“For me manga was like love at first sight”

Kachisou, SMA8 Grand Prix RP Winner from Portugal sat down with Vivi for a chat about her dreams, inspiration and determination!

  Hello Kachisou !

First of all, congratulations! How are you feeling?

I was very excited and still cannot believe it. My family doesn’t really get it but they congratulated me, my father was like “where’s the money ?” My sister really likes art and manga like me, so she was very happy. I usually discuss my ideas with her, she is my first reader.

 

This is the original art of the start of The Last Bento! Amazing work!

Has there been anything in you life that impacted you in any way ?

I am from Faro, Portugal.  I remember being in elementary school and having a classmate who was very good at drawing. At that time, I thought I wanted to draw too, and rival him. That is how I started taking an interest in drawing.

 

How did your partnership with Perobense start?

We started in 2015, we met through twitter because we are both fans of Kouhei Horikoshi. I noticed his profile picture on twitter, which was from “Boku no Hero Academia” and I started talking to him. We then realized we shared the same interest in making our own manga.

 

How did you come up with the idea for The Last Bento?

Perobense and I thought about the theme together, we were thinking about sports at first. But then realized it was a common idea. We wanted to go against the flow, so we tried to do something different.

 

What is your daily life like?

I am working as a freelancer from home now. I’m always drawing something, right now I’m working on a few projects with other partners. Right now we are working on 4 different stories for the next SMA9.

 

Is this possibly the beginning of a new hero?

How do you spend your time when you are not drawing?

I spend a lot of time with my sister, she likes to draw as well. I tend to get a lot of ideas when we’re together, she is 17 now. I also like to go for walks in the park to relax and get new ideas.

 

When you draw, do you listen to a specific type of music ?

I usually put the music on, close the door and then I forget about time and can stay hours and hours drawing. I like listening to J-pop groups like Exile and the soundtracks by Joe Hisaishi.

 

Coming from Portugal, I can tell, we love our blankets, looks confy!

What are your favorites movies and manga?

I love Hayao Miyazaki movies, my favorite is “Spirited Away”. I also really like “Boku no hero academia” and “Bakuman”. I really like the style of the artists.

 

I can see that your drawings have a strong Japanese influence but also some European cartoon influences too. What inspired you to draw like that?

A lot of people say that to me, only when they started telling me I realized it. My father was a very big “The Adventures of Tintin” fan so I am familiar with that style. I guess I’m influenced by Disney movies and maybe comics like “Mafalda” by Joaquín Salvador Lavado.

 

Why is manga important to you ?

That is a very difficult question, for me it was love at first sight…its hard to explain. I liked the black and white style. I was also fascinated by the fact that, while reading manga, it felt like the characters were alive and we can actually feel happy and sad for them.

 

With a few tools art is born!

What was the tipping point for you that made you decide to create your own manga?

One day, I found the manga of “Vampire Knight” by Matsuri Hino. I was surprised by the panels and the design of the characters. I really liked it and started copying the drawings. I liked the character Kaname.

 

Is manga popular in your country?

In my area, there is not many people interested in manga or many places to buy them. Maybe more in the capital. Lately manga related events are becoming more popular. But the manga that is translated to english is still expensive.

 

Did you stumble upon any challenges while making The Last Bento?

Drawing the supermarket aisle and drawing the girl’s expression. For some reason, I find girls facial expressions harder to capture than boys. I am a self-taught artist, I tried very hard to get it right. Because of that, I was very surprised to have won a prize.

 

How did you overcome it?

Ummmm… The pressure and responsibility of a deadline, that pulled me through it. I wanted to make everyone proud. Especially my partner.

So many characters with such charming expressions!

What is your drawing process?

I usually draw everything on paper, line work is done the traditional way and then I only put on the screen tone and black ink (beta) digitally.

 

What are your dreams for the future?

I wish to make a manga that captivates readers like One Piece. I know its a big dream, but I think its amazing that your work could reach so many people with children and adults dressing up as your characters. I think its wonderful.

 

Is there something you would like to say to the SMA community?

To watch Taiyo-san and Mocchi-san videos, they were very useful. And definitely keep trying!

 

The table where everything started ! Its looks happy to be used!

  Thank you for making time to talk to us. We can’t wait to see what you create next!   Vivi   You can follow Kachisou here… Twitter: @KKachisou   And you can follow me, here… Twitter: @SmacViVi  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabbri.virginia.37