Konaka e-mail interview for the Anime Expo 2001 fan panel
A short written exchange in English, lightly edited for grammar at Konaka's request. Konaka says he sometimes borrows from H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu writers, but that Lain did not need those elements because he wrote it as a story of the 'present day, present time'. He calls Lovecraft and Lewis Carroll close in spirit, each having built a world of their own, and says he is a story maker who does not need to invent a new world every time. His influences are mostly films, especially 1970s titles such as Taxi Driver, The Exorcist, The Legend of Hell House, Obsession and Videodrome, though he grew up on Astro Boy and anime in general. He calls working with Ryutaro Nakamura very exciting. He sees little difference between Japanese and foreign fans, since each found their own point in the theme, which is what he wanted. He was then writing Digimon Tamers, where he reused the names Juri and Reika; he explains that Alice, Reika and Juri first appeared in a 1994 live-action episode he wrote for a school ghost-story TV series, and that he keeps them because he likes the characters even as their faces and ages change. He says he loves and hates computers, and turns a question back to American fans: was Eiri's dogma totally insane? The panel's answer is included.
- Lain uses no Lovecraft elements; it is a 'present day' story
- 1970s films are his main influence, plus Astro Boy
- Alice, Reika and Juri first appeared in a 1994 live-action ghost-story episode
- He reused Juri and Reika in Digimon Tamers
- He 'loves and hates' computers
- He asked fans whether Eiri's thinking was truly insane
Sources: lawmune.net