Nightow Yasuhiro Guest Of Honor Panel Nightow Yasuhiro, the talented artist and creator of TRIGUN jump-started his panel immediately by greeting his fans with a hearty "WHASSUP!!!" To which the fans returned the greeting and heartily cheered him on. He also mentioned that he was constantly working, even through his visit to Anime Expo 2000 this year. Specifically, he is working on the inside cover of TRIGUN MAXIMUM #4. He then went on to explain his origins as a manga creator: He was originally a typical salary worker in real estate. He thought to himself one day, "Is this what I'll be doing for the rest of my life?" He couldn't see himself doing that, so he quit and started doing manga. [at this point, the entire audience erupts with many cheers in approval of what he did.] He continued, "Then, 10 days later, I had a deadline for the SAMURAI SPIRITS manga! After I finished volume 1, I moved onto TRIGUN. Then when I found out the magazine was no longer going to be published, TRIGUN potentially would not continue. Fortunately, Kitayama-san really liked the TRIGUN piece, and told me that although we don't know whether TRIGUN was going to be serialized or not in a new magazine, let's go with an anime production of it. "So because the anime side moved forward, I felt I had to go forward with the manga. I talked to various publishers, and finally got approval, so I changed the name to TRIGUN MAXIMUM and continued."

Q: Is there going to be an English translated version of the TRIGUN manga?

NY: There's some talks going on, but I have issues with "flipping" (the customary method of localizing Japanese manga in the U.S.—since Japanese have their manga from right to left, and in the U.S. we read our books from left to right, the pages for the manga are "flipped" or mirrored so that the book is now read from left to right), and the U.S. publisher will have to work with me a lot, with me giving feedback and comments to make sure it gets done right.

Q: What is "kuroneko-sama"?

NY: Kuroneko-sama is a small... black... cat! [laughs]

Q: Is McFarlane Toys doing a TRIGUN figure for you as well?

NY: Yes, there will be two different toy lines: one by McFarlane Toys (a Vash figure), and the other is from Japan, to be distributed by Diamond here in the U.S..

Q: Where does romance fit in TRIGUN?

NY: [Nightow-san breaks into an embarrassed laughter and hides his face for a second before answering] I'm really bad at drawing anything that resembles "romance." Even in a man-woman relationship, I am better at drawing "friendship" than "deep-seated trust." So I might use romance as a way to spice things up on the side, than anything at the core. I want to focus on friendships and the overall big-scale relationships.

Q: Do you have any favorite artists?

NY: There's a lot of artists: I was first influenced by Akatsuka Fujio, then while growing up, Takahashi Rumiko. Around 12-13 it was Otomo Katsuhiro. Then there's Mike Mignola, Jim Lee, and Moebius. Moebius continually inspires me.

Q: Is there any possibility of any more TRIGUN anime? OVA's, new TV series, or movie?

NY: It was only shown originally in a small region in the Kanto area around Tokyo, and the Kansai area around Osaka. So the popularity of the series is very exceptional considering most of Japan didn't get to see it originally. So I think I have a foot in the door for the next sequel and the sequel after that. Actually, between myself and the anime staff, we completely finished and closed the story. Because it's closed, putting anything additional seems unnecessary. Rather than let the quality go down, I'd rather let it stand as is.

Q: Any possibility of a TRIGUN live-action movie?

NY: No. But if it was John Woo directing it, I wouldn't mind seeing it. [smiles].

Q: How do you plan on following up the popularity of TRIGUN?

NY: Well, the manga is still going on. The stories are going extremely well. I'm trying to end it, but it doesn't want to [smiles]. I'm trying to finish up the series within two years, but I said that two years ago. Right now, I just want to finish up the series. Only then will I be able to call myself a true manga artist. Actually, I do have a stockpile of ideas for future series, but I can't touch them until I finish TRIGUN MAXIMUM.

Q: Do your characters surprise you?

NY: Yes! Especially Millie. I'm always surprised by the things she says [laughs].

Q: Do you get dojinshi of your work from fans? What do you think of them?

NY: Yes, I do get dojinshi from fans. I think they do it because they like my product, so I treasure them.

Q: What's the name of the planet that TRIGUN takes place on?

NY: [laughs] Uhm... not thinking... sorry. [he said this in English.]

Q: Is there a part of you in your characters?

NY: Yes, all the characters have a part of me in them. If there are two characters confronting each other, that means I have internal conflicts going on; it is a difficult period for me.

Q: What was the influence for the character of Vash?

NY: There was no external influence; it just popped up in my head. I wanted a unique gunman with a low-key tone.

Q: Where did "Kuroneko-sama" come from?

NY: When I started drawing, it was there. I'm not quite sure when or where it came from [laughs].

Q: Are you enjoying yourself at AX2000?

NY: Yeah, of course! I went to Toys 'R' Us yesterday, and I went to a toy flea market the day before. In fact, I was shopping right up until this panel. No problems here.

Q: Is there anything you're hooked on right now?

NY: The newest LEGEND OF ZELDA videogame for the N64. I really liked it and kept playing for a while. Then I thought, "Oh no! This will impact my work. Better put it away." It is dangerous [smiles]! [at which point the crowd gives him a rousing cheer.]

At this point the panel was officially supposed to end, and Nightow-san said that he was really sad to see us go, and since there was nothing scheduled afterwards, Nightow decided to stay for an encore panel, which made all the attendees even more happy.

Q: Where'd you get the off-the-wall sense of humor for TRIGUN?

NY: Monty Python was one influence. Also the NAKED GUN movies. And from myself.