After that, we focused on some solo projects for a while, Daniel making a documentary called AVATARS OFFLINE about the then-nascent MMO gaming genre, and I produced a zombie flick called LAST RITES, released as GANGS OF THE DEAD on DVD. Mr. Disgusting actually stopped by the set at the time.

We’ll have a gallery of stills as extras in the trade paperback (due out in July) so readers can see where it all came from and how it changed. In the very beginning, the hardest part was the fact that it was all in Japanese with no English translation. Thankfully, my wife Yuriko (love you, hon!) was willing to go through the whole thing and translate it for us. An English patch has since been released and now SAYA NO UTA can be enjoyed by all.

THEoDEAD: “Thus far the story has been very well received, and you both have gotten a lot of very positive feedback on the title. To what do you attribute that success to? Do you think that this type of style might catch on in the states?

Daniel Liatowitsch”We’re hopeful it will catch on enough to further explore the Saya universe. We have a great TPB coming out in July, which will give more people the chance to check it out. Stylewise, the world of comics has such depth. Yet the fact that Saya is based on a Japanese property actually seemed to confound comic book stores — Japanese seemed to indicate a manga rather than a comic book. I had naively assumed that in the same way Todd and I grew up loving European, American and Japanese horror, surely comic book fans would have the same amount of reverence for styles from around the world. But comic book fans appear to have their hearts set on one style or the other. My manga reading friends admitted to me that they’d never even opened an American comic book before. We’d love it if Saya played even a tiny part in bridging that gap and in peaking readers’ curiosity. ”

Todd Ocvirk”Even though SAYA NO UTA may be different from what we normally see here, what Daniel said about how far we’d go for love is true, and I think it’s those kinds of universal themes that everyone can identify with. Who hasn’t done something crazy and embarrassing for someone they love? Also, most of us have suffered through some kind of loss at some point, and this is another theme in SAYA that I think readers can identify with. As long as our readers can relate to our characters and feel for them and care for them, I hope they’ll continue to be interested in finding out what happens next. If you wrap all that up in a bizarre story with portraits of creatures that make you go, “what the hell was that?!?” well, then I think you got something pretty interesting. ”

THEoDEAD: “I’ll make no bones about it, “SAYA” is disturbing, and more so it is DEEP. Fuminori wakes up and the entire world is its own version of gore. What is the inspiration behind the completely far out storyline of “SAYA”? When comparing it to the source material there are obviously some revisions that were made, but the overall base is still intact. What was it like creating the title?

Todd Ocvirk”Creator Gen Urobuchi was definitely influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and has stated that he’s been pleased with the fact that SAYA has come “full circle” with this American comic adaptation. When we came up with our version, aside from Lovecraft, we kept David Cronenberg firmly in mind and his signature “body horror” films like VIDEODROME, THE FLY, SHIVERS, EXISTENZ, etc. JACOB’S LADDER was another big influence as was REPULSION and THE TENANT. Oh, and one particular scene from ROMEO IS BLEEDING.

Personally, I had a lot of fun doing this but it was not without its challenges. First and foremost was having to make sure things were explained adequately for our Western audience. I’ve always leaned towards European and Asian horror films where it’s okay to be ambiguous and dream-like with no explanation necessary. Unfortunately, that’s not so true here and rules must be established and followed consistently. In a way, having to do that takes away from what makes SAYA NO UTA effective. In the original, we meet Fuminori when he’s already in the middle of his ordeal and you kind of accept the way things are, even though there are flashbacks and some explanations along the way. In our version, even though the bulk of the story is a flashback, for the most part, we see Josh go through the process of losing his mind chronologically. We hoped to establish the rules as we went along and see things as he experiences them. We had to go beyond what was explained in the original, so creating the world was pretty tricky. ”

Daniel Liatowitsch”Another thing we had to deal with was that Fuminori in the original is a fairly reactive character, which works in the visual novel format. But in our version, there had to be things for him to do, places for the story to go. What the visual novel more or less accepts as the given circumstances became more of a mystery in the comic. Who is Saya? What does she really want? We either changed or added quite a few characters in order to accommodate a perhaps more traditional story trajectory, that could still carry and support as much of the surreal horror as we could keep in there.

Also a challenge was the idea of sympathy. Why do we care about these two characters and what happens to them? Saya has little to no understanding of human morality. Meanwhile as Josh’s grasp on reality becomes more and more tenuous, he starts to kill people. Through all of that, both characters had to remain likable enough for the big payoff at the end to really hit home. ”

THEoDEAD: “We touched on the Lovecraftian elements and influences already, but I’d like to explore that a little bit more. When reading “SAYA” I get the same feeling i did when I read “THE CTHULHU MYTHOS” for the first time. In fact there seems to be some comparisons that can be drawn between the two. Were the two of you heavily influenced by Howard yourselves or was this simply a by product of the source material you were working with?

Daniel Liatowitsch”As Todd mentioned, Lovecraft certainly was a huge influence. Reading up again on Lovecraft and the close-knit circle of authors he was friendly with, I was reminded that Lovecraft may have never intended for the Cthulu mythos to be what it ultimately became. It was more of an interesting backdrop than a cohesive universe. Lovecraft was an atheist and quite nihilistic in his view of the world. Only after his death was his universe framed as good versus evil, a kind of simple moralistic framework that Lovecraft resisted. The idea of forces that are simply too much for the human mind to comprehend, that defy our human values of good and bad and narrow definition of reality, those forces were very much meant to be a part of SONG OF SAYA. That sense of powerlessness leads to a sense of isolation, of loneliness. Josh and Saya’s characters hopefully reflect that in different, interesting ways. ”

Todd Ocvirk”Whenever you have beings coming into our world from another dimension, I think you’re going to get some comparisons to Lovecraft. That being said, Saya herself could definitely be ripped from the pages of THE CTHULU MYTHOS. Some of our story may be a by product of adapting the source material, which again is influenced by Lovecraft, but as Daniel mentioned, many of Lovecraft’s ideas and themes just fit so naturally with what we wanted to do. I’ve read the character of Saya being described as a “loli Shoggoth” and I think of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS as a pretty good comparison as to what happens to Josh and others when they’re exposed to this nightmarish, ugly, horrific world. Just as Danforth loses his mind when he catches a glimpse of something horrifying in the mountain range beyond the city of the Elder Things, so do our characters when they see the bleeding, pulsing reality that lies just beneath our perception. ”

THEoDEAD: “All in all what do you hope readers take away from this story?

Todd Ocvirk”Well, since it’s a love story at heart, I hope readers take away the idea that there’s someone out there for everyone, even if they’re not human. And maybe tentacle sex ain’t that bad. ”

Daniel Liatowitsch”After wiping away their heartfelt tears, readers will hopefully ask for more books from the writing team that brought them this cathartic experience. ”

THEoDEAD: “Are there any other projects that we should keep our eyes open for down the road and heading into convention season for the two of you?

Daniel Liatowitsch”There will be a definite push for SONG OF SAYA to venture to the silver screen, a transition we’re extremely excited about. Beyond that, we have several original pitches we’re looking to turn into comic book properties as well as a horror feature script and an animated script that are ever-so-close to becoming a reality. ”

Todd Ocvirk”If we play our cards right, we also hope to be writing on other, more established titles from IDW Publishing. We’re keeping our fingers crossed, so we’ll see. ”

THEoDEAD: “Is there anything you would like to say to your readers before we let you go?

Todd Ocvirk”I hope those who read SONG OF SAYA enjoy it! If you’re a fan of the game and quick to write off the comic, I hope you at least read the whole thing before tearing it apart. And thanks again for the interview! ”

Daniel Liatowitsch”If there’s any reader still reading at this point: You would have had a lot more fun reading the comic. So if you haven’t yet, I suggest that as a perfect antidote to our babbling. Huge thanks to BD for the interview and the years of support for our beloved genre. Keep it bloody! ”

THEoDEAD: “Last question, and limber up because this is the big one, Freddy VS Jason: who wins?

Daniel Liatowitsch”Freddy, no question. But if I were Jason’s manager, I’d urge him to use Camp Crystal Lake to his advantage. Sell all the used cars appropriated from disemboweled teenagers and invest smartly: Buy Bruce The Shark (or rather, his non-saltwater cousin). Train Bruce by feeding him only pizza. Then challenge Freddy to a Lake Fight. By the time Freddy realizes that sharks neither sleep nor dream, Bruce will have chewed off his pizza face and can wear the glove as a dorsal fin ornament.”

Todd Ocvirk”Piranhas might also work, be they Mega or 3D. But I’m going with Freddy by submission. Even though Jason possesses unparalleled brute strength and force, Freddy is knowledgeable in other disciplines besides the forward attack. I believe that in most cases, skill trumps strength, and it’s for this reason that I think Freddy wins by tap out in the 3rd. ”

Also Thanks To Todd, Daniel, And IDW Here Is The First 5 Pages Of Issue One In The “SAYA” Saga…

Thank to Todd and Daniel for the awesome interview! For those of you who are interested in picking up a copy of “THE SONG OF SAYA” the first two issues are available NOW thanks to IDW Publishing!