Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Comics | Tagged: Ablaze manga, Gannibal, horror, hulu, manga, Masaaki Ninomiya

Gannibal: Interview with Horror Manga Creator Masaaki Ninomiya

Award-winning horror manga Gannibal is getting published in the US by ABLAZE, and we interview creator Masaki Minomiya about the series

Gannibal is a new horror manga series by Masaaki Ninomiya, being published quarterly by ABLAZE. It tells the story of a policeman who moves his wife and young daughter from Tokyo to a remote mountain town, thinking he's gotten away from the violence and crime that threatened to ruin his mental health and destroy his marriage. It's not long before he starts to suspect the town isn't as peaceful or bucolic as he thought when he starts to suspect a prominent family might not only be covering up a crime but might be a cult of cannibals that has been operating for generations. The series has won awards in Japan and has been adapted into a live-action TV series. The first season of the TV series is streaming on Hulu, and a second season has been announced.

We interviewed creator Ninomiya-san about Gannibal as the first volume of the manga has been released, and the first season of the TV series is now complete on Hulu.

On Gannibal's Realistic Approach to Art and Storytelling

Ninomiya-san, congratulations on the English translation of Gannibal and the TV series getting another season. Let's start at the beginning. What was the inspiration behind Gannibal?

In order to make it easier to understand visually, the setting is a closed rural village, but let's try to depict the discomfort felt when an outsider enters a community that has been established not only in the countryside but also in the city. I thought I have had many experiences where I was made to drink because of my friends! As for the story, I was influenced by the movies The Shining and Straw Dogs, but I aimed for the unique grainy screen and gloominess of old Japanese movies.

The manga takes a more realistic approach to storytelling in both art and how the characters behave to establish a more adult type of story. What was behind the decision to tell a more real story as opposed to a more pulpy and cartoonishy style?

Of course, I like manga, but when I got into my 20s, I mainly watched movies, so I think it was inevitable that I started to look more like live-action pictures, and the manga also tended to have more realistic pictures. I think it happened because I liked reading it. I will continue to work hard to create screens that allow you to feel the roughness of body temperature and humidity!

The story contains the theme of the cultural conflict between people from the city who think they're more civilised and people in rural areas who have their own rules and traditions. Can you talk about that constant tension between policeman Daigo, who believes in the need for Law and Order, and the insular attitudes of the Goto Family?  

This time, the composition may have been culturally exclusive, but I think that not only the composition but also the story itself can be born out of conflict, and conflict is fun! It's easy to create expansions! But is it enough to just be in conflict? I think they're just at odds with each other based on their positions, the homes, and the places they were born, but they're not that different in terms of their essential human nature like Daigo, and Keisuke were, for example. This is a very difficult question. Is it okay to say something like this? 😂

On How Movies and TV Series Influenced Gannibal

The manga is a masterclass at slowly unfolding tension and horror. How did you determine the pace and reveals in the story? Did you work with your editor to determine the best way for the story to unfold? 

I wasn't the type of editor who told me to do this or do that, but I was told quite a lot about the pace of the story, such as, "It's too early to take this development forward," or  "On the other hand, there should be another development here." It's no exaggeration to say that the pacing of the beginning was largely created by the partial editors. After things got messy in the second half, not much was said about it! The mess is the best!!

It feels like the manga is more influenced by horror films than other manga. Or were you informed by some classic horror manga and their creators' works? 

As I wrote in the first question, I was influenced by The Shining and Straw Dogs, but I didn't really like horror movies to begin with, or rather, there were too many low-quality horror movies and manga that had a horror theme. If you take your work seriously and it is of high quality, it will be interesting, and you will definitely get noticed! I think that thought was the first impetus for me to draw this manga.

How do you feel about the TV adaptation of the manga and its changes? 

A drama adaptation would greatly increase sales and popularity, so of course, I was happy when it was decided. I am very happy because the quality of the results was high, and the response was very positive. There were almost no changes, but the structure of episode 3 of the drama was changed quite a bit, and it was so good that I felt a little disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing how they would change it, so I wish they would change it more. That's my final impression.

Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity!!

Gannibal Vol. 1 is published by ABLAZE Publishing on April 9th.

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