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levbolton · 2 years ago

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Mokumoku Ren/ Mokmok Len interview in Kono Manga ga Sugoi!

A manga uploaded to Twitter became a big buzz, and this is their first full-length work, "The Summer Hikari died," was selected as No. 1 in the Male Category. A bromance depicting the summer days of two high school boys…. How was the next generation horror work drawn by an up-and-coming newcomer born?

Mokumoku Ren debuted with the short story "Period" included in the appendix booklet of the “Monthly Comic Gene" June 2021 issue. From August 31, 2021, KADOKAWA's "Young Ace UP" site started publishing the manga series "The Summer Hikaru died". This is the first serial work.

1. Please tell us your impression of being selected as the number one winner.

Mokumokuren (hereinafter referred to as Moku): I never thought that I would be chosen as the number one winner, so I was very surprised. When it became popular on TikTok, I had the impression that there were many female readers, so when I heard that it won in the man category I was surprised again.

2. This is Mokumoku Ren-sensei's serial debut. Please tell us the story of how she started serialization.

Moku: Originally, I didn't want to be a manga artist. Ever since I was a little child, Iliked to draw, and I liked to make up stories, but I never turned them into manga.

3. What kind of stories were you fantasizing about?

Moku: When I was young, it was like an original ensemble drama with fairies. I had never completed a single manga properly, but I had some time off due to the corona crisis, so I made the story and characters I had been thinking about for a long time into this manga format. Thanks to the buzz I posted on Twitter, I received offers from several editorial departments.

4. When the number of “likes” and retweets kept increasing, didn’t you get overwhelmed?

Moku: I thought, "Wow!" (laughs). However, when the serialization started and it went on TikTok, the reaction was bigger, so I hurriedly downloaded the app at that time. I saw a junior high school student saying “Omoshiroi”, and I thought “that’s a lie” at first. But if I were a junior high school student now, I'm sure I would read this work.

5. Why did you choose the web media “Young Ace UP”?

Moku: I myself had zero name recognition, so I thought it would be better for the series to be available to read for free, so I chose "Young Ace UP".

6. Did you have any ideas other than 'Summer when the light died' for the serialization?

Moku: I didn't. I said, "Let's just use what I posted on Twitter in the first episode." In the June 2021 issue of the magazine Comic Gene, I drew “Period”, and from April, I started to draw the serialization of “The summer Hikaru died”. I submitted it in January 2021, and published it in March. *

Notice: here is the post where moku announced the original idea that at the time was posted on pixiv, however you can see that the illustrations have been removed, i do not know if this is the same oneshot as the one translated

"Ku" slowly changes shape in the dark forest. Yoshiki, who has to go through a forest road, spots the hiragana "ku" floating in the forest. Eventually, "Ku" will change into something else... The motif is "Kune Kune" from an internet ghost story. It's scary to come over things that change form completely when you look at them from afar and up close. (Mokumoku Ren)

Notice: here is a cool drawing of the yokai Ku

Focus on Yoshinori and Hikaru's bromance-like relationship. Yoshiki and Hikaru, who are the same age and live in a village in the mountains, have "always lived together" since childhood. Because of their relationship, Yoshiki noticesthat Hikaru has been replaced by ‘something’, and she faints. “I thought that a high school student would be good for the main character, and from the beginning I thought it would be a boy. It would be nice if I could create an exquisite feeling because they are two boys. (Mokumoku Ren)

7. So did you have a bit of time to prepare for the serialization?

Moku: I didn't. The dialect used in the film is the Mie dialect, so I wanted to go to Mie Prefecture for coverage, but it was difficult due to the coronavirus pandemic.

8. Why set the story in Mie?

Moku: One of the reasons was that I wanted the characters to use distinctive dialects. I was looking for an exquisite line that was different from the Kansai dialect, and I chose the mountainous areas of the Tokai region. I also love the horror novels "The Higa Sisters" by Itomo Sawamura, and the first one, "Bogi Wanga ga Kuru", is set in Mie Prefecture.

What is the difference between Hikaru and "Hikaru"? Hikaru was replaced by something non-human. At present, there are few opportunities to draw the figure before being replaced. I try to portray “Hikaru” a little more childlike after the switch. In the black-and-white manuscripts, there is not much difference, but in the colour manuscripts, I changed the pupil colour. (Mokumoku Ren)

9. So, The Summer Hikaru Died is a mixture of all your favourite things?

Moku: Well, it's not like I conceived a new concept for this series, but rather that it's a mix of all the things that I've liked over the years.

10. You seem to like horror a lot.

Moku: As soon as I realized I liked it, I liked it already (laughs). I don't know why I like it, but ever since I can remember I've watched a lot of films. I've watched a lot of films ever since I can remember. I've always loved the 'True Horror Stories' series and the 'Ghost Stories Earbags' series, and I often refer to them.

11. Do you like 'J-horror'?

Moku: I like classic films such as Ring (directed by Hideo Nakata) and Ju-On (directed by Takashi Shimizu), and I watched The Room You Mustn't Live In (directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura) over and over again. But I also like foreign films. Recently, I watched Ali Aster's Midsummer and Hereditary, thinking, "Wow, the composition is really good".

12. Do you pay attention to the composition?

Moku: I pay attention to the composition, the colours, and also the direction. I think about how to switch it up here.

13. I was also impressed by the effective use of first-person POV (Point of View) in The Summer Hikaru Died.

Moku: I also like POV horror films. I've seen all of Koji Shiraishi's horror films. Recently, I went to see Welcome to the Occult Forest. (Okaruto no Mori e Yokoso )

14. In episode 3 (included in volume 1), Hikaru's past is revealed: "I fainted for two hours after watching a horror film".

Moku: Well, I didn't expect that, but I think it's just a plain old movie. Something classic that everyone has seen before, but that still makes Hikaru faint (laughs).

15. Has your view of films changed since you started drawing your own manga?

Moku : I started to think about what it would be like if I were to draw it as a manga. Like, "I'd probably split the frames here and turn the page here".

16. Is the cut-splitting of a film similar to that of a comic book?

Moku: I myself draw with a visual sense. When I draw, I think about the situation in which the character is placed. I think about where the light source is, the atmosphere and humidity, and whether it is clearly… visible.

Expressions of guilt crawling down Yoshiki's spine. The unique hand-shaped, a unique balloon expression. I wanted to do something interesting from a manga point of view. The guilt is like a crawl up the spine, so I thought it would be good to make a balloon crawl up from behind. I came up with this kind of expression when I was drawing the story. (Mokumoku Ren)

Supernatural images that exist in nature. The image of Yoshinori's hand inside Hikaru's body was 'processed from fractal images'. Fractal structure (self-similarity) refers to a figure in which a part of the figure is similar to the whole figure. The Sierpinski gasket, which is a series of triangles, is a typical example. The bottomless feeling of being able to see the same shape no matter how much you zoom in is weird. It's not good, is it? I like the fact that they are not artificial, but found in nature, like romanesco in vegetables or the veins of leaves. I also like the Lichtenberg figures drawn on wood with electricity, and other things that are in nature but look supernatural, which fits the image of this work. (Mokumoku Ren)

19. We've heard about the movies, but which manga works have influenced you?

Moku: Ever since I was a child, I spent all my allowance on manga. I collected HUNTER x HUNTER (Togashi Yoshihiro) and Jojo's Strange Adventure (Araki Hirohiko) with my own money. I also like manga with non-human characters, and one work that has influenced me in terms of artwork is Tokyo Ghoul. Whether or not the drawings are similar, I can say that I am influenced by the way Sui Ishida draws the facial expressions of the characters.

18. The Summer of the Dead Light has horror elements, so I am interested in what you find scary.

Moku: I don't find horror films very scary. If anything, I find them more enjoyable. That's why I can't help but say things like, "It's hot! I'm on a rollercoaster ride.” I watch horror films with a rollercoaster sensation. I guess you could say it's like watching a haunted house or an attraction. Personally, I'm scared of things I don't understand. Not the ones that have something to back them up, like 'the ghost of someone who died here', but the ones where you don't really know what it is. If there is proof, it feels like a story made up by humans. It's not about whether you've done something good or something bad, it's about when you're going to be attacked, irrespective of human convenience.

19. Any specific examples?

Moku: In 'The Summer Hikaru Died', it's the 'Ku' monster. I'm afraid of things that just appear. I'm scared of things that don't just appear out of the blue, but things that are clearly abnormal and appear in the distance, or things that blend into everyday life and are always in the background.

Countryside in the mountains where conventions remain.The story takes place in the mountainous countryside of Mie. The model for the story is my grandmother's house. 'The model was my grandmother's house. It was a narrow village on the border between the mountains and the sea, with houses densely packed together. It is surrounded by haunted places, and there are many suicide spots and customsstill remain. The only shop in the small village was my grandmother's house. There was old polished glass, a black telephone still in use, and neighbours would come and go as they pleased. The scenery I used to see when I went back home with my parents was the basis for the setting of this film." (Mokumoku Ren)

20. It's a psychic photographic way of showing.

Moku : I used to watch TV specials on ghosts without fail (laughs). Rather than showing shocking scenes with a bang, I like it best when the scary feeling is just about to arrive, like in ....... That's why in The Summer Hikaru Died, I wanted to emphasise the creepy feeling, so I tried to keep the shocking scenes to a minimum.

21. In traditional horror stories, non-human beings often can't communicate with humans, but “Hikaru” is a little different after the switch.

Moku: I think it's interesting that they go beyond people's imaginations, rather than from the perspective of a transcendental being, like the human ....... There are things that are similar to humans, and there are things that seem similar but are completely different. I originally wanted to depict the feelings of the non-humans who have been replaced by humans, rather than the feelings of the humans themselves.

22. More non-human than human: ......?

Moku: That came first (laughs). I wanted something familiar to be transcendent, or something close by to suddenly seem scary. I put my idea of what I think of as an non-human being into it.

The intention of onomatopoeia flooding the entire screen. The onomatopoeia is printed in a typeface font instead of drawn, which is characteristic of this work. Unlike videos, there is no sound in manga, so I distort the text and make it move to add variety. I use fonts because I want people to read them. With hand-drawn text, it blends in with the picture, and I feel that the eye slides over it and it's hard to get people to read it. I use different fonts for things I want people to see even if they don't want to, and hand-drawn fonts for things that they don't need to be aware of. (Mokumoku Ren)

23. By the way, your pen name comes from the name of a yokai (Mokumoku Ren), right?

Moku: That's right. I've always loved the anime GeGeGe no Kitaro, so I became familiar with yokai. As for the origin of my pen name, I was told by a friend, "Why don't you use a yokai's name?” It's not that I particularly like the yokai "Mokumokuren". I chose it because it has a cute sound. I've seen The Great Yokai War (directed by Takashi Miike) more than 20 times.

24. You are a big fan of yokai, aren't you? How did you decide on the title?

Moku: I couldn't come up with a good idea at all until just before the series started. Our editor had to come up with something, but I kept struggling with it.

25. What were some of the rejected ideas?

Moku: 'Hikaru is dead'. It just doesn't have the word 'summer', but it doesn't feel like a title at all, so it's weak. In the end, we decided on 'Hikari ga shinda natsu' (The summer Hikaru died), and I like it because I feel that the three kanji in it (Hikaru/light, death and summer) alone give an idea of the content, and it's very coherent.

26. I was a little curious, but in the story, Hikaru died in the winter, about half a year ago, not in the summer, right?

Moku: That's right. So, if you understand that it was summer when Yoshiki accepted Hikari's death. If there had been a 'winter' in the title, I think it would have been completely different.

27. Why did you choose summer as the season in the work?

Moku: I wanted to draw short sleeves. Another reason is that I felt summer was the most mismatched season. In this work, I put a lot of emphasis on the 'mismatch' in general. The content is dark, so I thought summer would be the most energetic of the seasons. The visuals are intentionally bright. The cover of the book is also brightly coloured, and the background music for the PV was deliberately bright. We wanted to create a mismatch.

Chaos overflowing from Hikaru. Episode 6 (in volume 1) Last spread. The preliminary picture of this page, uploaded on Twitter, was a collage of photographic materials. 'That's not so much a name as it is a base for a picture. I transformed that base and drew on top of it. I created the work in a fully digital environment, from the name to the preliminary sketch and penning, so there is no clear separation between the different stages of the work, but it is seamless. I thought it would be disgusting if it was more graphic, so I included the face of my dog in this scene. (Mokumoku Ren)

The pet dog, Pug, actually makes a cameo appearance.

28. What do you enjoy most when you are drawing?

Moku: It's fun when I'm drawing the parts that I know will be exciting.

29. In particular?

Moku: I think the last part of the first volume (episode 6) could have had a strong impact. I drew a kind of solution to that in episode 7 (included in volume 2), but I discussed this with the editor in charge, and we had a hard time deciding on it, so I think I did my best. Also, looking at the reactions of readers, there are some who have given it a lot of thought, and it's fun when I can draw a development that betrays their expectations. I know I'm going to betray the readers' expectations (laughs).

Various compositions are used in the work. I use fisheye-like compositions for scenes where I want to be able to see far into the distance, or when I want to draw a lot of background, or when I want to show a bit more space. (Mokumoku Ren).

Comparison between the finished manuscript and the name for episode 8. In general, characters are drawn with a 'cross on a circle' style in the story, but it can be seen that the facial expression of the character (Yoshiki) has already been decided in detail. The facial expressions are definitely decided at the story writing stage. Without facial expressions, I don't know how the characters are feeling when they say their lines. For this story, I think it's very important to know what kind of face they’re making and what they’re saying. Timing, pauses and, in a film, the acting part. I feel that I want to convey the message through acting rather than dialogue. (Mokumoku Ren)

30. What about future developments?

Moku: The story will start moving in the next three volumes. If the first three volumes were the daily life chapter, I feel like I'm entering a new chapter in the story. I'm sorry to have been chosen as the No. 1 winner when we're still in the early stages of the story, but I hope you'll look forward to the rest of the story.

► PROFILE: Born in Tokyo. “The Summer Hikaru Died" is the first commercial serialisation of this promising new author. Less than a year after its serialisation, it won 11th place at the Global Special Award [Traditional Chinese] in the Web manga category of the Next Manga Award 2022. Information is also updated on the Twitter account. Twitter account. @mokmok_len

Well, they removed the onedrive email i created to share this so this was exhausting to edit into Tumblr, I’d appreciate it a lot if you reblogged this post

Other Mokumoku Ren interviews translated:

CREA (7th Nov 2022) | Da Vinci (5th Nov 2022) | Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2023 | Real sound 31st December | Real sound 5th July

#if this doesnt show in the tag i will unalive so please reblog this #hikaru ga shinda natsu #the summer hikaru died #hikaru x yoshiki #indo hikaru #indou hikaru #indoh hikaru #tsujinaka yoshiki #hikaru #yoshiki #mokmok len #mokumoku ren #i hope i don’t get flagged bcs i will die if i lose the posts and analysis and everything i made on this account #manga #hgsn translation

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