NIPPONDANJI Magazine No.1



デザイン高校を卒業した後、設計事務所に務めながら20歳でゲイ雑誌への作品応募をきっかけにゲイ漫画家への道を歩み始めた戎橋氏。意外にもマンガ少年ではなかったと言う。その戎橋氏が影響を受けたマンガは「じゃりん子チエ」。よく見ると似ている雰囲気もある。

「いい時代にデビューさせてもらった」と自身の境遇を振り返る。それもそのはず、戎橋氏がデビューしてしばらくは「さぶ」や「薔薇族」をはじめ、10近いゲイ雑誌が刊行されるゲイ雑誌の黄金期であった。それらゲイ雑誌が次々と休刊する中、戎橋氏は作品発表の場を主に自主出版へ移し、現在まで日本を代表するゲイ漫画家として活躍を続けている。

「大阪ミナミでゲイバーのママもやっていた」と、強面ながらソフトな口調で語る戎橋氏。画力だけでなく絶賛される手の込んだストーリーは、30年近いキャリアで得た経験を物語る。そんな戎橋氏の作品は、デジタルコンテンツ販売のDigiketで。

After graduating from a specialized design high school, Mr. Ebisubashi, who was 20 years old at the time and working at a design office began his journey to become a gay magazine manga artist. Surprisingly though, he was never a manga geek. When you look closely at his work, you can see that his manga was heavily influenced by "Jarinko Chie” (“Chie the Brat", also known by its English title, “Downtown Story”), a popular manga series in the 80’s. There is a similar atmosphere in the artistry of the two, revealing perhaps where one of his largest sources of inspiration came from when creating his own manga.

“I look back on my own circumstances and realize that I debuted at a good time.” he says. Mr. Ebisubashi made his debut during what could be called “The Golden Age” of gay magazines, having his work show up in titles like "Sabu" and “Roses” in addition to about 10 other gay magazines published at the time. These popular gay magazines eventually began to go on hiatus one after another and since then, Mr. Ebisubashi decided to make the jump towards independently publishing his own manga and has been active as a gay manga artist representing Japan.

“I was also a gay bar‘mum’ (an affectionate term used for the owner/manager of a gay bar) in the south Osaka area. ” he says softly yet intensely. Acclaimed, elaborate stories as well as incredibly exceptional drawing skill shows the experience gained in nearly 30 years of his career as a manga author and artist. Mr. Ebisubashi's works are available online for sale at Digiket.