A brief exchange with Kanekiru Kogitsune

I got in touch with Kanekiru Kogitsune in preparation for the next isekai video. Here is the exchange between him and I. Thanks to Kei for double checking my translation. If there are any mistakes or corrections, please don't hesitate to let me know. 

I am uploading this so people know that I'm not just sitting on my ass this whole time. It's just been taking a little while.

I am marked by PS, he is marked by KK.

PS: 

Sensei, good evening. My name is Joe. I'm researching isekai. I'd like ask you a few questions regarding your work "Re:Monster". Is that okay? Sorry about my poor Japanese; I'm based out of Canada.

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KK:  

Good evening.

Since it's such an unusual message, I felt compelled to reply. I'm surprised isekai is that interesting to study. If it's appropriate, I'll answer to the best of my ability.

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PS:
Sorry for making you wait! Here they are. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity.

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Because this format is really annoying, I'm going to mark my questions in Bolded English. My translations will be italicized. I've left his original Japanese response in case there are any corrections you'd suggest or there's any nuance I'm missing. And to quell confusion, he refers to Re:Monster in Katakana as Rimon. They're the same thing.

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KK: 

No no, my reply was also a little late…

Question: How did this story start? Why a tensei? What inspired you to write Re:Monster?

I’m not entirely certain what you mean by start, but it seems like Question 1 and 2 bleed together, so I’ll keep them together. The story’s impetus was influenced by the previous work. As the ending (of the previous work) came around, I started writing Re:Monster

Re:Mon was built on a setting where the story referred to a creator. [1] That story referred to being summoned to another world by a divine creator. The different in Re:Mon, which was my next work, I thought to go with ‘reincarnation’ rather than ‘summoning’. Also, because reincarnating and remaining a person wasn’t that interesting,  I had him start off as goblin, which wasn’t seen as frequently at the time. [2]

[1] He’s referring to this: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2133j/

[2] (It's important to remember that Re:Monster began in 2012, and arguably earlier if he had been planning it alongside Re:Creator.

What inspired you to write it as a nikki-choufuu (ledger diary) type of story?

I went with the diary style because I thought it would be fast and innovative [1]. Doing so means I can breeze through days, in theory. Well, turns out I ended up writing one a day anyways.

[1] The term is ‘crispy’, but it’s hard for me to explain exactly what it is without sounding odd, so I went with that. It's a fast, refreshing style. Damien akins it to a crispy baguette, which I think is a good analogy.  

What is the driving idea of Re:Monster?

The core for the novel? There are many, but in the mean time, aiming for completion. Others are eating delicious food from different places and to surpass the reader's imagination, if just a little.

What do you think of the manga adaptation? Any plans for an anime?

Thankfully, we’ve published up to five volumes with Alphapolis. I also think the overseas version is out, if you’re interested. As to an anime? I hope I get the chance, but I’m not confident on whether it’ll sell.

How did you decide the hero’s power?

The learning element was influenced by the previous work, again about the creator in relation to the owner. The creator made objects with the ability to take in matter and will them into existence. So I worked on that and crafted the power of eating and gaining the ability of others.

What are your thoughts on the role of women in narou-kei?

Yeah, it’s complicated, right? I never really thought about it, but in the case of narou-kei, I think such roles are to move the story along? Or there is some sort of therapy or healing…I don’t know.

Do you see Re:Monster ending anytime soon? If so, what other projects are you interested in?

Roughly speaking, there’s a flow thought out for this. But whether I can expand on that, I honestly don’t know. When you say other projects, do you mean like new works? If so, I’m thinking of a modern dungeon type of story [1]. But I don’t know if I have enough spare time to really sit down and figure it out.

[1] He uses the term 'dungeon-kei', which is a fairly small but growing subgenre on syosetu. It's essentially stories that are based off roguelikes.  

Are there any isekai you like that you would recommend?

Since there’s a lot of different isekai, and discussing takes too much, it might be better just to look at my bookmarks. There’s a lot of really interesting people to look at, like Izumi Jun? (氷純) or 止流うず [1]. I think that’s a good place to start.

Though it's just a personal thing, I spoke a bit more at length in an interview on syosetu regarding "Mushoku Tensei." 

[1] I could not for the life of me figure out how to read this. Here's the author's page:  https://mypage.syosetu.com/72556/ 

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Sorry for getting back so late, various things kept coming up.

Why do you think many narou-kei invoke slavery and rape?

To some extent, I think it’s a template of sorts. Again, it’s absolutely pointless in real life, but if you talk about the imaginary, it can become something of a fascinating space to work with.

I mean, while magic and magical systems can vary, a slave can’t betray you, so the character is quite easy to manage. So when you’re sent to another world where the conditions of living are completely different (such as in tensei), having an ally is important.

That said, you might need a character you’re willing to betray, because even if you don’t actually betray them, there’s an emotional cost associated with it.

Do you believe it is for the sake of a grim world setting?

It’s kinda easy to understand it in terms of having a cruel world setting, right? Again, Japan is safe: so something like death is a kind of universal concern that transcends worlds. So writers might gravitate to one of those settings.

The main thing is that...

My thoughts are that reality and imagination are essentially different things.