Shonen Jump Interview: Issue 20 – August 2004
Shonen Jump: Welcome to America. What is your impression of the country?
Kazuki Takahashi: This is my sixth time in America. I usually visit places like Los Angeles or Florida. I go where there are lots of entertainment facilities. I think its a fun country. The largeness of the sky, more than anything, is memorable. I was born in Tokyo, surrounded by tall buildings, so I’m envious of environments where the sky can be seen.
SJ: Is Surgoroku Motou’s game store based on a real game store?
KT: No, it doesn’t exist. It’s fictional. It doesn’t sell board games or video games. It sells more of the classic games. That’s the kind of shop it is.
SJ: Did you ever got to games stores?
KT: I went a lot. I used to go and buy different kinds of figures or cards or board games.
SJ: Many reader have asked where Yugi’s parents are. Does he live with his father and mother?
KT: Of course, his mother appears in one chapter in Volume Five. Yugi actually does have a father, but he’s living away from his family on business. That’s how it is for the time being, [laughs] But in the Egypt episodes there will be a lot revealed about Yami Yugi’s father.
SJ: The American readers haven’t read it yet, so they’ll have to wait and see. So, if you have to pick two favorite scenes in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series so far, what would they be?
KT: Um, that’s a tough one, I quite like the unification scene with Kaiba in volume five. When he defeats Kaiba, when they touch their hands, I like that part. The second, Jounouchi and Yugi’s battle. In a situation where Jounouchi, who’s brainwashed by Marik, fights Yugi, I like the words that Yugi says to Jounouchi at the end. By the way, how far the story is it over here?
SJ: Volume Five have just been released as a graphic novel, and Volume Seven is running right now in the Shonen Jump.
SJ: If you were an RPG character, what “race” and “class” would you be?
KT: A long time ago I played tabling RPG’s regularly, and I was always a warrior. Like, I’d choose a warrior and advance with my powers and sword. I never used magical powers. I didn’t need them. It was more about power and skill. As far as “class”, you’d have to ask the Game Master. I never knew what level I was at.
SJ: …One of the fun things about Yu-Gi-Oh! is that makes references to real game culture. Are trying to introduce your younger readers to game culture?
Kt: I just included stuff I played and enjoyed, and as a result, it may have ended up being an introduction to role-playing games, and other games, for readers. There are some games I came with on my own. But the basis of the story is communication between people, which is not possible in a video game.
SJ: So you’re saying communication between people is important.
KT: That’s right, yes. It inevitably becomes important. , because the kind of communication at the heart of the tabletop role-playing games is impossible in video games, which are often solitary. I think it’s possible in the Internet world, too.
SJ: Will there ever be a Yu-Gi-Oh! tabletop RPG?
KT: There are no plans as of yet.
SJ: Do you still have time to play grams when you’re drawing a weekly manga? If so, what are some of the games you are playing these days.?
KT: I don’t. [laughs] I play video games, and mahjong, too. The assistants and I play till morning, closing out a working day with mahjong. [laughs]
