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Da Vinci Magazine, May 2015 Kohei Horikoshi (My Hero Academia) x Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto) Interview Memo Thread
This was a fun interview done when Naruto ended! I just recently got the magazine so hereâs a thread of some of the parts I found interesting
Sorry in advance for any typos or mistakes 
- Kishimoto remembers Horikoshiâs one shot âNukegaraâ entered for the Tezuka Award, and remembers he pushed for it to win. It was a story where the main character becomes a weapon, and seeing Horikoshiâs art he felt they might have similar style/interests.
- Hearing that, Horikoshi responds that in the Naruto volume extras thereâs a corner where Kishimoto noted he was influenced by AKIRA. Horikoshi loved Naruto so decided to check out the AKIRA anime and then got into the manga. So he was influenced by it too.
- Kishimoto jokes that when you read AKIRA your art becomes like AKIRA too.
- Horikoshi notes that he doesnât know how many times he read through Naruto growing up.
- Horikoshi notes that he doesnât know how many times he read through Naruto growing up.
- Kishimoto jokes that Horikoshi was probably the type who stayed inside drawing instead of playing outside and Horikoshi admits that's true.
- Horikoshi shares that when he changed schools he was having a hard time making new friends until one day he was drawing Naruto and some of his classmates came over like âOh hey, Naruto!â and then he was able to make friends. Kishimoto says heâs really happy to hear that.
- Kishimoto remembers that when Naruto ended Horikoshiâs author note was like âNaruto was my childhoodâ and asks him to expand on that. Horikoshi says he read it weekly with his friends growing up.
- Horikoshi says he got really into Naruto with the mission where they fight the Demon Brothers from Kirigakure. Horikoshi thought the gas mask look was super cool, and Kishimoto is surprised that of all things that's what got him into Naruto.
- Horikoshi explains that he liked the design of the Demon Brothers, but he also liked how the story was handled. It was supposed to be an easy mission but then those two came out and Kakashi is in trouble.
- Horikoshi says with the Demon Brother's fight you see the difference between Naruto and Sasuke as one of them springs into action while the other is too scared to move.
- Horikoshi notes the Demon Brothers fought with their hands, Sasuke fights with a kunai in his hands, and Naruto stabs himself in the hand. After staring at those âweird scenesâ a lot he says he started to notice Kishimoto does hands differently and shows emotions through them.
- Kishimoto comments that Horikoshi said he liked drawing hands too, and Horikoshi says he loves drawing hands thanks to Naruto. So even on panels zoomed in on a face he adds hands sometimes, even though they arenât needed. (The reference vol 2 Shigaraki page)
- Horikoshi says he thinks hands are the second place where you see emotions best (first being the face) & Kishimoto agrees. Kishimoto says if you keep staring at hands theyâre cool, itâs like "god is amazing for making this!" But Horikoshi says he's not on that level yet lol.
- When asked what he enjoyed most in Naruto after getting sucked in through the Demon Brothers, Horikoshi says the Chunin Exams were awesome. He notes his favorite character is Gaara, and how as a middle schooler you often like characters based on how strong they are.
- Kishimoto notes he purposely made Gaara really strong, he wanted him to seem scary to fight. He then notes thereâs a scary student in MHA too, half ice and half fire. Horikoshi is like âThat's Shoto Todorokiâ 
- Kishimoto says Horikoshi did a good job with the backstory for Todoroki, with his parents, and he can tell that character will grow in the future. He says itâs important to be able to write like that in a weekly magazine.
- Horikoshi asks Kishimoto if there were characters that he decided to expand upon after he started writing them & Kishimoto says Lee. He notes he hadnât thought about him that much except for that heâd be a character that couldnât use ninjutsu, but the character grew from there.
- Horikoshi shares that he also loves Lee, and says even now he cries reading the scene where Lee protects Sakura during the Chunin Exam. Horikoshi says he wants to expand on side characters like the Naruto series did.
- Kishimoto then asks Horikoshi if heâs told not to expand on side characters by editors and such, since the main character needs to be the focus. Horikoshi says he kind has been told that, and Kishimoto notes the readers want the main character at the end of the day.
- But then Kishimoto jokes that heâs been told his series should have been called SASUKE instead of NARUTO so he isnât in a position to comment about main characters
- Kishimoto notes that when he read the second chapter of MHA he knew it would continue. He says he liked the second chapter better than the first, since you can really see Midoriya's personality and want to cheer for him.
- Kishimoto specifically notes he likes the line Midoriya has in chapter two saying he feels like he's "cheated" getting help from All Might. Horikoshi says him and the editor debated about that line, but he's glad they went with what they did.
- Kishimoto goes on to praise Horikoshi saying he's good at showing Midoriya's personality, he's good at drawing expressions, has good memorable lines, good battles, good gag sense etc. "Of course it's a hit!", Kishimoto says.
- Horikoshi just replies "my mind has gone totally blank" overwhelmed by the praise from Kishimoto Kishimoto replies that he thinks the best thing about MHA is he can tell Horikoshi is making it as interesting as possible at all times without regrets or worry for the future.
Kishimoto replies that he thinks the best thing about MHA is he can tell Horikoshi is making it as interesting as possible at all times without regrets or worry for the future.
- Kishimoto notes with super power school stories, normally just the main character has powers at the beginning and then as the story goes on we slowly meet other characters with powers. So when MHA said 80% of people had powers from the start he was like "wow he's going for it"
- Horikoshi notes he thought it would be more interesting that way. Kishimoto says even if he had thought of that story he wouldn't have written it because it's a lot of work.
- Kishimoto notes he likes how the powers of the characters are connected to their personalities and costumes too. But he says when he saw that first big page of all the classmates in costume he worried "Is he going to be okay bringing this many characters into a weekly manga?"
- In response to that, Horikoshi jokes "I cry while drawing" and Kishimoto says Horikoshi reminds him of his old self
- Horikoshi asks Kishimoto if he started writing Naruto without the future of the series planned out. Kishimoto says yes, when it started he only had up until about chapter 8 planned. Horikoshi notes, what about the sharingan? And Kishimoto says he came up with that later.
- Horikoshi is amazed, and Kishimoto explains he knew he wanted to have a character with eye powers but was worried if he gave one character eye powers it would be harder to give similar powers to other characters without them overlapping.
- So Kishimoto wanted to put off using eye powers until later in the series, but since it's a weekly manga you never know when you might get canceled so you just have to do everything you can without regrets.
- Kishimoto then questions if Horikoshi is okay on that front, having already used eye powers in volume 2 with Aizawa. Horikoshi says he doesn't know, and just uses whatever he comes up with at the time without thinking too much about the future.
- Kishimoto comments Horikoshi's character designs go above and beyond a normal weekly manga with their details and he's worried about Horikoshi's health. He notes he's meeting him for the first time in awhile for this interview and he looks like skinny All Might.
- Horikoshi says he looks like that because he was so nervous about having an interview with Kishimoto he couldn't sleep the night before. Kishimoto assures him he has nothing to be nervous about.
- The interviewer asks what Horikoshi thought of Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry, and Horikoshi says it was frustrating. Horikoshi says he really liked the "Valley of the End" and thought that would be the end of the series.
- Kishimoto notes a lot of readers though Naruto and Sasuke would make up after the Valley of the End and go back to the village together. But he made them fight.
- Horikoshi continues that all the misunderstandings during the second part were frustrating to watch and when it all came together in the final fight he almost felt like a parent watching these characters he had grown up with, and he was rooting for them both.
- Kishimoto says he's happy to hear that, he wanted people to be able to understand both Naruto and Sasuke's feelings. Horikoshi notes it was really emotional, built up over 15 years.
- Kishimoto notes he likes Bakugo as a rival and found it funny how he's an ally almost like a villain, telling the main character "die". He thinks Horikoshi did a good job since you don't know if Bakugo will stay an ally or become an enemy.
- Horikoshi notes Bakugo is horrible, but thought it would be more interesting that way. He says he wants him to be like Vegeta from Dragon Ball but doesn't know how it'll play out from here. Kishimoto says he thinks it'll be interesting whichever direction Bakugo goes.
- Horikoshi notes he's been influenced by Naruto when it comes to camera work for panels, and Kishimoto says he can tell Horikoshi really has a clear vision of the "lens", going from wide shots to close ups. Kishimoto notes the indoor hallway Battle Trial Arc must have been hard.
- Horikoshi shares that for the Battle Trial Arc he actually specifically looked at Naruto to see how Kishimoto would have done it. The magazine compares Naruto vol 17 tunnel scene with Jiraiya and the MHA vol 2 hallway scene with Midoriya, Bakugo, and Uraraka.
- The interviewer asks Horikoshi how he thinks Naruto has influenced him, and he says he's not consciously aware of anything and tries not to think about it. But he's had readers make comparisons and seen people online saying "MHA is a rip-off of Naruto".
- Hearing this, Kishimoto tells Horikoshi not to worry at all about comments like "MHA is a rip-off of Naruto". Kishimoto notes that any super power story will have some similarities.
- Horikoshi says that talking with Kishimoto he's realized that he gave eye powers to Aizawa-sensei just like Kakashi-sensei had eye powers-- but he had truly never made a connection there before, maybe having grown up with Naruto it's just part of him.
- Kishimoto just says that the the things you've read just come out in your own work, like he realizing now he drew Naruto as a kid, then young adult, then married with a kid-- and that's part of what he liked about Dragon Ball. But he never meant to imitate it.
- The interviewer says they feel like there's been some "manga DNA" passed down from Kishimoto to Horikoshi. Kishimoto says that MHA started to really get popular right around the time Naruto ended so he feels like it's his successor. Horikoshi says it doesn't feel real to him
- Kishimoto says an anime is sure to come soon & then Horikoshi will have even more work. Kishimoto notes he thinks MHA will be popular internationally & feels like what made Naruto popular overseas is in MHA too. He says the only thing he's worried about is Horikoshi's health.
- Horikoshi assures Kishimoto that his body is pretty strong, he's just worried about his mental health. Kishimoto says him and Oda were just talking about how mangaka are always in a bad mental state, always on the edge, feeling scared of the pressure to make something popular.
- Kishimoto recalls a time he was nervously sweating so much while working he could squeeze his shirt and sweat would come out... and he notes he probably shouldn't talk about that. But Horikoshi is like, no, I want to hear about that! Were you writing a name draft?
- Kishimoto recalls how he'd be working on a draft and it'd be 1AM and then he's just work a little more and suddenly it'd be 3AM. Horikoshi agrees "that happens all the time!".
- Kishimoto remembers kicking a bookshelf wondering if he'd get time off if he hurt his foot. But he didn't want to hurt his hand. Horikoshi says he's relieved hearing they're all the same. Kishimoto wonders if you have to be like that to make something good.
- Naruto starts lonely at the bottom and slowly moves up in the world trying to get people to acknowledge him, and Horikoshi tells Kishimoto he saw somewhere that Naruto's feelings were the same as Kishimoto's. Kishimoto says that's true, no one believed he could be a mangaka.
- Horikoshi says over time Naruto became popular and everyone loved it, just as Naruto grew in the story. Horikoshi says he's writing MHA with Midoriya's feelings now, but he's worried if he'll be able to stay on the same passion level as Midoriya as the story continues.
- Kishimoto notes that although Naruto is acknowledged by more and more people around him as the story progresses, he's still not acknowledged by Sasuke. And Kishimoto himself also always wanted to please his 1st editor, always wanted to make something he'd approve of.
- Horikoshi jokes that Kishimoto's first editor is like Sasuke to Naruto, and Kishimoto agrees. Kishimoto says you should always be motivated to try and make a better manga, never satisfied with what others say about it. Horikoshi thanks him for the advice.
- Kishimoto tells Horikoshi he hopes MHA continues for longer than Naruto, to which Horikoshi replies "Eh!? lol". Kishimoto says he thinks MHA is off to a good start and will last a while. He tells Horikoshi he hopes he keeps going at full throttle and stays scared.
- Horikoshi says that with his last manga he didn't really think he wanted to be stand on equal ground with One Piece or Naruto and fight against them, but when started MHA he did. He wonders if maybe that's why it went well.
- Kishimoto says that's an important feeling, and tells Horikoshi he shouldn't want to write manga like One Piece or Naruto, he should want to beat them. He says OP is a big wall to beat but he's gonna tell Oda about Horikoshi. Horikoshi jokes Kishimoto is being scary, and END!
Again sorry for all the typos in this thread! These are just some quick notes from the six pages crosstalk with Horikoshi and Kishimoto from the May 2015 edition of Da Vinci magazine. It also has a bunch of other Naruto interviews, like with voice actors and manga editors 
