Yuri made me human
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Yuri made me human |
| Creator: | Iori Miyazawa |
| Date(s): | May 2018 |
| Medium: | interview |
| Fandom: | yuri |
| Topic: | yuri |
| External Links: | https://teletype.in/@kati_lilian/SJA8KwjjN |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Yuri made me human is an interview with Iori Miyazawa, author of Otherside Picnic. He was interviewed by Rikimaru Mizoguchi at Hayakawa Books, and the interview was translated and posted to Teletype by Kati. In August 2018 he had a follow-up interview joined by Gengen Kusano in which he talked more about science fiction and yuri, as well as his ideas of "strong yuri" and "weak yuri." The interview went on to inspire the "this too is yuri" meme, however that is not actually a direct quote from Miyazawa.
Excerpts
I.M.: A rusty, decaying vehicle is resting on top of wheel tracks.R.M.: Right.
I.M.: Then you imagine that one day two girls were there... Isn't that already totally yuri?
R.M.: Right...I.M.: So a grassland somehow becomes yuri.
R.M.: A grassland, huh.
R.M.: In that sense, you're writing your ideal yuri in "Otherside Picnic". You're combining scenery yuri with character yuri.I.M.: You're seriously on point there. I actually didn't have any interest in writing about human emotions, originally. There's a famous saying, "sci-fi is all about the image" (TN: this quote is attributed to Masahiro Noda, a prominent SF writer in Japan). I shared that point of view and, if anything, preferred to only write the setting and the scenes, the sights. But to write yuri you have to focus on the feelings and emotions of the characters, so in the end I had face humans.
R.M.: You first faced humans to write yuri.
I.M.: You could say that "yuri made me human".
R.M.: Did it all begin with "Otherside Picnic"?
I.M.: "Otherside Picnic" is the first time I had to tackle something that is so densely filled with human emotions. Even though the techniques I'm using are common in shoujo manga, I was surprised at just how difficult it is to apply them to science fiction. So I'm writing "Otherside Picnic" as a combo move consisting of the imagery I want to write and the emotional impact.
G.K.: One more thing. I believe that yuri and hard sci-fi genres have a very strong affinity for each other. That's why I expect a lot of hard yuri sci-fi to be produced from now on.R.M.: Why do you think so?
G.K.: The fatal flaw of hard sci-fi is that it's not interesting to anyone except for fans of science fiction. Its main course are scientific explanations, and even though there are many different stories, in the end they always give way to walls of scientific text. But readers, except for sci-fi fans, barely feel any catharsis from that. Let's be honest, what's so interesting about having to read a longass explanatory infodump? That's why the sad reality is that hard sci-fi won't spread beyond the sci-fi fanbase. However if you make that hard yuri sci-fi, the scientific explanation segment becomes a scene of women having a conversation with each other. In other words, a yuri scene, something that all of you love.
I.M.: I'm very impressed. You're absolutely right. The scientific explanation part in hard sci-fi always ends up being a long conversation, doesn't it. It didn't occur to me that you could integrate the relationships in it, and it does seem like a great combination.
Reactions
- I see Gundam has decided to learn from the followup to the notorious Iori Miyazawa interview by @IronsparkSyris
- Reading this interview with Iori Miyazawa, a yuri author, and I can't tell if he is the smartest man alive or just talking complete bullshit by @CallidoraStrix
- Yuri Made Me Human - An Insane Interview With Otherside Picnic Author video by Magical