Bungo Stray Dogs creator Kafka Asagiri was welcomed to Anime Expo 2023 with open arms and a raucous crowd during his panel. The manga is currently getting its fifth anime season this summer. Anime Trending had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with the creator as he shared his philosophy and creative insights.
Image source: Yen Press
Thank you for taking the time to attend Anime Expo 2023. Can you talk about what inspired you to create characters based on famous authors and historical figures?
Kafka Asagiri: I want to choose famous literary authors that I think are very good so that everyone can learn and enjoy them. I wanted them to be better known and loved so I wrote them in a way that made people seek out the original works and read them more. And that’s why I decided to write Bungo Stray Dogs.
You first started working at an auto company before becoming a full-time writer. What motivated you to change career and start writing stories?
In the manga Black Lagoon, there is a villain named Ibraha who says: “What we do is not a profession, but a job. way of life!”And I wanted to live by that motto by making my profession my lifestyle and that’s why I became a writer.
By the way, Ibraha’s job is to become a terrorist… (laughs)
Did you know about Black Lagoon before becoming an author?
Yes, I read Black Lagoon before switching careers to become a writer. Since that time, there have been many different influences and paths that have served as guides for me in how I live my life. This line from Black Lagoon is one of them.
Another is “Anpanman’s March”, the opening theme song for the children’s anime, Anpanman. The second verse of the song says: “Why were we born? What do we live for? Not being able to give an answer is something I don’t want! And that truly captivated my heart.
Image source: Yen Press
It is our understanding that you sent Harukawa-sensei a few background lines for each part of your characters to create their initial designs. How does the process of exchanging ideas and completing the final design take place?
For 90% of the characters, the first sketches designed by Harukawa-sensei were used as the final designs. So there is little need to go back and forth. Harukawa-sensei’s character designs were perfect and I barely had to say anything to them so we went with it as is.
However, there is one character who is an exception as we dig deep and revisit them over and over again. That special character is Chuya.
Can you talk about the creative process with illustrator Harukawa-sensei and yourself while working on Bungo Stray Dogs?
First, I thought of a simple manga art design or storyboard called “name,” including rough drawings and dialogue, and passed it to Harukawa-sensei. Harukawa-sensei took that, refined the art, and turned it into something suitable for the manga. Most of the time, I kept quiet and didn’t ask her to make any changes. I have complete confidence in her skills.
How much research time do you spend on each real-life author before creating the characters? Were there any surprises while doing the research?
It really depends on the author. For authors I know well, I use what I know and my impression of them. For lesser-known authors, I buy their literary works and spend a few days researching.
As I researched Ernest Hemingway and his works, there was one story that really stood out and surprised me. Hemmingway and his writer friends came up with the idea of trying to create the shortest novel.
He wrote, “For sale: children’s shoes, never worn.” Only 6 words but this novel made my heart skip a beat. After reading this, it reminded me again of how genius Hemmingway was.
Bungo Stray Dogs features many Western authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Fyodor Dostoevsky and many others familiar to readers outside of Japan. Are there any other writers you’d like to add to the manga but haven’t had the chance yet?
Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Dante, and there are many more authors I’d like to add, especially European authors. In particular, if Dante were a character, he would have immense power.
While creating the story and world-building for Bungo Stray Dogs, can you share if there were any works that inspired you and what not? Helped provide guidance?
I get a lot of inspiration from movies. Whenever I feel writer’s block, I watch Avengers.
With the upcoming fifth season of Bungo Stray Dogs, can you talk about your working relationship and collaboration with the anime staff?
I participate in every script-writing meeting. There, I check the changes in the script and discuss them. However, during the rest of the anime production process, I usually don’t touch anything. I leave that to the anime staff.
And there are two reasons. First of all, I’m a screenwriter, but I’m not an animation person. The second reason is that I want the anime team to work with creative freedom. I want them to go deeper into the work in anime form.
Image source: Yen Press
This manga is very developing its climax plot now. What can readers most look forward to as the Detective Agency faces its biggest challenge yet?
The first point will be in the battle between Dazai and Fyodor, who will win? The second point is that I want everyone to pay attention to the weakest character Aya and her fight in this story.
I like strong characters, but when it comes to weak characters, I really enjoy it when weak characters are desperate to win, giving their all to fight and overcome difficulties so I has put most of his writing energy into writing these scripts.
For you, the creator of Bungo Stray Dogs, what is your daily life like?
It’s very relaxing and fun!
The reason is because even if a person puts in their best effort to complete their task, no matter how long they do it, the limit is three hours. More than that and you run out of creativity.
So, with this job, every day, I only have to work three hours.
I’m very happy. (laugh)
If you were in trouble, which Bungo Stray Dogs character would envision rescuing you?
I don’t care who it is. I want someone to rescue me.
If I had to choose, it would be Edgar Allan Poe. Because if he writes a novel about a vacation, I can relax in that world for a long time.
Can you share any final comments for Bungo Stray Dogs fans outside of Japan?
First of all, when I first started working on this game, I really didn’t expect that it would be so loved by fans around the world. From now on, I will do my best to create the best story possible. I hope everyone will continue to cheer for me.
Yen Press is publishing the English version of the comic series Bungo Stray Dogs. Episode 23 is currently scheduled to release on November 21, 2023. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime series including the latest fifth season.
Translated by Momo Cha