Q: We are sure you are very busy right now but when you were still building the Danny Choo portal, were there any blogs that you checked out for inspiration?

DC: I think rather than inspiration I take a look at a lot of websites for design inspiration. If you look at the Kotaku website, it’s evolving a lot actually, I think they used the same platform for Gizmodo and all their different websites; it’s just the header and color changes. So that’s one example of a company, which really looks at the user experience but for blogs, I don’t really frequent too many English anime blogs because I consume the content directly in Japanese but I do land on particular non-Japanese blogs that speaks about anime.

Q: What are your current plans for Culture Japan Convention KL?

DC: We are aiming to do it in Summer 2014, we do expect more people to attend because of the amount of people who live in this vicinity compared to the people who live on Penang island, so we do imagine more people from other countries would be able to attend as well. For Culture Japan Convention one, the artists invited were all my friends basically and they gave me lots of feedback afterwards, it is very easy working with them so if it was like a different artist it may not be so easy. Now that you know that, the people whom I bring over are generally quite nice because some people come over just because they are getting paid to do it or they get to come over and can go out and eat chicken rice or something (laughs).

TK: Or maybe Durian?

DC: Or durian, yeah yeah.

Q: Okay, in the same context as CJC, any future plans on bringing it to different countries?

DC: Apart from Malaysia, there’s actually more Culture Japan consumers in Indonesia. It’s more in KL because of the amount of people over here and the immediate area as well. For Indonesia, everyone is spread out and it’s very difficult for everyone to get into Jakarta but we definitely want to do one in Jakarta and we want to do one in Kuala Lumpur, so those are my main priorities right now.

Q: What is your reason for making the Mirai Smart Doll and what will you be expecting from it?

DC: I have always liked doll., I think they are kinda cute, (laughs), and I always wanted to make my own. For a long time I was looking for a sculptor but I just couldn’t find one and then 3D printing technology came at a good timing last year as we could pay for 3D printing services. So, we designed everything in 3D, printed it out and from then on we were able to make the smart doll. So dolls like this have lots of different meaning for lots of different people, for me, it’s a combination of different things. For me, if no one bought this, I wouldn’t really care at all because I really want to have my own creation and I think she is lovely. It made it realise that if I don’t do it for money or to impress anybody, I do it because I like making stuff. So that’s my purpose, I think my purpose is to like, create and, I like making good stuff.

After playing with the doll for a while, Danny comes back with the doll being available in March. I know a lot of Japanese folks will probably want one but my job is to make it more available to people overseas. Main markets would be Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, UAE, and Russia as well. These markets have been identified to have lots of doll appreciators.

TK: What about the US?

DC: The US as well but I think not as many as there is quite a few over there but it’s because the US is so big and it’s very difficult to do something and have everyone come together unless it’s Anime Expo. So, the next AX will have lots of these for sale.

Q: What spurred the idea for Mirai Water?

DC: Ah-ha (laughs). I like Mirai a lot, so everything I do has to have Mirai in it, so when I’m in a business meeting or meeting new people I would always mention Mirai. Business is not always money-money so sometimes I’m willing to do a barter deal, like I’ll do this for you but you put Mirai on your whatever, so I focus on having more people know about her basically. So, at CJ Night, we tried to have some sort of beverage for people to drink at least. I mean we could’ve had Avian Water or we could’ve had Coke but why have Coke when you can have Mirai Water?

TK: Or in this case Mirai Juice.

DC: Yeah, so we thought of many different names, like Mirai Sweat, you know Pocari Sweat, or Mirai Milk, but milk could’ve been more difficult because you have to refrigerate it so yeah, Mirai Water.

Q: Now that Mirai Suenaga has become a mascot for the Japan Tourism Project as well as the Olympics, what other plans do you have for her in the International market?

DC: The aim is to have Mirai be a global brand like Hello Kitty. So, Hello Kitty is a Japanese brand and obviously recognized throughout the world. When you go to Korea you get a Korean version of Hello Kitty or China a Chinese version of Hello Kitty, so that’s one of the goals for Mirai, to let people around the world love her and love what she does.

Q: It has been a while since it was last announced, if you can give us an update, how is the anime adaption of Mirai Millennium going?

DC: That’s one thing that has been put on-hold, because of Smart Doll project, which is 100% myself. I did everything, the clothes, the eyes, the wig, the frame so yeah everything was pretty much been put on hold due to my involvement with Smart Doll. What I can tell you is, I think I mentioned it on my website, is that Sato Dai, he wrote scenarios for Cowboy Bebop, Eden of the East and Eureka Seven, also wrote Mirai Millenium so a story is ready and I just need some sketches to bring along to Kadokawa. I have spoken to the boss of Kadokawa and he’s very interested. I wanted to release it as a book first, like maybe a manga first or a Light Novel and then we can talk about the anime once we have income from this doll over here so at the moment it’s all in stages. The mold, the injection mold for her (Mirai Doll), just the mold, cost $160,000 USD, that’s a lot of change, so we want to recuperate those costs and make enough to start doing other stuff which would be focused on Mirai.

Q: So regarding the anime, will JC Staff continue to be responsible for animation?

DC: JC Staff was only involved with the OP, which we did together and that was it. It is very unlikely that we will work with JC Staff on the anime. It would be more likely to be companies like Production I.G, so there you go. This is the plan right now and then the anime will come afterwards.

Q: Alright, lastly, do you have any advice for people interested in life in Japan?

DC: I have discovered, it’s only recently I mean I’ve always known this but it only dawned on me very recently. There are lots of people who love anime culture but they don’t really like the traditional culture. I’ve met quite a lot of people like this lately, I think that people who don’t really enjoy the traditional culture they are going to find it very difficult to live and work in Japan because it’s not just anime everywhere. It’s like life in Japan, so people need to be able to like Japanese food, don’t be afraid to speak to people, get on the public transport, you know, go to new places try different food, so on and so forth, and being able to speak Japanese is one thing that’s going to help you enjoy Japanese culture much more. I mean I learned Japanese when I was in London and had like no internet at all. I had to go to a book shop in Piccadilly to buy magazines and stuff, so if I can do it from like, books I’m sure everyone else can do it with the internet.

Q: Okay finally, here is a Metanorn Throwback Trivia, What is your favourite color?

DC: Uh-oh, that is a very difficult question. I’d say, orange! (laughs)

Q: Hahaha, alright. Thank you for your time Danny, it has been a pleasure.

DC: Thank you.

Q: When and what was your decision that led you to working as an illustrator and character designer?

VOFAN: Well, I love creating artworks, so as I kept on drawing and I started receiving minor commission work. As I kept on working on commissions, the scale of my commissions and projects became bigger. I did not really consider being an illustrator back then and as I went along with the natural flow of things, it has led to me being an illustrator.

Q: Are there any particular artists that influence you? 

VOFAN: Because I’ve been drawing for a long time, I’ve been influenced by a lot of artists. The most recent ones would be Okama-sensei and Makoto Shinkai.

Q: How did you discover NisiOisiN-sensei’s work and how did it lead to working with him?

VOFAN: I was contacted by Nisio-sensei’s editor actually. I met Nisio-sensei around 10 years ago, when I drew a cover for a Taiwanese magazine published by Kodansha. Back then the editor brought Nisio-sensei to Taiwan and he set up a meeting and through that meeting this project came into being. I never expected it to become this popular.

Q: Now in discussing the Monogatari series, what considerations did you took in designing their school uniforms, particularly Naoetsu High School?

VOFAN: For the school uniform, I specifically designed it for the character Senjougahara Hitagi. My main idea when designing the uniform was so that the characters that put on the uniform will not look too proud or arrogant in a way.

Q: How did you come up with the designs for the characters?

VOFAN: Well, I designed the characters based on the description from the novel and following their personalities as specified by Nisio-sensei.

Q: What difficulties did you face when designing the characters and how did you solve them?

VOFAN: One of the main difficulties was there being so many characters in the series. There are bound to be certain character types that I’m not familiar with. So for such characters, I would keep on drawing and designing them to the point where I am able to like them.

Q: What do you think of Akio Watanabe’s take on your designs for the anime adaption?
VOFAN: I feel that his interpretation for the female characters exudes a lot more charm and sexual appeal compared to my designs; their actions and overall appearance are sexier now. Actually, I was one of his fans before the anime adaption of Bakemonogatari was in the works, so when it was revealed that he would take up the position of character designer; I was very surprised and delighted.

Q: Were you consulted for the character designs in the anime?

VOFAN: For the more important characters, I would provide them with reference sketches for use in the anime adaption.

Q: Which character in the monogatari series do you like the most?

VOFAN: Oshino Shinobu.

Q: What do you think about Shinobu’s alter-ego Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade?

VOFAN: For Kiss-Shot, I feel she’s a rather charming character because I personally like characters that exudes a lot sex appeal but also has a scary and dangerous personality, and because she also has a tragic past. I think she is a really unique character.

Q: What do you think about SHAFT studio’s take on the anime adaption of the series?

VOFAN: I think SHAFT is the perfect candidate for the adaptation of Bakemonogatari because they managed to bring out, in other words, portray the surreal ghostly atmosphere that exists in the novels in animated form. For Bakemonogatari, it is a work that is filled with dialogue, I used to think that it would be incredibly hard to animate that but the final outcome from SHAFT studios turned out incredibly well.

Q: What was your reaction when the Bakemonogatari anime adaption became popular?

VOFAN: Well, I can’t really take much credit as I only contributed about 10% on the total production; most of the credit has to be given to the excellent team for bringing such a good adaption. It is incredibly moving to witness the combined effort of everyone in the team.

Q: What do you think about your art on the Monogatari novels? Are they the best ones so far?

VOFAN: Well I do assist in illustrating for other works such as for magazines and game covers but the thing is that for the Monogatari series to be so successful, it stems from the combined efforts of the team and because of how talented of a writer Nisio-sensei is.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

VOFAN: I think when it comes to drawing and illustrating, it requires a lot of perseverance. As long as you keep focusing on it, thinking about why you like to draw and try not to think about fame. Don’t set a deadline for yourself on when you think you should succeed, just keep on drawing and soon, naturally you would be able to succeed without even knowing it yourself.

Q: Do you have any artist who you would like to collaborate with, and would you like to create your own animation one day?

VOFAN: Makoto Shinkai-sensei, because he has really good knowledge in animation. When I was still a student, I dabbed in animation a little but I gave up half way because it was too difficult. The skillset needed for animation differs a lot from illustration, being able to illustrate well doesn’t mean it would be able to produce good animation.

Q: What are your favourite anime and manga of recent memory?

VOFAN: My favourite anime would have to be Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. For manga, there’re plenty that I love but the most prominent ones would be from mangaka Togashi Yoshihiro, especially Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter X Hunter but releases are too slow though.

Q: Do you have to keep adapting your style between the Japanese market and Taiwanese market?

VOFAN: Usually the style for commercial artworks and personal works would have to differ quite a lot. For commercial artworks I would have to conform to the client’s requirements but also keep some of my own style intact. If I create an illustration to entirely suit the audiences taste, it wouldn’t stand out but if I put too much distinctive style in it, sometimes it won’t garner much liking. So, I have to find a balance between conforming to client’s needs and my own distinct style.

Q:  When you’re working on your projects or commissions with overseas clients, do you need to go to their respective countries for meetings or do they visit Taiwan to setup the meeting?

VOFAN: Well usually, when setting up the initial face to face meeting, it would either be in Japan or Taiwan, then once the collaboration has started, we would discuss through the internet. Actually there’s a lot of commission work I’ve done where the client and I have never met before.

Q: How do you feel about Comic Fiesta so far?

VOFAN: I feel that this event really inspired me a lot after seeing that people of different race and nationality are all in love with the anime, comic and games subculture. The activities here has a lot of varieties, starting from gaming, animations, doujins and cosplay, it is really exciting. I have yet to see an event like this in Taiwan. Actually before coming to Malaysia, I had no idea what to expect from the local doujin scene but after going through the booths I was amazed by the quality of it.

Q: Finally, would you like to leave a message for all your international fans?

VOFAN: When I first started, it was mainly just the Taiwanese fans, then later in Japan I found out about my Japanese fans and similarly in the US. Now in Malaysia, I see all kinds of people of different nationalities appreciating my works, I am incredibly surprised and touched. I am very thankful of all the support from my fans.

Q: What musical instrument do you usually start first when composing?

Kz: Well, the first and foremost I usually start with is piano, and depending on the song and arrangement, I would either move on to vocals or base.

Q: Do you simply compose songs or have a singer sing it first and compose it according to the singing?

Kz: What I usually do is to start with the music then comes the vocals but sometimes before recording I would give a guideline by doing the singing myself.

Q: What inspires you to compose music and write songs?

Kz: Rather than actually going out and looking for inspiration, because I usually don’t go out much, I usually get inspired by listening to songs my friends create or from things I find online and when it hits me I would write and compose. Sometimes it’s not only from my friends but from artists throughout the world like, for example David Guetta, if they have new songs or new genres coming out, I would pay attention to their creations and that itself becomes part of my inspiration.

Q: Are there any other favourite artists or genre you like other than Daft Punk and electronic?

Kz: Initially I was a big fan of Rock and Roll and I really like The Beetles and mainly the 60s era bands.

Q: Why did you and fellow member Kajuki-P decided to form a musical doujin circle?

Kz: Actually we are both friends from the same university and we wanted to publish a CD for Comiket. The amount of songs that both of us had individually were not enough to warrant two separate publications but if we combined our tracks we would be able to fill up one CD and that is why we decided to work together.

Q: Is there a reason why you always wear a hoodie jacket during your public appearances?

Kz: Hmmm, because I’m shy? (laughs) Well, in the beginning I put it on because I’m camera shy but soon I realized that it gives off a strong personal image, it became a trademark of sorts so I continued to put it on since then.

Q: What about that scarf you have in the promotional banner?

Kz: Hmm? Scarf? Ahhhhh! (laughs) That was actually my stylist’s decision. (laughs)

Q: In discussing about your collaboration with May’n for the single “Kyou ni Koiiro”, can you share with us more about this song and what kind of image you wanted May’n to portray?

Kz: Hmm, firstly it is the opening theme for the upcoming anime “Inori, Konkon, Koi Iroha”. The setting for it is in Kyoto and it is one of my favourite cities so the song represents my feelings and memories that I have of Kyoto. As for May’n, she is a very powerful vocalist and always brings a powerful performance so for this particular music I wanted to show a different side of May’n.

Q: How was your experience in collaborating with vocal artists like ClariS, May’n and others?

Kz: Hmm, well, not only are all of them very established singers, what I really learned from these experiences is that they’re all very different types of singers and in different genres. So in terms of creating music, it was a really good learning experience for me.

Q: In the future, who would you like to collaborate with in writing and composing songs?

Kz: Well, because I’m a big fan of Macross Frontier, and previously I’ve gotten the chance to work with Nakajima Megumi and May’n, it would be great if I can work together with Maaya Sakamoto. The most exciting factor is their recordings because during the recording session I can listen to her singing live. (laughs)

Q: Speaking about collaborations, how did you come to know about redjuice and how was your experience working with him?

Kz: It all started when I participated in Comiket as “livetune”, Redjuice actually left a piece of illustration, it was a fan art based on one of our songs. At that moment we never actually got the chance to meet but after that we got in touch with each other and we started our collaboration.

Q: What was your inspiration for writing the song Tell Your World?

Kz: The inspiration for the song actually came from the animation provided by the Google team. They provided me with the animation for reference and upon watching that I thought about how to write the song.

Q: What was your impression when Tell Your World was used as part of the Google Chrome’s trailer and why do you think it became so popular?

Kz: For a lot of people and of course for me as well, Google already equates to the Internet so I feel extremely happy and incredibly honoured for having the chance to participate in such a project and have the song used in such a meaningful way. I wrote the song to express the feelings that I get when using the internet, the feelings of happiness and excitement and I think it’s because many people had similar feelings and were able to relate with the song so that’s why it became such a big hit.

Q: What do you see of the future of Vocaloid? Will it slowly fade away or will it stay?

Kz: Well I think in terms of its commercial successes, this is probably the peak for the software, but I don’t think it would continue to stay that way. But of course would not fade away so I think it’s probably going to settle down to comfortable levels where anyone can just enjoy it.

Q: Will you start composing less Vocaloid music and focus more on Anisong in the future like what Supercell did?

Kz: Well, instead of saying I’ll focus more on anisong or vocaloid, I would take up any project that comes my way, of course recently there are more request for anisong but I would also love to produce other music like House or Dance music.

Q: Recently you had collaborated with Yuuki Ozaki from Galileo Galilei on this theme song called “FLAT”, could you share with us your experience in working with him on this song?

Kz: In the beginning I went into the project with just the intention of creating music together but then it turned out out that the drummer was actually a big fan of mine so thanks to that we got along very well so we’ve been in a really good relationship. I don’t really have much of a chance to work together with bands because bands usually produce their own songs and music, so working together with them was really fun.

Q: Are there any future projects that you can share with us?

Kz: Well, for the winter season, I think it has already been announced that there are around three anime series that I would be involved in. There are a few more projects in store that are confirmed but unannounced so everyone would probably found out in Spring. For Vocaloid, expect to see a new EP release for March 2014.

Q: What is your favourite anime and games of all time?

Kz: Favourite anime huh, well there are only two and it is Lucky Star and Cowboy Bebop. Initially I started out as a gamer, lately I’ve been playing GTA, Monster Hunter and Skyrim, I play both Western and Japanese games.

Q: In mentioning Cowboy Bebop, now that Space Dandy is coming out next season, what do you think about the new venture?

Kz: Well, I have yet to see anything about it but I’m really looking forward to it.

Q: What do you think about Comic Fiesta?

Kz: Well, I have been to a lot of events overseas but this is probably the closest I’ve seen to having a similar atmosphere as Comiket in Japan. Also in terms of goods and products, I think this event has the most variety from all the events I’ve seen.

Q: As a music creator and producer, is there any advice you can provide to aspiring composers?

Kz: The most important factor is to listen to a lot of music, listen to music from all around the world, from all sorts of genres, and in due time you would be able to find the one style or genre of music that you would like to create. In terms of skill and technique, it is something you would able to get right through practice, and essentially listen and enjoy music.

Q: Out of all the lives that you have performed, which one leaves the best impression for you?

Kz: Hmm, well there were two particular events, before this was AFA in Singapore. What happened was the entire atmosphere, what I felt when performing at the time, my feeling and mood as well as the audience blended very well and it left a big impression on me. The other was a performance in Tokyo before coming to Malaysia, a lot of the audience wasn’t a fan of mine but the response was incredible so it left a big impression on me as well.

1. How is it like attending Comic Fiesta again?

It seems that this time around it is twice the size, which translates to it being very lively and fun.

2. How do you come up with ideas for your original characters and designs? How do you keep them interesting?

The first thing he would do is actually research about the kind of characters he makes so he would actually gather a lot of materials and references to begin. For example if he’s making a military character he would find information about the military, if he’s doing a traditional Japanese character, he would research about Japanese culture and things like that. So, he generally finds information via internet and books so he would use a lot of different kinds of material for information.

3. How did you come to know about livetune and how was your experience working with him?

The first time he actually had contact with livetune (kz) was through one of his songs called “Strobe Nights”, so when he heard the song he drew a fan art based on the song and he actually showed it to kz and he liked it very much so from that point onward there were several collaborations in a sense where he helped kz designed some album cover jacket and things like that so that’s how it all just rolled off. He actually has a lot of artists he admires and kz is one of them, for him it’s particularly special, he likes kz’s music very much. In fact he has listened and replayed kz’s songs on iTunes more than a thousand times.

Tags: Comic Fiesta 2013, Danny Choo, Livetune, ppy, Redjuice, Video Interview, VOFAN

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