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BITE IT! The most TERRIFYING LOVE recipe of SMA! – Hello Award Winners #14 Dekirewee

Enrico Croce Enrico Croce 27/09/2017 21 min read
Taste of LOVE can overcome DEATH The very first manga ever created by Dekirewee, the manga duo formed by Kino (the artist) and Dereity (the scriptwriter). A story that combines FEELINGS with ZOMBIES! Will the SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Community (the readers, the creators and the editors) be DEADLY moved by reading their entry’s secrets!? Let’s ask it directly to them! Hello, Dekirewee!  
  ABOUT YOU  “What matters is the excitement and fun I will feel from now by doing many different art style experiments.”  

Kino’s original character: Kino

  1) How did you begin creating Manga? Kino: Manga and comic took a big part in my childhood. I started drawing comics when I was in elementary school. At that time I usually joined all the paper I drew into a small book and brought it to class for my friends to read it. Later on, I couldn’t draw very often, because art has not great career prospects in my culture and I did not spend much time for it. But I still tried to do some lame sketches whenever I was free. And somehow, drawing is my full-time job now. It took me a long time to realise, but I think I have now understood that what matters is the excitement and fun I feel by doing many different art style’s experiments. Dereity: When I was in elementary school, I tried to draw some short comics using “Doraemon” characters. And my classmates enjoyed it because they were “Doraemon” fans as well. From that moment, I started to love making comics, not just reading it. I drew some more comics with my original characters. They were OK, but weren’t interesting enough (so as my drawing skills). I got lazier and drew less and less, but I was still in love with creating comics. So I worked with some of my friends who are better artists than me. I was in charge of the stories, leaving all the art production to them. Luckily, we received a few prizes for one-shot comic competition in my country (“Thế Giới Ước Mơ “, meaning “Dream World”, held for 8 competitions since 2008). A 2nd place for the story “Invisible man” (drew by Vu Dihn Lan) and a 4th place for “Tran Lam”. SMA7 was the first international manga competition that I attended, and my mate was “Kino the Kiwi” this time!  

“Invisible man”, by Lan & Dereity

  2) What is your working environment like? Are you an analogue or digital person? Any unique tools you use to draw? Kino: Let me introduce you my workspace! The table is designed by myself – which shows how sexy a raw wood can be! Isn’t it AMaZinG ?? 😀 I guarantee that if you sit here, it will make you feel so good that you don’t want to do anything else! I draw using digital tools more often. My friends keep telling me that if I switch to hand drawing, it will be terrible. And it’s true! Dareity:  Since I only work on stories and stories, I can develop them in almost anywhere, anytime, like on the street, in a cafe, in the bathroom, on my bed or during my naps.  

Kino’s desk! Look at that raw piece of wood!

  ABOUT YOUR PART OF THE WORLD   “We are friends with many Vietnamese manga artists.”   3 ) Anything the world should know about where you live? Interesting events/sights/foods/ culture etc? Kino: Ha Noi, where I currently live, is a 1000-year-old place with great traditional value. It’s tough to explain what this “value” is by using only words, but I can say that tradition lies within everything here. I’m not talking about the overwhelming number of traditional events that are organized in here every year (nearly 10,000 events… can you believe that?? I don’t think we need that many tho). The old, traditional value can be seen everywhere, from the architecture to the roads, from the trees to the food. If you take a walk in Ha Noi’s streets, you may notice a mixture of modern buildings and the hundred year old architectures (like the ancient town and temples). There are even buildings like the Tran Quoc temple, which has 1,500-year-old history! Also, the food here are amazing. Seriously. “Bun cha”, “Bun oc”, “Pho”, “Banh day”… You gotta try them all! They are cheap and tasty!!! Dareity: If you want to see vast landscapes and experience Vietnam’s countryside, you ought to try a road trip with a motorbike, in Moc Chau, Sapa, Ha Giang, etc. To me, it feels much cooler than the overpopulated city with buildings that block your sight!   4) Popular comics/manga in your part of the world at this moment? Kino: “Doraemon”, “Detective Conan”, “One Piece”, “One-Punch Man”, and so on. Most are on-going famous Japanese manga series (except “Doraemon”). Vietnamese comics are not so popular among people.   5) Are locally created comics/manga popular in your town? Do you know any local creators?  Kino: I had the chance to live in two biggest cities of Vietnam; Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. In these cities, there are always many people who like manga and comics. Several comic groups are in both the towns and I usually join their events. Also, a lot of members are my friends, and many of them are also professional comic artists, like Vu Dinh Lan, Red Red (a member of our comic group called “Darkness”) and Zevania. Dareity: Vietnamese manga are quite popular in my place, I think. A lot of famous comic artists currently live in Ha Noi. I’m lucky to be friends with many of them. They have a strong manga passion, and they make excellent pieces.     ABOUT SMA7 AWARD ENTRY     “The guilty of the zombie outbreak is Dareity’s cat!”   6) Is any part of the story, based on an experience of your own? Kino: Yep, I got the bite, too. Wait, I forgot to mention. I’m a zombie now.Dereity and I wanted to join the contest as a hidden zombie ninja! “Taste better than brain” is our first manga together. We listed several ideas and decided which was the most promising. Then we chose this story about a zombie, as it has something I can relate to. Like, if I can remember the ‘taste’ of only one thing, then what it is going to be? It is astonishing that SMA team come to find us and that we are sitting together answering all these questions! Please look forward to Dekirewee’s works and support us in the future!.   7) Where did you find the inspiration for the entry? Kino: Our Vietnamese friends’ entries, mostly. They created some amazing pieces that were highly awarded. Those works introduced me to this audition and also inspired me to try. However, the very first silent manga entry I ever read was ‘Sky Sky’ from SMA1, impressive piece. Dareity: I think the idea popped-out after I tried to connect concepts of Love and Eat, turned out to be Eat the person you Love. And lips have the best taste.   8) How did the zombie outbreak begin? Kino: I’m sorry, but this is classified. I’d like to reveal that it was because of Dereity’s cat, who secretly travelled to Washington D.C. at night, entered a random experimental laboratory and purposely dropped every chemical tube on the floor before returning home in the morning but I can’t.   9) In what place/year does the story take place? Dereity: It occurred in Vietnam. 45 days since the night my cat went missing.   10) One of the zombies had attended the protagonist’s wedding. Are they long time friends? Dereity: They might know each other before, but that doesn’t matter anymore. They are all dead now. That zombie might had been one close friend with the protagonist, or maybe he was just a photographer who took pictures during the wedding. One thing I can tell is that his dead brain doesn’t have to think before doing something.

Did you spot this character at the wedding? Read once again the entry and try to find him! ^^

  11) What is the girl holding with the photo of the wedding? Kino: This is more relevant to the flashback part that I decided to cut out from the original story (too long!!). The girl holds a piece of paper, given to her by the protagonist before he sacrificed himself to save her life. It says: “Always with you”.   12) Do you have some sketch of the part you cut off from the original story? Kino: As ninjas, our martial arts scroll is top secret! I want to show you guys our sketches if Dareity’s cat did not come back from W.D.C to steal it away. Maybe we will have a chance to show you our lame sketches in the future.   13) How long did it take to create the entry? Kino: It took us about two weeks to work on the idea. At that time, three months remained before the deadline. Then I waited until the last week to draw it… I intended to do that because I like challenges. I wasn’t being lazy, at all. Dareity: For the idea, It popped-out in like 10 seconds when I was at work. I brought that 10-seconds idea home, then spent one or two nights to develop all the main details of the story.   14) Which SMA7 Award-winning entries do you like?  Kino: I enjoy Zevania’s manga. His artwork is just great, especially how he built the World and Character concept. I like many more entries from other artists. They are so touching with great endings. For example, because deep storytelling manga are always our favourite, I enjoyed “Like that old italian wine” and “Grandma‘s Flavor”. I can’t express how much I love beautiful and unique concept art. By reading these detailed, beautiful manga, I felt like I can step into their world. Dareity: “Our Promised Land” and “Like that old italian wine”.   ABOUT THE FUTURE   “Finish your entry now, guys! We want to see them give out 50 awards this time!”   15) What are your future expectations? Kino: For a short term, I will finish drawing one more short story, hopefully. For long-term, hmmm. I think if I can have my series, it would be awesome. But it is a long way to go. Dareity: A better award for my entry in SMA8, maybe? Since my SMA7 entry was an “Honourable Mention”, I can only hope that I will get lucky and aim higher this time.  

Kino (both the creator and the character) is very determined to reach his goal!

  16) What do you expect to achieve by taking part in SMA-Community – The readers, the creators and the editors? Kino: Firstly, by working on this manga, I want to win over myself. This is the first manga that I’ve completed after many years. And I worked on it at the same time I ran for many other deadlines and tons of stressful stuff. So I will call it “A Little Success” for me. Secondly, I want my story to be read. The more people read my piece, the happier I am. So I believe there is no better place than SMA for me to share my stories, especially when the audience is worldwide, including the pros!!! I want a title achievement, too. The chance of being recognised by the pros got me so excited. However, I will have to work harder to have a better achievement next time. Dareity: The more people read my stories, the happier I am. SMA gave me the best chance to share my story to many people. There was a Facebook page posting my entry for SMA7, and you know what? That post got more than 1,200 shares, meaning at least 1,200 people had read it. I couldn’t wish for more.   17) Anything else you would like to share with the community? Kino: I admire hard working people. Looking at you guys creating those amazing artworks and stories make me feel so uncomfortable, that I want to start drawing right away. Your work encouraged me to draw more, practice more and I’ve learned a lot because of that! Thank you! Dareity: Finish your entry now, guys! I want to see them give out 50 awards this time!!  
Thank you, Dekirewee! We are all waiting for your next, TERRIFYING entry! If you win a higher award this time, please show your SECRET sketches to all the SMA-Community! You still have THREE days to do it! AND WE KNOW YOU CAN! You and all SMAC! have just to click the picture below after you got a simple, clicking idea! Do it short! DO IT NOW! SMA8 – Deadline on 30th September! Bye bye!
Enrico Croce

Enrico Croce

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