Raddishes Hello !! Right off the bat I'm really curious to know how did you come up with your username? Because it's one of those I always seem to remember really well haha and it'd be nice to know where it originates from!
I also spied from your dA you're from the Netherlands? What would you consider your favourite things about the country? What about the least favourite?
Oh, and if you had to name one big thing that has inspired your creative content as a whole, what would it be?
rubs my hands together
I've been meaning to ask you about your relationship with shoujo manga--you've said on your profile that it has been a foundational influence in your projects, and I think, at least, that a lot of your characters would look right at home in a shoujo series. Care to talk more about your interest in it?
My relationship with shoujo is a long one because I saw Sailor Moon airing from a Swedish channel when I was only 4-5, and I was incredibly fascinated by the style of it that I started looking out for more series similar in style, not even knowing the word "anime" until I was like 10. Finland has a history of a rich shoujo manga content, like we have so many more shoujo series than shounen, and so my first two manga ever were Dragon Ball and Tokyo Mew Mew, respectively. I hadn't really been touching "girly things" before that because ~ misogyny ~ but TMM was just so visually appealing to me with the furry girls and everything I was instantly hooked and started looking for more.
There was then a point in time where I read mostly manga meant primarily for men mostly because I had trouble relating to a lot of modern shoujo characters, and so I was drawn in by neoshounen, which is a term sometimes used for manga that is marketed as shounen but clearly meant for the female audience, like Pandora Hearts. I was around 14-15 at that time and puberty hadn't really gone as expected for me and I was really insecure and bummed out by that, but then I got into more shoujo / neoshounen and found myself being able to relate to the male characters who were coded super androgynous/feminine in looks but who could still be heroes or generally respectable guys and not just the butt of a joke. Like, we all know how western media especially in the past has treated "pretty boys" and what kind of stigma it has had until recent years, so I felt so comforted by the fact I could see myself in characters who were still capable men on their own right, lol.
Then when I was 18 I got into Rose of Versailles and got so incredibly hooked on it I started reading more 70s shoujo, and since then it's just been downhill haha. I just really love the 70s shoujo with its way darker themes and (often faux) lgbt+ content that actually sometimes isn't just for female gaze and actually does go deeper into it. Especially Hagio's mangas often involve exploration of gender and sexuality and it's clear she has actually done research and is genuinely interested in the topic, even though admittedly since the stuff is from 70s-90s there is a lot of misinformation but it's still clear her intentions were good.
But yeah TL;DR shoujo has always been there because Finland is so into it and I was able to find some sense of comfort in the way I look from shoujo manga + I really love the aesthetics, style and general themes 70s shoujo contains. It's always been a mixture of validation in my looks and fascination for the gorgeous art for me personally. I do read other stuff too though and sometimes people who only know me through my shoujo interests are surprised to hear I'm into Devilman and Berserk or really any other gore/guro/"artsy explicit manga" - I just make less noise about them because majority of my friends dislike gore and violent / other explicit content and I don't want to make them uncomfortable.
Which series are your favourites and are there any you'd recommend to newcomers?
I always recommend The Heart of Thomas to people! Also literally everything by Moto Hagio really, whereas I advice people to approach Keiko Takemiya's content with more caution as she has a real fascination with portraying super provocative taboo and sensitive content. Like I respect her as a creator and acknowledge how much she has changed the manga industry like she is a living LEGEND along with Hagio but it's a fact her manga just isn't for everyone and goes to the Problematic(tm) territory more often than not. Rose of Versailles is also an excellent thing to start with when it comes to vintage shoujo. I can also more than gladly give more personalized recommendations if you ever want any since it's easier to pick things when I know what people like in particular!
Shout out to Shounen Note which isn't shoujo but has a lot of shoujo's visual conventions & Kamatani was inspired by 70s shoujo especially with a certain character in it :3c And it's a manga that I can 100% recommend for everyone regardless what they like because it's gorgeous and super wholesome and has LGBT+ themes from an author who is LGBT+ themself.
I don't read much modern shoujo to be honest like 80% of the shoujo I love is vintage, but I adore At Laz Meridian and Lovely Complex!
How do you think they have influenced Sinfonia and your other projects (style/plot/world/themes)?
Sinfonia was literally supposed to be a 70s shoujo manga parody, so I created it accordingly to its conventions and cliches present in them!
I feel like shoujo in general has influenced my interest in the exploration of sexuality and gender & made me super focused on the characters and their relationships and the drama involved! I'm most definitely a character oriented creator as opposed to a plot oriented one, and to me personally the plot doesn't even matter that much if the characters are interesting and likable. I can easily go through the worst of garbage for cute characters but don't bother if the plot is good but no character interests me. Also it has obvious influences in my art style and general aesthetic!
Also thank you so much ; o ; < 33