Angel Alita as "artistically immature."  The
fans seem to love your art.

KISHIRO: Okay, then -- it's my perfectionism that's immature [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: Was it always your ambition to be a manga artist?

KISHIRO: I've been drawing manga since before I can remember, but it wasn't
until high school that I started to ink my work seriously.  I've always
liked mecha -- Mobile Suit Gundam's had an incredible effect on me -- and my
art has been affected by it for years.  I couldn't draw people, but I could
sure draw mecha [LAUGHS].  That's why I used to avoid the problem by drawing
monsters instead of people.  My monsters spoke and walked like people...they
just happened to be monsters.  Eventually it dawned on me that it would be
pretty hard to make it as a manga artist if all I ever drew were stories set
in reptilian worlds, so in high school I started to concentrate on drawing
the human form.  Yasuhiko's [Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, character designer for the
Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam TV series--Ed.] fully
realized characters were a big influence on me; Rumiko Takahashi's also been
a big influence.

ANIMERICA: So you're saying your manga has been influenced by animation.

KISHIRO: Oh, yes.  Up until high school I watched practically everything.
There was a flood of it back then, wasn't there.  I guess it reached its
high point in the few years immediately after Gundam.  It's probably fair to
say that the golden age of animation ended in 1984.

ANIMERICA: I can't help noticing that you keep referring to Gundam.

KISHIRO: Well, I like all the Sunrise shows, really.  I loved Xubungle and
Vortoms.  In fact, I think Vortoms might have had more of an effect on my
then Gundam ever did.  (Vortoms) had a four-part composition -- the story
would conclude at the end of each part, and a new story would start off in a
different world for the next.  Battle Angel Alita borrows quite heavily from
this style of storytelling.

ANIMERICA: But where did you get your real start?  I imagine it must have
been sometime around the publication of your story "Kikai" [one translation
of which is "Machine"--Ed.] in 1984.

KISHIRO: That's right, and even thought I turned down offers to become a
professional manga artist after I was nominated for the Shonen Sunday "Best
New Artist" award, I was always experimenting with ways to shape a story and
with techniques of expression.  In order to practice my art to the fullest,
I started making my own dojinshi.  And then, in 1988, I had my second debut.

ANIMERICA: Did it feel different to you, the second time around?

KISHIRO: Well, I felt as thought I was through agonizing over my work.  I
finally has enough confidence to try for recognition again.  I drew a story
call "Kaiyosei" and entered it into the Shogakukan contest again.

ANIMERICA: Where it won an "honorable mention."  What happened then?

KISHIRO: That fall I entered another "New Artist" contest, this time for
Kadokawa's Comic Comp.  There wasn't much time before the deadline so I
hurriedly scribbled a story called "Hito" [one translation of which is "A
Man"--Ed.]  When I was finished I thought proudly to myself, "Now this is my
best work!"  [LAUGHS]  I ended up with another honorable mention.

ANIMERICA: You must have been very disappointed.

KISHIRO: Later I heard that almost all of the judges had rooted for me, but
there was one judge who'd complained that the story was "too didactic."
That's how it ended up with an honorable mention.  It's still a good story,
I think, and it's received well by anyone I show it to, but then again, at
the time I'd thought "Kaiyosei" and "Hito" were masterpieces, too [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: I'm sure it was a valuable learning experience.

KISHIRO: Oh, yes.  The best thing to come out of those honorable mentions
was that I began working with an editor at Shueisha to improve my only
"long" story at the time, Reimeika.  I really sweated over that one, drawing
and redrawing pages.  It was never published.  Near the end of the summer of
1990, I was asked to draw a story for special manga compilation Shueisha
planned to publish in the fall.  The editors at Shueisha had liked the
female cyborg police office in Reimeika and so they suggested I use her.
Her name was "Alita" ["Gally" in the original Japanese version--Ed.].  Of
course, the Alita in Reimeika was completely different from the Alita in
Battle Angel Alita, but that's how she was born.

ANIMERICA: How did you develop the story from there?

KISHIRO: Usually when I start a story, I tend to work on the plot and theme
first -- typically, my characters are developed later.  This time I was
trying to draw something based on one character from a 45-page story.  The
story itself was pretty run-of-the-mill, actually; in the future, it's the
corporations who see to the arrest and detainment of criminals, etc.  Like I
said, nothing out of the ordinary.

ANIMERICA: And then...

KISHIRO: ...And then, around November, I was contacted by the same editor
about making Battle Angel Alita into a serial.  At first I couldn't believe
he was serious, but I went ahead and wrote the script for the first
installment anyway.  The settings in my short story weren't enough for a
potentially long-running serial so I brainstormed for a while and that's
when I came up with the idea of Tiphares ["Zalem" in the original
version--Ed.].  I had no idea what kind of future -- if any -- the story
had, so I drew Battle Angel Alita in such a way that it could be more fully
developed later.

ANIMERICA: How long was it until you saw your story published?

KISHIRO: Not much more than a month between finishing the script and seeing
it begin as a published serial.  I don't think I realized it was a reality
until I saw the actual magazine itself [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: And how long has it been since Battle Angel Alita started?

KISHIRO: It's been two and a half years.

ANIMERICA: Tell us more about the world of Battle Angel Alita.  How did you
come to create this particular story?

KISHIRO: I grew up in a place where a forest had been cleared and only a few
houses stood.  My father was an eccentric who was into dune buggies.  He was
always digging around at the junkyard looking for parts he could use.  He
used to take me with him sometimes...I still like spending time at the
junkyard.  I'm sure most people don't feel that way, but I was always happy
to spend time along there.  Sure, I liked being alone anyway, but there was
also something comfortable about being alone with the wreckage of things
people had abandoned.  I guess on the opposite extreme of this feeling is
the very real terror I feel when confronted by a brand-new, shiny car.  I
honestly get the feeling that it's consciously trying to run me down.  Old
cars, though...they're different.  I truly believe there's a kind of
nostalgic comfort about being cradled inside the empty shell of an old car.

ANIMERICA: Let's talk about the cyborgs.

KISHIRO: Ah, yes...the cyborgs [LAUGHS].  My relationship with them dates
back to the toys of my childhood.  I remember this G.I. Joe-type figure
manufactured by Takara.  It was called "Cyborg One."  It was made of clear
plastic; the internal mechanisms were easily visible.  And its limbs were
removable -- you could attack different gears and parts in their place.  I
loved that toy...it's too bad it's been discontinued.  That little guy had a
profound effect one me.  I guess that's why I feel so strongly that cyborgs
should always have detachable limbs.

ANIMERICA: And that's why Alita comes from the junkyard.

KISHIRO: I think it's the basis of it, yes.  That kind of imagery seems to
come to me subconsciously.  As for Tiphares, I'm not sure what it's supposed
to actually signify.  In some ways I'm an anarchist -- I hate a managed
world.  There's a certain part of me who things that the work of Mad Max
would be a fun place to live [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: I feel as though I'm really coming to understand your manga.

KISHIRO: Urbanites of the modern world are a lot like cyborgs, you know.
They become immediately incapacitated when you cut off their juice.  Isn't
that what being a cyborg is all about...?  From an ideological point of
view, I'm against the idea of cyborgs.  But I guess the world's come too far
for token technology.  In Battle Angel Alita, what I try to do is focus on
the benefits of scientific advance, rather than making some sort of
political statement.

ANIMERICA: Where is Alita headed?  What directions will the story take?

KISHIRO: If the series isn't canceled, I'd like to take my story to Tiphares
and then do a space story.  And even though I don't have the particulars
yes, I'd like to reveal Alita's origin in the grand finale.

ANIMERICA: How directly were you involved in the production of the animated
Alita?

KISHIRO: I met with the animation staff right at the very beginning and
talked with them about how I'd like to see the story done.  Later, at the
stage where plot and script decisions were made, I gave them my feedback.
When the storyboarding and direction was done, I met with the staff again
and talked over a few ideas with them.

ANIMERICA: How do you rate the finished animation?

KISHIRO: Well, back during the storyboards I'd say things like "This part is
bad" and "Fix this," but it never did get changed [LAUGHS].  Later, after
I'd given up all hope, I saw the finished video and thought to myself,
"Whoa, it's moving!" and "Whoa, it's in color!" [LAUGHS].  And then I
thought they did a pretty good job.

ANIMERICA: But it took you a while to arrive at the conclusion.

KISHIRO: I think part of the problem is that pacing for manga and animation
is so different.  I just couldn't see how the storyboarding for the anime
should work.  I had to keep reminding myself that these were professionals
working on my story and that I'd have to convince myself that they knew what
they were doing.

ANIMERICA: Do you feel it was made well?

KISHIRO: I could go off the deep end on lots of little details, but yes, I
think they did a good job [LAUGHS].  You can never be satisfied with
everything, not unless you're willing to do the whole thing yourself.  I did
have quite a few of my own ideas...so-and-so's voice wasn't like that, that
sort thing.  You know what I mean [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: True.  For complete satisfaction, an artist has no choice but to
draw and produce everything personally.  Let's say you've got the
opportunity -- and the actual time -- to do it yourself.  Would you...?

KISHIRO: I would like to.  My ultimate childhood dream is a make a
live-action movie.  Sometimes I think I'm only drawing manga because I can't
be making films.  In junior high I really wanted an 8 mm camera.  There was
no way for me to scrape up the $3,000 or so dollars it would have cost, back
then, though [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: What about if someone else wanted to do Alita?  If Hollywood
called and said they wanted to make a Battle Angel Alita movie, would you
give them the go-ahead?

KISHIRO: Of course I would [LAUGHS].  It's my childhood dream, after all.
I'd love to see the whole spectacle of motorball [ see Battle Angel Alita
Part Three--Ed.] brought to life.  I'd love to see those special effects.
For the sake of a live-action film the overall plot could be set aside; the
main character wouldn't have to necessarily be Alita.  It would be okay with
me to make something a little different than the manga version.  I think it
might be difficult to make the original Alita the way I envision it in
live-action.  There are several parts to the story, but I think the
motorball segment by itself could make a great movie.

ANIMERICA: Okay, let's say the Battle Angel Alita movie is being made in the
U.S.. Who would direct?

KISHIRO: Paul Verhoven of Robocop fame, maybe.  Some might say his style is
over the top, but I prefer to think of it as "super realism" [LAUGHS].  If
only for the visuals, Highlander's Russell Mulchay might be good.

ANIMERICA: I see you're acquainted with American cinema.  What about
American comics?

KISHIRO: In a small way I'm influenced by them.  I was particularly
impressed by Frank Miller's Batman -- now that made an impression.  That
close-up on the Joker's face, with that insane laugh and all those teeth
showing....  I guess I'm influenced not by the big picture but by the little
details -- how an eye or a wrinkle might be drawn, for example.

ANIMERICA: What's your feeling on your comics being read overseas?  Alita is
very popular in the U.S., in Italy, even in Spain.

KISHIRO: Up until Alita, all my works had been hard-boiled; rather than
showing what the characters were thinking, I'd just dryly imply it from the
action and dialogue.  It's possible that the style of Alita is more like
shojo or girls' manga than I'd like to admit [LAUGHS].

ANIMERICA: Now that Alita is such a success, do you feel as though you've
finally arrived...?

KISHIRO: Well, my father never was a big believer in manga.  He never seemed
to think I could go pro.  He'd say, "If you're going to draw manga, draw
something they'll like all over the world" [LAUGHS].  Sure, nowadays manga
and animation is getting international recognition, but in the past it was
nothing more than a subculture unique to Japan.  It was though enough just
trying to make it in there...!  Now that Alita's been translated for foreign
editions, I'm not exactly sure how I feel.  It is my first serial, after
all.  In many ways it's still and immature work that I'm making up as I go
along.  If I had my way, I might have waited until my skill was a bit more
polished, and I'd earned the reputation of someone like Frank Miller.  That
way, people would come to me from overseas with the attitude, "Let's go get
that great manga artist Yukito Kishiro!" [LAUGHS]

ANIMERICA: Finally, do you have a word for you America fans?

KISHIRO: I've often wondered why my overseas readers though of Alita.  I'm
not all that confident in my communication skills; ever since I was little,
I've fretted over whether people were understanding what I was saying or
writing.  I was a shy child, you know.  People are always complimenting me
on my penmanship...I think it must be a symptom of my being highstrung
[LAUGHS].  I'd like to talk with my fans about how well I've communicated
with them, if I ever get the chance to go overseas and visit.

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