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On Sept. 21, the final day of Tokyo Game Show 2014, manga artist combo Ume held a talk show related to games and a signing event, both of which were sponsored by Tokyo Otaku Mode.
Manga artist Ume is a unit comprised of author/planner Ozawa and illustrator Seno. Their representative work is the manga Tokyo Toy Box which brilliantly portrays the lives of those in the game industry. Connected with the talk show, the Japanese and English versions of Chapters 1 and 2 of Tokyo Toy Box 0 1 were also on display at the TOM booth. Four pages drawn just for the occasion of characters at TGS 2014 were also shown.
These two frequently attend TGS, and since it has been nearly 10 years since Tokyo Toy Box began serialization in 2004, new episodes are in the works. Ozawa touched on his methods of expression and creative rules, saying, “I learned from Gundam works the coolness of idle complaints and the gestures that go along with them,” and, “I absolutely don’t draw evil people [in my work].” Regarding the difficulties of sticking with a theme when creating manga as a team, Seno commented, “There are many changes made to content [of the original work] to the point where I want to strangle him,” speaking her mind in a jesting fashion that showed the comical relationship between these two close partners.
When asked about their current activities, the duo couldn’t resist doing some PR for their new manga Steves, a look at Silicon Valley in the ‘70s which was created by Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Those who attended forgot all about the time as they listened intently to these two creators talk.
^1^ An origin story to Tokyo Toy Box that focuses on the two main characters during their student days.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
