Then what about humans themselves?
Pretty indifferent to them. My parents owned a sushi store, so I was able to see a lot of customers coming and going – monks, yakuza, teachers. When I was in primary school, I saw my teacher doing lewd things to a young girl. I saw the strength of the yakuza. I guess I grew pretty indifferent after seeing all that. There’s also this service industry. Here’s a strange story: even if I take my subordinates out for fun, I have this habit of making great efforts to make them feel good. It’s like all my efforts come to naught. In the end I return to my old self, but wishing deep inside for sincerity makes me feel lonely. Perhaps that’s why I’m so cold towards people, since I have no expectations.
What are the differences between real humans and demons who have a human form?
When I think up characters, I think up a lie in a way. In the case of hotheaded characters, I try to find an objective explanation for their behaviour. Moreover, there are parts that cannot be simply expressed by drawing, so it becomes group work with the gameÂ’s script and timing. But I draw demons intuitively. Saying that I draw about 300 demons in four months is pretty terrible. ThereÂ’s also no personal compensation. Both gods and demons were created by manÂ’s unfairness. Giving form to things that worry us and then laying the blame on them. What I really love, look wise, is the image of Takakura Ken in yakuza movies, but you donÂ’t really see this in real life. That transitory lifestyle, I donÂ’t want it to be confined to just a moment, I feel like I want to be like that all the time. But itÂ’s difficult, you see. We humans blame our weaknesses on other things that wonÂ’t allow us to act in a certain way. The ones who take the bad guy role in such moments are the demons.
[...]
What do they (girls at clubs) talk about?
Well, we end up exchanging phone numbers sometimes, but IÂ’m not interested in dating so I donÂ’t keep them in mind. I simply forget them at those times. I really got into adult entertainment once I started going there for research. IÂ’m not really interested in people at the moment though. ThatÂ’s why no matter what someone gives me, I canÂ’t give back. I only do inexcusable things. This is a sin, rightÂ…and it ends up reflected in my works. Like in Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
