The manga you all are reading today would not have taken its current shape if DŌMU hadn’t been published. It was that monumental of an influence. I wanted to express the shock and emotion we felt when it was first released through the program, so we tried to approach it in various ways.
Manga artists of my generation and beyond have all had their lives changed by DŌMU So, I reached out to nine manga artists, and they shared their thoughts. Please look forward to hearing about the "Otomo in my heart" from these artists (laughs).
Otomo’s manuscripts don’t use white correction ink. He completes his intricate drawings in one go. Those lines are drawn with a sense of absolute commitment. When he draws a line, he does so with all his soul, making sure it’s the correct line. It’s as if he’s pouring his entire being into every stroke. I believe this is how his manga reached us and became part of our era. The original manuscript we will be showing is one like that.
If you only focus on manga, you can only become a "child" of manga. To create new culture, you need to combine various influences into a complex cultural identity. I’ve learned from many books, films, and manga created by pioneers, and seeing that bookshelf made me realize that I’ve been following in Otomo’s footsteps.
Urasawa: Are you planning on drawing another manga?
Otomo: I didn't expect that question to come.
■(retweet of Urasawa's announcement of the upcoming MANBENneo show) I kept running away, but I got caught.
NAOKI URASAWA × KATSUHIRO OTOMO on the creation of DŌMU
KATSUHIRO OTOMO CHANGED MANGA?!
Urasawa: It was like when Bob Dylan or The Beatles suddenly changed everything. That kind of movement, that’s what I felt from Katsuhiro Otomo. We’ve been trying to get him on this series since the beginning. We’ve met many times, mostly just doing karaoke.We almost never talk about manga. But now, I want to take the time to talk manga with the person who changed my life. Let’s go!
Otomo: I’ve finally agreed to appear on MANBEN
Urasawa: My wish has come true.
Otomo: I was trying to avoid it…
A SHOCKING OPENING
Urasawa: Editors always say, “Draw manga with impact!”But your sense of “impact” feels completely different.
Otomo: There’s no one around, after all.
Urasawa: I’ve never felt such quiet pressure.
Otomo: That’s because it’s like you’re viewing the scene from a great distance. It’s not zoomed in at all. It gives the feeling of “everything is happening objectively.”
Urasawa: These first three pages already pulled me in. I thought, “Manga is entering a whole new era.”
Otomo: I see.
Urasawa: I was blown away and then this little sound effect in the speech bubble, “dosatsu.” It’s tiny!
Otomo: It was a big two-page spread that was tough to draw.
Urasawa: Did you draw that yourself?
Otomo: Yeah, I did. When I was working on that part, I was already thinking, “This is never gonna end.”
Urasawa: Including the cover, that’s page 5 already. And it’s still not ending!
Otomo: Nope, definitely not.
Urasawa: And yet you still make proper frames.
Otomo: Of course, always.
Urasawa: You don’t do full-bleed splash pages. Where does that “Otomo rule” come from?
Otomo: Instead of going BANG, I want to gently pull the reader into the artwork. Making a huge explosion on the page is just me letting out emotion. But when you have a small drawing with perspective leading into depth, the reader slowly enters the scene and into the story itself. That’s what I try to do.
WHY DID HE CHOOSE APARTMENTS?Urasawa: So this is technically horror, right?
Otomo: Yeah, I found The Exorcist really interesting. We were talking like, “The next one should be like The Exorcist.” Also, Nobuhiko Obayashi made HOUSE. When I watched it, I thought, “Western-style houses don’t really suit Japan.” Horror usually happens in cursed places, right? Back then, there were lots of suicide jumps in apartment complexes. That made me think, “Aha, apartments!” It was the era of massive apartment buildings, and I thought, “That might actually work.”
Urasawa: Otomo’s perspective is just so fresh and original.
Otomo: Yeah.
HOW TO SHOW A CONVERSATION
Urasawa: Why I chose this, it’s like Yasujiro Ozu.
Otomo: You mean the shot-reverse shot?
Urasawa: This might be the first time in manga history that a reverse shot was drawn this directly. And it was possible because of your character’s nose.
Otomo: Are you serious?
Urasawa: That nose makes front-facing characters work. Thanks to that, you were able to create “Ozu-style shots” in manga.
Otomo: The most annoying thing in manga is these conversation scenes. Nothing happens, just a bunch of similar faces.
Urasawa: It becomes just “face manga.”
Otomo: That’s what makes it hard. The key is, “How do you keep this interesting?” So I start with a full frontal face, then reverse with another front-facing shot. From there, it gradually starts to move, maybe turns sideways, etc.
Urasawa: You’re giving that older woman real acting power, like having her shift her gaze here and there, that kind of subtle performance.
Otomo: Yeah, whenever there’s a group talking, you really need to think it through.
Urasawa: You make it look effortless, She’s talking here, and then a memory of the man with the weird hat shows up.Then the detectives are already moving in the next panel. But the old lady is still in the middle of her explanation. This kind of montage,this is totally cinema.
Otomo: Those inserts, they were to add motion. Quick cuts, gradually picking up movement.
Urasawa: That taught us how to avoid “just a row of talking heads.” I use this trick all the time.
Otomo: Oh, I see.
THE SHOCK OF CHAPTER 1
Urasawa: This original manuscript... This is the one that changed my life. Look at this... like... wow... seriously... this is incredible.
Otomo: Page 39 — this is the climax of the first chapter, right?
Urasawa: I’d always wondered about this. I kept thinking, “Why is there gravity only on the gun?”
Otomo: Ah, yeah, you’re right.
Urasawa: (laughs)
Otomo: Well, maybe I thought it would be better to show the weight of the gun.
Urasawa: I just noticed something amazing. You know what? There’s not a single bit of white correction used here!
Otomo: Yeah, that’s true.
Urasawa: Come in a little closer—look at the neck area here. See how there are different layers of cords?So in the foreground, you’ve got the string, and in the background, some kind of accessory-like thing. Normally, this part would get all messy, right? You’d end up using white-out on the string.
Otomo: Well, you know, when you’re drawing detailed stuff like this, you sort of navigate around the layers of the cords as you go, right? That… that’s sorcery. I’m literally imbuing it with magic.
Urasawa: I get it.
Otomo: You don’t fix that with white-out or correction fluid. It’s a sacrifice to the gods. (…What am I even saying?)
Urasawa: This really gives off such an "Otomo vibe." Your pages—yeah, they’re super detailed—but they also have this confidence that says, “It's okay to leave it white.”
Otomo: When there’s no background, it usually means… there’s something specific I want to convey.
Urasawa: Yeah, that part speaks for itself—it's already talking to the reader through the page.
Otomo: That space becomes something else entirely... It turns into Cho-san’s own unique world, and that’s why it’s left pure white. Back in the day, though, sometimes it was just because… I couldn’t be bothered to draw the background. (laughs)
ETSUKO IS A HOMAGE TO ISHINOMORI'S WORKS 
Urasawa: Etsuko in this first chapter — she’s just perfect.
Otomo: By the way, Etsuko is a reference to Sarutobi E-chan by Shotaro Ishinomori.
Urasawa: She looks so cool. And you know what really makes it cool? it’s this part — the shadow from the stone stopping right on her shoulder. That’s what creates this sense of space — the distance between the stone and her face. In works like Ishinomori’s Genma Taisen and others, he often goes with big “BOOM! BAM!” style effects, right?
Otomo: Yeah, for clarity — to make it really obvious. But here, I think the idea was not to do that as much. Instead, it’s more about “how can you express power through the image, through spatial composition?” That’s what I think it’s aiming for.
THE SPARK TO BECOME A MANGA ARTIST
Urasawa: That How to Draw Manga book by Ishinomori-sensei — the one he’s holding behind his back —that was our Bible, wasn’t it?
Otomo: Yeah. There’s this short story in it called Ryujin Numa (The Dragon God’s Marsh), and it’s used as a kind of textbook. He breaks down all the storytelling techniques in amazing detail. Like, there’s a scene where the girl disappears, and even though the character wants to see her, he can’t — and that frustration is symbolized by a butterfly caught in a spider’s web.
Urasawa: It was the first time I ever felt like I was seeing a “making-of.” Like getting a peek behind the curtain.
WHY DID YOU START DRAWING SCI-FI MANGA?
Urasawa:The way I see it, sci-fi felt like a way to break into the mainstream. You also jumped into sci-fi with Fire-Ball, right? But don’t you think your direction kind of changed after that?
Otomo: The manga I was drawing before Fire-Ball— They were all stories about things like the frustrations of youth. Like guys playing mahjong in an apartment, just that kind of stuff, over and over.
Urasawa: Stories that go nowhere, right?
Otomo: Yeah, and I started getting bored of it. I began thinking, “I really need to make proper manga.”And when I asked myself, “What does manga mean to me?”— And it was Tezuka Osamu, Ishinomori Shotaro— and all of those classic shōnen manga were sci-fi. So I thought, “Alright, I’ll try drawing sci-fi too.” Since I was already drawing in a pretty realistic style, I figured, “Why not do sci-fi in this style?” Didn’t work out so well though.
Urasawa: You mean Fire-Ball?
Otomo: Yeah. That’s when I realized— “I really need to build proper structure.” It’s all about story and structure.
Urasawa: And after trying to get it right, that’s when you arrived at Domu, right?
Otomo: Exactly, exactly.
DŌMU: THE SHOCK OF CHAPTER 1
Urasawa: I found this in Action Deluxe, at a convenience store. I looked at the last page… and I was like fwaaah… — it just blew me away. I almost collapsed right there. So I quietly put it back on the shelf…and floated home. Like, totally dazed. And then, once I got home, I thought, “Oh man… something huge just happened.” And then it hit me—“I forgot to buy it!” So I ran back to the store
Urasawa: I’ve thought about why I was so drawn to it. Usually, really skilled artists— they don’t want editors telling them what to do, you know?
Otomo: Oh, I see.
Urasawa: So they tend to turn inward. Like, “great artist = quiet career.” They keep a low profile. And I figured you, Otomo-san, were probably that type too. But instead, you didn’t withdraw— you looked like you were actually stepping into the mainstream. It felt like you were saying, “If I just show how interesting my work is, then editors won’t be able to mess with me.” That energy— like you were pushing back against the pressure of “Make something entertaining!” by declaring, “What I do is already more interesting than anything you could ask for.”
Otomo: Right.
Urasawa: It was like you were seizing control.
EVEN THE FIRST COLLECTED VOLUME WAS UNCONVENTIONAL
Otomo: Normally, you’d have a designer or a letterer do that stuff, right? But when it was time to publish my first volume, they asked, “How should we do the (design)?” So I said, “Ah, I’ll do it myself.” And from that point on, I’ve always done the design for my own books. That kind of thing leads to interesting results, you know?
DEPICTION OF PSYCHIC POWERS
Urasawa: To depict something this significant in such a small panel —it’s amazing how this small panel comes to life. It’s like a "spot the difference" puzzle, right? If you’re not paying attention, you might just pass by it without noticing. But it’s so cool. This part right here.
CINEMATIC DEPICTION OF SOUND
Urasawa: There's silence, complete silence—and then Nononmura starts trembling, And suddenly the sound explodes into the scene, like "Waaah!"
Otomo: Like the real sound of the scene suddenly cuts in.
Urasawa: Exactly that.
Otomo: That’s cinematic. Yeah, I guess that’s true. Like using "nonmon" (no sound) in film— When you deliberately don’t use sound, it becomes incredibly striking. I guess I’m doing something like that.
INFLUENCE FROM FILM
Urasawa:This part right here—it’s Kubrick, right?
Otomo: You think so?
Urasawa: Definitely Kubrick. This is so Kubrick.
Otomo: It’s symmetrical, right?
Urasawa: From The Shining?
Otomo: Ah, yeah. It might be. That really could be The Shining you're thinking of.
THE LIBRARY AT OTOMO'S STUDIO
Otomo: The elements in my manga come from many things—films, various types of fashion, music, and much more. All of these influences come together and flow into the work. So, while everyone else is creating manga within the manga world, I’m not just creating manga inside that world. I’m constantly observing new things from the world around me and using them in my drawings.
Urasawa: That’s how a manga artist should be, right? I truly believe that.
DŌMU WAS RELEASED IN BOOK FORMAT ON AUGUST 1983
Urasawa: I was at the bookstore in front of the Fuchū Bumai-Gawara Station, just casually browsing. I thought, “Today’s the release day,” so I checked. And there, in the general book section, Domu was stacked up front, face-up.
Otomo: Oh, seriously? Stacked up front?
Urasawa: I thought, “So Katsuhiro Otomo is really going all-in with this approach.” It made me feel like, “I’ll follow in his footsteps, even if I can’t quite reach his level.” It really had that much of an impact on my life.
Otomo: Ah, I see. Well, it’s good that it worked out, huh? (laughs)
THE SECRET BEHIND COMPLEX COMPOSITIONS
Urasawa: Here it comes—the battle is about to begin.
Otomo: This side says "top and bottom" .
Urasawa: Yeah, it does say tenchi there. But you can’t even tell what’s up or down in this. It’s amazing.
Otomo: I did that on purpose—to mess with the vertical orientation, the “heaven and earth” axis—so the viewer would feel almost dizzy, like they’re spinning. That’s why I sometimes draw things upside-down.
Urasawa: There’s this rumor… that you’d set up string from far away to get your perspective lines right. I think this panel might be one of those. The first time I visited your studio, you were stretching string all by yourself, doing something like this, and I asked, “What are you doing?” And you said, “Ah, the vanishing point is really far away...”
Otomo:Yeah, could be. When you’re dealing with this kind of perspective, the vanishing point ends up way off the page.
Urasawa: Super far away, yeah. This stuff is seriously difficult. Anyone who's tried it would look at this and go, “Whew!” Like, this line goes this way, and that one goes that way...
Otomo: Right, you’ve got a vanishing point for this perspective here, and a vanishing point for that one there—There are multiple vanishing points, right? But they all have to form the same circle. They’ve got to fall onto a single lens.
Urasawa: Right
Otomo: That’s why I realized: “This is lens work.” While I was doing perspective back then, I thought,“Ah, in the end, it all comes down to the lens.” To represent the lens, I’d stretch these long strings for perspective— I think that’s what I was doing. Nowadays you can just get perspective grids instantly with digital tools, but if you don’t struggle through it yourself, you don’t learn. You lose the flexibility to adapt and apply. That’s why it’s better to make yourself suffer a bit.
Urasawa: That “Whoa, really?” feeling—those kinds of discoveries are the best.
Otomo: Exactly.
OTOMO'S METHOD: ONE-SHOT DRAFTING
Otomo: I always want to do it in one take. You properly do your layout (name), break down the panels carefully, and then move to drawing it on manuscript paper. But when I go to transfer it to the actual page,
I usually draw a different version. Maybe I’m just being contrary, or maybe I get a better idea. But I end up redrawing it. However—When I go straight to drawing the draft on the manuscript paper, I don’t redraw anything. It’s all one-shot.
Urasawa: That’s fascinating—like watching an animator being born in real time.
Otomo: Yeah, and a lot of my scene cuts are already like a movie.
HOW TO SHOW ACTION
Urasawa: So like—whoosh, it hits, then bang—and then it gently floats down, right? Those three panels feel like fwah~, totally soft. But here’s the thing—the speed in this part and the speed in this part are completely different. That kind of effect—it’s all imagery, right?
Otomo: Yeah. You need to first imagine it in your head— if you can’t do that, you can’t draw it.
Urasawa: And isn’t it true? The height of the “lens” is actually predetermined, right?
Otomo: Yes, exactly.
Urasawa: You decide the camera height.
Otomo: Right—the eye level determines how you visualize the scene. You imagine the scene flowing like,
“Okay, the action flows like this, then leads up to this moment...” You basically storyboard it in your mind like a movie.
STUDYING THE OTOMO TOUCH
Urasawa: Check out these speed lines. Back then, when I was with my assistants, we’d say things like “2-3-3-4,” meaning: “Don’t draw the same number of lines.”
Otomo: (laughs) Oh right, I remember that.
Urasawa: The randomness— we’d say, “Make sure the number of lines isn’t uniform.”
Otomo:Ah, stream lines.
Urasawa: Yeah. 3, 2… and this fade. Honestly? I’m better than you at this.
Otomo: Oh really?
Urasawa: (laughs)
Otomo: Not even mad.
Urasawa: (laughs) That random feeling, right? Like if something was here— like this object was like... this, and then... that—
Otomo: Ah, yeah yeah.
Urasawa: Then you’d do this... and this...
Otomo: Ah, I see it. Like a rock, yeah?
Urasawa: Exactly! Look—
Otomo: It looks like the rock is flying!
Urasawa: Right?!
Otomo: Whoa. That’s awesome.
Urasawa: Yeah, feels good, right?
Urasawa: For example... like here, you do something like this.
Otomo: Yeah, that's right. Uh-huh. Adding grime.
Urasawa: You make it look like this, kind of getting closer to that Otomo touch. I used to copy this kind of thing all the time.
Otomo: (laughs)
Urasawa: And the thing I learned the most from you, Otomo-san... No underdrawing, but like this— Here, like this— When you do it this way, suddenly it becomes “Otomo's hand.”
Otomo: (laughs) Seriously.
Urasawa: I really did learn that kind of thing from you.
Otomo: (laughs) No, no, that’s wonderful.
THE OTOMO METHOD: HOW TO RAISE A MARU PEN
Otomo: Maru-pen is stiff, so it's hard to use at first. You have to break it in.
Urasawa: I heard you had Maru-pen No.1, No.2, and No.3.
Otomo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Urasawa: I totally get that. You rotate through them: old pen, mid-used pen, new pen—Like that, right?
Otomo: At first, I’d give them to my assistants to use for drawing backgrounds.
Urasawa: To get the assistants used to them?
Otomo: Exactly. And then the assistant would say, “Sensei… the lines are getting kinda thick…” And I’d say, “Let me see,” and then, “Nah, it’s still usable.” Then, finally, “Okay, guess it can’t be helped. Here’s a new Maru-pen.” I managed all the pens myself.
Urasawa: Don’t you find it doesn’t suit you if you get used to a pen someone else used?
Otomo: Nah, that’s still just Pen No.1.
Urasawa: Ah… so that’s No.1.
Otomo: Yeah, and the one that’s been really used becomes No.2. Then No.3 is the pen that I have complete freedom with. It just rolls around...
Urasawa: And when it breaks with a snap, that’s a total shock.
THE REASON FOR UNCONVENTIONAL PANEL LAYOUTSUrasawa: This one's kind of unusual. It’s a spread, but the center runs here—still connected.
Otomo: It’s the climax, right? So I wanted this kind of frame.
Urasawa: This was groundbreaking in Otomo history.
Otomo: Yeah, I don’t really do it often. I was experimenting with things. This vertical panel—it’s like a camera tilt, looking upwards.
Urasawa: This “Dototototo” part here—
Otomo: This part is the pan. I was self-indulgently experimenting...
Urasawa: But you can’t really do this vertical effect in film. Only manga can pull that off.
Otomo: That’s true.
DEPICTING INVISIBLE “FORCES”
Urasawa: It’s that swoosh. Something that shouldn’t dent just pops inward. That’s the thrill. It must have surprised people, right?
Otomo: (laughs) What is that? Are you trying to make me the villain here?
Urasawa: No, no—drawing manga is exactly about that. It’s like, “Bam! How do you like that?”
Otomo: Yeah, you need that kind of thing. We’re drawing alone, after all.
Urasawa: Exactly.
Otomo: Circles or spheres are best for showing energy. You don’t often see decagons or sixteen-sided shapes. Even those just become circles in the end. So I always start and end with circles.
Urasawa: This part is really good—right before this panel.
Otomo: Where the character appears.
Urasawa: Yeah, just from that, you feel Etsuko's presence coming through. This wall here—just one panel gives that effect. This drawing is sneakily amazing.
Otomo: Yeah, you can feel the fun of drawing it.
Urasawa: It looks like a speech bubble was erased here.
Otomo: Could be. It’s inked but looks erased—yeah, something was there.
Urasawa: You changed your mind, huh?
Otomo: Totally don’t remember.
Urasawa: Since this side says Bin, maybe this side said Pip or Bishi?
Otomo: Could be.
NODŌ: THE BOOK’S BINDING CENTER
Otomo: And then—Chō-san.
Urasawa: He’s here—he’s here. But the middle—the nodō—gets in the way. I want to see the full image without the split. What’s notable here is that Chō-san’s whole figure— It’s all pen drawing.
Otomo: Yeah, that’s right.
Urasawa: The background just has a simple screentone slapped on. But it’s incredibly effective. It gives Chō-san this pop-out, three-dimensional feel.
Otomo: Drawing old men or weird faces—that’s fun.
Urasawa: Totally fun.
Otomo: Well, it feels like you're reliving that person's life. It’s like the ‘final move’ that wasn’t used. The decisive panel—the final panel—usually comes to a stop. A panel that "stops" is quiet and holds some kind of meaning. To make that panel stand out, all the other panels are drawn to flow smoothly. Even the camera angles—sometimes they’re tilted, or composed in a way that naturally leads the viewer’s eye to the next one. The drawings, too, are done like that. And the reason for all this is to make that final panel—the one you really want to show—stand still.
REGRETS: WHAT WAS LEFT OUT OF DŌMU
Otomo: I wanted to include more of the kids from the housing complex. Near the end, there’s just a bit where they watch the fight between Chō-san and Etsuko from above— But I thought I could have done more with that.
Urasawa: “Try this, try that”—it gets out of hand.
Otomo: Yeah, exactly.
Urasawa: These days, no one tries to finish a story in one volume. If it expands, they just go with it.
Otomo: And then the editor says, “Make a sequel.” DŌMU 2
Urasawa: (laughs)
Urasawa: Do you feel like drawing manga again?
Otomo: Ah… yeah. Didn’t expect that question. But yeah, somewhere inside, I feel like I should draw manga properly again. As a kind of repayment— To manga, which raised me.
Urasawa: I’ll come help anytime.
Otomo: (laughs)
Urasawa: Everyone will come help. Everyone’s waiting.
Otomo: I’ll do my best. Ah—I shouldn’t have said that. Cut that part. (laughs)
Urasawa: No, you should say it.
“It's after AKIRA where your true battle of style begins”
Osamu Tezuka (手塚 治虫)
Praise for DŌMU by other mangakas
"Dynamic like an anime"
Reiko Shimizu (清水玲子)
"It changed my life."
Katsuya Terada (寺田 克也)
"A talisman for manga artists."
Shin-ichi Sakamoto (坂本眞一)
"When I was in high school, Domu came out.
I read it and decided, “I’m going to become a manga artist.”
That’s how important this book is to me."
Shinichi Sugimura (すぎむらしんいち)
"It really blew me away. The camera angles were straight out of Kubrick.
It was a manga, but it felt just like a movie."
Atsushi Kamijo (上條 淳士)
"Domu wasn’t just a manga—
I always kept it nearby like a how-to guide for drawing manga."
Miki Tori (とり·みき)
"It was seriously shocking.
He expressed psychic powers without using speed lines or motion trails.
That contrast actually made the powers feel more real."
Hisashi Eguchi (江口 寿史)
"Back in school, a friend of mine who wanted to be a manga artist,
The day after Domu came out, he said:
“Arai, I’m giving up on becoming a manga artist.”
That’s how impactful Katsuhiro Otomo was. I was like, “What?!”
Hideki Arai (新井 英樹)
"Otomo-san himself was a revolution.
He really changed the foundation—the very concept of how manga artwork is supposed to look. Things that are now considered normal actually all started from what he did. There are so many of those examples."
Naoki Urasawa (浦沢 直樹)
