I interviewed Naritada of Elegab last Monday. I asked him a couple of questions when we were just waiting around at the station, and I think there's enough interest to put them here. I didn't want to include it with the full interview, since I didn't have a recorder running at the time, but informally, consider this skullbrain exclusive: A: So when you do these drawings from your dreams, how many do you go through before you decide on a character to turn into a toy? N: Usually for every 10 or so, I have a character that I'll eventually turn into a toy. A: What do you do with the extra characters that you don't use? Throw them away? N: Yeah, normally. This is still at the rough sketch stage. A: Do you have your own toys displayed at home? N: No way. My apartment isn't big enough. A: So everything's boxed up. N: Yeah, until I need to paint them. A: Do you have a studio, or do you paint at home? N: At home. In my kitchen. That way I can use the exhaust vent in addition to a mask. (at the end of the interview) A: What are your plans for the rest of the day? N: Draw more pictures, and submit the order for the GID Oil Shock vinyl. A: Other than illustration and music, what do you do in your free time? N: I watch baseball. The Carps are playing tomorrow, so I'll go see them. The full interview is at http://www.sqdblstr.com/interview/elegabinterview
Thank you so much for this great interview ! Really instructive. Nari-san seems as kind in real life as through his e-mails.
Thanks for doing these, they've been fantastic so far... I can't wait to read through this. Hearing that he paints the toys in his kitchen is just awesome. The photo at the top of the interview of Nari is also absolutely adorable
I am really amazed that his Kaiju come to him in dreams. It just never occurred to me that the monsters would come to his mind that way. The only dreams I ever remember are stress-amplified version of the crappier moments of my day. Totally reproductions of daily life with zero fantastical or original elements. Let's just say I'm really jealous that Nari-san gets to dream Kaiju. Thank you so much for this interview, Onwi. I really love Nari's works and the interview definitely adds new dimensions to my appreciation of his monsters.
While reading, I found myself curious as to the scale of the monsters in his dreams. Giants, crushing buildings or small scale? I'm guessing it varies. It would be pretty cool to dream about giant monsters! Thanks for the interview! I've been wanting to read an interview with Nari-san. Can't wait for Smog King!
Cool interview, thanks. I'm glad that he want to do something with his illustrations. A book full of his drawings (and toy pics) would be nice !
wow, some of my favorite stuff. Interesting to know he gets ideas from dreams. I have kaiju dreams sometimes, usually I'm in a store where it's packed full of kaiju. When I go to buy something there's always some sort of impossible obstacle and I can't buy anything.
The few times I remember a dream it's either a nightmare about work or an idea for a new game mechanic. I never have dreams about monsters. I wish I did.
another great interview, onwi... thanks for your efforts. my only monster dream was just over a year ago... various amalgamation of kaiju destroying a city while i watched. though, i had just been hooked & spent the better part of a week scouring the board to see what types of stuff was out there... so basically a stress dream from information overload & the impending destruction of my bank account.
So nice that you share these insightful interviews with us Onwi. What a perfect day, sharing shaved ice and conversation with Nari and his toys. Your questions, and the photographs, help to capture the man and his talent. Such a young man. It excites me to think what is yet to come from his dreamscapes Thank you!.
You can develop your abiity to have vivid and lucid dreams with a little patience and commitment. My dreams seem as real as the physical world. And I can often become lucid. When I started developing the skill, I could barely recall a dream. I've never used a dream for inspiration, but my most recent monster ideas have come from hypnogogic imagery during meditation. So I am very interested in others using dreams or deeper levels of imagination. I hope more artists explore those tools. Anyway, thanks again Onwi for another great interview.
