"THE 0 to 1," an interview project where authors talk about the behind-the-scenes stories of the creation of hit works from "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), began on July 23rd on the company's online bookstore "Zebrack." The first episode features Inagaki Riichirō, the original author of "Eyeshield 21," a story about American football, and Murata Yusuke, the illustrator, who will talk about the journey from the initial concept to the serialization of the series, including character design, their feelings at the time of serialization, and their philosophy on manga.
"THE 0 to 1" is a special project in which authors are interviewed directly about the journey of how hit "Weekly Shonen Jump" works go from "zero to one." The publication date of each interview article will be the release date of the magazine in which the first chapter of each work is published. Readers can go back to the "beginning day" when the work was born, and through the article, relive the thoughts, passion, and ambitions of the author. The works introduced will be made available for free exclusively on "Zebrack," and there will be campaigns such as bulk purchases. The second part is scheduled to be released in August, and the third in September.
Regarding "Eyeshield 21," Inagaki said, "Weekly Shonen Jump is known for its emphasis on characters. That's what caught my eye. I thought I could apply to Jump, steal their character creation know-how, and create art myself." Regarding the story, he revealed, "If it's too positive, it won't be a story of growth. So when I thought about what it is that Sena will grow in, I came up with a new attribute: being someone who is protected. I wasn't able to put this into words at the time, either. So I saw Mamori (Anezaki) as my mother and Hiruma as my father, and I made Sena's growth as she leaves her mother's protection and eventually surpasses her father into one of the story's plots."
Murata said, "To me, Eyeshield 21 is like Hill Demon (laughs). I was being shot at and was told to run, so I ran as hard as I could, and then I became someone. When Eyeshield 21 was being serialized, I didn't have the qualities needed to be a writer, but I was able to become someone. It would be presumptuous to say that I 'was allowed to become a manga artist,' but I feel like I am still completing the homework I was given back then."
To commemorate the release of the first installment, Zebrack will be releasing volumes 1 to 5 of the Eyeshield 21 comics for free, as well as running a bulk-buy campaign.
