In Japan, there is a column dedicated to the charm of popular manga - "Manga Questions". The column has always won the recognition of people from all walks of life with its authoritative interpretation. The latest issue of the column is scheduled to be the sci-fi ocean war comic "Blue Steel Battleship", which is currently being serialized on "YOUNGKINGOURs" by the cartoonist group ArkPerformance, and was also produced and broadcast as a TV animation in October last year, attracting more and more fans. This time, Yoshitaka Noguchi from the editorial department of the Shonen Pictorial "YOUNGKINGOURs" was invited to explain the charm of "Blue Steel Battleship".

Q: What do you think is the charm of this work?

Noguchi: 2038 in the Gregorian calendar. Enigmatic warship groups (henceforth known as the "Fleet of the Mist", similar in shape to World War II warships) have suddenly appeared in the world's oceans, banishing human ships from the world's seas. …… 17 years later, the protagonist Chihaya Group and his companions infiltrate the submarine of the Fog Fleet, I-401, and challenge the Fog Fleet for the future of mankind and for their own ......! In this work, the battles between the warships are full of oppressive power, and the authors' painting style is also very good, coupled with the fight and hand in hand between those anthropomorphic fog warships and humans, the hatred and love between them make the whole work of "Blue Steel Battleship" full of charm.

Q: What was the impetus for this work?

Noguchi: Actually, 15 years ago, I was working in the monthly manga editor department of another company. At that time, I already knew two cartoonists from ArkPerformance. However, at that time, we were still in charge of magazines and writers, and we were not involved in the creation of specific comics. Five years ago, I joined Shonen Pictorial and became the head of manga for the first time. So I started negotiations with them, and it took about a year or so to finally make the work "Blue Steel Battleship" come out. The editor-in-chief of our family was very annoyed by the fact that there had been no progress this year, and yelled at me: "Hey! Have you just eaten this year......!? And when I showed him the plan for "Blue Steel Battleship", I shouted almost from the heart: "How! That's the power of delicious meals! ”…… Well, I made up the latter part of the paragraph (laughs). The editor-in-chief was also very interested in the planning of this work, and decided to serialize it on the spot. The reason for choosing the theme of the work as "Something of the Sea" is a long story, but in short, both the two of us at ArkPerformance and I love the relationship with the sea.

Q: It must be a lot of hard work to have a beautiful girl and a ship in one work at the same time. Is there anything you care about about this?

Noguchi: I have a lot of discussions with two manga artists at ArkPerformance. In short, make the anthropomorphic characters look cute and attractive, and make the ship as majestic as possible.

Q: You're in charge of this work as an editor, so you're definitely able to laugh out loud so far. But at the time, it was difficult. Is there a story behind this scene? Please tell all the fans.

It was probably around the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 311 that the third volume of the manga was about to be released. In the aftermath of the earthquake, trains were unable to operate at normal times, and logistics were thrown into disarray, and the entire printing industry was greatly affected. As a result, it is said that Volume 3 will not be printed before the scheduled release date. However, after many negotiations between our sales department and the relevant personnel of the printing house, we finally met with readers at the end of March as scheduled. This incident still impresses me to this day. …… Every time I see Haruna on the cover of volume 3 now, I recall what happened at that time. Because of the earthquake, we were worried about whether manga sales would be affected, but surprisingly, the third volume sold better than the first two volumes. At the time, I was shocked by the power of the readers...... Also, speaking of which, I remembered that the discussion about TV animation also started in March of that year. At that time, the people of flyingDOG were originally planning to discuss with us on March 14, 2011, but due to the devastating earthquake, the date of the meeting was changed to March 31.

Q: What was the response to the TV anime?

Noguchi: After the anime aired, we received positive feedback from major bookstores! Although it may not seem so obvious, the cumulative circulation of manga has exceeded 1 million copies and continues to rise. The popularity of TV anime is due to the efforts of Supervisor Seiji Kishi, the scriptwriters, and the staff of Sanzigen. Nowadays, comics are also taking advantage of animation to further increase their sales. Also, the online game "Fleet Collection" also came out at about the same time, and I think the timing is fantastic. The game was a perfect fit for the style of Blue Steel Battleship and helped us increase our popularity even further.

Q: How will your work develop in the future?

Noguchi: At the moment, they are engaged in a fierce battle with Kongo's First Cruiser Fleet. The surprise attack between the group and Hyuga, the Yokosuka landing, and the various actions carried out by 402 are worthy of our attention. The "Facility 4 Incident" mentioned at the beginning of the series will soon reveal the final mystery.

Q: Would you like to have a few words for you?

Noguchi: Although the final episode of the TV anime was broadcast at the end of last year, the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the anime are now fully available, and we will be holding an event at Maihama (Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture) at the end of June this year. And the comic "Blue Steel Battleship" is expected to create a "blue world" that is broader and world-scale than it is now! Whether it's anime or manga, "Blue Steel Battleship" will look forward to your attention!!