That's So Shiei! NYA!
by Janet Houck
Smushies, hamsters and DDR, oh my! Gomanga.com catches up with the industrious and illustrious Shiei, artist of Amazing Agent Luna and Aoi House, coming soon to an anime convention near you!
Thanks for sitting down with us! Shiei, you're probably one of the busiest artists at Seven Seas, with Amazing Agent Luna and Aoi House! Has drawing become your full time job?
Shiei: Yep, drawing has become my full time job, since illustrating two books takes a tremendous amount of time for me to draw. I really didn't know that I could handle it at first, but after a few weeks of juggling two titles, I got the hang of it. It's crazy, but fun.
Can you tell us a little about your drawing technique? Do you need to get into a certain type of mood to draw Amazing Agent Luna or Aoi House? Your style for each series is quite distinctive.
Shiei: My drawing technique is pretty much the same as any other artists, uh...I think. In a nutshell, I first plan how the panels would work to a page, then do rough sketches. If I'm satisfied with what it looks like and how it flows with the story, I finalize the pencils and go straight to inking.
I draw based on the mood of the story, and I always try to catch each character's emotions and aim to capture it on paper. Light-hearted moments seem to be the easiest for me to illustrate. ^^
Were you inspired by any series or artists in particular?
Shiei: Oh my, there are lots of manga artists I worship. All the girls from CLAMP, Ken Akamatsu and Yukiru Sugizaki, to name a few.
What manga are you reading right now? What are some of your favorite series?
Shiei: I'm currently reading Boogiepop Doesn't Laugh. My favorite series are Rayearth, Chobits and DNAngel.
Besides drawing, what do you do in your spare time?
Shiei: I love to do all sorts of crafts (except witchcraft), like clay sculpting, painting and sewing in my spare time. Sometimes I play Warcraft or DDR, or I'll just sit and read manga.
You're definitely very talented in making your smushies and other handmade plush characters. Are there any plans for an Echiboo smushie for sale?
Shiei: Glad you like them smushies! I'll try to make an Echiboo one soon, but I don't think it'll be good enough to be sold. XD
When we spoke with writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, Christina described volume three of Amazing Agent Luna as "a darker book" and "more complex and mature." Did this shift in tone require you to alter your drawing style for the book?
Shiei: Volume three of Amazing Agent Luna is more serious compared with the other two, but I just drew the way I did for the first two books. I don't think that it required me to change the look or style of the drawing, since Luna is still Luna. ^^
You've said before that Aoi House is a lot easier to draw than Amazing Agent Luna due to its comic and random nature. What has been your favorite chapter or scene to draw in Aoi House?
Shiei: Aoi House is a pretty wild book indeed. My favorite chapter to draw in Aoi House is the DDR match in the mall and also any chapter that involves sea monkeys and perverted hamsters.
How much of Aoi House is a collaboration between Adam Arnold and you? Do you feed off of each other's ideas and work on the final script for the chapters together?
Shiei: Adam does the crazy thinking and I just illustrate what he writes. But I sometimes add or remove scenes without his permission if I think it's needed. (No major complaints from him so far! ^^) We both give each other advice and ideas on each and every page/chapter of Aoi House.
Aoi House has a lot of sight gags and otaku in-jokes. How much research do you end up doing to reference rather obscure items that need to be drawn as technically correct as possible?
Shiei: I don't need to research that much since I could always ask Adam about anything otaku. He is one after all. XD
Who's your favorite Aoi House character to draw? Also, which one of the girls are you the most alike?
Shiei: My favorite Aoi House character to draw is the dark-haired tease, Jessica.
But which one of the girls I am most alike? I don't look like any of the girls in Aoi House, but for personality umm... I think it would be Maria, since she is the most shy of the bunch (but I am not into yaoi or shonen-ai. o_o )
You attended Anime Expo and Comic-Con last year, signing books and doing sketches. What conventions can we catch you at this year?
Shiei: I will be going to Anime Expo and Comic-Con this year, too. ^_^ (Yay!)
Any final words for your fans?
Shiei: THANKS for supporting us here at Seven Seas! And I hope you 'all never get tired of my work ...eheh...^^ *glomps everybody*
We'd love to hear from you!