Image provided by Kyoko Aiba
Kyōko Aiba has recently made moves. Her first work in English, I Love You Enough To Tie You Up (from Manga Juné), is a series of steamy and erotic BL short stories about dysfunctional couples pushing each other beyond their limits. Surname. Eight years later, however, she launched psychological dramas like Derail (available on Manga Planet), a wonderful one-volume manga that tells the story of two roommates who become increasingly entangled in their lives. each other, from both characters’ perspectives. Her portrait of two men trying to hide their vulnerabilities while drawing the other into ever-closer intimacy makes for a compelling reading experience. She’s also been making moves in the josei field, churning out romantic short stories like Harlem Knight (available on Renta!). Her most recent manga, not yet available in English, is Invisible Me, about a girl taking care of her mother who is dying of an incurable disease. ANN had the opportunity to speak with Aiba on Saturday at Otakon.
So your two biggest works in English are I Love You Enough To Tie You Up and Derail. How would you describe how your approach and style has changed from the eight years since I Love You Enough To Tie You Up to more recent work like Derail?
Kyōko Aiba: So at first, I was thinking about making something that people could come home from work and open up for a bit of fun, but I felt constrained within those limitations. Starting around Derail, I started to step outside the boundaries I set for myself.
How have you stepped outside those boundaries?
AIBA: I actually had plans to change and go beyond those limits even before Derail. But Derail is a unique case. Usually, BL manga has a uke and a seme, the person doing the approaching and the person being approached. Usually, uke will be the main character. However, Derail is a unique case where the publishing company said they wanted to see something written with the main character doing the reaching out. So Derail is a unique manga. I decided to say, “Okay, what if I step outside those boundaries?”
Derail has two characters with extremely complex psychology. I don’t think it’s as simple as one person having more power than the other; They seem to be trying to get it together. What inspires these characters’ thought processes, especially regarding a relationship?
AIBA: I was really inspired by Sherlock Holmes because in Sherlock Holmes, Holmes is the main character. However, I realized that it was actually Watson who did the heavy lifting. So I considered doing something that followed the same time and story but from two different perspectives. I believe that’s where I started looking at the different unique thought processes that take place in the series.
Image provided by Kyoko Aiba
Who do you think has the strength between the two characters Hikaru and Haru?
AIBA: I believe that Haru is a bit more selfish than Hikaru, who can see things from a broader perspective. Hikaru could see both himself and Haru in that wide perspective. So maybe Hikaru has an advantage over Haru, or at least a slight advantage.
How do different communities react to your work because there is a wide audience for BL, right? There are fujoshi, and then there are gay men. I’m curious about the differences in their reactions to your work and what gay men in particular think of your work.
AIBA: For gay men, I believe those [đồng tính] have own opinion. a very unique situation because I actually received fan mail from the gay community. They told me through fan letters that they might not have the best situations and things, and they told me very sincerely about it. So if my manga can improve things for them in some way then I’m very pleased with myself.
You’ve said Junjo Romantica is one of your favorite manga. Is this still true and how has it inspired or influenced your work?
AIBA: So, I’m not sure if I would say I love Junjo Romantica the most [cười]. However, I can say that it’s definitely something I love.
Alright. [mọi người cười].
AIBA: However, Junjo Romantica appeared in the same magazine as my work. I really don’t think I was positively inspired by it. But I think parts of it could have been erased and I was passively inspired by it. But it’s not like I made any proactive efforts to get stuff from Junjo Romantica.
You’ve been doing more work in the josei scene lately, like Harlem Knights. What influenced you to switch to josei manga?
AIBA: Besides BL, there is also a genre called “Teen Love” and [làm việc với josei] is actually something I’m doing in parallel with boy. love for a long time. So I recently started going in a direction other than romance manga, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Initially I wanted to enter the shoujo manga space. I didn’t start out with the intention of starting out in the guy’s love department. However, I was pulled away by its gravity. [cười] But yeah, I had a plan to diversify all along, so I guess it was a natural progression.
