Question for Mr. Sakai

spacepro · Post by **spacepro** » Wed May 31, 2006 13:00 -0700

I was just wondering,

The Jei/Keiko relationship seems kind of familliar to one in a Japanese Anime called InuYasha where a demon with a hatred for humanity eventually softens up enough and takes care of an orphan girl.

Was this possibly a inspiration for the Keiko/Jei idea ?

Stan Sakai · Post by **Stan Sakai** » Wed May 31, 2006 13:04 -0700

I have not read Inuyasha since the first couple of comic books published by Viz many, many years ago. I prefer Takahashi's Mermaid series.

The idea for the Jei/Keiko relationship came from a master and his familiar, such as a witch and her black cat. Also, having Keiko travel with Jei makes him a much more interesting character, and very different from the others traveling around Usagi's world.

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Wed May 31, 2006 15:38 -0700

Keiko was a brilliant addition for Jei. It was too easy to see Jei as the misguided bad guy before. Now that he has the unwavering trust of a young girl (without making any attempts to decieve her), we're forced to see him as something far more complex. Obviously, Jei is misguided. But there's something noble within him too; something we haven't seen yet that Keiko understands well. Seeing the two travel together elicits both a feeling of absolute dread (what's that demon going to do to that poor girl?) and bewilderment (why hasn't that demon done anything to that poor girl, and why doesn't she expect him to?). Just looking at the pair traveling together raises a whole mess of feelings within me.

I think Keiko is one of the best character-related decisions you ever made, Stan. I'm glad you ended up using Inazuma to inherit Jei's spirit instead.