Centaurs Manga Creator Ryo Sumiyoshi on Fantasy in Feudal Japan

From Greek mythology to Disney's Fantasia to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, centaurs, mythical half-human, half-horse beings, have been a fantasy mainstay. Although we often think of them as strictly Western creatures, manga has its fair share of centaurs, but even within that body of work, Ryo Sumiyoshi's Centaurs stands out for its art, worldbuilding, and story. Set in an alternate Japan where humans and centaurs coexist, humans have made a practice of capturing and mutilating centaurs to use as labor or war horses. Protagonist Matsukaze, a mountain centaur, is captured while trying to rescue his young nephew from such a fate, setting him on a collision course with the way humans have “always” done things. Sumiyoshi, whose career also includes designing and modeling creatures for the Monster Hunter franchise, was kind enough to answer our questions about creature design, creating manga, and the world of Centaurs. The first book in the series will be published in English by ABLAZE on June 27, 2023.

Before the production of Centaurs, you were involved in the design of characters and creatures, as well as the production of game models. How was the transition from designing for worlds created by others to designing for your own series? Were there any difficult parts? Or was it more natural to design for your own work?

Ever since I was little, I naturally drew characters from stories (such as the history and ecology of living things). I created my own designs in between jobs, and I used the knowledge and information I gained in the process of drawing for myself in my professional work. There is no big difference in the process between designing for others and designing for yourself.

If it's all about work, you'll feel like you don't know why you're drawing. If it's just for yourself, your perspective will be narrow, and your values will be biased. So, I let these fields influence each other. The more I work, the more I'm motivated to draw for myself; the more I draw for myself, the more I'm motivated to work.

Between designing characters and creatures and creating 3D models, which do you prefer? Why?

My answer would depend on whether we're referring to the process or the results.

A design is a blueprint, and it's the artist's job to turn that into a 3D model or a finished illustration. Carpenters have the skills to build a house, but they would be in trouble if they were just handed a clean piece of land and simply told to build a house. It's the designer's job to come up with a blueprint based on the landscape, available techniques, materials, the desires of the residents, the local climate, the budget, and so on.

I like that kind of work. I like to create illustrations and biological designs as "blueprints." I like 3D when it's "creating designs from 3D."

If you were to ask me which technique I prefer, it would be human and creature design with flat, 2D illustrations. This is because I can draw an image quickly; the line is already drawn by the time I come up with it. 3D requires extra thought towards depth, planes, and atmosphere. For me, who is not good at drawing "the work," 3D is a tool with a lot of information required, so I'm not good at it. Lol.

Do you have a favorite Monster Hunter monster that you designed? Or are there any other designers' monsters that made you think, "I wish I had come up with this design myself"?

All of them.

All monsters have the same origin. Everyone puts together ideas and picks up interesting elements. When the director asks, "Can you draw a creature with this?" my job is to answer, "I can."

Every monster has a struggle, a discovery, or a key factor that leads to the next. Everyone brings different elements to the table, so I don't have any idea which monster is the best or which is "my" character. They're the culmination of all the people involved.

Also, I never say, "I wanted to come up with that," when I see a monster drawn by someone else. A completed design is created with the sensibilities of that person and the techniques they've honed. The one thing I feel when I see someone else's wonderful monster is "Awesome…!!!" Then I just think about how beautiful it is and about how I might've done it if I'd been given the same theme. It feeds into trying out new ideas for yourself.

Why did you choose a race from Greek mythology for Centaurs after a series like Monster Hunter with new, original creatures? Are you a fan of Greek and Roman mythology? Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series? Were you inspired by the war between the Centaurs and the Lapiths?

Work at the game company was going by the request of those who hired me. I'm the main creator of Centaurs, so if you ask me why I'm doing something like this after Monster Hunter, my answer is "The medium and the client are different!" Lol.

In Japan, there is a phrase: "Jinba Ittai." It refers to the unity between a horse and rider. Even though I'm Japanese, I don't know Japanese history in great detail. After doing research on horses in Japan, I realized this fact even more. It was so embarrassing and frustrating. That's why I wanted to draw horses. However, I wanted to think of a character with greater presence. When I thought that, the phrase "Jinba Ittai" led me to the idea of… What if a centaur-like creature existed in Japan's history?

Sorry, but I don't know Percy Jackson. When I was in elementary school, I read a history book about Greek mythology, but there were too many gods (lol). It's been fun to study again now that I've remembered it.

In the dynamic between humans and centaurs in the story, I feel a metaphor for how the colonists treated the indigenous people. Is this intentional? Or is it a thematic development that happened naturally as you continued to write the series?

I didn't really have that kind of intention. I only wanted to portray the facts of the story's world, and there is neither good nor bad there. Just a simple concept: There was such time and place, there was such a person, this is how they lived and died. It's the Warring States Era. There's a creature that's half-man, half-horse, and they lived like so. That's all I drew.

My sense is that the world is just what it is. There are people (like you) in their own places with their own lives, and when you touch the world and see it, you decide what's good and what's bad, your likes and dislikes. In other words, I think everyone creates their own world according to their relationship with their reality.

I created a world based on my own impressions. When someone touches it, another world is born that's made up of their own values and impressions, and so on… It's released into the world, and each person will have their own interpretation of what they read. So, you're free to decide what kind of "world" you feel when you see what I've drawn. It's up to you. It's a metaphor! There's room for you to think it's a story of human empathy, a happy story, or a sad story.

I just created a simple thing. "They live like this."

How did humans decide to amputate the arms of centaurs? What is the value of arm amputation in the human desire to use horses as livestock and war horses? Is a horse's sense of balance affected?

Do you know how big your arms are?

No matter how much you hate yourself, just by moving your arm reflexively, you can protect the most important part of your body where your nerves are concentrated. Your life depends on the center of your body, but your arms and fingers are always the first to protect you. There's no human civilization without fingers.

Within the story, amputation robs the centaurs of their dignity, reduces their will to escape, and drops their abilities towards rebellion, which would foster hope. This is a very terrible thing. On the other hand, how well do the humans within the story of Centaurs understand how afraid they are? I feel this is a form of human wisdom that is strong because it is weak. They understand that they cannot win against centaurs with intact arms, so they deprive them of dignity and make them obedient. I think of it as similar to the castration of living things today.

How did you decide on the variations of "Centaurs of the Plains" and "Centaurs of the Mountains"? Have you thought about making other varieties? Are there any horse breeds that you used as models?

Matsukaze himself is big, but the model for him is the Japanese Kiso horse. A famous anecdote in Japanese history is that of Minamoto no Yoshitsune at Hiyodori Goe, which could only have been done by Kiso horses. Their small hooves do not need horseshoes, and their short limbs help them glide up rocky slopes.

When I was little, my mother once laughed and said, "Why are Japanese horses so ugly and foreign horses so cool?" They've developed to live in their own respective climates. They wouldn't make sense elsewhere, but they won't lose here. It's a form of animal evolution. I remember being indignant over those selfish values.

However, from here on, I interweaved lies as an artist. My impression of Matsukaze is that he is a rich, calm, and powerful man who is like the sky and the earth. Kiso horses are indeed great horses, but they are small, so here, I have incorporated a balance of Breton and Shire.

If you're going to elaborate on the facts, it's a very important task to assemble and incorporate the necessary information while cherishing the feelings that beget the idea. I kept this in mind with Matsukaze. If you want to draw Kiso horses, you should draw them properly. As a result, he's become the majestic figure he is today, but the greatness and fearlessness that I felt in Kiso horses, as well as his soft and round figure (lol), are still alive in him.

After the character of Matsukaze was completed, I drew Kohibari based on an Arabian horse so that he would stand out as a character when standing next to him. Arabians were involved in horse races in Japan in the past, but they have since disappeared. A character is not decided upon by the setting alone. When I draw the characters, I draw it from the perspective of someone who interacts with them. In that interaction, I can see their personality, mannerisms, and worldview. The setting is solidified after the characters are created.

When you paint, is it digital or analog? Which of the two drawing styles do you prefer?

I work fully digitally now, using a drawing tablet and Clip Studio.

This is a digression, but I can't physically draw analog pictures. My palms sweat too much. It's like steam (lol). So, I had a hard time. I tried to draw with my arms raised, leaning the canvas, and, from there, I moved on to oil painting and Japanese painting, where you don't touch your wrists to the canvas. So, when I was a student, I was doing nothing but painting, and in high school, I was doing pottery and kneading clay. The reason I still use a large LCD tablet is because I can't draw from my wrist. I draw with my arms wide open. Thanks to that, I never had tendonitis, but my neck and back get sore (lol).

What made me think the LCD tablets are amazing is… When I experienced a series of painful, painful, sad things and tears fell on the screen, I was still able to draw a line without it blurring. I remember being so moved that I could draw even if I was angry or crying.

The style of Centaurs is influenced by both traditional Japanese paintings and modern manga. Please tell us why you decided to use both. Is it because you have a special sensibility that you want to convey to your readers that you sometimes combine two styles on the same page?

Hmm… Black and white are clearly separated, so why did you incorporate white into black? It sounds like there's a story behind it, but to me, it feels like the response could be, "Aren't they both colors?" I don't feel like I've incorporated different techniques. I just feel that I've drawn a line that I thought was necessary. Maybe the element that makes it feel different makes it feel like Japanese paintings, is there because I had some shallow knowledge of Japanese painting from the beginning (lol).

Have you ever been worried about Centaurs being translated into English-speaking countries? Is there anything you would like to say to our English readers?

I would like to reach out to people who live there and ask if there is such a world or if there are people who draw such a world. I hope that these people in this world can be encouraging to someone. If it reaches even just one person who's encouraged by the work, I would be so grateful. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who reads it, carries it, and enjoys it. And, if it reaches that one person, I can bounce off a thousand abuses.

Putting your work out there can be painful, but as a person who values drawing their world, I hope I can continue to draw for a long time. I am alive in the characters and the world that I draw. I'm really thankful to you.

Thank you for speaking with us! I'm looking forward to reading more about Matsukaze and Kohibari!