[EN Sum-up] Hoshino Katsura’s Livestream About Chapter 253.5 (part 3/3)

[EN Sum-up] Hoshino Katsura’s livestream about chapter 253.5 (part 3/3)

Hello everyone,

As promised here is a sum-up (more of a transcription?) of the one hour livestream Hoshino Katsura did last Sunday, February 2nd, 2025. The livestream was about chapter 253.5, which came out on January 29th in the SQ. RISE WINTER 2025 issue.

This sum-up is very long and will be divided into three parts:

Part 1 about the context around chapter 253.5 (How she came to draw it, etc.)

Part 2 about the art style of chapter 253.5

Part 3 about the story itself and some details which will allow us to theorize about what’s coming next (this post)

Obviously, this sum-up is full of spoilers, please be careful if you haven’t read chapter 253.5!

This sum-up is not an exact transcription of what has been said: I skipped all the parts where she answered comments (except if it was relevant!) and I mixed some parts, because she has a tendency to repeat herself.

Story explanation and small spoilers to what is coming up next

1. About the war and the stray bullet:

“This time, I didn’t draw people fighting. I wanted you to feel the atmosphere just by looking at the background. Because the belligerents are not the main characters, I felt no need to draw them. You might think: “Where does the stray bullet come from?” Well, I wanted the readers not to be able to guess where the bullet came from, that’s why I didn’t draw anything. (…)”

“Do any of you remember the fact Lavi got shot by a stray bullet? I think I’ve only mentioned it in the fan book, I remember it was even an extra page or something. I was a bit worried about people not remembering this anecdote, because you know, this chapter starts with Lavi getting shot, so I was wondering if the readers would understand the context."

"I’m happy I could show you what happened in Lavi’s past and besides, in the last chapter, I drew Lavi’s birth so I felt it was natural to keep on drawing Lavi’s past, it would be easier for the readers to understand. That’s one of the reasons I drew it this time. If I had drawn the Black Order members having fun, for instance, you would probably have been a bit puzzled right? Like “what’s going on?”.”

(A comment says they were expecting the stray bullet anecdote to be drawn at some point in the story): “Actually…Hummm..How should I put it? Lavi getting shot by a stray bullet, it’s not just a random idea I had. It has a meaning. I didn’t explain it in this chapter, but there is a reason why I came up with this idea. The fact Lavi got shot by a stray bullet is a very important anecdote for Lavi’s character. If you keep on reading D.Gray-man, I’m sure you will understand what it is about."

"I don’t know if you remember, but in the fourth volume, I said something like “If D.Gray-man keeps on going, I will have the opportunity to draw more about Bookman’s story”, well, it’s exactly the same here. If you keep reading D.Gray-man, in the future, you’ll understand the real meaning behind this episode.”

2. “We will meet again”

"When Lavi first appears in the story in volume 4, he just says “nice to meet you” with his fake smile, but I wanted to show that it was not simple as that: Lavi had something going through his mind at that time. That’s the point of the chapter: I wanted you to see through Lavi’s heart and to understand he was a bit surprised. He is not shocked or anything, but more like troubled. And the reason why Lavi says “nice to meet you” in katakana** well, it’s maybe because he actually feels it is not their first meeting, I’ll let you decide about this."

** It might be a bit long to explain, but in Japanese, we have several ways of writing, one being the hiragana, used for everyday Japanese words, and katakana, used for foreign words. The word “nice to meet you” is usually written in hiragana, because it’s a Japanese word, but in Lavi’s case, it’s written in katakana, which is bit odd. It gives a weird impression, like if it was a bit fake.

"The last page: “We’ll meet again”, those are Past Lavi’s words, those words are repeated here, at the end [He said it once in the chapter] Everyone, please remember this quote! Those words are not exclusive to this extra chapter, it has a lot of different meanings. Please remember those are not just words I came up with for Allen and Lavi’s meeting. It won’t be in the fanbook*** (!)"

***This is also very weird: what does she mean by fanbook? IIs there a new fanbook coming? Please remember as of today, nothing has been announced, and to be honest, a fanbook seems a bit weird for me: the last one was only in 2017, and covers up to chapter 225, so I would not be that optimistic about it.

The last panel is actually a very important scene. Whether it is the point of view, the quote itself, everything is important in this panel. I drew this panel with a special meaning. So, yes, It’s important. It is not just a final scene with a background and a dialogue, no, no. But, the thing is, you can definitely read the main story without having read this extra chapter, you’ll understand the plot anyways. It’s not necessary for your understanding. However, in the future, you might be like “Omg it’s like the extra chapter! It’s about that!”. Yes, and this extra chapter will be added in the next volume, so everyone will be able to read it."

"Everyone, the only scene you can forget is the cover with Lavi, there is no hint in the cover, otherwise, everything is important !"

3. About Past Lavi:

Past Lavi is shining very brightly, but that’s only because it’s Lavi’s point of view,. It’s a bit funny, right? For Lavi, Past Lavi is almost dazzling.

(Comment: what was the most important when you drew Past Lavi shining in those panels?) I wanted to avoid making it look like a comical manga.

4. Redrawing Allen and Lavi’s meeting in volume 4:

“I didn’t imagine I would ever be able to redraw the rewinding town or Allen injured by Road. It’s like a 20-year-timeslip (silence…) wait, 20 years?! (big laughs) I had never imagined I would redraw the rewinding town 20 years after…”

(A comment says: “I feel very emotional when I think about the fact the place where Past Lavi meets Lavi again, after having told him “we will meet again”, is the rewinding town”) Yes, I know, thank you.

“When I first drew the meeting scene in the hospital room in volume 4, I was very young and I didn’t have much time, so this time, I asked my assistants to change the room a bit. Obviously, it’s the same room but I just wanted to upgrade it with the current D.Gray-man art style. My assistant succeeded in keeping the same vibe for the room while adding a bit of detail.”

(Comment saying how happy they were to see Komui:) “Yes, it’s only a cameo but still… I tried to draw him more manly, comparatively to the way I used to draw him.”

(A comment asks if there was a carpet in the room in volume 4?) “No, I added it! Think about it please, I was like “If there is no carpet, the characters would be bare foot? And there is no slipper? And it's winter? They are going to be cold; it’s snowing outside!”, so yes, I asked my assistants to add a carpet. They told me “I’m sure no one will care about it, you know…” and I answered “Well, I DO care”. I’m sure I’m the worst mangaka out there, I’m telling my assistants “yes, we are going to reduce the backgrounds because we have no time” but at the same time, I’m asking them to add detail (laughs).”

There is Timcanpy! It’s not really important, there is no real meaning behind it, but he is here! It’s been a while since I drew him. He is so small, so easy to draw. He fitted perfectly in this panel (A comment said:“I was moved by Tim presence”) Yes, same here.

5. About Allen’s hairstyle

In this chapter, Lavi gets older and meets Allen. From reading D. Gray-man, I guess you’ve understood by now it’s pretty common for my characters to change hairstyle. Back then, at the end of the rewinding town ark, I decided to draw Allen with longer hair. It was a bit of an off-handed decision, to be honest, but at the same time, I thought in the back of my brain “Maybe it could be useful someday”. I really want to say “Good job” to my past self who drew Allen with longer hair back then (laughs).

I’m happy I didn’t draw him with short hair in volume 4. When Lavi and Allen meet, I wanted Allen to have longer hair, and I had decided back then Allen would have short hair again in Krory’s castle ark. However, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to use this small anecdote [about Allen’s hair length] for the story. In volume 4, I was worried I might never be able to explain why Allen has longer hair, but yes, I’m happy I respected the character settings I had in mind [I think she means she always knew Allen had a part of Past Lavi in him, it’s the essence of Allen as a character, but back then, she could not tell us about it]

6. About drawing Lavi:

You can see an older Lavi at the end of the chapter, but to be honest, I was so mad at my past self, the one who drew Lavi back in volume 4. I was like “What the hell? The scarf doesn’t look like a scarf at all! And what’s with the weird order uniform? It looks so weird”. Whether it’s the cover or within the chapter, it was so hard to draw Lavi with his first uniform.

"I wanted to draw it similarly, but I had to add some changes and variations. I was drawing while battling with my old self (laughs). I was calling my sister while working, screaming to her “I can’t draw Lavi! It’s impossible! What’s wrong with this uniform?”. When it comes to Allen, Lenalee or Kanda’s first uniform, it’s still a rather simple design, it’s easy to draw…but Lavi…why? And his belt?! I just can’t.”

"Back then, I was doing my best to draw Lavi’s ahoge but my wrist was killing me, so I stopped it."

"I just drew the cover randomly, I was like “What should I draw…?” I was rereading the volume 4 and I found the scene when he destroyed akumas, I thought: “maybe I should just draw him from the back?” (laughs) My sister also praised me for the cover. But you know, I always feel troubled when someone praises a panel which I thought normal and without any specificity. [She means there are scenes or panels which she wants to draw in a way it creates emotions for the reader, for instance, the meeting between Allen and Lavi, but she drew the cover without thinking too much]

(Someone says small Lavi is cute) "Yes, I know, I thought the same while drawing him, I was like “you’re my only angel in this hell”. I was saying to myself “I’m dying because of all those oblique lines but small Lavi is so cute”. But the old Bookman is cute too.

7. Other random facts:

"When it comes to the sky color, it’s a bright blue sky. You might think the sky is a bit dark, but that’s because of screen tones, it makes it look darker than it is. (…)"

"The volumes are actually smaller than the magazine, so they have to cut the sides a bit to make it fit in the volume. If there is a specific panel I absolutely do not want to be cut out, I can ask and they try to make it fit, otherwise, they have to cut out everything."

"My assistant is busy with his child so, for the next few chapters, you might feel the art style is becoming a bit messier, it’s because we are going to use a lot of oblique lines, so please understand."

(A comment says: “I wonder who will be the characters for the next Komui’s lounge…?”) : "Oh, so about this, I’m sorry but I don’t think there will be any Komui’s lounge in the next volume. We are going to add the extra-chapter, and I think we will run out of pages, so instead of Komui’s lounge, you’ll have the extra chapter. I think it’s the most probable. (…) I hope I’ll be able to make one another time, I’m sorry for this time. (Another comment says : Even though it has a very light atmosphere, Komui’s lounge is always full of spoilers and hints for the future) YES, exactly, you got it. My Komui’s Lounge are not just simple Q&A, those are hints, I’m trying to say as much as possible without going off-limit. I know some people could tell me: “don’t write such important things here” But I know, I’m playing with fire.

(Someone says: “I’ll read the extra chapter 100 times after this livestream has ended”) : Alright, you can read it but please, do not forget about the main plot (laughs) Please turn your head toward Allen?

"To conclude, I suffered a lot, I’m like “wasn’t I supposed to be on hiatus” but I’m satisfied with what I drew."

And that’s the end of this three parts transcription. As usual, thank you for reading !