#Noda Satoru

[ivy-and-nettles]

Posted this on Instagram together with my Tsurumi fanart, one of my moots said it was canon and they're so right

[chilibees]

me reading golden kamuy when something bad happens

vs

me reading dogsred when something bad happens

[whydoyouaskmethis]

Noda-sensei's extremely important comments about the live action drama:

[chirpingfromthebox]

Source: Noda Satoru's Dogsred. "Chapter 33: Rough Play"

[missfingers]

YOU! DO YOU WANT A CASUAL GOLDEN KAMUY SERVER?

hi there, im the mod of @every-vasily and @every-kadowus. ive made just that!

we are 18+, very small, and would love to grow. no real expectations except being somewhere to talk about gk! post art, writing, headcanons, your ocs - suggest new improvements for the server ^_^

only rule: no proshippers. we are not accepting people who ship incest or pedophilia - asirpa x adults, yuusaku x ogata, tsurumi x koito or usami, etc. this is personal preference. find somewhere else <3

other than that, welcome in!

[eyedelater]

noda-sensei's art peculiarities

(links are carefully selected example images from golden kamuy)

incredibly skilled with the human form; even difficult poses are rendered perfectly. (does he make everyone naked just to show off?)

babies are Not cute. they're ugly with puffy eyes and always look sleepy and disgusted.

clearly hates drawing teeth and the inside of mouths. notably just leaves the inside of mouths white most of the time. sometimes draws rough teeth, sometimes draws detailed teeth, sometimes implies teeth with shading, sometimes fills it in grey— it's not consistent at all. i think i've deduced that what he hates the most is calculating the position of teeth in the mouth.

despite the above point, he seems to always draw sofia's teeth because her tooth gap is an important part of her character design

sometimes zooms in and draws details (especially on hands) then zooms out and you can tell because now the line weight is a little different

3/4 view from behind (1/4 view?) of people's faces where you just see the funny bumps of their lips. and it always works

big round sweat drips that often have Texture and Shading.

incredibly skilled at drawing animals, even notoriously difficult ones like horses. though most of the animals die. especially horses.

amount of sparkle in the eyes is meaningful. more sparkle indicates the lightness of their spirit, and no sparkle indicates coldness or jadedness. best/worst example is reinvigorated tsukishima. asirpa is of course also a critical example. and i think ogata's eyes never have any sparkle his whole life.

he can draw wrinkles in the places where they would normally go on someone's face, and he can do it well. or he can decide to draw Other lines on someone's face, in any spot, and if someone questions it, the answer is that they're just like that, and you have to accept it. i really like this "they're just like that" approach to character design, and there are many examples in golden kamuy (e.g. ariko's square irises and pupils, ushiyama's forehead plate, tsukishima's nose)

really good at drawing the way strands of hair wrap over the top of someone's head. (look at tsurumi, ogata, hijikata)

he'll draw chapped lips that'll make your own lips feel real dry.

mouths are often shaped like that... but it works

eyes are usually black, but sometimes a character's pupils will get really small during moments of high tension and you can see their iris and it's light

this is just a hunch but i think he prefers drawing men over women

judicious use of lines going up from the corners of the mouth

he's not a coward: if a character's chest is exposed and the angle is right, he will draw that character's nipples, and that is right and just. he will apply the same principle to draw a character's butthole, which i don't have such a strong opinion about.

there are lots of men with very close-cut hair (bc it's the military) and that's not distinctive, so he gets creative with the hairlines. i think this is an underrated aspect of character design.

careful use of line weight on the corners of closed mouths has a powerful effect (of cuteness?) (look out for this next time you read the manga. it's everywhere and it's the best.)

consistently skillful use of ink splatter effects for blood; similar splattery effects used for snow

eyebrows and other facial hair are usually drawn as multiple long, thin lines together, and for an eyebrow with emotion, you put a couple of perpendicular lines at one end or both

strands of blood or hair extend and curl around in unrealistic ways for dramatic effect. this effect is omnipresent.

occasional really, really choice faces that were obviously drawn either from photo reference or while looking in a mirror

character design by actually giving everyone different facial features, as opposed to character design by assigning different hair and accessories to uniformly pretty people. the latter is much easier, but he chose the thorny path of his own will! thank you for setting a strong example, noda-sensei!

[piduai]

Cinematograph: Another Story

Asirpa: Alright, let us film the next story about Panampe and Penampe.

Sugimoto: Eeeh, are we doing that vulgar stuff again? Don't you have anything else?

Shiraishi: I'm with Sugimoto on this one! It sure would be nice if there were any, like, sorrowful love stories that pull at your heartstrings that we could shoot.~

Tanigaki: Sugimoto and Shiraishi are right. Haven't we had enough stories in which someone just stupidly dies in the end, Asirpa?

Asirpa: Fine, fine, I get it! Listen here, you'll definitely love the next one.

So, a summary:

One day, while Panampe was down at the river setting up a fish trap, he saw a penis sticking out of it.

Sugimoto: Just why?!

Asirpa: When Panampe asked if he should pick it up with his hand, it shook its neck in disagreement. When he asked if he should pick it up with his mouth, the penis nodded.

Shiraishi: Ouch... I hate this so much...

Asirpa: So Panampe put it in his mouth and went home, and when he went to sleep, he left it by his pillow. And at night, in the darkness, a scuttling sound shook up the entire house. When Panampe woke up in the morning, his house was full of treasure, and the penis has disappeared...

Seeing Panampe living so lavishly, Penampe has come to inquire how he managed to come by his riches. After hearing his story, Penampe has pissed and shitted a little all over the entrance of Panampe's house, and ran away.

Sugimoto: What the hell are you doing, Penampe?!

Asirpa: In the same manner, when Penampe was setting up a fish trap at the river, he saw a penis sticking out of it. So he asked how he should pick it up. When he asked whether he should pick it up with his hand, it shook its neck. When he asked whether he should use his mouth, it nodded.

Sugimoto: Don't you be nodding, that's fucking disgusting!

Asirpa: Penampe flipped his lid, grabbed that penis and blew it out of the water and onto the riverside, and has proceeded to kick and roll it on the ground until he got home. And at night, in the darkness, a scuttling sound shook up the entire house. Penampe woke up in the morning with a big grin on his face, but when he looked around... His house was full of various penises scattered everywhere in great amount.

Shiraishi: That's hell...

Asirpa: And no matter how he'd try to clean it up, new penises just kept falling on him. He exhausted himself out and died. Penampe died a stupid death.

Sugimoto: So he died after all.

Shiraishi: Which part of this was a heart-wrenching love story?!

Sugimoto: Does this Ainu story really exist, anyway?

Asirpa: Of course it does. It's an Ainu story passed down from generation to generation from long ago. It wasn't me who made it up.

Sugimoto: You sure?

Shiraishi: No, wait, but why can't it be made up? Not about Panampe and Penampe, but a new story made up by you, Asirpa-chan.

Asirpa: By me?

Sugimoto: Shiraishi, you sure know what to say! Hey, the stories of Panampe and Penampe were made up by someone too, right? So it's fine if it's something that you, as an Ainu, have come up with, Asirpa-san! It just has to be about the Ainu! If it's a story that can be passed down from Ainu to Ainu for a hundred, two hundred years, it's bound to become a real part of Ainu culture!

Asirpa: I see! Since I'm a new age Ainu, I can just make a new Ainu story!

Shiraishi: Exactly!

Asirpa: Alright! Sergeant Tsukishima, come here and write down the story I'm about to come up with!

Tsukishima: Hm? Why me?

Koito: Just shut up and do it, Sergeant Tsukishima!

Asirpa: Okay, here I go... Once upon a time, at a certain place, there was a giant penis...

Sugimoto: Hold on. Just let Panampe and Penampe go! Haven't we decided that you're going to make up a new story from scratch?

Asirpa: Easy for you to say... Alright, Sugimoto, you help me out then.

Sugimoto: Huh? Me? Hmmm... Well... Alright, as the setting, first of all... On one night, a gleaming vessel has descended from the skies. On it lived a family of bizarre Kamuy. The child Kamuy comes down and gets lost. It's left behind in the human world.

Asirpa: Yeah, that's good. What next?

Sugimoto: And by chance, he meets an Ainu boy. They become friends, but since that Kamuy has a weird appearance, they need to steer clear of adults and keep it hidden.

Shiraishi: What would a Kamuy with a weird appearance look like?

Sugimoto: Ugh, well... Uhhhh... Let me see... It'd be stark naked, its face and body covered in creases like on Asirpa-san's mouth, it'd have no hair, its legs would be very short, and its arms and neck would be very long.

Asirpa: That'd be a strange Kamuy indeed.

Sugimoto: The Meiji government officials hear of that Kamuy, and they want to catch and study it. But the Ainu children and the Kamuy run away on a dugout canoe!

Asirpa: That's so interesting! What next?

Sugimoto: They're about to get caught, but the canoe takes flight! With the help of the powers of that creature! And they fly over the big, round moon!

*he starts singing the theme song of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*

Asirpa: I like that it has extraordinary powers! What if it could heal people's wounds just by touching them?

Sugimoto: That sounds like a beautiful scene! The boy hurts his finger, and the Kamuy...

Asirpa: Grows a penis out of the wound, and its tip is shining!

*she also starts singing the theme song of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*

Sugimoto: Wait a second! Why are we back to Panampe and Penampe?!

Asirpa: Oh, we can't?

Sugimoto: Haven't we just agreed to cease the dirty stuff?! Why can't we make this a nice, lovely story!

Shiraishi: You know, when I think about it, something bald, with a long neck, that looks like a naked granny, it sounds pretty gross in the first place. It's disgusting and nobody would want to look at that.

Sugimoto: Oh, is that so?

Narrator: Sugimoto, however, had a premonition!

Shiraishi: But if it was something more fun, it would become known from word of mouth and lots of people would want to watch it. Nobody wants to look at a gross little creature. Asirpa-chan's goal here is to make people at large aware of Ainu culture as a means of leaving something behind, right?

Asirpa: Shiraishi is right. Isn't there anything else? Hey, Second Lt. Koito, you think of something, too.

Koito: Me? Hmm... Let's see... What if the Kamuy was cuter? With fluffy fur, a round shape. A very cute creature.

Sugimoto: Like Tanigaki?

Koito: No, no, I mean something smaller, a cat-like thing. Also... Alright. It's something the main character's Father buys for him as a gift. In Hakodate, which is full of foreigners, in a sketchy shop.

Asirpa: Good, good, then what?

Koito: But there's three rules for keeping that Kamuy in the house. Rules you can't break no matter what.

Asirpa: And those rules are?

Koito: First, it cannot abide light. If it gets exposed to the sun, it dies.

Asirpa: Oh, that's an interesting Kamuy.

Koito: Second rule is that it can't come near water.

Sugimoto: Does it die?

Koito: No, it doesn't die, but... It multiplies. It becomes two!

Shiraishi: From even one drop?

Koito: That's right! It multiplies from even one drop of water!

Sugimoto: So if you dropped it into a lake or something it would have been great trouble.

Koito: Obviously!

Tsukishima: Would it multiply even if it got a bit of its own pee on its leg?

Koito: Pee?! I'm telling you it's water! Pee is not water.

Tsukishima: Since it doesn't get triggered if there's impurities present, won't it not multiply if it comes in contact with lake water, which is full of impurities?

Koito: Shut up, Tsukishima!

Asirpa: Just ignore him and go on, Second Lt. Koito!

Koito: Hmpf. Third rule is that you cannot feed it after midnight.

Shiraishi: What happens if you do?

Koito: It transforms into a monster. It becomes a ferocious beast that attacks humans!

Sugimoto: That does sound cool!

*theme song of Gremlins starts playing*

Tsukishima: Please wait a second. What if it starts eating right before midnight, chews the food thoroughly, and the clock strikes 12 just as it passes through its throat? What then?

Koito: Uh!... Well...

Tsukishima: What if there's some food stuck between its teeth, and it manages to get it out and swallow it after midnight? Does it transform into a monster in that scenario?

Koito: What an annoying bastard... You're really one for nitpicking, Tsukishima!

Sugimoto: It does seem that the setting is a bit complicated... The audience could have trouble keeping up with a convoluted story.

Koito: Ugh...

Tanigaki: Can I try, too?

Shiraishi: Ooh, Tanigaki Genjirou-chan! You thought of something, too?

Tanigaki: How about this? One day, an astronomer was observing the sky and noticed that a big asteroid was approaching...

Sugimoto: An asteroid? Oh, that sounds like a grand story.

Tanigaki: The government officials fall into a panic and try to come up with ways of the military shooting it down, but they fail. It's huge, so it can't be broken apart. If that asteroid manages to hit the Earth, it will surely wipe humanity out.

Koito: So? What do they do?

Tanigaki: So they ask the coal miners for help. They figure that if they manage to dig a whole and put explosives there, they could blow it up. It's the same as using dynamite to blow up the ground when mining for coal.

Sugimoto: Oh, I see, they want to blow it up from the inside.

Tanigaki: The miners jump onto the meteor, and start digging...

Tsukishima: And how exactly do they manage to get on that meteor, Private First Class Tanigaki?

Tanigaki: Huh? Um... Maybe they use a hot air balloon or something...

Tsukishima: Well then that would be impossible! A hot air balloon can only go as far as there is air. There is absolutely no way it could approach an asteroid, that comes shooting straight from space like a bullet. No way.

Tanigaki: Ugh... Well, what about shooting the coal miners onto the meteor using a giant cannon?

Asirpa: What if there was an extended penis? Everyone straddles it and shoots right into the sky...

*she starts singing the theme song of Armageddon*

Sugimoto: Asirpa-san, just forget about Panampe and Penampe.

Tsukishima: So that's a no for Tanigaki, too. The premise itself is so ridiculous you can't even focus on the story. Not captivating at all. Go back to Akita.

Tanigaki: Oh... I see...

Koito: And are you able to come up with anything, Sergeant Tsukishima?

Tsukishima: What? Me?

Koito: Obviously! You think of something too, instead of turning down everything! Even a moron can sit around and criticize something someone else has made!

Tsukishima: Well... Alright... What about the main character being... a young, poor... painter? He... manages to get hold of the cheapest ticket on a luxurious ferry ride, and is on his way back to his homeland. On the same boat there's a beautiful woman who is being forced into a marriage with an arrogant upper class guy. She doesn't want that marriage, so she tries to kill herself by jumping into the night sea... But she's saved by the main character, and the two of them fall in love.

Sugimoto: Oh my, that does sound lovely!

Shiraishi: What next, what next? Tell me more!

*theme song of Titanic starts playing*

Tsukishima: But the boat hits an iceberg, and as the passengers notice that they've started gradually sinking, the situation on board becomes dire.

Tanigaki: That's rough...

Tsukishima: As the giant boat fills with water, the two are desperate for a way to save themselves...

Koito: And then? What next? What happens to them, Tsukishima?!

Tsukishima: The boat gets split in two, and sinks... They're thrown into the freezing winter ocean.

Shiraishi: No way! How could that happen...

Tsukishima: The main character manages to put his girlfriend on a broken floating door and save her, but, as he loses all his strength due to the cold, he succumbs to his death, sinking into the freezing dark water... After that, the woman calls herself by the dead painter's surname in order to avoid that dreaded marriage, and the story ends with her, all old now, telling everyone this tale.

Sugimoto: *while sobbing* What a tragic, beautiful thing! They will come! They will all come to watch it! You're the best, Sergeant Tsukishima!

Asirpa: Woudn't it be better if the woman rode the main character's enormous testicles instead?

Sugimoto: I told you to stop bringing up Panampe and Penampe, damn it!!

Asirpa: The painter was a tanuki in disguise! Wouldn't it be better if his balls became huge and everyone survived?

Shiraishi: That would be awful, actually. You're ruining it, Asirpa-chan!

Koito: What is that...

Tanigaki: Horrible...

Asirpa: Well, anyway, this whole thing has nothing to do with the Ainu, so it's a no from me. You lot really have no eye for this thing at all.

*everyone is upset*

Asirpa: Alright, now back to Panampe and Penampe...

[osomanga]

[kkachi-rkcl]

NODA YOU MADMAN WHY ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH TANIGAKIS BAIT AND TACKLE???

[hotwaterandmilk]

I just think he's neat.

[all-golden-kamuy-offical-art]

[whydoyouaskmethis]

New clear file illustration

[sword-in-a-hoard]

Noda humor hits yet again

[glorifiedwalkinggun]

exhibit a: noda satoru practicing self-control

[bless-the-seventh]

sticky, pinned, intro post...

um.

Hi.

This is a gimmick blog for golden kamuy related polls.

my main is @brytnoter

First project is smash or pass with every named character (except kids and animals!!!!!!)

[piduai]

Interview with Noda Satoru for kotoba magazine

reposting anywhere is fine, but please credit me.

Q: While the setting of Hokkaido at the end of Meiji era does feel somewhat familiar, it was still abundant with novelty. It seems to me that the more new stuff you bring into a story, the easier it conflicts with the way people are used to reading manga. How do you find the balance?

Noda: Exploring what others have barely touched upon before has been my goal ever since I was but an aspiring mangaka. Things like baseball and soccer, magic, demons, superpowers, all the genres that have so many fingerprints on them already have never inspired a desire of competition in me.

Rather than fighting my way climbing on a huge mountain with countless rivals, I'd rather make my own little mountain, with what I, myself, find fun. My previous work was about ice hockey, this one was about Ainu as a key element. I have also considered it crucial to include human drama that anyone at all could relate to. Besides that, I was sure to include things that only I have seen and things that the people I've met across my life have shared with me, it was all done on purpose. This way, my original story is my own, something that only I would be capable of creating.

For example, take the scene with Ariko Rikimatsu's father stubbornly showing his son how to carve a makiri. This was a real episode that Kaizawa Tooru-san, an Ainu artisan, has shared with me, and I depicted it as such. Perhaps Kaizawa-san's father also wanted his son to continue their craft, but didn't want to force him into it, or so I would like to assume.

Q: Bringing characters to life is a process I find difficult to even imagine. Do you go with your gut on top of the general layout, and then finish off with calculated tweaks? Especially Asirpa, who really gives Golden Kamuy its flavor, is a character whose like I haven't seen before. Could you elaborate on this unique heroine?

Noda: Just as you said, it's half hunch, half sticking to the plan. As Sugimoto's partner, if Asirpa were a grown woman, she would have been bound to become the object of romantic affection of either Sugimoto himself or someone else on the male cast. That, on top of feeling unnatural for many readers, would have steered the story into an entirely unnecessary direction. So that plot line was given to Tanigaki and Inkarmat. The scenario in which the Ainu partner is a pops-aged guy was given over to Kadokura and Kirawus. The dynamic between Tanigaki and Cikapasi is great as well, although it's a bit difficult to make it feel profound because Cikapasi is a child, and children should be protected and mentored by adults.

In the end, the reception for Asirpa and Sugimoto was the loudest, so it seems that both my hunch and my calculations were right.

Q: When a bunch of characters with entirely different motivations are united by the same goal, a Japanese audience tends to trace it back to Lupin the Third. But it didn't feel like that with yours at all.

Noda: It is true that, when creating different group combinations, I considered which would draw out each character's different sides. For example, when Karafuto was the main scene, there was absolutely no way Tsurumi or Usami would have worked in Sugimoto's group. That trip would have been so awful. Sugimoto's group reuniting with Tsurumi was when they had to part ways for good, the story progressed as definitive points like this were decided on.

Q: It's during their trip in Karafuto when Tanigaki has suddenly become such a prominent figure. In the beginning he used to be quite a serious character, but with time he started getting special treatment and became somewhat of an author's beloved plump pet. I have heard that Tanigaki is your favorite character, so I suppose that his growing popularity and the attention he gets is exactly what you wanted?

Noda: Tanigaki Genjirou's body pillow sales amounted to a mere third of Ogata Hyakunosuke's. He sold even less than Sugimoto. I have always been anxious that my sense of what's cute differs greatly from that of the readers. I mean, Tanigaki is the cutest of them all, so why was there such a huge difference in sales? Furthermore, when they told me that the first merch to sell out during the exhibition was Tanigaki's 5 piece gravure set, I screamed, "See, this is how it's supposed to be!".

Q: When and why did you switch drawing from traditional to digital? Would you say that your page spreads are so good specifically because you do it all digitally?

Noda: I have already switched to digital entirely by the time I started my previous work, so in 2010. Before that, I was an assistant for a mangaka that stuck to traditional. The problem is that, when creating manga, there's a lot of extra labor besides drawing that goes into it when done by hand. Cleaning out the corners with wite-out or erasers, cutting out and sticking or taping panels, and the such. A lot of fine extra work that is needed for traditional disappears entirely when done digitally. There's a lot of other merits to it as well.

Speaking as a professional mangaka, during my previous work I had my assistants come to the job in person, but now we mostly communicate through Skype, so there is no need to be particular about my appearance when working, no need to worry about whether my assistants get along well, and it's much easier mentally. Being able to draw traditionally is important too, though, and if I don't practice, it's easy to start messing up when drawing illustrations meant for autographs.

As for spreads, a lot of them were done with the intention of splitting the upper and lower parts of the page. This was done mostly with the intention of being in a physical book in mind, although lately there's a lot of people who read exclusively on their smartphones. For this reason I think that this will be my last work with that kind of panelling. I consider a mangaka that cannot adjust to the times fated to be left behind.

Q: Did you do any special work related to the exhibition? How did you feel about the exhibition in general, with it going all around the country and with so many people coming to see it?

Noda: I listened to the explanations sternly and answered whatever questions were asked of me. The exhibition staff was very considerate of this work, and eagerly participated in the management.

I loved the goods. Like the brain marshmallows. When I saw the Tanigaki mousepad I started thrusting my hips, saying, "Oh, it's finally here". I want about five of them, to put both my hands, feet, etc on. The Tanigaki bromides were my idea, by the way. I just asked them to make my drawings into goods without much consideration, basically forced the idea on them.

I consider the fact that the exhibition overall was a great success proof of this work being well loved and acknowledged.

Q: As appreciation for manga has grown overseas, back in 2019 there was a panel of Asirpa at the entrance of the British Museum during the manga exhibition. How did you feel when looking at it?

Noda: When I heard that they decided on Golden Kamuy to represent Japanese manga as a whole in that exhibition, I could really feel their resolve shining through. After all, if the goal were to attract as many visitors as possible, there was a lot of more well-known hit manga to choose from. I was told that Asirpa was chosen as key visual by popular vote from the museum curators.

I have met with the guides who helped me back then on site recently, and, according to them, the exhibition was highly praised in newspapers at the time, stating "It felt entirely different from the manga culture we know of. My impression of the medium has changed completely", things like that. I think that the organizers were more preoccupied with having a meaningful exhibition rather than getting visitors.

It seems that back in Meiji, the non-executives of the British Museum have courteously asked a few Ainu to carve a few tools for them from the local wood. I've seen those tools and the storehouses myself. Maybe they decided on Asirpa as key visual because there's this kind of history there.

Q: In order to write about the Ainu accurately, I heard that you dedicated a lot of time to proper research and to meeting various people. I can't imagine you haven't met any opposition or complaints. If you read the story, it's quite clear that you, as the author, have plenty of interest in Ainu and their culture; how did you manage to win over the trust of the people who helped you?

Noda: I have always believed that if I'm to depict Ainu in my story as a major theme, it's important to show the beautiful carvings and embroidery, the religious views, the interesting legends and customs, the words, all of it, in a positive and engaging way. And I think it went well with people of Ainu heritage. I don't know any other manga that has engaged with Ainu culture in a similar way. I consider that approach the reason that the work was received so well.

Q: Golden Kamuy has a number of very fun title pages. Ones that look like movie posters, ones that look lifted straight out of magazines of that time, parodies, even fantasy-like ones where Asirpa is frolicking with animals, but when it's cutscene, those animals, well... you know the drill. You can seldom get something that makes you laugh that much with only the title page.

Noda: The parodies weren't there just for the sake of parody, more often than not it was like, "Please read this chapter with this vibe in mind". For example, in the chapter where Sugimoto was fighting Vasily, I wanted to invoke the feeling of a horror movie with the enemy forestalling you no matter where you run, so I made the title page a parody of "Friday the 13th".

Q: The story was full of fierce battles, ranging from duels between snipers, various close defensive and offensive combat, and even fighting ferocious beasts such as bears. I think they're all pretty difficult to depict by just imagination. What did you use as references?

Noda: Well, it's not that this kind of combat can be as flashy as ones using magic and superpowers, so my prerogative was devising ways of showing combat that wouldn't bore the readers. When I was at this or that scene, I'd think of ways to use the surroundings for fighting, or when I looked at various items from that time I'd come up with ways they could be used in combat. I was inspired by Jackie Chan movies a lot, the way they utilize the set in battle choreography, or the way they make weapons out of ordinary objects. That was, perhaps, the starting point. When you look at fights using magic and superpowers, it's hard to imagine pain. But when you see Steven Seagal wrap a billiard ball in a towel and hit someone with it, it feels much scarier and conveys the feeling of pain well.

Q: I heard that the way you draw firearms is so thorough that even maniacs would groan. The depictions of vehicles of those times also seem very detailed. Are you good with machinery?

Noda: Not particularly, no, I often draw by looking at exhibits I photographed at this or that museum, and by referencing materials I purchased myself. I have Sugimoto's type 30 rifle as a full-scale model with minimal movement. In the first there is a scene in which the safety device is released, but back in 2015 there were no materials anywhere to show how it was done precisely. Years later, a video explaining its operation was finally released on overseas Youtube, and I immediately revised the scene in the volume.

Q: I could feel that for you, the sense of realism went further than researching materials. How often did you ask yourself, "Shouldn't it be like this", "Wouldn't it be more natural if it went like this"? Is it possible that there is a realm of realism that is only possible to convey through the use of imagination?

Noda: It was often the case that I'd consult a professional immediately after building up a hypothesis of my own. For example, the time when Asirpa managed to tell apart the fake tattooed skins by looking at the reaction of the tannin applied to them to iron, where she talks about the way a woman has dyed a kimono a beautiful red. I have heard of Ainu dyeing their thick kimonos made of tree bark red using alder, so I hypnotized that since alder also contains lots of tannin, it would turn brown upon contact with iron. After that I consulted Saito Reiko-san of the National Museum of Ethnology and Takano Keiko-san, an artisan from Nibutani, and was informed that although it was possible, though quite difficult, to use alder in dyeing things a neat red, when washed in a river with high iron content, the clothing would turn brown. Therefore my hypothesis was confirmed, and I was able to proceed with writing a crucial plot point.

Q: I assume many fans rejoiced in your choice to not separate Asirpa and Sugimoto, by design or death. Was it the ending you planned from the very beginning?

Noda: I could say that I never planned to kill him at all, although if the story spanned across ten volumes or so, that option wouldn't have been out of the question. But it spanned across thirty one and took eight years, therefore I considered that killing off Sugimoto or separating him from Asirpa would have been a deed done in bad taste towards the readers, who have been watching over them for so long. When you think of a work that you love, a manga or a movie, that you want to reread or rewatch over and over again, wouldn't most people choose something that has a happy ending?

Q: Speaking of movies, I heard that you're an avid watcher. Please share some of your latest favorites.

Noda: I like stuff by David Fincher, Michael Mann, Kathryn Bigelow... My manga is entirely different from their works, though. Recently I went as far as buying "Anne of Green Gables" on Blu-ray. The colors used in the backgrounds were so wonderful, I told the people working on the anime to use that movie as reference.

Q: Editors are important figures for authors. If you don't mind, could you tell us more about yours, Ookuma Hakkou?

Noda: I brought my idea to the editorial department of Young Jump because it kept being dropped from the serialization meetings at Young Magazine. Back then, Ookuma-san just happened to glimpse over it by chance, and immediately decided that it needs to be serialized. In the end, that manga was cancelled after 6 volumes, so I can't judge whether Magazine or Jump was in the right. However, I did feel thankful to Young Jump for giving me a chance, so I wanted to repay them with Golden Kamuy, and I think that I managed to pay that debt off. Meeting Ookuma-san was the most fortunate event of my life.

Q: You already announced that your next project will be picking up that cancelled manga again. Please tell us how you feel about it.

Noda: I was thinking about it even back when Golden Kamuy was still serializing, taking notes and making plans. After finishing a series that took thirty one volumes, I more or less came to an understanding of what kind of preparations and labor a long serialization would require. I learnt that fans are curious about such things as the height and weight of the characters, and that they want to know the full names of basically nobodies, there's demand for really detailed information. I'll make sure to have those things ready when I take upon a new project.

I consider it very fortunate that Golden Kamuy has happened to me when I was at peak physical and cognitive health. I'm not getting younger, but it made me acquire a wealth of experience, so I'll put it to good use with my next work. I'd like for those who liked Golden Kamuy to give it a try, and promise to not disappoint. I'm counting on you.