Q: Sugimoto-san, what kind of shojo manga do you most enjoy reading?
Sugimoto: I love Moto Hagio's work (A, A'). I enjoy several other shojo manga for different reasons, but I can't quite describe why.
In a way, it's harder for a man to draw shojo manga because it requires a certain degree of sensitivity.
Q: What did you have to do differently to draw this story compared to other manga stories that you have worked on in the past?
Sugimoto: I read a lot of shojo manga to try to get a sense for the style, but Kasumi doesn't strictly follow shojo manga style. When I look at Kasumi, I think it's really a different kind of manga that has both the essence of shojo and shonen manga combined.
Surt: I agree. Whenever I look at Kasumi, I think it's a different kind of manga. It's not totally shojo; it has some elements of shonen in it as well... kind of like how Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles isn't totally shojo either.
SHOJO HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA... WITH SUPER-POWERS?
Q: When I first heard about Kasumi, the story description made me think, 'Oh, this is like X-Men.' But after reading it, I realized that it's really not like that. How would you describe it?
Surt: Initially when we pitched it, we said it would be like a comedic version of The X-Men set in a Japanese school with elements of shojo, adventure and mystery. But while creating it, we realized it's kind of different than The X-Men.
The main difference I think is because of the light-hearted nature of the characters and story. Each superhero in our story needs to activate his or her powers in a unique and quirky way. For example, Kasumi needs to hold her breath to turn invisible. We wanted to put a nice and amusing spin to the whole superhero genre.
Furthermore, I think the fact Kasumi is based in Japan and that it incorporates a lot of the Shinto myth and legends really help give the story its own flavor.
Q: Sugimoto-san, is Kasumi very different than Japanese shojo manga? And if so, what makes it different?
Sugimoto: Hmm. I think Kasumi is slightly different than traditional shojo manga, mostly because there's more action in the story. It is similar to shojo manga in that there's a lot of monologues about what the characters are feeling. But overall, I think Kasumi has a very happy mood, visually-speaking.
Q: Speaking of a happy mood, Surt told me a funny story about how you had to go to the art supply store to buy shojo manga-style flowery screen tone. Can you explain what happened?
Sugimoto: (laughs) Well, if anything, I look pretty manly. So when a guy like me goes to the store and picks up screentones that are well, not very manly, mostly very cute looking AND in large quantities… The shop assistants did look at me like I was some kind of weirdo or something. So yeah, I was a little bit embarrassed. (laughs)
Q: Haha! That's a great story! This project sounds like it must have been a lot of fun for you. Do you have a favorite Kasumi character, or one that you most enjoy drawing?
Sugimoto: Well, I just enjoy drawing Kasumi, period. But my favorite characters are Maiko and Ryuuki. Ryuuki in particular embodies a female's perception of what an ideal man should be like. I'd like to be that kind of person, but it's difficult. (smiles)
Surt: Ryuuki kakoii! (Ryuuki's so cool!)
Sugimoto: Yup, I agree.
Surt: Ryuuki's my favorite. When we first initially conceptualized him, he wasn't like that. But now, he's really interesting, because he's so conflicted and he has a complicated background with a difficult childhood. This is why he's kind of cold sometimes, and he's prone to emotional outbursts. As he is the main male character of a shojo manga, he has all the qualities of the elite male – rich, handsome, intelligent, brooding and powerful.
Q: That's interesting, because you do hint at this in this first volume. Kasumi is set in a really exclusive private school, so it reminds me of stories like Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango), S.A. and Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, where an ordinary girl goes to an elite school for rich kids.
Surt: Yes, I was inspired by those types of stories. In that way, it's a standard shojo story. Its fun to write a shojo story in that environment because to me the best part of shojo is being in an average girl in a high school with lots of hot guys. (laughs)
But Kasumi is not just a typical, elite high school story as there are strong elements of danger, myths and mystery underlying the happy, light-hearted high school exterior. You’ll start to see this other side as more of the "Gifted," the superhero characters, begin to surface in volume 2.
WRITING, DRAWING AND CREATING ACROSS CULTURES
Q: Surt, I know this is your first published manga story, but it has a really nice pace to it – the story flows very naturally. Did you pick this up by reading books or learning from other writers or did it just happen?
Surt: I read a lot of fantasy novels, and then I was really into manga and anime, and then Japanese TV dramas. So by watching a lot of that, you notice that these stories have a kind of momentum. I learned to treat each chapter as if they’re an episode in a TV series.
With Kasumi, we also wanted to keep it simple and avoid having a story that's convoluted, as much as possible.
Sugimoto: I asked Surt before if she had gone to a school to learn to write stories. I thought that she had taken special writing classes to create her stories. The reason is because her stories and structure are solid and easy to read and understand. However, I was mistaken and surprised to learn that she had created them on her own.
Q: So what inspired you to become a manga writer?
Surt: I always wanted to write something and I was really into fantasy books when I was younger. I tried writing my own fantasy stories, but it's not so easy! (laughs) Then I really got into manga and anime. I had so many ideas, and my husband suggested, 'Why don't you write a manga story?'
