“That’s totally unnecessary”: Chainsaw Man Writer Despises One Factor About the Internet Which is Also Its Biggest Advantage
The Internet has eased the lives of many people, as now they can find everything they are looking for in one place. However, the mangaka of Chainsaw Man, Fujimoto Tatsuki, thinks otherwise. He believes that the recommendation factor of the internet is totally useless, as it doesn’t provide accurate results.
Tatsuki discussed this during an interview with Samura Hiroaki, where they talked about how the manga industry is changing because of new technologies, especially the internet. They talked about various aspects such as their creative styles, experiences with new technology, and how they adapt to it.
Samura Hiroaki and Fujimoto Tatsuki Interview on Digital Era
In June 2017, Shonen Jump released an interview with two famous manga creators, Samura Hiroaki (known for Blade of the Immortal, Listen to Me, and Wave) and Fujimoto Tatsuki (known for Chainsaw Man, Fire Punch, and Look Back), where they discussed various things about the manga industry.
In the interview, Samura mentioned that he hadn’t really switched to digital. He admitted to always being a few years behind the rest of society. Also when the internet gained popularity, he didn’t even own a flip phone and was out of touch with his friends.
“Samura: Haha. I haven’t really moved to digital. I’m always a few years behind the rest of society. When the internet went into full swing, I didn’t even have a flip phone. I didn’t know what society was thinking. So there were a lot of books and news articles on the subject. I’ve been interested in the Ainu since college, so I cut out those news articles. And when I reread them, there were completely unrelated articles on the back.
When I was drawing manga, I saw one about an experiment combining spinach and pig genes to make a spinach pig. I was pretty curious why they would do that, haha. When I was writing about high school girls for Ohta Publishing, I needed something for a joke, so I used that [in Seifuku wa Nugenai from Sister Generator].”
Lacking behind in technology from everyone else didn’t stop Samura from falling behind in ideas. He mentioned that when he was working on his manga, he encountered an article about an experiment on the mixture of spinach and pig genes to create a spinach pig.
This idea lit his curiosity to try something new, which he later used while writing about high school girls for Ohta Publishing. He used this concept as a joke in Seifuku wa Nugenai from Sister Generator.
Fujimoto Tatsuki’s Views on the Internet
Tatsuki also wished he could take an approach like Samura. He mentioned that with the internet, one can only find what they are actively searching for. Being a fan of horror, he mentioned that he looked up things related to horror, but the results were totally unnecessary, which disappointed him, He believes that wandering off from the usual path is important for making progress.
“Fujimoto Tatsuki: That’s pretty nice, I wish I could be like that too. With the internet, you can only find what you’re looking for. I like horror, so I look up things about horror, but that’s totally unnecessary. You have to stray from the path if you want to go anywhere.” – From Shonen Jump Magazine interview in 2017.
This interview was from 2017, and things have changed a lot since then. With the invention of AI, people can ask about anything, whether it’s finding recommendations or asking for suggestions on other topics, AI can do it all. So, Tatsuki’s point of view on the internet may have changed now.
