User blog:MrGenial11/Jump Ryu Vol.21: Yoshihiro Togashi

http://www.bilibili.com/video/av6959778/

Watch Togashi draw the chapter 351 cover page in the first part and then show his office and answer some questions in the last part.

Summary of the Jump Ryu pages and some of the video (Source: Sandman from Apforums)

Before becoming mangaka
 * Togashi's parents managed a company which sold papers, painting tools, stationery and manga magazines. His father's hobby was drawing.


 * When Togashi was around 6 years old, he used to draw many of his original heroes and monsters.
 * When he was around 8 years old, he was inspired by one of his friends whose hobby is drawing manga. They showed their mangas with each other.


 * When Togashi was in junior high school, he was fully attracted by some Shoujo mangas whose essential was Shounen manga-ish such as Mineo Maya's manga.

Togashi thought he was suitable for Shoujo manga although his favorite manga genre was Shounen manga.
 * Since then, he started reading "Urusei Yatsura" and learned how to attract female audience.

This was because he was afraid that his own words might influence students directly.
 * Togashi was going to become a junior high school art teacher, but gave up right after he started his internship.

Shaving and wearing a business suit every day is what Togashi considered impossible for him. He was afraid of living a life outside school. After he gave up working as a teacher, he had no choice but to work as mangaka.
 * The reason Togashi was going to become a teacher was that he thought he would not be able to work in the same way as normal adults did.


 * In 1986, Togashi's hype was skyrocketing when he was selected as one of the finalists in a famous manga audition, Hop Step Award.

After this statement, Togashi got more serious in drawing manga and dropped out of a college. Then he moved to Tokyo aroud 1989.
 * When he was a college student, his editor said to him, "Even if you end up not being able to succeed as mangaka, you have an alternative choice to live as a teacher".


 * When moving, he suffered a trouble about his household goods not arriving his house for a week. Togashi had no choice but to sleep on the floor.


 * He couldn't afford to buy a single desk, so he used a drawer as desk when drawing manga. Togashi said it was painful since his legs couldn't put under the drawer. lol


 * Togashi was about to run out of his bank deposit. He felt really relieved to hear that Shueisha decied to make a serialization of his manga.

After becoming professional mangaka Togashi now regrets that he should have prepared a rough plot till the finale before serialization.
 * The first manga serialization for him was Ten de Showaru Cupid ("An Ill-tempered Cupid in Heaven"). It became pretty famous, but it finished earlier than expected (chapter 32).


 * 2-3 months after finishing his first serialization, new ideas for next manga came to his mind one after another. Then He started Yu Yu Hakusho soon.


 * Togashi dsecided to focus on the occult and battle in Yu Yu Hakusho since both of them were his favorite genres.

he thought it wasn't enough in order to maintain great popularity for more than 30 chapters. That's why Yu Yu Hakusho turned into battle manga and made a great success.
 * Editor told him that Toagshi is good at creating a story. Togashi was glad to hear that, but at the same time,

Togashi believes can entertain shounen in terms of both surprise and excitement.
 * Editors in Shueisha consider it is one of the greatest role models to turn a manga which ends in each single story into battle manga.
 * The role model for Togashi was "Kinnikuman" ("Muscle Man"). It started as comedy manga and then turned into battle manga, which

This is because he wanted to show various aspects of his personality as mangaka to his audience. Togashi believed he had already drawn traditonl Shounen manga to the best of his ability in Yu Yu Hakusho.
 * One year after he finished Yu Yu Hakusho in 1994, Togashi suggested his editor that he would like to draw manga that would NOT become much popular.


 * Togashi also told his editor that he would start traditional manga again after he finished "Level E". Editor accepted it.

Thus, he decided to make Prince Baka the protagonist of Level E. The prince had complicated personality which always went beyond everyone's imagination, so Togashi had difficulty in creating a story.
 * In "Level E", Togashi was going to finish stories in each chapter, but Prince Baka (stupid prince) became popular as opposed to his expectations.


 * Having finished Level E, Togashi started Hunter Hunter. He keeps in mind that he should change his style in each arc so that his audience can be surprised.


 * Togashi considers character's personality is sometimes important than story. The ending of Chimera Ant arc was not what he expected at first.
 * He makes a simulation about how his characters will talk with each other and take an action in specified situations, which allows his audience to feel as if his characters really exist.

Also, he shows detailed concept of Nen as if it exists as some kind of martial arts in real world.
 * Togashi loves professional slang. For example, his characters call "turn over" when they visit websites.

He enjoys the process finding system bugs or shortcuts in the rules to go beyond expectations of audience.
 * Togashi tends to show some rules to his audience at first such as Greed Island arc.

Editor gives exmaples such as encounters between Morel and Shaiapouf/ Killua and Meleoron.
 * In Chimera Ant arc, Togashi enjoyed making a super long list as to how his characters would take actions since 10 days before invasion in Royal Palace.
 * He wanted to draw characters in desperate situations taking an unexpected action when they came across someone accidentally.

Editor considers Mukuro in Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the typical examples.
 * Togashi has been attracted by dirty side rather than beautiful side ever since he was a junior high school student.

In Hunter Hunter, he keeps in mind that he should not use screentones as possible as he can.
 * About drawing style, Togashi decided to draw Yu Yu Hakusho impressively and Level E realistically.

his personality gradually became more attractive as his grudge against Genkai was revealed.
 * Togashi doesn't specify detailed personality of boss characters from the beginning. For example, Toguro in Yu Yu Hakusho was just a bodyguard at first, but
 * About boss characters' appearances, he enjoys making them complicated since boss characters don't make much appearances.


 * While Togashi is drawing manga, he listens to TV show ad enjoys talking about it with his assistants.


 * Togashi considers himself not being good at drawing color spreads.


 * Togashi memorises facial expressions ot characters in other mangas. One of his favorite book is "Facial Expressions" written by Mark Simon.


 * There are 5 assistants in his studio.


 * Togashi thinks of Akira Toriyama as a god. He has Dragon Ball 30th book.


 * On Togashi's desk, there is some manuscripts of a fight betweemn Hisoka and Kastro which he considers as bad quality.
 * He pays attention in order not to repeat the same error. Togashi also says that people on internet fandom were embarrassed with the chapter at that time. lol


 * The previous editor says, "Togashi-sensei is very gentle. He remembers what editors said in the past and sometimes bothered to be worried about us."


 * Editor thinks Togashi resembles Gin Freecss in terms of personality.


 * An editor says he was scolded by Togashi only once when he changed words in manga a bit without permission.


 * Togashi sticks to every single word in manga. He even doens't want to use various fonts since he is always confident of his words being interesting.


 * Togashi's message to mangaka beginners:

"Keep in mind about audience. Make every effort to go beyond their expectations".