Free Talks --------------------------------- COVER FLAP: Watsuki (crying with joy): Jerseys are now old! From now on, it's the "Samue"! Tae: So, if you are happy, could you please increase my number of appearances? "SAMUE" (the vest Zen Buddhist monks use when performing physical feats as a part of their spiritual training; a general vest for work, specially when it comes to manga artists ^_^) I've bought a "samue" as a everyday clothing in the workplace. Congratulations! "Samue" always made me feel a touch of "mastership", so I used to wonder deep within my heart whether "I could become a fully professional artisan" when donning such costume. And now, finally my wished came true...Oh my! Is this a kind of cosplay? --------------------------------- FREE TALK - Hi, it's Watsuki again, it's been a long time. When it became Fall, I got sick and ended up a whole day in bed. I guess my constitution is much worse than I thought, so I've been telling to myself "Gawd demmit, whut the hell 'm I doin'?", in a Kansai intonation. Anyway, I've ordered ABS-Flex by phone. At least I'll have to hold on for one more year! - Well, while I wait for the ABS-Flex, let's talk about figures and games. I recommend the "X-MEN Gift Pack 2". Last year's Gift Pack 1 was also wonderful, but this one simply rocks! The strange Sunfire and the initial monkey-faced Banshee, two that had never made it before, are just great. Please, release all the X-Characters figures using those technologies, people from the toy business! I don't mind if you release a 100-figures pack that take up a square meter of space. Come and get some! About the games, I haven't been playing the arcade since I stopped the once-in-a-week play in the game center due to that all that transportation stuff. You may ask, "are you really a gameaholic?!", but the truth is that I'm just a "manga artist that likes games". For me, the best is still the manga. But now I hear rumors about the release of the "Samurai Spirits 2 Ashra Zanmaden (SNK)", so I'm thinking again about going back to game centers. I hope this time they bring it to the local game center... about the videogame releases, I've played with my assistants, for about an hour, the "Private Justice School"(PlayStation version) from Capcom. As usual, I have no time. But I felt a bit attracted by Akira's face. Maybe I had felt in love if 2-D. The faces in 3-D, when looked closely, are still nasty. - The other thing that I like apart from figures and games, the "night sights". I have a pretty good sight from this new workplace, in the 9th floor, so I feel like all that moving up trouble was well worth it. Even in the day, you can see the Fuji when the weather is good and in foggy days it looks like London (although I've never been in London nor anywhere outside Japan). I feel good. To get excited with figures and games and to relax with the sight from the window, such has become an important asset to my self-control. - And to finish this, a talk about the manga. At last, I've seen a glimpse of the drawing style and the storytelling style I'm pursuing. I'll skip the drawing style part because I've already talked about that. About the storytelling, to tell simply is the "pit-a-pat thrill" of the "uneasy pit-a-pat thrill". You may ask, "What the hell are you talking about?", but I can't express this more concisely. I'm sorry. Anyway, there's plenty of road ahead before such things come to reality, so for now I'll dive myself in the "Rurouni Kenshin" wholeheartedly. So, let's meet again in the next volume.