Author Atsushi Ohkubo is a near 20-year veteran of the manga industry, known for his quirky characters and worldbuilding. His breakout series, Soul Eater , has sold 19.6 million copies worldwide. Ohkubo's stories also lend themselves well to animation. Earlier this month, his latest work— Enen no Shouboutai )—became his third manga adapted for television.MyAnimeList had the opportunity to sit down with Ohkubo and discussat Anime Expo 2019, where the TV anime adaptation premiered.My favorite manga was Dr. Slump —I read it over and over. My storytelling and character designs were influenced not by manga, but by movies. I really like David Lynch movies and horror movies in general.When I was working on, Tim Burton's movies were a big influence, but when it comes to... it's difficult to say. There wasn't anything in particular, maybe steampunk movies in general, like).Surprisingly, I didn't find the transition very challenging. If anything, I think drawing monthly is rather difficult. The only difference is that for monthly, you have one to submit per month. If you wait until the very last minute, you have to rush. For weekly, the workload is definitely greater, but it's easier to set a rhythm. Monday I'm gonna do this, Tuesday I'm gonna do this. So, they both have their pros and cons.Was there something? (laughs) More than that... it was the opposite, and anything I wanted was okay (laughs again). In our meetings, these silly ideas come up—those we make sure won't be added to the manga. But as we discuss silly ideas, sometimes something good comes out of it.As mentioned before, the steampunk movies did influence a lot of the setting. Also, it's not modern Tokyo. What I had in mind was more like Meiji or Taisho era, or a bit before then when Japan was still developing.The eighth, I look at like a standard fire station, while the first station has more of a religious theme, so the building definitely represents those kinds of qualities. The seventh is a very traditional Japanese fire station. It's like the old types that had big fans to put out fires. Each building really represents the theme of its team.While the setting of the manga itself is the Special Fire Force, this does not mean that the Special Fire Force belongs to the Fire Defense Agency. The story consists of three organizations: the Fire Defense Agency, the Church, and the Army. So there are units with strong religious undertones, units with strong military undertones, and some units that are strongly affected by the Fire Defense Agency.Also, there is a company called Haijima Industries, which is the largest company in Tokyo, also supports the Special Fire Force with cars and weapons that have strong corporate undertones, and there are additional factions around that. Well, there are various units for each faction, and the Japanese headquarters are independent and have an unconventional atmosphere.The first generation are the "Infernals." They're kind of like zombies in flames. The second generation can't ignite flames by themselves, but they can control flames. The third generation can control flames at will. As you go down the generations, the characters will have more power, but it doesn't necessarily mean when the second generation and third generation go head-to-head, the third always wins. They're just different. The second generation has a lot of tricky characters. Although they're kind of evolving with the generations, this doesn't necessarily mean one is always more powerful than the other.The first one, because it burns and goes crazy and dies. (laughs)The church inis a solar religion that worships the sun. "Ra" is the name of the Egyptian sun god. Then the Japanese word[弔い, meaning: condolences, mourning, funeral] is mixed in.What does it mean in Hungarian?Oh (laughs), completely different. It's a coincidence.In general, I like to draw the toothy smile. I used it inand wanted to implement it in this manga. This time, the protagonist has to kill these people for his job, and he's not supposed to smile, but ends up smiling anyway when he's nervous. The simple reason why I like to use a smile is that the smile has many meanings, and I like this symbol.I have to say the concept of "life." The way I approachedwas completely different frombecause in the former, they're brutally killing and sucking up souls, but in the latter, I want to show the importance of each life by saving people. That's something I'm definitely taking a different approach toward and really want to explore.Well, it's a personal story. The Excalibur in, it talks and talks so much—it's terribly annoying. Even though it's a sword with great power, no one uses it because it's too annoying. There is no sword here, but the original intent of Excalibur was a character no one found useful, and Arthur in this story also became a foolish character that people only find lightly useful. I think they are strongest when paired.MyAnimeList thanks Anime Expo, Funimation, and the talented Atsushi Ohkubo for this interview opportunity.