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Interview with Black Streak's Justin Raimey

Interview with Black Streak's Justin Raimey

Written by Ross Locksley on 27 Jun 2014



Can you introduce us to the world of Fiji Random?

Fiji Random takes place in a fictional world that’s not all that different from the one you and I live in today. There’re schools, video games, half-zombies, ghosts that go to college; you know all that normal stuff. The story will follow Fiji Maide. She is a gamer girl who gets herself involved in every kind of situation.

How did you go about building the Fiji Random world? Did it just come to you as you put pen to paper or was there painstaking planning involved? Share your process with us :)

The Fiji Random world evolved from real life situations and a series of “what if” scenarios. Some of the stories and characters within Fiji Random are based on real events in my life, but blown way out of proportion of course. The story has a main plot that was carefully executed and thought out. Many changes have been made to the story before the first volume was done so it can make sense in future volumes. I actually started this manga back in high school, about 10 years ago. The first chapter was actually redone because I didn’t like how the first attempt turned out. Fiji’s storyline is formulated to make the reader go “Whaaaat?” then “Ohhhhh” later on. If a joke or character comes into my head while I’m not doing anything at work I try to write it down or remember it for the manga. A lot of jokes were removed because of pure embarrassment and some jokes were tweaked a bit for more originality. So to answer your question, it’s both planning and impulse writing.

Fiji Random has an unusual storytelling structure, what inspired that?

Kiyohiko Azuma’s manga “Azu Manga Daioh” is mostly responsible. That manga is the main inspiration for the structure of Fiji Random. Azu Manga Daioh is a hilarious 4-panel comic series with some regular manga style stories at times. Fiji Random is like Azu Manga’s style but more chaotic and video game infused. Fiji has a main storyline that is made up of chapters or “stages”. After and sometimes in between these stages there are 4-panel comics called “Random Moments”. These are jokes that don’t go with the main storyline. The Random Moments are numbered and randomly scattered throughout the volumes and some moments will make one continuous story if put in numerical order.

Another different feature about Fiji Random’s structure are the special intermissions. They are stories that are not directly part of the main storyline but are longer than the 4-panel comics. The chaotic structure is there because I wanted readers to get to know the characters faster even if they are not introduced in the storyline yet. This structure will also get the reader involved in many stories at once.

You've cited Azumanga Daih as a key influence in your desire to create a comedy manga - what is it specifically about that work that grabbed you?

The art and the jokes. That manga is still my favorite series to this day!

Who's YOUR favourite character in Fiji Random and why?

Anzu Maide, Fiji’s sister. This may be a bit lame but I just like how she looks. That’s it.

You run Black Streak Entertainment with your brother, Terry - have you always enjoyed working together on projects?

Yes, it would be really difficult for anyone to run a business and do art all by yourself. We appreciate each other’s contributions and come to agreements on projects without problems.

Digital publishing is changing the scope of audiences around the world, do you see yourself distributing foreign-language versions of your titles?

Oh yeah, that would be great! It will take some time and a lot of funding but it is something that I’m willing to try out. Some of the jokes will have to be redone for different cultures though. Why keep Fiji from the world? Let’s spread the randomness around! But not right now of course.

Do you plan to bring other artists to public attention through your company, or do you have a wide range of your own titles that you're looking to bring out over time?

Both, once we get Black Streak off the ground. My brother and I go to anime and comic conventions to check out the small press and artist allies for the potential artiest we can add to the team. We have a few artists on file but the success of our original titles will determine if we can afford them or not. I have some other titles in the works at this moment; one being “My Sweet Lady”. They won’t be as long as the Fiji Random series but they will be very interesting to read.

You never forget your first time - how would you describe your first experience with Japanese culture?

My brother and I went to Japan once. It was very strange, but I loved it! The cups were small, the food was great, the bananas were individually wrapped in plastic, the people are nice and the women are gorgeous.

If readers take one thing away from Fiji Random, what would you like it to be?

Your own actions will affect you and the world!

Thank you :)

You’re welcome.


Ross Locksley
About Ross Locksley

Ross founded the UK Anime Network waaay back in 1995 and works in and around the anime world in his spare time.


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