Naho Ooishi's Identity Revealed: A Doujinshi Artist

[Cipher]

She must've had some freedom with Episode of Bardock. I would think so, at least. Even somewhat with Dragon Ball SD.

While I did enjoy Episode of Bardock (for what it was), I would've loved to see something like Toyble's Dragon Ball Zero (Saiyan backstory, Raditz and Tullece as kids) animated. Hell, quite a few members of this forum (me included) shed a tear when reading Toyble's AF's final chapter, with Kame-sennin and Goku.

Her "creative freedom" with "Episode of Bardock" was likely something along the lines of, "We need you to write a three-chapter story about Bardock going into the past and becoming a Super Saiyan. Here are the designs for Super Saiyan Bardock and Chilled, who we need to promote Dragon Ball Heroes. There has to be a big fight in the last chapter, and here are a list of other small guidelines. But other than that, go craaaaazy."

[Rukura]

Wasn't there something to be said for awhile about Toyble supposedly tracing from actual DB manga panels in his DBAF manga? Maybe that's a part of why he wasn't hired.

From what I was able to tell by seeing it, it seemed like it was a for a few specific poses. There seemed to be a lot more of his original stuff in there, though. And hey, even Toriyama photocopied almost an entire page to save time at one point, so where do we draw the line?

He could always have stuck around to do the story, even if he wasn't drawing it. I'd be cool with that.

EDIT: Yeah, Cypher...that does seem about right. Can't really call that "freedom" much lol.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Heck, the Tenchi Muyo author put out actual hentai of his franchise I believe.

If the Tenchi Muyo author created and owns those characters, though, that's different. Ooishi is using these characters work-for-hire. Toriyama could've drawn Dragon Ball porn if he wanted, and the most JUMP could've done would be to cease publishing the series, I suppose.

Good point, for some reason I didn't think of it like that at all.

Also, doujinshi using established characters for profit are technically illegal anyway, aren't they? That's the impression I've always had, just that it's usually overlooked and that Japan is much more lax than the West about copyright as a whole.

That's always how I've understood it too. I think it's kind of like how fanfiction here is, maybe. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for fanfiction in the US (could just be I've never heard of it though - I know there are authors and properties that have expressed that they do NOT want any to be done), but I'm sure it could easily be prosecuted if someone wanted to.

[Cipher]

Also, re: "Why didn't they pick Toyble/Toei animators/My Mom/Whoever else?"

Let's be honest. They probably didn't choose her because she was an amazing doujinshi artist and writer ready to take the franchise to new heights. They probably picked her because she was cheap, enthusiastic about the project, interviewed professionally, and could produce a reasonable facsimile of Toriyama's art.

[NeoKING]

Or nepotism.

[Kingdom Heartless]

Besides, I don't get the whole fuss about Toyable's work. I mean, he's good... but I wouldn't say he's the best choice. His art looks like fan-art, rather than someone doing their own thing, which sometimes is good, but you can't do your best work if you're emulating something. Ooishi has her own style, and I think it works nicely.

[Ringworm128]

"likes DBZ, dislikes mayonnaise and Centipedes". Sounds like my kind of girl.

[Hellspawn28]

Why Toriyama didn't pick her ? She seems creative enough. I think she would make a wonderful successor to Akira Toriyama.

I'm pretty sure Shueisha is the one that hire her and not Toriyama. AT has not been apart of the Dragon Ball series is over 15 years. Everything Dragon Ball related media has been done by through Shueisha and not Toriyama.

[Chuquita]

You know, while I'm sure Ooishi's being paid handsomely and getting the honor of being an official DB artist, there still must be some sadness in having to discard your previous fandom-life and the freedom of being able to essentially draw whatever you want behind a pen-name and be unable to tell the people who followed your work where you're going. Wouldn't that be hard? Could you picture losing AnnouncerGuy or Kabu along with all their works to something as restraining as SD? I imagine that depending on how invested the artist is, there'd be a lot of introspection going on before deciding whether or not to go officially work for Shueisha.

[Innagadadavida]

I had no idea they were making official Dragon Ball cannons. Does she have an interest in mechanical design like Toriyama does? That would be a neat coincidence.

Oh my god this cracked me up.

I'm into this. That page where Choppa lands on Roshi's island and Goku goes super sand. I have got to see more of that! If it's the same author as EoB, it lends more credibility beyond just the art being good in my mind.

"likes DBZ, dislikes mayonnaise and Centipedes". Sounds like my kind of girl.

I'm sure you're the only one who has thought that.

[kei17]

Giving up your fandom-life is not indispensable when you become an official artist. Actually, I know two people who continued making DB doujinshi after getting invlolved in official stuff. But I guess Ooishi is too deeply involved that she has to bury all of her stigmas.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

If the dates didn't match up, I wouldn't be absolutely sure that this is Naho. The styles are similar enough, but they're by no means identical, either because her style evolved naturally or because she put more effort into it as she was working for an official publication.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Actually, yeah, quick question - there is still a tiny chance that this isn't actually Ooishi's doujins and that's not her 'origin' right? We don't know for 100% fact?

I think it's too coincidental NOT to be true, but I just want to make sure if it's just an incredibly likely assumption or something we know for sure now.

[MCDaveG]

To add to a topic for Announcer Guy and even considering that creators of Multiverse are in question,
they simply can't be picked up, as they are Gaijin. But gaijin is not much issue nowadays, from the professional level, being Japanese, who will be better colleague or employee? Native born Japanese with social habits and etc. common for Japanese or American or French living miles away with no to moderate skills in Japanese language and different social background and habits common to their countries?

To general topic, I never like Naho Ooishi and never will, I also think that for example, Toyble is nailing the art much better to AT's, she even didn't impressed me by her writing (who cares if it was Shueisha's input mainly, I'm reader of the finished output. Dragon Ball as whole was cared as s**t about from both Shueisha and TOEI, let's see what will be the outcome with the new 2013 Movie), so it really doesn't surprise me that she is YAOI artist as I hate YAOI a lot and the YAOI movement in J-POP and J-Rock, with tendency to do the music more homo than it should be with Saint Seiya having piano ballad as opening....

PS: I'm not homophobe, but as majority of us are heterosexual, I don't see a point in Shonen series getting girlish themes.
Yeah, retarded marketing, I know....

[Piccolo Daimao]

I've never had a problem with Ooishi, and I don't get Toyble's popularity, since he just traces most of his shit. That's not really talent. I read some of his Dragon Ball AF work, and I just couldn't get into it because (aside from the crappy story) I kept on thinking, "That looks familiar", on almost every damn panel. I'd rather have an average artist who has her own art style inspired by Toriyama's than a blatant, subpar imitator.

And, MCDaveG, who gives a shit if Ooishi's a yaoi artist? If you don't like it, fine. Don't read it. Why should that impact on her official work? I don't know what you're talking about in terms of a "yaoi movement in J-Pop and J-Rock, with a tendency to do the music more homo than it should be". Ignoring the fact that "homo" in this context is a derogatory term, what the fuck is "homo music"? If this is a case of English not being your native language and it just being poor wording, then I apologize.

Even in the West, androgynous "pretty boy" pop and rock stars have enjoyed popularity. For example, David Bowie.

[SaiyaJedi]

Plenty of manga artists have published ero-dōjinshi, either prior to or on the side of their officially-published careers. I don't see any qualitative difference from, say, Koshi Rikudo or Kiyohiko Azuma, except that Naho Ooishi focused on male homosexual pairings rather than heterosexual or lesbian. Incidentally, this very fact suggests that "Gichi" is almost certainly female, which is one of the requirements for being the same person as Naho Ooishi.

[AgitoZ]

PS: I'm not homophobe, but as majority of us are heterosexual, I don't see a point in Shonen series getting girlish themes.
Yeah, retarded marketing, I know....

You must despise the vast majority of modern shonen titles then.

[Cipher]

PS: I'm not homophobe, but as majority of us are heterosexual, I don't see a point in Shonen series getting girlish themes.
Yeah, retarded marketing, I know....

Bad marketing or not, "girlish themes," and opinions about them, have nothing to do with sexual orientation.

And at the end of the day, we're all enjoying a series about muscly men hitting each other with more male nudity than female, so maybe the marketing hasn't been gay enough.

[B]

Or nepotism.

Unless I missed something from the thread, this came out of nowhere. What makes you think she's related to someone from Shueisha?

[MCDaveG]

Huh, I hit the exposed flesh..... Sorry being overly negative....

I like classic J-Rock, but can't stand this boy groups aimed on girls, like Chala Head Chala being funny and energetic theme that will always cheer me up, but well, Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku completelly missed the spot, being included to promote the single itself which is love song....... That's DB example, the 90's anime and onward is more brutal in terms of theme and insert songs.
I really can't stand openings and endings for Gundam Wing for example, even more than Dan Dan.

And I never said that Ooishi is bad because of yaoi, only that it doesn't give her pros in my chart, as I already don't like her official DB work (and I hate yaoi) and that stance won't change, no matter her being prostitute or rescue officer in helicopter.
I won't reply to topics I don't like in future, I promise

One Piece We Are! Opening was great. From the new shonen, I like One Piece probably the most, but yeah, it's true, I don't like most of the modern anime.