Dinosaur Sanctuary Manga Creator Itaru Kinoshita Wants to Show a Different Side of the Prehistoric
by Kalai Chik,
During the interview, he mentioned that he and Baku Kinoshita, the director of ODDTAXI, are cousins. Originally, he tweeted about this coincidence in late May, but they hadn't been able to meet up beforehand since they were both busy. They later met up at the MINT Manga booth to take photos for their parents, and Baku Kinoshita drew Odokawa looking in awe of Masaru.
You've previously spoken about how difficult it was to work on manga and to get your work serialized. Overall, how long did it take you to get your first work published in a serialized format?
Itaru Kinoshita: It took almost five or six years. I started working on it in 2013, and it was published in 2018.
Is there anything you would've done differently in your journey?
KINOSHITA: With Attack the Gigante, which was a battle action fantasy series where samurai fight with dinosaurs, I think I could've done better. It was possibly due to my lack of skill, and it was too grotesque. I couldn't tell everything about the characters. If I had a chance, I could do better, but I feel like I finished in the middle.
You work with a paleontologist for Dinosaur Sanctuary. What kind of suggestions or advice do they provide for you as you write and draw your story?
KINOSHITA: Dr. Shin-ichi Fujiwara's research is mainly about the muscles and bones of the dinosaur. How they're related and how they work together. Specifically, he focuses on how I could draw the muscles and bones. He would draw pictures on top of my pictures in order to make corrections.
In the panel and in the mural at the MINT booth, Masaru is sitting like a cat, and you mentioned that's accurate to how a Triceratops would sit.
KINOSHITA: I got that idea from Dr. Fujiwara. He showed me an example with a similar dinosaur within the same group as the Triceratops. He thinks it's possible Triceratops could sit like a cat.
I read from a previous interview that you were disappointed at the lack of everyday life depictions, such as raising and caring for dinosaurs, in Jurassic Park. In Dinosaur Sanctuary, the characters are similar to zookeepers, and the dinosaurs are depicted similarly to modern animals. Why did you decide to portray even the aspects of elderly dinosaurs like Hanako?
KINOSHITA: There was an elephant in Inokashira Park Zoo at Kichijoji, Tokyo. It's a small zoo, and there's an elephant named Hanako. She's a model for Hanako the dinosaur. I wanted to express how creatures get older, as it's one measure of how we are living. I thought I could express that dinosaurs are also living creatures, which is why I chose a character that's not young and strong to show the full cycle of life.
The characters are mostly young and energetic, but we don't know what older animals are capable of. We don't often see depictions of elderly animals, and I wanted to take a fresh approach and show the daily life of an elderly animal, something that people haven't seen before. To me, she's the main character of the dinosaurs in this manga. Masaru is very popular, but to me, Hanako is the main character. She's what I wanted to show the readers.
For Matsumura-san, as an editor, have you had any suggestions for Dinosaur Sanctuary that you'd like to talk about?
MATSUMURA: Both Kinoshita-sensei and Fujiwara-sensei are very into dinosaurs. If I let them go in their own direction, they will become very specific and niche. I try to bring them back for the sake of the general reader. I'm not as knowledgeable about dinosaurs, so I think from the perspective of a third-party reader, and how they would enjoy the series without that deep knowledge of dinosaurs.
I felt there's great care taken for the portrayal of Hanako, and I empathized with her as I think about taking care of aging animals and even my own parents.
KINOSHITA: It's going to be tough. Sorry, but I have to because I have a story to tell.
I can feel it coming! Although the dinosaurs are central to the story, humans and their problems become more of a focus. Similar to a zoo, research lab, or any other animal care facility, there are business costs associated with maintaining their care. Why did you want to include those real-life aspects of taking care of dinosaurs?
KINOSHITA: I didn't want to create manga that only had good sides to show. It's just consuming our joy. We all have problems in our lives. I didn't want to make this manga only a peaceful story. I wanted to portray it more realistically. It's important to think about zoos not as a place for just entertainment, but a place that conducts research and advocates for animal welfare. A zoo has many purposes, like preservation and education. I wanted to put those aspects in my manga because it's not just a simple manga. I would like people to think more about those things.
I've enjoyed how the dinosaurs in Dinosaur Sanctuary are just like modern animals that make little snorts and grunts, mating rituals, and mundane gestures like sitting like a cat. From your experience taking care of farm animals like chickens and sheep, what do you think is the most difficult part of caring for an animal?
KINOSHITA: They don't talk, and we can't control them. If there is a dinosaur and I want it to eat this, but if it doesn't want to, I can't force it to eat. Even if I spoke to them, they wouldn't understand. As humans, we can communicate through language and words.
You can read the first chapter of Dinosaur Sanctuary for free at Kinoshita-san's landing page here. The manga is available in print from Seven Seas Entertainment.
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