Disclaimer: This article contains images and language that might not be suitable for all ages.
I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into when SacAnime told me that I would be able to interview Toshio Maeda. Toshio is pretty much the individual who coined the use of tentacles in hentai manga and brought it into the mainstream. Our interview lasted about 25 minutes, and I wish I could have stayed longer. Talking to Toshio was like talking to that one friend everyone has that knows exactly what to say to make awkward situations less awkward and put a smile on everyone’s faces.
He began our interview with a story, perhaps to break the ice:
Toshio: Last year in Japan, I was diagnosed as morbidly obese, but when I come here to America I thought, “Wow, I’m nothing compared to these guys!” I feel free here, I can eat hamburger every day and not feel guilty. I love this country for that, you don’t give a shit about being fat.
Thank you for that introduction. Can you explain a little bit about what you do?
Toshio: I am hentai manga artist, and people sometimes consider that weird, but, honestly, I am a decent man. I really hope to make this world better because when you get horny, you don’t really feel that you are going to fight or kill somebody. So, a world with hentai is so peaceful, I’m proud of myself. The problem is when I tell people in America that I am hentai manga artist, they say things like “Oh, you invented tentacle scenes? How do you look at yourself in the mirror?” But in Japan, they don’t care what you are doing or how you make a living.
How does a Japanese hentai manga artist become more skilled at their art?
Toshi: Well, you see, we hentai manga artists are always sketching, always drawing things around us, too. We sometimes will sketch on a train and draw people’s faces and reactions. So, if you have just a piece a paper, you can do whatever you want. You can make a girls cleavage larger or draw their panties, but if someone sees you they will sometimes ask, “What are you doing?” and you can just reply, “Oh, I am hentai manga artist,” and they understand. Well, actually, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but I don’t give a shit.
Do you ever see your manga being mistranslated during localization?
No, I actually do a lot of it myself. There is a site that I’ve heard of that is very popular in America, but it’s called like fuck. I asked someone once, why is hentai manga being posted on fuck.com? They told me it was fukku.com and I still don’t get it.
What is the your family like?
I have three sons; one is my assistant, one is a professional singer, and one likes this thing called “scat.” The last one is my punishment. I am also happily married.
Do you see America as profitable for hentai manga?
Just a little. American journalists have come to me and told me that my hentai scenes will corrupt American youth. Yet, you still have very little gun control in America, and kids have access to this all the time. You see in Japan, nothing happens, you can walk on the street in the middle of the night with a skimpy T-shirt or a mini-skirt on and nothing happens, but, in American, seems like you really care about the human rights of the anime and manga world. You don’t give a shit about real human rights, but you will do all you can to judge or put down Japanese culture.
What do you do in your spare time?
I have very little spare time, but, when I was younger, I would take one hour a day before sleep to go to a whore house. I’m joking… kinda.
What do you prefer ass or boobs?
When I was young, I was so into boobs. Japanese girls don’t really have big boobs, but in America there’s so many boobs. America is so heaven. Now, I see myself as an ass man. I don’t know the reason, I just prefer asses. Thanks for asking me that hentai.
What was it like collaborating with Supreme?
They asked me to do it, and I thought it was so extreme since the character is putting his hand in a character’s panties. The scene wasn’t my choice, it was their choice, but the people that wear it are probably like me and don’t give a shit.
This will go down as my most remembered interview ever. Be sure to check out future conventions held by SacAnime.
