Mana

Name: Mana (It's a guy folks...)
Date of Birth: March 19th
Place of Birth: Hiroshima
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Blood type: O

Mana is the leader and one of the co-founders of Malice Mizer. He's also the most effeminate of the group, (he is rarely seen without make-up or a skirt).

Some Mana facts...

Mana's father was a high school music teacher. In their house, there was a piano, keyboard, and trumpet, but he can't remember if his parents ever forced him to learn an instrument. His parents say they let him learn the piano when he was really young but he hated it. His parents also say that when he was in his mother's womb, they let him listen to classical music, (naturally, he didn't know about it). At home, every Sunday morning, they played classical music, but when Mana was in primary school, he preferred sculpture class to music, (especially clay-molding, but he liked to break the pieces he made because he thought breaking the form was more beautiful). He was good in painting and he often won prizes at exhibitions. After Junior High, he preferred painting science-fictional subjects.

In reference to music, Mana was not positive to listen to Japanese pop songs. He was struck by some popular music, (sometimes by Johnny's, and sometimes by female idols), but he started to listen to rock music early. At first, he listened to heavy metal. He liked Japanese and foreign rock. In terms of sound, he was really impressed by the sound of the guitar which is highly distorted. He guesses the reason he was attracted to heavy metal is the look (it really stood out). He was disappointed really soon because sometimes the band he used to like a lot in terms of visual look changed their look very quickly, (in every album, there was a different changed look). He ended up not liking them anymore.

When Mana was in Junior High, he told his parents he wanted a guitar so they bought him a folk guitar. He never used it. Instead, he went and bought an electric guitar by himself. At first, he liked heavy metal. Then he went into hard-core punk, which was really violent music. He saw lives and concerts, and they played their music really hard and the concert was chaotic. This really interested Mana. The punk-style hairdo or Mohawk also interested him, so in high school he tried the Mohawk hairstyle once, (they kept telling him to stop it, however, because his father was a teacher and he was getting nervous about it). In high school, Mana also belonged to the Handball Club because, he claims, it's a minor sport. Everyone tended to join the Soccer Club, the Basketball Club, etc., but even when Mana was younger he preferred doing something different, something not so popular. (He also belonged to the Art Club). And although he did sports, he didn't look like an athlete: Even when he went to a game, his hair was in a Mohawk style, so he brought a really extreme visual look into his high school sports field(!). Also, Mana hated wearing a uniform in high school, (but they were not allowed to wear private clothing). So he stuck to changing the uniform to his taste by lining the inside of his coat jacket with paisley patterns.

Wearing his Mohawk, Mana also played music and had a band with his friends but he didn't think about becoming a professional musician, (he wasn't serious about music). He didn't know what to do in the future. After high school graduation, Mana still hadn't decided on anything, but he knew he didn't want to be a businessman. Back then, he didn't have any aim or intention. He went to Osaka and lived there and then he had a group which played punk music. They didn't play hard-core but alley-punk. Gradually he realized he didn't want to play punk. In a way he realized his musical identity. Simply because he liked gaudy things, he started to wear make-up, but as he thought about his individuality, he gradually changed his mind and he started to feel his direction of music is not masculine. So did this lead to MALICE MIZER? Mana doesn't remember the actual reason, but he happened to be listening only to classical music at the time, (when he left for Osaka, he brought a lot of classical music tapes from his house), so he guessed he would like that field again, (he mainly liked Bach), and he has been attracted to mysterious things. Then he started to collect horror videos. He liked the background music of Italian horror movies, (really cool and mysterious). He was really inspired by that and he realized he wanted to play that kind of music because it has slight feelings of heavy metal, but the difference is the melody itself is really pathos, like classical music, so it was rather dull and heavy at the same time. He made up a group which played that kind of music.

They played in live houses but they were not popular since only he played a guitar. He harmonized with bass sometimes but he realized they needed a second guitar after all. The band wore make-up as they do now, because Mana was really inspired by a drag-queen group (these kinds of groups are called Mr. Lady or New Half in Japan), but that band didn't last, (Mana still has a tape of them though). Mana met Közi in Tokyo. At first he worked in the "background", and then he met Közi when he changed his part-time job. But it wasn't so easy-going. At first he joined a ready-made band as a helping staff but it didn't last. So he made up his mind to make a group with Közi which would have a solid concept and which would never imitate foreign artists, (be really original). Then the concept of evil and tragedy was born and it drove MALICE MIZER.

Mana admits that the group, having started in '92, was besieged by troubles at first. "We were the band that received a lot of complaints," he says. One day, they scattered golden powder on the audience during a performance. The powder stuck on the audience's faces and a lot of them complained that they still couldn't take it out the following day. Also, one day when they scattered blood-like liquid on stage, it was not supposed to reach the audience but it did anyway and a lot of them complained. And in order for the band not to make the floor dirty, they usually put a sheet on the floor but sometimes it falls. The band even used to carry their albums to the music stores by themselves. And they played even in the smallest live houses. Even if the live house can only accommodate 20-30 people, the band would set up the stage themselves, (and wouldn't be stingy about it). They wanted to leave a lasting impression on the audience - not to forget MALICE MIZER after seeing them in such a tiny space.

On women: Mana likes women who are like cartoon characters in Japanese cartoon magazines: romantic, rather like a doll, the type whose lifestyle you can't tell; stylish, like the girls who appear in Cutie (Japanese fashion magazine) - thin, wearing mini-skirts and knee-high stockings. He likes the "dressy" fashion as well. However, he doesn't like the casual style (or usual college student style); he doesn't like very hip style; he doesn't like really sun-tanned girls. He thinks women should be enigmatic as well as pretty. He doesn't like the Tomoko-Yamaguchi-type. (Tomoko Yamaguchi is a well-known actress who is really natural, and not really beautiful but cute.) He likes a woman who can express herself clearly. He doesn't like boyish girls nor girls who are too healthy, (by this he means athletic). He doesn't like women who are sick either, (staying in bed, etc.).

He has not been preoccupied with idols or actresses (even when he was young). He used to like Leona Hazuki, (a Japanese actress notorious for a scandalous love affair with a married man), in her sitcom, "Koi-mo Nidomenara", but he only liked her for her role in that sitcom. When she took another role in another drama, he didn't like her anymore. So he guesses he doesn't know love or love affair. If truth be told, he has not been in love with women in the past so he feels really at a loss when he talks about it. He likes movies a lot but he has hardly seen any romantic movie, (he mentions that Gackt likes those romantic movies). Contrary to that, Mana likes horror movies, so when he sees the popular sitcoms/dramas on TV, he's often angry at the story because it is so far from reality he cannot believe it or relate to it. But he liked the movie "Paradise" starring Phoebe Cates a lot, (he'd first watched it in childhood). He'd seen it again on TV recently before the interview and he really appreciated it. He likes it for the location of the movie, (an isolated land), rather than the romantic drama.

He's interested in love and women actually, and he wants to encounter many women. Since he likes enigmatic women, he's interested in widows or wives. But he doesn't like to be too close (he's not into public show of affection). If he keeps being with a girl too much, he guesses it would decrease the freshness of their relationship. So he prefers keeping some distance. He guesses it's better for him not to go to a girlfriend's house (because he's afraid if he goes to her place he'll find out everything about her). But he admits to being curious to know about her all the same. On being asked if the image of women he portrays on stage reflect his ideal, he says he'd rather not talk about it too much for fear the readers would take him for a narcissist. He took the role of some novel lady or sadistic-maschosistic bondage, and he has to wear body-hugging clothes. But he likes the fashions he's worn because he never wanted to wear jeans and polo-shirts.

Even when Mana's not in concert, he usually wears make-up and skirts. He doesn't like to wear normal clothes when he's not on stage. He wants to be consistent. He changes his clothes according to TPO (time, placing, and occasion). He changes his clothes when he goes into a convenient store; he changes his clothes again when he goes to buy cosmetics, etc. It's hard in his family's home however, because they raised him as a boy and he was a punk in high school, so they're not used to his current style.

He doesn't mind the people's attention because of his fashion. Fashion is one of his lifestyle. He hated the Japanese custom to think too much about what other people think. He doesn't care about popular things. He likes women's clothes because of their design, e.g. tight waist, elaborate shoulder design. Male clothing has less design so Mana hardly has a choice. And he started getting interested in women's clothing when he was in his late teens. He exudes the image of a woman confident about her lifestyle. But this doesn't mean Mana has lost interest in women altogether; on the contrary he still likes them. When asked if he had an ideal image of a man, Mana replied it would be like the cartoon characters, with long arms and legs, (which he wishes he could be). He used to be attracted to a Johnny's group called "Shibu-gaki-Tai", ("It was really cool," he says). At that time, he wanted to join them and he used to practice their dancing.

Mana admits to enjoying his double-life. And he really likes to wear mini-skirts. He's positive that the reason women wear mini-skirts is because they can attract others' attention, and it's really exciting. He even cares about his underwear, (it has to match his concept and style). When asked about masculinity, Mana said it is hard to explain, but basically the only difference is physical organization. So mentally, it doesn't matter. He believes one can pursue one's way of living so they should not be affected by his gender or sex. He really doesn't care about ready-made concepts and customs. He admits though that despite his brave ideas, people are still hard on him but he doesn't care about them and he thinks their attitude towards him give him energy to create something. Because he can't find interesting things in the real world, he creates them and explores the world to pursue some stimulation. "For humans, it is the heart and soul that matters, and the soul has a place to go back where gender does not matter. MALICE MIZER's stage," he says, "reflects what I've just said."

Mana is happy when he's able to get some sleep; also when he eats his favorite meal of curry. But he admits to hardly feeling happiness because what he's doing, (which is MALICE MIZER), can be said to be happiness but be simultaneously miserable. This field, he admits, is really hard and they have to keep thinking about it. As long as he plays his role in MALICE MIZER, he believes he can't be relaxed or relieved completely, but of course he gives all his passion into MM. So when he overcomes bitterness he feels happiness. At first he started a band simply because it's interesting to him but now he realizes the reason of his existence. He lost simple happiness to play music in the band. But it doesn't mean he wants to quit the band. He's really convinced about what he wants to do. He has not thought that if he cannot create a hit next time he will quit the band.

In high school, Mana used to have a back pack which he really liked. It also happened to be very popular, however, so he decided to give it up for a less popular type. This obsession with conforming to the minority group is consistent with Mana. He is obsessed with his policy a lot. This is why he doesn't have any friends. Actually, it's not appropriate to say he doesn't have any friends, but he's just not positive to talking with people who can't appreciate his ideas. Also, he's never made any effort to make friends. He has never dated women personally (or alone). He usually dates in groups because he's shy.

The first thing he looks at in a woman is her silhouette. (Next is her face, in terms of sex appeal and aura.) The first thing he does after waking up at around 4 or 5 a.m. is jogging on the banks of his neighborhood, (he practices this routine even when it rains or snows). His favorite food is fried bread (?) and candies. His best recipe is salad. On cosmetics: he uses a variety, although he admits to having a Clé de peau foundation and Shiseido eyeliner. It takes him 2 hours to put on his make-up.

On his bedroom: It has no direct light. He hates light. Basically, his room only has candles. It's like a stage and it houses a lot of dolls. Asked what he wears in his room, Mana replied, "A blue chan-chan-ko." (It's sort of like a kimono, but it's made of coarser material and is really just dull house clothes.) Mana's has patterns of children on it and he likes his chan-chan-ko a lot.