Anime Expo 2019: Atsushi Ohkubo explica qué lo inspiró para crear Fire Force

 Fire Force es un popular manga en Japón, creado por Atsushi Ohkubo, que llegará muy pronto a las pantallas niponas.

Kodansha y Funimation organizaron un panel con su autor en el Anime Expo 2019 donde contó cómo se inspiró para este nuevo trabajo, que lo hecho tan popular como Soul Eater.

"Los bomberos son las personas más cercanas a los héroes en nuestras vidas reales, pero no hay muchas obras de ficción o fantasía que hablen de su trabajo. Así que me interesé en hacer un manga al respecto. Desde que era pequeño siempre pensé que los bomberos eran realmente geniales, conducían coches con las sirenas a todo volumen, y se dirigían a apagar incendios. Hay algunas historias existentes sobre bomberos en entornos realistas, pero nada sobre bomberos en un mundo de fantasía. Así que quería darle una oportunidad. También me inspiraron esos bomberos que trabajaron arduamente para salvar la vida de las personas durante desastres como el 911 en los Estados Unidos y el 311 en Japón", confesó.

"En Fire Force, Shinra y Company 8 son los personajes principales de la serie, pero hay otros bomberos que entrarán en la historia más adelante. He trabajado muy duro en este manga, y el personal de animación ha trabajado muy duro en el anime. ¡Así que espero que los disfruten!", agregó.

Desafortunadamente, el anime solo está disponible en Estados Unidos.

English version

Atsushi Ohkubo's Fire Force at Anime Expo 2019

During Anime Expo 2019, Atsushi Ohkubo, creator of Fire Force, shared his thoughts behind the creation of the hit animated series.


Q. First question I’d like to ask: is this your first time in the U.S.?

Atsushi Ohkubo (AO): Yes, it’s the first time for me to be in the U.S.

Q. What did you do during your break between Soul Eater and Fire Force?

AO: I was playing video games.

Q. What inspired Fire Force?

AO: Firefighters are the closest things to heroes in our real lives, but there aren’t that many fictional or fantasy works that touch on the subject of their work. So I got interested in making a manga about it. Ever since I was little, I always thought firefighters in uniforms were really cool, riding around fire engines with sirens blaring, heading off to put out fires. There are a few existing stories about firefighters in realistic settings, but nothing about firefighters in a fantasy world. So I wanted to give it a shot. I was also inspired by those firefighters who were working hard to save people’s lives during disasters like 911 in the U.S. and 311 in Japan.

Q. Soul Eater and Fire Force both have supernatural overtones. What is it that you love about the supernatural genre?

AO: The biggest thing for me is I’m trying to bring out expressions unique to manga, that aren’t possible in any other medium. When I was working on Soul Eater, I was trying to bring out the best work possible at that time. If some of those attempts went well, I remembered them, so I could use them again in new work but in different ways. Those aspects might appear again in Fire Force, as similar motifs.

Q. Which character in Fire Force do you feel closest to?

AO: Haumea and Arther. Haumea is an evil character, and I could be evil. Arther is an idiot, and I could also be an idiot.

Q. For the fans here that want to become a manga artist, what advice would you like to give them?

AO: First, you should try to draw whatever you want. Then show your work—let’s say to ten people—to get some feedback. If ten out of ten people say, “I don’t understand what’s going on here,” then it’ll become very clear what you have to fix.

Q. Any message you’d like to give the fans?

AO: In Fire Force, Shinra and Company 8 are the main characters of the series, but many more unique and tricky firefighters are going to enter the story later on. I’ve worked very hard on this manga, and the animation staff has worked very hard on the anime. So I hope you’ll enjoy them!

Fire Force is available at Crunchyroll for US fans.

Translation thanks to Kodansha