Top: Hagiwara's assistant's room. Bottom: Hagiwara at work.

EX: Speaking of communicating with your readers, you started your own website a few months back. Do you think it was a good thing that you started your own website?

HK: Yes. I think that the feedback on my website is very interesting. There are times when I have to wonder whether or not I should keep drawing more manga, and things get hairy after all the financial concerns and scathing criticism (and insults) are thrown at me. That's when I get worried about whether or not it is really worth it to continue or not. But after seeing all the positive feedback, and the fans crying out for me to draw more manga on my own website, I regained the will to draw more manga. After all, drawing manga for me is like communicating with all of my fans in a way similar to all of my bulletin board entries. So, I guess you can say that it was a good thing that I started my website. In fact, I still look at the site at least once a day. While the site remains necessary as well as interesting for me, I will keep it going—although I will probably kill it if it ends up being too much of a hassle.

EX: You mentioned scathing criticism. Do you think it is good for you, or is it just a nuisance?

HK: Some of the harsher criticisms can get to me, but all in all, I think it's a good thing that they are saying as such. To make an analogy, if you eat too much sweets, you get cavities... or you get sick of sweets and want something salty. I personally think that manga artists that are surrounded only with positive criticism probably won't grow too much as artists. That is because most authors know how interesting their work is, and if they can't have that reinforced by a third party, they can't really create something that is interesting for as many people as they can possibly make it. That's why you need editors and other third party folks to give the criticism—editor criticism is largely based on reader feedback, and therefore give you a good idea about how to make your work better for the audience.

EX: So, do you have anyone you would like to work with?

HK: I have so many people I want to work with, but most of them are friends of mine, so I won't list any names. I basically have two types of people I know—those that I can and would like to work with, and those that I can't and wouldn't. There are people out there that need to work because they really do need to, not because they have to. Working with people who work only because they need food on the table is really an upsetting experience. In fact, I think it's actually better to be able to argue with someone else who works because he really needs to work to stay happy instead of getting along fine with someone who is just working because he has to. Arguing for points within certain limits (like a budget) can often still make quality works, despite what most think about what arguing would do. I think it's just all a matter of passion.
Back to people I would like to work with... I would like to work with people older than I am, with a solid career and a great set of skills. That way, I can learn from my experience of working with them. Because it wouldn't be a live-or-die situation in creating, I get a connection with that kind of co-worker. And when that happens, I can make something and be happy with the result that is created—and that leads to the viewers becoming happy and satisfied with the product. I believe that creating such satisfaction is important because that created a sense of worth to the viewers; it makes them feel that watching the show is worth their time.
I believe that all artists think the same thing as I do. That is, they think that it would be fun to work with people that can put everything aside and think in that manner, to work in a way such that they and their audience can be satisfied with the product. For me, creating such a thing is easiest to do by myself, but I have come to realize that such a great work can't be created by myself.

EX: Why do you think that you can't create such a work by yourself?

HK: Shows and works that any given person would be satisfied with is within a limited scope of things. The more people there are in the potential audience, the more things there are to be liked. In other words, something that you think is interesting is not necessarily suited for everyone in the world.
That's why I want to make my manga be full of interesting things for many types of people, and end up using all sorts of ideas including ideas from other people. I think I can say the same thing for many other creators, in print and in film. Everyone has limited skills, whether it be in scriptwriting, acting or drawing, and when good combinations of skills are created, good titles come out of it. But...

EX: But?

HK: Everyone usually ends up drawing out their ideas for their own satisfaction. So, to make it profitable and want to answer the requests of more people (to satisfy them), you end up needing a third person's perspective on what you have. I just can't explain the pain I get when such a perspective goes through my work—especially because I can't do much to answer their requests.

EX: "Can't do much to answer reader requests" reminds me of when a manga author "drops" an issue (misses an episode of their series in the publication without notice to readers). How does that compare to having work that the author feels unsatisfactory?

HK: Some authors will "drop" an issue because they just stop drawing, when they think that their readers won't be happy with what they have going at the moment. But, on the other hand, there still is the possibility that the people might like that particular installment—or even create a bridge to lead into the next part of the series. Manga artists that can kill a part of themselves to bet on that possibility can keep drawing, even when they are not satisfied with their work.