Interviews

Interview With Ashly Raiti

By LJ Douresseau
February 8, 2005 - 10:17

We’re still alive! Mr. Charlie #44 presents Rising Stars of Manga 3 Runner up Ashly Raiti. Ms. Raiti is the writer/co-creator of “Life Remains,” a poignant, beautiful, and tragic tale of friendship set in a post-apocalyptic world. Drawn by co-creator Irene Flores, “Life Remains” is a unique and dream-like world where struggling and scrapping is survival. Ms. Flores’ art has a ghostly anime feel that engages the nimble eye.

Ms. Raiti, who like Ms. Flores, was born in the Philippines and now resides in Lompoc, CA, is the interview subject of this column. We’ve also included three samples of Ms. Flores art – two from “Life Remains:”

Would you mind introducing yourself to the readers?

ASHLY: Not at all. ^_^ My name is Ashly Raiti, and I worked with artist Irene Flores on one of the runner-up entries in RISING STARS OF MANGA, VOLUME 3. Currently, I have two part-time jobs and am attending UCSB with the goal of obtaining a BA in Japanese.

Would you mind also introducing the readers to the characters and concept of your winning entry?

ASHLY: The starring characters in “Life Remains”, our entry for RSOM, are Trevor and Zayd – two thieves struggling to survive in a world that’s been devastated by war. Essentially, it’s a story about doing what you can with what you have in life, and moving forward despite everything the world throws at you.

At what point were you first exposed to manga and anime, and what were your initial reactions to it?

ASHLY: I think my first anime was Vampire Hunter D. It aired late at night on the Sci-Fi channel and my sister taped it. I didn’t even know it was from Japan; I just thought it was a really cool cartoon. I couldn’t have been much more than 10 or 11, so I’m not sure why she let me watch something so bloody, but I’m certainly glad she did.

What was it about the form that attracted you to manga, and what were the particular titles and creators who appealed to you?

ASHLY: Well, I have to say, manga-style art holds a lot of appeal for me as a reader. Or rather, there are a few specific styles of manga art that I really adore. But then again, the visuals don’t necessarily make the manga, so to speak. Sometimes, I’ll end up reading books with art I can’t stand because the story is good, or set aside something with gorgeous art because it’s incomprehensible.

Most of the manga that appeal to me have lovely art and a compelling story, along with characters with whom the reader can easily empathize. Yami no Matsuei, Battle Royale, X Day, Fruits Basket, and Shaman King are some of my favorites.

When did you first become aware that there were U.S. based publishers of manga (like Eclipse, Dark Horse, TOKYOPOP, etc.) and what titles did you like?

ASHLY: I first discovered that US companies were licensing manga from some of my online communities. Shortly thereafter, the local store at which I bought most of my anime began to carry it. Most of my favorites listed above are in English now, I think.

When did you become aware of TOKYOPOP and the Rising Stars of Manga contest and was this your first entry?

ASHLY: Uh, to be perfectly honest, I hadn’t heard of RSOM until Irene brought it up to me, wondering whether we should make an entry. TOKYOPOP I knew quite well, though, as I’m a fairly avid manga collector. “Life Remains” was indeed our first entry; actually, we’d wanted to have it done in time for the second volume, but we just never got it together in time for the deadline.

Was your entry something you’d been working on for a long time, or was it something new for RSOM? Did you have to rework the concept to make it fit the preconceived notions of what manga is?

ASHLY: Originally, “Life Remains” was an idea for a webcomic that I was going to work on with Irene. We’d had experience making one before, and liked it so much that we wanted to try another. Obviously, to get it down to twenty pages took a little revision- that gave me quite a bit of trouble, actually. We went from seven starring characters to two and cut out the antagonists entirely. What we ended up with was two of the main characters that played well off each other and had a close relationship. Then, the plot was boiled down to the very roots- a straightforward theme that would actually fit the page limit. I’m still not entirely happy with the cut-job, but I think the results could’ve potentially been much worse. ^^

How does your work fit in with the “manga style,” and I’m asking this knowing that manga encompasses an incredibly broad base of genres and storytelling techniques?

ASHLY: Hm. Well, in the obvious sense, the style is very manga-esque. Irene’s art has always had a sort of look to it- a certain kind of facial shape, the eyes drawn a certain way- that lends itself very well to anime and manga-style. On a deeper level, though, I think that there are some things much more subtly “manga style” about the piece.

Manga – and Japanese film and literature, for that matter- seem to have certain qualities that are a bit different from Western works. For instance, there isn’t so much emphasis on the necessity for a conclusive ending, nor is there the press for a happily ever after. As my Japanese lit teacher last quarter put it, it’s almost like a “love affair with the loser as a hero” – this notion that you don’t -have- to be successful to carry the story. “Life Remains,” I think, plays quite well into both notions. It isn’t precisely complete, and it’s most definitely not happily ever after, though there is space for hope.

Is it your goal or dream to be a cartoonist, and how are you working towards that goal in terms of educating yourself about the history, form, and content of comics?

ASHLY: Yes! I’d love to write comics – or just about anything, really. Irene and I are working on something currently that’s proving quite educational about form, though I can’t say anything else about it, just yet.

Did winning change your long range plans in terms of your work and/or budding career as a cartoonist?

ASHLY: Definitely. Before RSOM, writing comics was something that was fun to do, but I never thought it would lead anywhere. Irene and I had actually been making a webcomic (The Castings at www.thecastings.com) just to get a chance to work on something. Nonprofit, pretty low traffic – it was a hobby, really, a for-the-hell-of-it sort of thing that we nonetheless both loved. We’re still doing The Castings, but I think we’ve both realized now that we can take a step out beyond fun and start thinking about whether it’s something we’d like to do professionally.

THANK YOU, ASHLY. Ashly Raiti aka Asidian Hakken Morris can be found on the web at www.thecastings.com, www.fanfiction.net (under the username “Asidian”), and www.fictionpress.net (also under the username “Asidian”). You can find Ashly and the rest of her RSoM3 homies in The Rising Stars of Manga, Vol. 3, available at your comic shop, in your local bookstore, or online from big bookselling sites like Amazon.com

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12