While flipping through the first few pages of The Promise, a graphic novel follow-up to the wildly popular American series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, I was intrigued by the name credited for the comic’s art and cover, “Gurihiru.” Entering the Marriott Bloor Hotel for our interview, I was greeted by Naoko Kawano and Chifuyu Sasaki — the Japanese artists who, collectively, make up Gurihiru.
Colourist Kawano and comic artist Sasaki have worked together for years on a variety of North American art projects, which include mini comics, full graphic novels, and video game art — all created under the pen-name Gurihiru. As they informed me, the confusion surrounding their misleading name was exactly what they set out to achieve in the first place. The artists adopted the pen name in an effort to avoid bias; they feared if North American readers saw their last names, they would assume that they only draw comics in the style of Japanese manga or anime.
In reality, Gurihiru’s work is quite a significant deviation from traditional Japanese comic art. They have often been told that their art, while still reflecting elements of Japanese culture, actually takes great influence from American cartoons. This blend of Japanese and American styles is what made them a perfect choice to design the graphic novel for Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American show heavily inspired by anime and other elements of East-Asian culture.
The opportunity to develop a trilogy of Avatar comics first began with Gurihiru being hired by Nickelodeon for a small-scale gig designing a handful of Avatar mini comics for Nickelodeon Magazine.
It was at this point that Kawano and Sasaki were fully integrated into the world of Avatar. Sasaki recalls understanding the importance and elegance of ‘bending’, which is a supernatural and spiritual power within the world of Avatar, and how vital it was for her to represent this faithfully on paper
Gurihiru’s work on Avatar, while impressive, is not their only contribution to the North American comic scene. They have worked closely with Marvel Comics to design a series of variant comic covers and mini stories for some of the company’s biggest superhero icons, such as: Captain America, Wolverine, and Deadpool.
When asked which Marvel franchise they favoured most, the two artists replied that they found The Fantastic Four series the most resonant. Sasaki explained that when they first met with Marvel, they were asked the same question, and they chose The Fantastic Four largely due to the importance the series places on family. Upon hearing this, Marvel assigned Gurihiru a Fantastic Four story to be their first job for the company.
Having come to Toronto to partake in the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Gurihiru explains that their favourite part about comic festivals is the chance to meet the fans of their work firsthand. Since the duo is stationed in Japan, but published in North America, they rarely interact with their fans in person, making each direct meeting with a reader all the more special.
