A short interview of Hizumi and Seiichi Hoshiko (the head of Club Zy and Starchild complany) was posted today on Club Zy website. It's about Zy's mascot Raimaru Hizumi designed and his UMBRELLA project.
A cute tiger suddenly appears in the top left corner of our homepage! Here we present the truth behind Raimaru!
Q: A cute tiger character suddenly appeared in the top left corner of club Zy homepage, in fact the creator of that character is…
Hoshiko: Yes, I am going to make an announcement about him here! The character is called Raimaru and his creator is HIZUMI. Once we were drinking and chatting and I was very surprised to know that HIZUMI had been drawing a lot. I wanted to have a mascot character for Zy for a while and, when I asked him: “Would you like to try and draw it?” Hizumi said: “Sounds fun!”
HIZUMI: That’s right.
Q: Did you have a tiger as a theme for the character from the beginning?
Hoshiko: No, nothing of the sort. However, HIZUMI asked me a lot of questions about my background. Like: “Where were you born?” or “What things do you like?” or “What is your favorite color?”
HIZUMI: When creating a mascot for Mr. Hoshiko, I wanted to base it on something real behind the man. Tiger is his Chinese astrology sign and he said that his favorite color was emerald green. That’s why at first the mascot was emerald green (laughs). I also made it look very evil. After that I changed it a little so it’d be more lovable and it became a very simple design.
Q: So it means that Mr. Hoshiko was a motif for the mascot?
HIZUMI: At first he was (laughs). But half way through he told me: “Don’t make him look too much like me” (laughs).
Hoshiko: After HIZUMI changed the color, made a lot of small adjustments and the design took the final shape, Raimaru made his successful debut!
Q: What do you like the most about the mascot, HIZUMI?
HIZUMI: I like the “Zy” pattern on Raimaru’s forehead that looks like a lightning and his paws in a shape of stars (laughs). (T.N. “Hoshiko” literally means “star child” and it’s also the name of Mr. Hoshiko’s company that owns Zy., Gab, Stylish Wave etc.)
Q: What did you have troubles with the most?
HIZUMI: The most difficult thing was after Mr. Hoshiko suddenly said that he wanted to have Raimaru moving… (laughs)
Hoshiko: Like after I told you that I wanted Raimaru to headbang (laughs).
HIZUMI: Raimaru headbangs, if you point a mouse cursor at him.
Hoshiko: After I said that HIZUMI told me: “Then we also need views of Raimaru from behind and from the side”.
HIZUMI: We needed to have images of Raimaru from different angles and in the end I drew him in about ten different poses (laughs).
Q: It seems there are a lot of ways you can play around with Raimaru now.
Hoshiko: Well, I’m going to make a huge profit in a mascot business now and use that money to revive visual kei (laughs).
HIZUMI: You can’t say things like that! (laughs)
Q: Are you going to focus on working as an illustrator from now on, HIZUMI?
HIZUMI: Not as an illustrator, how should I phrase it… I think calling it a “creator” would be more precise, because it won’t be just about making illustrations.
Hoshiko: HIZUMI also has a lot of artworks. He has a lot of different artworks on his iPad he always walks around with. When I saw them, I thought that he was amazing.
HIZUMI: I don’t really have any restriction when it comes to styles.
Q: Have you ever studied art before?
HIZUMI: No. Actually I started drawing illustrations after Tohoku earthquake.
Q: Huh? But didn’t you give a lizard artwork for Mr. Nishikawa’s earthquake charity auction? Was it your very first work?
HIZUMI: Yes. Until then I had only sung and written lyrics and I thought: “Is there anything I can do now other than singing?” And then, when it was the time to decide what kind of work I was going to put out next, I decided on art. In short, I wanted to realize the images I had in my head.
Q: And that’s how you started your creative project UMBRELLA that consists of three categories.
HIZUMI: Yes. [UMBRELLA MUSEUM] is where I present my work as an artist. [UMBRELLA DESIGN.] is my designs for others and collaborations like designing mascot characters. And [UMBRELLA MUSIQ] is for the day, when I eventually recover and will be able to continue making music on my own. Until now I have always focused on D’espairsRay, but on the contrary at times like this I want to concentrate on things I can do now. I want to do an exhibition of my art one day. I want to collaborate with many people, musicians and designers of accessories and clothing. Also I want to try making my illustrations into figurines.
Q: Your dreams know no limits.
HIZUMI: I have no restrictions and there are a lot of possibilities.
Hoshiko: By the way I was surprised, when one day you suddenly started your twitter account.
HIZUMI: I had been thinking about making a twitter account for a while, but I had been looking for the right timing. Once things started to take shape, I decided to begin to show little by little what’s going on. I enjoy writing on twitter and I’d be happy if everyone had fun reading it.
Q: Finally please say of few words to manias.
HIZUMI: Until now I have expressed myself only through music, but now I’d like to try doing many different and interesting things. I’d be happy if you enjoyed UMBRELLA. Also I’d be happy for Raimaru to become the most popular mascot.
Name: Raimaru
Blood type: V
Place of birth: Visual star
Date of birth: November 1
Astrological sign: Tiger
Height: size of three poisonous apples
Weight: weight of five poisonous apples
Charming point: paws
Favorite things: liver sashimi
Special skills: Headbanging, X-jump
Dreams: become a vocalist in a rock band
Favorite magazines: don’t read anything except Zy. MAG and Gab.
Hobby: go to all Stylish Wave lives
Person you respect: Mr. Hoshiko (and let’s leave it at that (laughs))
Favorite line: Chance comes when you’re in a pinch!
credit to: notafanboy
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