In a recent publication, Weekly Shonen Jump sat down with the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi, and the creator of Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda, to pick their brains about their creations. During the course of the conversation, Takahashi revealed more about her current big franchise, Mao. Mao is described as “an otherworldly story, about a girl named Nanoka who apparently died at the hands of a monster when she was young. Eight years later she seems very much alive, but on the way to school one day finds herself on the border of another world—where she meets the mysterious MAO.” With this interview, Takahashi dived further into why the recent release has excited her!
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Anime News Network shared the new details during the interview between the two big manga creators via their Official Twitter Account, stating that the franchise will deal with time travelling as the protagonists bounce between separate eras in history:
#Interest Inuyasha, Golden Kamuy Creators Talk #Manga in 2-Part Interview • Manga creators Rumiko Takahashi and Satoru Noda sat down to talk about one another’s work in two interviews published in Weekly Shonen Sunday and Weekly Young Jump. The… https://t.co/k5XWrg5dVW
— Anime News Network (@Anime) September 10, 2019
Mao originally released in May earlier this year, 2019, and is managing to live up to its predecessors of Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi.
What do you think of Mao so far? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime!
Originally created by Rumiko Takahashi for Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine in 1996, Inuyasha’s synopsis reads as follows: “After falling into an old well and into ancient Japan, Kagome discovers that her destiny is linked to the dog-like half demon called Inuyasha! As Kagome learns more about her connection to the past and to Inuyasha, she comes into conflict with the terrible demons that are drawn to the Shikon Jewel, including Inuyasha’s own half brother, Sesshomaru. Finding the shards of the Shikon Jewel is going to require powerful magic, strange allies, and a strong heart. Kagome’s got plenty of heart, but she’s going to need Inuyasha’s help for the rest of it, and he may not be so willing to lend a hand!”
For those unfamiliar with Golden Kamuy, the series was originally created by Satoru Noda. First published in Shuiesha’s Young Jump in 2014, the story follows Saichi Sugimoto, a miner in Hokkaido taking care of the widow of his dead comrade after surviving the battle of 203 Hill in the Russo-Japanese War. He hears rumors of of a stash of gold hidden by a group of criminals, and decides to go look for it with the mysterious girl Asirpa after she saves him from the harsh wilderness.
The series has been licensed for an English language release by Viz Media and has been collected into 12 volumes. The manga has more than 3.2 million copies in print, and series creator Satoru Noda received a Manga Taisho award for the series in March 2016. It was also nominated for Best General Manga at the 40th annual Kodansha Manga Awards, and for the 20th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2016.
