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The manga streaming platform recently launched a new manga based on the strategy game chess called BLITZ. Since chess was created in India and as Indians and chess fans we were keen to learn more about the manga. Thus, we reached out to BLITZMangaCreator, Cedric Biscay &Artist, Daitaro Nishihara, for an interview with Animehunch.

Heres what we asked them:

1.Whatinspiredyoutochoosechessasasporttomakeamangaon?Werethereothersportsmanga&anime,ormangaingeneralthatalsohelpedinspiredyou?

CedricBiscay:AsIamabigfanofsportsmangasuchasCaptainTsubasa,SlamDunkandothersandIhadthe wish for a long time to create this type of manga. That said, obviously theres a lot of competition in the manga market, so I had to find a sport where I could find good inspiration for stories and chess has a huge potential worldwide. I live in France and American football is widely played or popular here, although Eyeshield 21 was a hit here.

ThatswhatIhavealwayslikedaboutshonenmanga.Whateverthetopicis,theJapanesemangakaareabletomakeitaddictive.

DaitaroNishihara:Iaminfluencedbyvariouspartsofmanymanga.Itishardtopickjustone. ButifImaysayso,itwouldprobablybeBerserk.AlthoughnotreflectedinBLITZ,IamveryinspiredbyBerserkscharacters,scenes,andthewaytheframelayoutispresented.

2.GarryKasparovsinfluenceinthemangaisseenfromthefirstchapterandhowTom inherited many of Garrysmoves.HowdidGarrybecomeinvolvedinthisprojectandhowdidyoudevelopaleadcharacterthat couldchallengeGarrysgeniusandintellectin chess?

CedricBiscay:Tome,GarryKasparovislikeasuperhero.Duringmychildhood,Iremember aboutsome stories heardattheradioregardingthegameswithDeepBlue,theIBM supercomputer it was the ultimate man vs machine. I respect him a lot and I immediately contacted him when I thought to make a chess manga. Ofcourse,Ididnot know him, so Isimplycontactedhiscompanywithsomeverybasicpitchmaterials,thenIreceivedareplyfora first meeting in Paris and he has greenlighted everything at that time including his appearances in the story.

Hewasextremelyniceanddowntoearth,andIwasveryexcitedforhis involvement and support. The lead character of theBLITZmanga, Tom, has a personality very far from the chess high standards especially because he is not good at concentrating.

Formeitisinterestingtoshow how one can succeed, step by step by i any activity by dedication, practice and willingness to learn.

DaitaroNishihara:Inmyopinion,TomisabitpresumptuoustochallengeGarrysgeniusand intellect in chess when they onlyjustmet. However , I can say without a doubt that Garry becomes a shining star guiding Tom. And it is nice to see how Tom recklessly faces the difficulties and takes on challenges. I want him to remain a character who faces any challenge without fear.

3.Garryhasmentionedontheofficialwebsitethatmangahasgainedtractionaroundtheworld.Areyou working onreleasingananimecounterparttoBLITZaswell?

CedricBiscay:HavingananimeofBLITZwouldbegreat.Wearenotworkingonitdirectly,but I do believe the international exposure of the manga series will generate the interest of potential producers and studios. We already had several offers but we are still waiting for the right situation to develop.

4.Asmentionedinthemanga,Chessisagamethatchallengesaplayersmentalcapabilitytostrategize.Will this lead to Tom, the protagonist of the manga, to implement his own moves and strategies combined with Garrys moves and strategies? How do you see his character progressing?

CedricBiscay:Well,IdonotwanttospoilthestorytoomuchbutofcourseBLITZisnota manga someone who simply usesofsomeoneelsesabilities.Tomhashisownjourneyand starts playing from scratch. Whatever the situation there is a way to move. A solution.

ThatsthestoryofTomandHarmonyinthismanga.Itisinterestingtofollowaguywhoistotallyoutofhisleaguewhenhebeginsbuthegetsbetterandbetter.Soyes,intheupcomingvolumesofBLITZ,readerswillbesurprisedabouthowTomwillmanagethingsaboutCassa

5.ChesswasfirstcreatedinIndiaandthenittravelledtheSilkRoadandreachedtherestoftheworld.Areyou planning somethingforIndianaudiencesaswellconsideringchess has such a massive following in India?

CedricBiscay:Inoticedthisimmediately.ThemainantagonistisfromIndiaandreaderswill see him appear for the first time in volume 2. I would love to see BLITZ published in India. I do not know that country well, but it is quite fascinating to me and I know they have a deep rooted love of comics and manga there.

6.Whathavebeenthemostchallengingpartsaboutdevelopingthisproject?Whatwas the workflow process for BLITZ? Canyoutellushowyoubothworkedtogether?

CedricBiscay:Tome,thefacttohaveaninternationalteamisactuallymorechallengingthanhavingauthorsand artisitslivinginthesamecountryandsharingthesamelanguage.Thereisalotofexchangeswithtranslations,we mainlyuseJapaneseandEnglish,butsometimesIneedtouseFrenchandthenaskforatranslationwhenIneedto explain something in more detail.

The process is as follows, I wrote the general story outline for BLITZ, then for each volume, I separated the story into chapter and worked with a Japanese writer, Tsukasa Mori, on it in order to add more details and aspects to make the manga also resonate with fans of the genre, especially in Japan. Then once the story for a volume is ready, the artist, Daitaro Nishihara works on the storyboards. I am always impressed about the quality of his work.

Once the storyboard is ready, we finalize the dialogues and then Daitaro can finalize the drawings. Of course, I am givingjustasimplifiedoverviewbutthewholefollow-upisdonebytheShibuyaProductions team both in Japan and Monaco.

DaitaroNishihara:TherearemanycharactersinBLITZandsincepartsofthestoryfocuson the team aspects of chess there are often many characters in a single scene, which can be challenging. But I enjoy bringing Cedrics vision to life and look forward to readers discovering Toms Journey to become a chess grandmaster.

Link:
Exclusive: Ablaze's BLITZ Creators Talk About Their New Manga, Chess And Grandmaster Gary Kasparov - Animehunch