“Oldboy 4K” The miraculous encounter between Park Chan-wook and legendary manga author Mari Karina Interview with original manga editor Masayuki Hirata

Mari Karina, the original author who is particular about visualization.

Q: Mari Karina is a legendary manga author. Many of his works have been made into films, including ` `A Homance '' (1986, directed and starring Yusaku Matsuda), `` Steam Sniper '' (2009, directed by Hitoshi Ohne), and `` Hard Core '' (18, directed by Atsuhiro Yamashita). I am. Isn't the hurdle of making it into a movie high?

Hirata: I think it was relatively expensive. It seems that Hitoshi Oone was once turned down when he wanted to adapt `` Steam Sniper '' into a drama. So Mr. Daikon wrote a letter to Mr. Karinade, and when they met in person, he immediately said, ``Yeah, I'll leave everything to you.'' Once you trust someone, they say, ``Anything is fine.'' I learned about this episode from the article that Mr. Daikon contributed to Mr. Karinade's memorial book. I also really liked the drama `` Steam Sniper ,'' and when I went to see him at work, he showed me the video over and over again, saying, ``What do you think? It's amazing!''

Q: After rewatching `` Oldboy, '' I realized once again that Karinade's works have a very high affinity with movies, including the cleverness of the settings.

Hirata: As you said, Mr. Karinade was a person who was particular about the so-called ``manga original''. I think he was the last original manga author to stick to the idea that ``it has to be visual.'' Many other manga originals have a lot of novel-like expressions, and are not based on panel layout. Mr. Karinade's content is only 20 pages long, and I was always conscious of making it easy for the manga artist to structure it, and also to make it visually easy to draw.

Q: It seems that the manga " Oldboy " didn't have a fixed ending, and instead improvised the story every week, which is quite a unique method.

Hirata: Mr. Karinade started `` Oldboy '' as an experiment: ``What would happen if we continued to spin the story without deciding on the ending?'' This was my first project, so I thought, ``Maybe that's what it's like.'' But since then, I've been working as an editor for over 20 years, and this is an unusual method. I've used a similar method in other places, but I ended up regretting it to the point of death (lol). It was made possible because the illustrator, Mr. Minegishi, worked very sincerely on the work, but I think he would have been furious if it had been done by another manga artist.

Q: I was like, “What are we going to do with this!?”

Hirata: That’s right (lol)

"Oldboy 4K" © 2003 EGG FILMS Co., Ltd. all rights reserved.

Q: In the second half, the main character, Goto, and his lover, Eri, are actually put under post-hypnosis, and the story takes a surprising turn, revealing that their encounters have all been calculated by the enemy.

Hirata: That surprised me. “Post-hypnosis!?” (laughs) Minegishi was also surprised and said, ``I didn't hear that...''

Q: There is no sense of pre-planned harmony, so the readers can read with excitement, and I guess the same goes for the people who draw the manga.

Hirata: That's right. There were many times when I was surprised when I received the original work and said, "Wow!"

Q: Didn't Mr. Hirata place an order for Mr. Karinade's original work?

Hirata: I can't say that until I receive the manuscript (lol). It's written in neat, confident handwriting, giving it a great "don't mess with it" aura. Once the manga artist receives that original work, he or she cannot change one thing.

Q: Did Mr. Karinade ever consult Mr. Hirata when creating the story?

Hirata: It happened sometimes. I got a call around 1 or 2 a.m. and said, ``I'm a little stuck. Let's have a beer and talk.'' After about two hours of small talk, he said, ``We've mostly settled on something.'' This one doesn't talk about the story at all, so you're like, "Huh?" But now I understand. I didn't want to consult him about the story, but rather he was solidifying what he wanted to write while talking. Writers do most of the work of extracting what they want to write about. Rather than the story itself, I'm searching for ``what to write.''

Things to know as an editor learned from the legendary original author