Earlier this year at Otakon 2024, Manga Mavericks had the opportunity to talk with Japanese artist Setta. Setta has provided illustrations and logos for several popular Japanese bands Yamaarashi and King Gnu, as well as 2D illustrations for anime projects including Dorohedoro, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Attack on Titan.
You check out our full interview with Setta down below:
To start off, what are your thoughts on Otakon so far?
Setta: It’s a wonderful event. I’ve been really enjoying looking at all the cosplayers, and just really enjoying being here.
Going into your work, what inspired you to become an artist?
Setta: So before this, I used to be in a band, and when I was around 28, I had outsourced my band logo to be made by an artist friend of mine. When I saw that logo, it was such a shocking, crazy moment to me that it really inspired me to go into the world of calligraphy and typewriting, and he’s been doing it ever since.
How do you explain Rakkan to someone who has never heard of it before?
Setta: So simply put, it’s a stamp that you kind of sign off or use to show it’s your work and who you are.
How do you usually reach out to work on projects, since you’ve worked on many different types of franchises and media?
Setta: So the types of work I mainly do at the moment come from the company that I’m associated with, and most of my works come through my company. Another pattern is that I also get job offers from other companies who need the main title, like big letters, to be done for a certain project that’s coming out. For a certain scene, I might also get a request to do some illustrations. So yeah, I get these requests from people who are working on the directing process, they reach out to me, and then they have meetings to discuss the exact image they have.
So do you approach creating logos differently than you do full illustrations?
Setta: As we all know, words, letters, writing, and illustrations are fundamentally different things. But for me, when I write, when I do calligraphy, I perceive the letters as illustrations. So for me, their illustrations and letter writing are quite close in comparison to other people. But when it comes to perfecting the last final stages of the process, they do become a little bit different.
Do you feel like then you have a bigger strength for calligraphy than general illustration, or do you feel like your skill sets more balance between the two?
Setta: I think I’m more skilled in calligraphy.
So when creating work for an existing IP, such as the illustration that you did for Jujutsu Kaisen 0, how much feedback do you usually need to go through before the artwork is finalized?
Setta: For projects that already have existing IP, the first step is talking to the director and understanding the director’s artistic direction. Then from there, I’ll do a draft and then I’ll send the director the draft and get feedback. I continue to
repeat that. Then, once the director is like, “This is great!”, they’ll send the piece to the original author. For example, if it’s Jujutsu Kaisen, it’ll be the Jujutsu Kaisen author. Once the original author thinks it’s a good fit for his work, then it will be the final version. It really depends, but it takes around one month for this whole process to go over.
Going off of that, what has been the most challenging project for you to work on?
Setta: The most difficult project so far has been Drifters, because that was actually my first time working on an anime project. I felt a lot of pressure and I really wanted to be acknowledged by the director of the project.
I love Drifters! Thank you for your amazing work on it!
Many of your original illustrations feature the creatures, the Onimusume. What inspired you to draw these creatures?
Setta: So originally, I really enjoyed drawing creatures, and after that, I really started enjoying drawing girls. So naturally, I combined the two and that was Onimusume. But more importantly, I carry an illness called cluster headaches. I experience really painful headaches. The idea is to overcome bad things with even more scary bad things. Onimusume is kind of this symbol to overcome this pain that I feel.
What would be your main advice to aspiring artists?
Setta: His biggest advice is that, it doesn’t matter when you start. Really, when you start, the age that you start at does not matter. I started when I was 31. I think the biggest key is to keep on drawing. No one is good at drawing at first. Not giving up and persistently drawing is what’s important.
#赤クマのれふ 詰め合わせ pic.twitter.com/qLTbXvaEg6
— 雪駄｛筆字 絵描き (@ANISOLUTION) October 18, 2024
Is there any dream project that you would want to work on?
Setta: Ever since I started this job, I’ve actually been able to be a part of a lot of works that I dreamed of working on. Dorohedoro especially is something I dreamed of working on and really enjoyed.
One of the things I’ve been thinking about is the characters, story, and animation. I think my big dream project would be to create an animation or a picture book with characters and an original story that I came up with myself. In particular, there is this red bear that I’m very fond of and I take everywhere with me. It would be really nice if I were able to publish and have IP over a story about this red bear.
That’s awesome! I see the red bear on Twitter all the time and I always think it’s really cool.
His name is Refu.
Thank you again to Setta and Otakon for making this interview possible!
