Q: The subject matter [you enjoy]—is it fantasy, science fiction, or...?

WY: I am an admirer of everything, but I like the big-scale stories [the most].

Q: What kind of trends do you think there are in the shoujo manga industry, or manga industry in general in Japan?

WY: I think it's kind of funny that in Japan where we have shounen manga and shoujo manga and we separate it. I feel that everybody shouldn't really separate those two, and I want to portray something that has almost everything, which makes it kind of funny they have to separate or put stereotypes on them. These stereotypes are shoujo magazines they are based on romance while shounen magazines are more adventure, like GUNDAM.

Q: Do you feel like you want continue in traditional media like manga or do you want to sort of experiment in new media, do you have any desire to do multimedia types of projects?

WY: I feel that using new media and computers is okay, but jarring. The traditional way has more feeling. So I want to continue in traditional ways with pen and paper. But I am interested in these other methods and I want to do a little bit of them too.

Q: Of all your manga that have not been animated, which would you like to see produced as animation and why?

WY: I would like my newest manga, AYASHI NO CERES, to be animated. There have been talks that it might be turned into animation, but those plans are pending right now.

Q: There have been lots of stories about how many long hours manga artists have to work. What is your week like and how many hours a week you have to work?

WY: The assistants I work with, they have set times. But for me, it's mostly random, but I try to sleep before twelve because [staying up too late] is not good for my body. I work almost every day from noon to midnight because not only I have to do manga, but I have to do illustrations, supplements for manga magazines, and more.

Q: Is there anybody in the manga industry that you admire or think that you like to actually aspire to be on the same level with?

WY: In high school I really admired Takahashi Rumiko, but because admiration is not a matter of standing up to the same level, I think I will never get there. Right now I am more challenging myself to see how far I can go.

Q: After high school did you start writing manga right away or did you go to a school after that?

WY: After high school, I went to a private art school where they taught how to draw manga. But by that time, I already had debuted and had assistants, so I quit in the middle of it.

Q: What material do you like to work with to create your illustrations or drawings? Which do you prefer?

WY: I like to use colored inks mostly because of how the colors come out when they get published. But I also like to use markers and sometimes a little bit of colored pencils.

Q: As a follow-up, have you looked into computer technology to enhance your drawings by using paint or drawing programs on the computer?

WY: I'm using Photoshop to make calibrations and special effects. Right now I am only using black-and-white but I like to try out color.

Q: Are you basing the Chinese costumes (from FUSHIGI YUUGI) on research?

WY: I did a lot of research in the part of Chinese history I picked.

Q: Do you enjoy designing the characters' fashions, or do you take it all from the research that you had done?

WY: I sometimes just use my research, but sometimes I put in a little bit of my imagination.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

WY: In Japan, I was hearing that in America there are a lot of anime fans, but after I came here, I got to really know how people are fans of manga as well. And being that one of my works is one of the favorites here, I am very honored. A long time ago in Japan, manga was really put down, but since the times have changed, I feel manga is one tool that can be used to communicate to other countries in the entire world.