Interview with Tanigawa Nagaru
This is a translation of an interview with Tanigawa Nagaru (the author of the Suzumiya Haruhi series) on Yahoo! Books in 2006.
You can read the original here (written in Japanese)
If you find any mistakes (Engrish, mistranslations, misspelling, grammatical errors...), please feel free to correct the mistakes.
Tanigawa Nagaru
Profile
Currently living in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.
Debuted as a writer in 2003 with a grand prize of the 8th Kadokawa Sneakers Grand Prix.
The latest volume of Suzumiya Haruhi series is currently Vol.9 "The Dissociation of Suzumiya Haruhi".
His other works -- "Gakkou wo Deyou!" series, "Boku no Sekai wo Mamoru Hito" series, "Dengeki!! Aegis5" series, "Zetuboukei Tojirareta Sekai" are also published from Dengeki Bunko.
His hobbies include riding his motorcycle and playing mah-jong.
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi by Tanigawa Nagaru (Published in June, 2003)
"Normal humans don't interest me. If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, slider, or an esper, then come find me! That is all."
--Suzumiya Haruhi, said to be the craziest girl in school, who blew everyone away with her self-introduction on the first day of her high school life.
The story describes the incidents that happen around the SOS-dan (Sekai wo Ooi ni moriagerutameno Suzumiya Haruhi no Dan), a brigade established by her.
The series, started with "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi", sold over 2.8 million in total, expanding its fan base rapidly after it was made into an anime.
Its popularity keeps growing. The story contains SF, mysteries, cosplay, etc...
I interviewed Mr. Tanigawa Nagaru, the author, about this school-life story -- the story that blurs the definition of ordinariness and extraordinariness.
(Aug 16. 2006)
Interview
Q: First of all, why did you pursue a literary career?
Tanigawa Nagaru: I had wanted to write novels for many years, rather than to be an author. I think it's because some "I wanna write novels by myself" neural networks were gradually established in my brain while I read various kinds of novels in my childhood. I still don't know if I'm a writer or whatever.
Q: You actually became a writer and your works have gained popularity so much as becoming a social phenomenon. Has your lifestyle changed?
Nagaru: I don't know much about the phenomenon, but my lifestyle hasn't changed at all. For now, I'd like to repair my day-and-night reversed life.
Q: Why did you think to write light novels?
Nagaru: Since I don't have a fine understanding about the word "light novel", I don't know whether what I write is a light novel or not, but I think I write novels for myself of my middle and high school days. I'm not sure if my younger self would think they are fun, however.
Q: In another interview, you said "Basically I feel like I'm writing a 'plastic' youth novel, in which characters are not honest to their own feelings." That was impressive for me. For you, Mr.Tanigawa, what is an "orthodox" youth novel like?
Nagaru: A boy meets a girl and they say farewell. And the boy and the girl meet again....That's all that I can say to express my concept of the orthodox youth novel. In one sentence, it is like a story of a pair, a boy and a girl meet each other somewhere once again after they have previously met and parted, I think.
Q: I think Suzumiya Haruhi series is basically "a boy meets a girl" story (not "a boy-meets-girl" story). But why are the characters in the series not honest?
Nagaru: I didn't intend to describe them in that way. But while writing unconsciously, perhaps I (unconsciously again) think incompliant characters make for more conflicts and disagreements of opinion and that makes the story easier to develop.
Q: When and how was the typical incompliant character, Suzumiya Haruhi, born?
Nagaru: I can't remember at all. She already existed in my mind by the time I noticed her there. In a sleepless night at the beginning of the 21st century, the idea seemed to have come down from heaven into my head at the moment I rolled over in bed.
Q: Haruhi hates boredom most of all and seeks "extraordinariness" in school life. And the one who is always at her beck and call is the narrator of this story, Kyon. He is an ordinary boy with no outstanding features, whose name is not even revealed. What do you think about him?
Nagaru: Though I could give him a decent name, I thought it feels stupid and funny that he is called by that queer nickname from beginning to end. As for his featurelessness, I originally planned he would be an esper, but while writing the Prologue, I had subconsciously turned him into a common person. And you said he is an ordinary boy, but I think, in a sense, he is not an ordinary boy, such as his way of thinking.
Q: What is an example of his thinking being unusual?
Nagaru: In a sense he reasons philosophically although he is a first-year student of high school. And while he quibbles and complains, his actions aren't consistent with the mind. Perhaps he may be more incompliant than Haruhi. After all, he is an opposite person.
Q: The contrast between the reality from Haruhi's perspective (a boring life) and the reality from Kyon's perspective (a life full of supernatural phenomena) is interesting. "According to how we perceive the reality, we each live in our own world that is entirely different from that of others," you said on an interview. What do you mean by this?
Nagaru: When you think about "what the world is", you can't define the world beyond the realm you know and have experienced. So the concept of "the world" naturally differs from person to person, based on birthplace, environments the person has grown up, information s/he got. I began to think, as I remember, "We all live in the one reality, hence what "the world is" is the way how we perceive the reality.", while looking on some definitional controversies over something.
Q: The characters of the members of SOS-dan, founded by Haruhi, are really striking. Asahina Mikuru the cute blunderer, Nagato Yuki the always-reading silent type, Koizumi Itsuki the mysterious transfer student; when you made up such colorful characters, what kind of works influenced you?
Nagaru: There are too many to mention them one by one, if I have to choose one of them, it is a manga drawn by Takemoto Izumi. Characters in his manga are extremely catching. I've been influenced by his works very much since the days I was in elementary school.
Q: Asahina Mikuru is frequently forced to cosplay by Haruhi. In every volume, I'm looking forward to what costume she will be dressed in. What is your favorite costume of her?
Nagaru: It's the Bunny suit, I think. It's the most extraordinary kind of clothes to wear at school.
Q: The illustrations by Ito Noiji are also good. How did you feel when you first saw the characters visualized by her?
Nagaru: At the first sight, I was satisfied, "That's it." As for other characters, nothing was different from my conception. I'm really grateful to her.
Q: The uniqueness of your writing style is as catchy as the fascinating characters. "as if she saw sprouts"(TL Note: this metaphor is not translated into the English version of tMoHS.), You coined metaphors such as, "Haruhi looked as if she were some sort of banshee ready to go to a hundred Buddhist monasteries to lay some curses.", "the expression of a victim of a certain murder mystery who was asked by the murderer whether they preferred (to die by) potassium cyanide or strychnine" (TL Note: this part is not exactly translated in the English version of tMoHS). How do you come up with such elaborate ones?
Nagaru: In each case I try to express the sentences in little roundabout similes appropriate for the situation.
Q: In the "Suzumiya Haruhi" series, there are aliens, time travelers, espers, solving a case that occurred in a locked room on a lone island, SF aspects and mysteries. In all of these genres, what are your favorite works or authors?
Nagaru: It's difficult to answer. I have too many answers, but if I choose, in the genre of SF, it's "Sichidou Otoshi (seven-body-cutter)" by Kambayashi Chohei. In mystery, "The Tragedy of Y" by Ellery Queen. It's senseless to give a lengthy reason, so in short: they both are works that gave me a psychological shock (Kanzar: epiphany?) and influenced me at the moment I read them through.
Q: I can't make further reference as it may contain spoilers, but "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" has an astonishing gimmick. Many readers might get "an emotional shock and influences". What letters from the readers made you feel happy?
Nagaru: I was happiest when I received the letter that says the reader got interested in reading thanks to my works.
Q: You always post "what you want the most now" in your author affiliation of Sneakers Bunko. Could you tell especially for me what you want the most now?
Nagaru: As I don't dream very often at night recently, I want a pillow that gives me an exciting dream with plot.
After you read "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi", you will think "My reality is not the only one reality. There may be another reality totally different from mine." This book is full of SF's supposed "sense of wonder". The more you move through the series, the newer and more impact you receive. Once you are absorbed into its worldview, I guarantee you can't get out of the world. Haruhi is a beautiful girl with outstanding academic results and good at all sports. While she seems to possess everything, she can't fit into the reality. You, readers, must be anxious to know how she would change or not. You mustn't miss the following story development!!
(Ishii Chiko)
