Starting shortly.

There is a giant Kon here…I’ll add him to my mass photopost for later. (Only barely got him, too…)

Wow, they’re not allowing ANY photography during the panel. I know that’s common enough with bl magaka, but apparently some mainstream creators, too.

Much applause for Kubo-sensei, of course. Sensei is being given an award by comic-con. Comic-con guy just called him “taito” kubo. oops! award is Comic-Con Inkpot Award for Comic Book Excellence! Kubo says he’s honored, especially since predecessor Osamu Tezuka won it too.

The additional panelists are Viz editor Hiromi Sasagawa, JP Bleach editor Nakazaki-san, and Shonen Junp editor Pancha Diaz…plus ten essay contest winners from Japan.

Openers from Kubo-sensei: everyone, i’m glad to see you all. Than you very much.

Now, q&a! Questions are put on cards in advance, and questions not answered here may be used in an exclusive two-hour interview for shonen jump, plus an undisclosed video project– I’m thinking Bleach bonus feature.

Kubo is impressed by Comic-Con which is many times larger than Jump Festa. This is his first time to America and out of Japan at all, so he had to get a passport for this.

We’re seeing pictures of his studio, never seen anywhere else ever period. Sensei says he got work done in Japan so he wouldn’t have to work here.

He has three assistants, and sensei always picks the music they listen to. It’s a cool studio. They store screentones and stuff in white stacked drawers in the back of the studio. One of the assistants loves Doraemon, hence some merch in the studio…the assistants put whatever they like on their desks.

Sense is the kind of guy who wears sunglasses indoors, btw. They have an ornamental tv as well as a real (big) one. Kubo has a rare Bleach watch, looks very high-end. There’s some fanartt on the wall, including Bobobo…oh, not fanart; Kubo and his artist friends exchange sketches and autographs.

DAMN Kubo has a shit-ton of CDs! About 1200-1300 on shelves, and more stacked up, maybe 2000 total. The kitchen is clean because they never cook.

Upstairs is Sensei’s work area, and we see him sans sunglasses working in the video he’s coloring Bleach art for Jump. He has two pairs of sunglasses hanging on the wall. The audoence likes his chair, it’s very modern…and he based Aizen’s chair off of it. Huh.

Sensei’s editor visits him two or three times a week. That’s when Nakazaki-san gets manuscripts…I might have his name spelled wrong. Kubo apparently frequently gets fan letters from overseas fans.

Kubo-sensei decided to become a mangaka when he was in elementary school…but since then he’s become interested in design and architecture.

Bleach was inspired by the fact that he wanted to draw shinigami in kimonos, and to make something no one had seen before…he started with Rukia’s design.

Characters definitely come before story in sensei’s creation process.

Interesting question: why the hispanic cultural stuff in Bleach? It wasn’t really intended, he just felt that Chad should have some Mexican heritage during the design process.

The characters’ normal clothes are the ones Kubo wishes he could find but can’t. Maybe he should consider a fashion line.

For aspiring manga artists, Kubo-sensei says to believe in your talent and that it’s important for both you and the readers to enjoy your work.

Where does the Quincy idea (and name) come from? It was to create a rival for Ichigo, hence the white outfit, and the long-range archery weapons. Quincy comes from quintent, the quincy star has five points…also Quincy Archer sounds like a name which he thought was cool.

Kubo doesn’t have models for action scenes, he just has rock music in his head and he imagines the scene, then mentally pauses it and rotates around the camera and picks the best angle.

It wasyesterday that Kubo realized just how many fans he has here. Heh.

Kubo-sensei’s favorite part of the manga process is when he thinks about the story and gets to draw something he’s wanted to for a while. He has random ones in his head he wants to do so he tries to find good ways to incorporate them into the manga. He also likes inking.

Questions for the Japanese editor…Kubo finishes his pages a couple of weeks before they get published. Huh.

Will he do a backstory for Ishin(?), Kubo says yes.

Three minutes left!

Is the Kon doll based on something? He wanted something fake-looking and usually you wouldn’t have a seam in a face…he liked that fact.

When Kon was first found he was on the street, dropped by a bratty kid who didn’t get the toy he wanted. Awwww! The giant Kon cosplayer is saaaad.

Last one: when Kubo was looking for a word to go with shinigami, he found a word that is raven butterfly, which flies in the dark, which he liked…hence the hell butterflies. The end!

14 Responses to “sdcc: Tite Kubo spotlight”

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