To celebrate the recent release of Replica, vol. 2 and Countdown 7 Days, vol. 2, we got the chance to speak briefly with the mangaka, Kemuri Karakara, and find out a bit more about Karakara-sensei’s thoughts and tastes!
- There are a lot of characters with cool outfits in COUNTDOWN 7 DAYS. Who’s your favorite to draw?
Hanasuke. He’s full of emotion and energy. I was able to dress him up in a variety of fashionable apparel as well. - How about your favorite character to draw in Replica?
Shirahime. I enjoy drawing girls because it’s a good change of pace from drawing bad boys all the time. lol. - Why did you decide to draw a manga about the underworld and the after life?
The fear of death sometimes really bothers me since death is absolute nothingness. That concept really freaks me out. I hope that the afterworld is as fun as the world we currently live in so my wish is expressed throughout the series. - There’s a lot of fantasy and fairy tale themes in your manga! What’s your favorite fairy tale?
I love all fairy tales but my favorites are “The Little Mermaid”, “Snow White” and “Aladdin”. - When did you first get interested in drawing manga?
3rd grade Elementary school. My entry point was anime but then later expanded to manga so I started off mimicking drawings. - Apart from yourself, who’s your favorite manga artist?
Kazuhiro Fujita. He is my idol. - Do you listen to any music while you work on manga? What’s your favorite band or artist?
Yes and I also listen to standup comedies. My favorite Japanese bands include UVERworld, MAXIMUM THE HORMONE, and RADWIMPS. I also enjoy music by Bon Jovi and BIGBANG, a boy band group from South Korea.
PS: If you haven’t checked our Karakara-sensei’s books, you’re missing out. You can grab previews of Countdown 7 Days, vol. 1 and Replica, vol. 1 on eManga.com – they’re both series guaranteed to sate your shonen manga craving!
I absolutely love both Countdown 7 Days and Replica! It’s somehow different from every other manga out there and the art style is wonderful! Reading about things like the afterlife and a fantastical world of dolls fighting their creator is like a breath of fresh air among all the high school drama manga available. PLEASE, please, please bring more of Karakara Kemuri’s work to us! I will undoubtedly purchase them all
Agreee!! I love the manga very much! It’s greaat, both artwork and the story. The plot of the story itself not too much complicated but still deep and natural. I like it! I like the way Karakara Kemuri-san tell the story. I like Replica and Takeru most. They’re awesome. But replica still not publised in my country so I really appreciated you all for bring us the manga chapter online. Thank you very much