Haruhiko Mikimoto's Interview/Autograph Session at
Ink2 Kinokuniya Bugis Junction and Kinokuniya Orchard Singapore
Saturday 25 August 2001 2.00-3 pm
Transcript brought to you by Charles Wong and Singapore Anime News
Photo credits: Charles Wong
No part of this document may be republished or stored in any form without the prior consent of the writer.
Page last updated on 30 June 2001
Mr Mikimoto appeared today for 3 events. The first event held in the morning, was not open to the general public, but rather to students of the Temasek Polytechnic. He appeared later at Ink2 Kinokuniya Bugis Junction and was there for almost 1 hour.
He arrived at 2 pm, carrying a Contax compact camera (guess he was sightseeing too) with 2 fellow Japanese in tow. Someone else was documenting the event with a large shoulder-mounted video camera. Mr Mikimoto spent about 20 minutes giving some brief details of his work, which was followed by 15 minutes spent doing 2 on-the-spot drawings, and 10 minutes for an autograph session. 2 lucky winners were chosen to bring his drawings home. The media he used for this were Prockey pens. Throughout both sessions today he appeared to be rather camera-shy, avoiding direct eye contact with anyone.
During the discussion, he said that works that got him really interested in manga and illustration include Cyborg 009. He also said he was currently a fan of Slam Dunk. His early influence was manga belonging to the shoujo genre, as he liked their attention to detail and style of storytelling.
When he was asked if he felt his style was changing over time, he said he didn't find it to be that way - what evolved over time was not his style, but rather the materials he used. Previously in his university days he used what was available at that time - markers, colored pencils, drawing pens, or watercolor. These days, he also uses computer imagery at times, but still prefers traditional media anytime. Few of his works are totally CG-assisted. Most of the time he preferred to create a master on paper, scan it into a PC, and do only minor touch-up work there.
A member of the audience asked him how he dealt with defining racial differences in his art, for example, Macross had Afro-american characters, and blonde characters like Roy Fokker. Mr Mikimoto replied saying that while the general design was done by him, it was up to the entire production staff to flesh out the character and develop them fully.
The autograph session here was over very fast as there weren't many fans around due to the late announcement of the event. However, the fans brought various hard-to-find items like the Macross VFX manual, 3" CD single covers featuring his Macross art, individual prints, and out-of-print artbooks. I got my This is Animation Macross DYRL book autographed here!
Mikimoto-san made another appearance 2 hours later at Books Kinokuniya Orchard, to a much larger audience. The area was decked out with posters of his other works, including covers from Newtype as well as some of his in-progress drafts.
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Mr Mikimoto's arrival |
Looking at the table |
He was more prepared for this round. Upon his arrival, he immediately stated his reply to a previously-asked question about pursuing a career in illustration. He said that no matter what, you should try to finish a normal education first. This is because with the real-world knowledge imparted in you from school, you can handle problems more efficiently. He said that he himself did not complete his university education because of his love for art, and did not want others to follow in his footsteps. (He was pursuing a course in technology and was asked to leave because he had missed too many classes as a result of his work.)
Another point brought up was that in school he was a very serious person, but had a lot of friends with diverse interests, and they really helped his personal character development.
Mr Mikimoto proceeded to display some of his new works and explained how he made them. All except the last were done via traditional media and scanned for display purposes. His last work has done entirely in Photoshop, and even at 100% sizing jaggies were rather evident.
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One of his previous pieces |
Yet another one |
Mikimoto-san's current project is a promotional CG animation which will hopefully be released before the end of this year. With this style of animation he hopes to animate his 2-dimensional work and make it more life-like. His more recent works will also be showcased in poster form in upcoming issues of Kadokawa's Gundam Ace magazine. They will be featured from September's Issue 3 onwards.
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Gundam Ace magazine |
His favorite subjects include typical casually-dressed girls, belonging to no series in particular. This is very evident in his earlier illustration books. A few questions were asked during this session.
Q: What is his typical work day like?
Interpreter: He leads a principled lifestyle. When he's on a project, he and his assistants usually wake up at 10 am and work all the way to 4 or 5 pm, often skipping lunch. When there're deadlines to meet, they may wake up at 4-5 am. He tends to work faster with deadlines, as most of you do.
Q: What do you think of us taking up this sort of career?
Interpreter: Don't make up your mind to do it. It will come naturally. Don't forget school first.
Q: What software do you use?
Interpreter: Mr Mikimoto likes to use Photoshop and Painter. They are very popular in Japan. Are they popular here?
Q: How do you animate cel art?
Interpreter: Look at them and let the animation flow naturally.
Mr Mikimoto remarked twice that the audience was very serious and asked for some lighter questions, to which the following were asked.
Q: Does Mr Mikimoto ever go on dates?
Interpreter: Mr Mikimito is currently married, so it's not very good to go on dates. He manages to keep himself busy and have fun though.
Q: Do you admire any other artists' work?
Interpreter: With my job, I'll say all other peoples' works are nice. My work is nowhere near the level of the grand masters.
Q: Next year is the 20th anniversary of Macross. Do you have anything planned for us?
Interpreter: Mr Mikimoto says that everywhere he goes, he gets asked that. He says that he is not the sole creator of Macross, and they work as a production team. So far he has not been contacted about any projects, but that could change with time.
Q: How has it been working with other creative people?
Interpreter: Mr Mikimoto previously worked with Mr Hideki Anno from Gainax on Aim for the Top! Gunbuster! He found Mr Anno to be a friendly person, although they did not really know each other very well. He recounts a funny incident where they once ate sphagetti. While most people usually have it with some kind of sauce, Mr Anno liked it plain, with salt and pepper.
As with the earlier session, he then proceeded to give a demonstration of his drawing skill. He draw 3 pieces, using Copic and Prockey markers, in about 7 minutes each, with color. They were Noriko from Gunbuster, Minmei from Macross, and Eve from Megazone 23. 3 lucky winners were again chosen to bring home a piece each. (I was luckier though.... while they each got 1 piece, I got all 3. I brought a camera along. When will I post them here? When I finish my roll of film....)
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Drawing Demonstration |
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Eve from Megazone 23... in less than 7 minutes freehand! |
The autograph session here was much more lively than before, with at least 50 people in the queue. Strangely enough, throughout the day I never caught a glimpse of anyone holding a copy of his "Haruhiko Mikimoto Illustrations" hardcover collection.
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I got my copy autographed!! |
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