
"The opportunity for change can be found anywhere" - the experiences and life of Norifusa Mita behind this powerful line
2020.12.10."Investor Z," "Dragon Zakura," "Cross Country," "Angel Bank." All of Norifusa Mita's works are memorable for their impactful expressions and strong lines. Pre-orders have begun for the "Norifusa Mita Time is Money Calendar 2021," which is filled with such strong frames and strong lines.
Norifusa Mita creates a wide variety of unique characters. What kind of thoughts lie behind the attractive and powerful words they utter? We asked Mr. Mita about the episodes behind each line!
(Reporting and editing: Kosuke Inoue)
(The calendar is peppered with powerful quotes from Mita's works.)
"The calendar turned out really nice."
Yes. I included plenty of strong lines and interesting frames from Mita's works to create a calendar that makes people who see it think, "I'll do my best!"
"I see. Good job."
-As a special feature for the calendar launch, we'd like to ask Professor Mita about the experiences and learnings he has had behind the lines used in the calendar, under the theme of "I want to know the background behind the powerful lines in his works."
"I see... I think that's a good idea, but I tend to forget small details easily, so in that sense it's a pretty difficult project (laughs)."
-I like the story you told us in the editorial meeting (a meeting to discuss the next chapter of the manga) about what made you want to become a manga artist and your working style. So, this time I would be happy if you could tell us an episode related to the lines in the calendar...
"I see. If that's the case, then the line on the January calendar may be the one that sums up my debut as a manga artist in one sentence."
"Don't think! Just act! Only those who take action will win!" This is the origin of manga artist Norifusa Mita!
(It is said that this one word from Sakuragi represents Mita-sensei's debut as a manga artist.)
"During my university days, I was devoted to kendo and part-time work, and didn't think about job hunting at all. So after the Obon holidays, I went to the university's career office, and they told me, 'What are you thinking, coming here now? You can only apply to distribution or apparel.' So I was recommended two or three major distribution companies, and I ended up working at a department store."
-Did you feel like you had taken a job you were not happy with?
"No, when I was in college, I wanted to be a businessman, so I was very happy just to get a job. My family owned a clothing store, and my parents worked all year round, so I thought, 'I don't want to work like my parents.' So at first, I thought it would be nice to be a businessman, where you get paid without having to work all year round."
-I see. I heard that you quit the company a year later and took over your family business.
"Working as an office worker at a department store wasn't so bad because it was stress-free, and the holidays and salary were stable. But after about three months, I started to think, "Huh, so this is what working at a department store is like. Is this what I'm going to do for the rest of my life?" and I started to not find the job very interesting. Because I was thinking like that, when I got a call saying, "My father has fallen ill, so I need you to help out with the family business," I immediately told the company, "I'm quitting. Thank you for all your help," and decided to take over my family business."
-I heard that after you returned to your parents' home, you had a lot of trouble running the family business.
"At the time, large shopping malls were expanding into local areas and were gaining ground, so independent stores had no chance of winning. At the time, I found out that my father had a lot of debt from his business, so I had to find a way to make money.
At that time, I happened to be reading a manga magazine and saw an ad that said, "Newcomer Award Wanted! Grand Prize Winner 1 million yen." So I looked at the winning works in the magazine and thought, "I think I could draw something like this." So I started drawing. I've always been pretty good at drawing, and at the time I desperately wanted money. People will be surprised when I say this, but I started drawing manga "for the money."
(I want it so badly I'd give anything for it!)
-Was it difficult to write manga while running the family business?
"At the time, we really didn't have any customers. I was bored, so I drew while I was working at the store (laughs). I submitted the work I had finished, and although I didn't win a prize, it was shortlisted. Because it was the first piece I had ever drawn, it made it to the finals, so I felt that this piece had potential. So I made some improvements and decided to submit it again, and I received the Chiba Tetsuya Award."
-Just submitting an entry despite having absolutely no production experience was impressive, but to have won the Newcomer Award...I'm truly surprised.
"My attitude is, 'I have no experience in production, so I'll just apply.' A certain amount of analysis is important, but it's more important to try it out first and take action to find out your abilities. When people decide to become manga artists, they think that 'preparation is important,' so they start practicing drawing and studying the story, but from my perspective, 'preparation isn't worth a penny.' What's important is to apply, in other words, to take action."
-I see... So practicing "Don't think! Just move!" is what led to your debut as a manga artist.
"Yes. If you take action, you will see some results. At that point, you can decide whether to continue or not, and if so, what you need to improve. You don't need to practice. The most important thing is the ability to take action."
("Don't think! Just act!" This message is scattered throughout Mita's work...)
Even if you are opposed, ignore it! "To achieve great success, you have to be 'normal'"
-That said, I'm sure your family was quite surprised when you suddenly started drawing manga?
"No, I didn't tell anyone that I was going to apply for the Newcomer Award."
-Didn't you consult with your family?
"Because even if I ask for advice, it won't help. And even if I talk to someone who doesn't understand, they'll just say, 'I don't understand, so don't do it.'"
-If he had consulted with them and been opposed, would that mean that manga artist Norifusa Mita would never have been born?
"That's probably not the case. Even if they object, I'll just ignore them (laughs). Because I'm not causing them any trouble. I don't need to ask for advice because I'm not causing them any trouble, and even if they object, I can just go ahead and do it."
--I see...! This may be related to the line in the November calendar, " To achieve great success, you have to be unusual ."
"Well, that's true. In that case, the complete outsourcing of the animation for 'Dragon Zakura 2' would be a good example.
You know that the illustrations for "Dragon Zakura 2" were outsourced. Although there has been a division of labor in manga production between the original author and the illustrator, it's not like there was no precedent for outsourcing the illustrations to a design company. It was something that had never been done before, so there was a possibility that it would fail.
But then I thought, if we could establish this style, it wouldn't just benefit us, but the entire manga industry. It took a lot of preparation to set up the system for outsourcing the drawings, and it took time to establish a smooth production flow. But now, thanks to this system, I've been able to continue two weekly serializations, and I've never had to take a break from production due to delays.
"Dragon Zakura 2" has become a popular serialized work in Morning, and thankfully, it has been decided that it will be made into a TV drama. "Dragon Zakura 2" is still ongoing, but in the end, I think it was a good idea to try the outsourcing style of drawing.
-As it says after the line, "To achieve great success...", courage is important to be successful.
"Yes. I'm sure that the reason many people seek advice and make thorough preparations is because they are anxious. But even if you are anxious, you should muster up your courage and take action. Perhaps the phrase "doing something abnormal" can be rephrased as "believing in yourself and giving it a go." Of course, you will fail, but you won't succeed unless you believe in yourself. Opportunities for change are everywhere. The only thing left is whether you have the courage."
(Don't be afraid, just give it a try. Mita's work teaches us the importance of taking the first step.)
"You just need to fit in! All success comes from fitting in!"
-Could you also introduce some other lines that are linked to your own experiences, Professor Mita?
"Is it okay to tell one episode with two lines?"
- I don't have any editing skills yet, so if possible, could you tell me one episode for each line?
"I see. Well then, I'll have to work hard on editing that (laughs)."
- I'll do my best...
(From Investor Z and Cross Country, featured in the February and June calendars respectively)
"'Cross Country' in February, and 'Investor Z' in June. These two lines match exactly with the journey I took to get first place in the survey with 'Cross Country', and they are very moving."
- "Cross Country" is one of your most well-known early works.
"'Cross Country' was my first long-running serialized work. It was the realization of my wish to write a story with a high school baseball coach as the main character. I was also blessed with the good fortune of having what started out as a monthly serialization change to a weekly one, so I was very satisfied with it at the time."
Yes. The series started in Manga Goraku.
"But when it became a weekly series, the editor changed. The new editor said, 'Cross Country is really interesting, so let's aim to make it the number one manga in Manga Goraku.'"
- I see. So what did you do, Professor Mita?
"Well, I thought it was obviously impossible (laughs). At that time, 'Minami no Teiou' was the undisputed No. 1 in 'Manga Goraku.'"
-It's rare to see Professor Mita so timid.
"That's how overwhelming 'The Emperor of Minami' was. But the editor insisted, 'Mita-san, you can do it. Let's do it.' After hearing that over and over, I thought, 'I have no choice but to respond to this spirit,' and together we began aiming for the top spot."
-So you were inspired by the editor's enthusiasm. So what did you do to get first place?
"As I said before, 'The Emperor of Minami' was overwhelmingly number one. So I thought that if I could incorporate the factors that made 'The Emperor of Minami' a hit into 'Cross Country', the ranking would go up, so I read and studied 'The Emperor of Minami'.
There are three things I learned from "Minami no Teiou." The first is to draw the characters' faces large on the page. The second is to include the catchphrase in a panel with a large face. The third is to draw a metaphor using a simple "picture."
- I see! That's interesting. So, what was the result?
"When I tried incorporating the factors that made 'The Emperor of Minami' a hit, which I mentioned earlier, 'Cross Country' successfully won first place in the readers' survey. If you read my works after 'Cross Country', you'll understand, but even now I write with what I learned from 'The Emperor of Minami' in mind."
-The individuality of Mita's works, which continue into "Dragon Zakura 2" and "Investor Z," was born from "The Emperor of Minami."
"Exactly. But if I kept releasing the same kind of stuff, it would get lost in the crowd and my popularity would gradually decline, so I ended up with my current style through trial and error. But even so, I still faithfully stick to the three rules for success.
Manga that only half-heartedly incorporates the fundamentals and rules is "weak" and won't be remembered by readers. I tried and tested while thoroughly adhering to the three formats. While I took on new challenges, I never wavered in adhering to the basic formats. I believe that it was thanks to this mindset that I was able to continue to produce hit works."
-I see. It's exactly what you say: "All you need to do is fit in! Success comes from the way you do things."
"Yes, and the line that Kuroki says in Cross Country is, 'Winning is something you grab with your own hands.' Of course he had the support of his editor, but in the end, he, as the author, got the reason for winning first place with his own hands."
--I see... These two lines are based on the episode leading up to Cross Country taking the top spot...
"Well, it ended up with two lines, but please edit it well (laughs)."
-I'll do my best.
(What you need is a pattern. Start by imitating it!)
"Happiness is...money and health." Why was I still struggling even though I no longer had to worry about money?
-The line that shocked me the most was from Dragon Zakura 2, which is on the September calendar: "Happiness is... money and health." Mita-sensei, is happiness really money and health?
(Is happiness really about money and health?)
"I think so. Of course, happiness is a subjective thing, so it's not wrong for some people to say, 'Even if I have money and health, I don't feel happy.' But if you have money and health, you'll have much less trouble like struggling to get food or suffering from illness. You'll be free from the many hardships that come your way and be able to focus on pursuing happiness. If you could be like that, don't you think that would be true happiness?"
-I see... that makes a lot of sense. By the way, when did you realize that "if you have both money and health, you will be happy"?
"I guess it was when I was able to draw manga without staying up all night. When I made my debut, it was common knowledge that "it's normal for manga artists to stay up all night," and to put it in extreme terms, there was a misconception that "the more difficult it is, the better the manga will be." So everyone was drawing their manga until the very last minute.
I still have that impression. I often hear stories about busy manga artists, like "a popular manga artist who is serializing weekly only sleeps an average of three hours a day" or "he spends his days off creating storyboards, so he never gets a break."
"But at the same time, my assistants were busy too, so they were also exhausted and living difficult lives. When people are tired, they get irritated and clash, right? When I first became a manga artist, a senior manga artist gave me some advice on how to get along with my assistants."
-What kind of advice was it?
"He told us to put a mountain of snacks on the work desks. Everyone is always tired, so if the snacks on the work desks disappear, they'll get irritated" (laughs).
- Were the assistants satisfied with the mountain of sweets?
"Not at all. In the end, the turnover rate was high because it was a tough workplace with all-nighters. Also, there were always snacks available, so the assistants who stayed got fatter and fatter. Their health was terrible."
-What was it like for you, Professor Mita, in that kind of environment?
"I was also very struggling. Once the family business was sorted out and I was able to become a manga artist, I finally didn't have to worry about money much. But it was still difficult. I struggled when I was short of money, but not being able to live a healthy life was just as difficult as being in debt."
-But now, Professor Mita's workplace is well-known as a place where assistants can work comfortably.
"It all started about 14 years after my debut, when we changed the way our workspace was structured. One day, I thought that maybe manga artists could work 9 to 5 like office workers, so I proposed it to my assistants that very day. We immediately started working part-time, and we were able to work more efficiently than when we worked late into the night, and we were able to finish work by the regular time. After that, we stopped working all night, and both my assistants and I became healthier. As a result, the turnover rate of our assistants dropped significantly."
-So by solving a fundamental problem, by never working all night, you've created a comfortable workplace.
"Yes. We don't have any sweets in the workshop now, so anyone who wants to eat them can go and buy some freely (laughs)."
-I see (laughs).
"Money and health. Only when I had these two things did I feel comfortable living. I realized then that if you have money and health, you have the foundation for happiness. Other problems can actually be fixed."
--I see. "Happiness is... money and health"... So that's the story behind this line.
"Each line is spun from interviews and various experiences and knowledge, so it can't be said that one line corresponds to one experience. Anyway, I think Inoue-kun will make a lot of money from now on, but please take care of yourself (laughs)."
-I don't know if I'll be able to make a lot of money, but I'll do my best to earn money while staying healthy!
"Time is Money Calendar" released
-Finally, please give a comment to our readers regarding the release of the Tokikane Calendar.
"Time is money. Those who use their time well will reap the most benefits. That is the formula for happiness. Let's use each day to earn as much as possible. Let's all flip the pages and earn money."
-Thank you, Professor Mita!