Very few manga have the power to move readers in the way that Your Lie in April has done. The story of a high school student who refuses to play an instrument and a eccentric girl that refuses to give up on him weaves friendship, laughter, heartache, and loneliness together in a way that very few printed works have. At Anime Expo 2016, Operation Rainfall had the chance to sit down with Your Lie in April creator Naoshi Arakawa to discuss his time spent on the manga.
Did you mean to express the emotion in Your Lie in April to the point where it moved readers to tears?
I wanted my audience to understand the emotion of the characters in the story. It wasn’t easy, but I tried my hardest to convey that emotion through illustration.
Did you expect Your Lie in April to be such a success worldwide?
Honestly, I created this work just to make the editor-in-charge cry.
Man raises hand in the back and says “I’m the editor and I did cry.”
After expressing emotions so well in Your Lie in April, do you plan to stick to this genre with your future projects?
With my past work, it’s true, I really wanted to make my audience cry. However, in the future I would like to attempt a different direction. Maybe something hot because it would be boring to do the same thing over and over.
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Are there characters that you often return to, or do you generally just move from project to project?
Usually, the main characters in my stories I feel most connected to. Even now, those characters often stay with me as I go on to create other projects.
How much creative freedom are given during the project?
Everything. Although, the editor would often let me know when it’s getting boring. He would also tell me when it’s really good too.
Are you ever sad when having to move on from characters and leave them behind to work on new projects?
Leaving those characters behind is kind of a hurtle that we have to jump over. The past is the past.
Was there any manga or anime that influenced you while creating Your Lie in April?
Yes of course, there are many manga artists that have influenced me.
Which one stands out?
There a couple music themed manga’s that ran concurrently with Your Lie in April. One in particular is Beck.
Arakawa then asked me, “Did you enjoy my work?”
I replied, “Yes, very much”.
Naoshi Arakawa is currently working on Sayonara Watashi no Cramer. This manga shows women’s soccer in a positive way due to Arakawa’s love of the sport.
Did you enjoy Your Lie in April? What are some of your favorite emotional manga? Let us know in the comments below.
