Maki Murakami, the guest of honor at the 2010 edition of Chibi Japan Expo, was happy to meet her French fans for the first time during the festival. She also agreed to answer some of our questions. Here are the minutes of our encounter with this nice manga!

Hello! What led you to become a mangaka? When I was in college, one of my classmates had a sister who was a mangaka. One day, she asked me if I could become an assistant to help him work and that's how I got into the middle of the manga industry and I wanted to become a mangaka.

What was the first title you worked on? It was Narushisuto Higeki. In fact, I truly became a mangaka one year after becoming an assistant with helping to create this short story.

What are the manga that have marked your youth? Actually, I didn't read much manga when I was a child, but if I had to name the ones I read, it would be Banana Fish, Trigun, and other shounen manga.

Are there any mangaka who have influenced you? Actually, I really started to read manga once I actually became involved with the process. So I read a lot of manga thereafter, but not much actually influenced me.

In this case, are there other things that have influenced you? At first, I thought the kind of manga I wanted to read didn't exist, and so I said I would create what I wanted to read. So, I started drawing without much purpose. I created the basics of a story, and I started developing my own style that way. Subsequently, I realized that there was already a lot of manga like the ones I had drawn (laughs).

Can you tell us more about this style of (boy's love) manga? At the time, this kind of manga was sold underground; it wasn't like today where you have boy's love in almost any store. There wasn't much erotic manga. At least, I didn't know there was. I had heard that this style existed, but I could not find it. I ended up developing my style on my own. (laughs). And only after the fact did I have access to this style of manga.

In your opinion, what are the major differences between what you do and the rest of the production of this kind? In fact, I would rather have the readers answer that question (laughs). I had not read this type of manga at the time, and having written a bit of what I felt was right, I didn't know if I was in the movement of the boy's love, or if I created something totally different from the boy's love existing at that time. Even today I can not really answer.

There are very explicit boy's love. You feel you are able to create titles in that vein? I tried, not as a manga artist, but as a designer of doujinshi, and I went up to the maximum of what the law allowed (laughs).

Music is an important topic in Gravitation. Shuichi, partly because the his protagonist status, played in a band influenced by techno music. What were your influences for this aspect of the series? When I developed my characters, I was a fan of the music group B'z, and it is true that I based on this group to develop my character. For me, music was just this universe's B'z.

Gravitation has been a lively adaptation , best known for its soundtrack. Have you participated in the creation of the 3 CDs that have been made to the animated version of Gravitation? When the CDs were made, I did not participate and I let him make people more knowledgeable than I was in this area as the music director. Obviously, they had surveyed the fans to hear their favorite musical styles, then created customized music; They asked the musicians, for example, Daisuke Asakura, to participate in music, and ultimately it has apparently appealed to the public. For me it was perfect. They love my work and music that are around, it was very good.

Do you need to listen to music when you work, or not at all? When I draw, I also put the script in the bubbles, and so I listen to music only, without sung lyrics.

And what is your opinion on the outcome of the animated series? Actually, my own story went a bit in all directions, and when I saw the animated version, I found the staff were able to bring everything back properly (laughs).

Gravitation is a very funny and crazy series. Is this important to integrate that in your series? I heard that in the boy's love of humor was not necessarily very incorporated, and I wanted my work to be a little more accessible in the genre. So I wanted the characters to have a crazy life, to be more optimistic, and not only focused on the relationship between the two heroes.

Now you've started Gravitation EX , the sequel of Gravitation. What do you think has changed in this sequel from the original series? When I was asked to do Gravitation EX, I thought I had done everything I had wanted to do in Gravitation. As a result, I started on another runway, something cooler. I no longer had the pressure off me, but I continued to deal with things that I had perhaps not previously developed. I did Gravitation EX for several reasons, mainly because my editor asked me and I accepted because I liked the Gravitation series very much. Aside of the scenario, there is not much change, just that I make this result more quietly.

Are you going to continue Gravitation EX for a while? Yes, I'll continue the series.

This suite is available on the Internet. Is it important to you that the series is published as well? Firstly, I think the Internet is a very important media. I think the book itself, the paper will not die anytime soon, but my opinion is that as media dissemination and distribution, the Internet is very important indeed.

In your opinion, among all of the characters that you created, who is the one closest to you? Without hesitation, Yuki! (laughter)

Is there a part of you in this character? Yes, we can say that's true, especially in regards to the slightly darker Yuki (laughs).

Regarding the relationship between boys, are they taboo in Japan? I am not aware of everything, but compared to some years ago, there is no doubt that these relationships have become more open, less hidden. Now, in regards to the perception of homosexuality in Japan, I really think it depends on the regions, and also the environments in which homosexuality is changing.

What are you working on now? I still Gravitation EX, of course, but I'm also working on another project. I still can not tell you much more, but it will not be the boy's love, even if some characters could move in that direction.

Do you already know which editor will publish this new series? The publisher Gentosha, which has already published my other works, said that as soon as this new title would be ready he had to sell them (laughs).

You already gave an autograph session this morning as part of the Chibi Japan Expo. How have you been welcomed by the French public? What were your impressions? Is this the first time you come in France? This is my first visit to France. This morning I saw my first audience, and so far as wherever I have made signings, I noticed that boys were more timid, more reserved than the girls.

Would you be willing to come back next time? If it appeals to me, of course!