Yuki Kodama's 25th anniversary as a manga artist: Special project 1 - Interview with Takamatsu Misaki

A celebration of 25 years: Yuki Kodama x Takamatsu Misaki premium talk

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Yuki Kodama's career, we're bringing you a special project. We begin with a deluxe dialogue with Misaki Takamatsu, the creator of Skip and Loafer and a huge fan of Kodama-sensei! They spoke freely about everything, from their favorite works by each other to the secrets of their creative processes.

Authors profile

小玉ユキ (Kodama Yuki)

Born September 26th, from Nagasaki Prefecture. Debuted in 2000. Won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category in 2012 for "Kids on the Slope" (Sakamichi no Apollon). Other works include "Ao no Hana Utsuwa no Mori," "Tsukikage Bēbē," and others. Currently serializing "Ōkami no Musume" (The Wolf's Daughter) in flowers magazine since the October 2022 issue.

高松美咲 (Takamatsu Misaki)

Born March 21st, from Toyama Prefecture. After winning an award in the Afternoon Four Seasons Award, she made her serialization debut in 2015 with "Kanaria-tachi no Fune" (Boat of the Canaries). With "Skip and Loafer," which has been serialized in Monthly Afternoon since 2018, she won the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in the General category in 2023.

The two's first meeting

Takamatsu: Congratulations on your 25th anniversary as a manga artist! I've been a happy reader of your work since I was a student, so to think I'd get to have a conversation with you... it's truly an honor.

Kodama: Thank you so much. I've been hoping to have a chance to speak with you, Takamatsu-sensei, so I'm the one who's truly happy. I'm so glad I've kept drawing manga! (laughs)

Takamatsu: I never thought I'd get to meet you, Kodama-sensei, so I was stunned. The best I could do was say, "We should have tea sometime...!" and then I forgot to exchange contact information (laughs).

Kodama: So this time, when the editorial department suggested this dialogue project, I thought I'd take this opportunity and said, "I'd love to talk with Takamatsu-sensei!" That's why I asked for you.

Takamatsu: Thank you so much!

A surprising common point

Kodama: Actually, we both attended universities with art departments. I was in the education faculty's art course, so I briefly considered becoming a school teacher.

Takamatsu: Oh no, not to that extent (laughs). But I did do a teaching practicum, and in the end, I gave up on that path. The desire to create the manga I'd been drawing since I was little was stronger. I also ran into the "job-hunting ice age," so as a last resort, I brought my work to a publisher in lieu of job hunting. You were in an art college, right, Kodama-sensei? What was your major?

Kodama: That's right. I was in the Western painting department, so I did oil paintings and other large-scale works. But I couldn't feel like, "This is my path in life!" and I realized that manga was what I really wanted to do.

Takamatsu: I know just what you mean. In the end, it's because we love manga that we wanted to draw manga, right?

What were the first works you read by each other?

Interviewer: Takamatsu-sensei, what was the first work by Kodama-sensei that you read?

Takamatsu: Of course, it was Kids on the Slope (hereafter Apollon)!

Kodama: Thank you very much!

Takamatsu: When I was in middle school, it was my daily routine to stop by the bookstore on my way home. Apollon was laid out on display, so I bought it for its cover.

Interviewer: After reading it, what parts resonated with you?

Takamatsu: First, there was the surprise of, "Oh, this kind of shōjo manga exists!" The main theme of Apollon is friendship, isn't it? The characters are connected to their love interests in non-romantic ways, and the fact that it wasn't just about romance made it different from other shōjo manga and interesting. The first scene where Kaoru meets Sentaro is especially memorable. Conventionally, he would probably meet the heroine, but instead, Kaoru meets Sentaro, and the way it's drawn, almost like a religious painting, was so fresh. I also liked the 60s atmosphere. I didn't really understand things like the student movements, but it felt somewhat nostalgic, or rather, I could feel the era. Why did you decide to set the story in that period?

Kodama: Originally, I was interested in the unique atmosphere of that era. The feeling of a rough-and-tumble boy running, clacking along in geta sandals, or the cool pose of putting one leg up on a pier (laughs), I liked things like that. I was also interested in jazz, and since Sasebo had a US military base, I thought it would be a perfect fit.

Takamatsu: You're from Nagasaki, aren't you, Sensei?

Kodama: That's right. It's my parents' generation, so I thought I could ask them if there was anything I didn't understand.

Takamatsu: That's true. It's great that you can hear stories directly from someone who actually lived there.

Kodama: I can't go back in time to do research, so it was really wonderful to be able to hear stories from that period. What was interesting was when I asked, "If the four of them were to go on a double date, where would they go?"

Takamatsu: And they said, "Probably the rocks." (laughs)

Kodama: The rocks?! (laughs) Yes, it's a scenic spot called Megane-iwa (Spectacles Rock). That's the kind of thing you can't find just by looking up materials in a library.

The meeting of Kaoru and Sentarō, which Takamatsu-sensei described as being 'like a religious painting.' From Kids on the Slope.

Takamatsu: That's something I would have never known. It's so interesting to hear a story that could only come from someone who lived back then.

Interviewer: Kodama-sensei, did you come to know about Takamatsu-sensei through Skip and Loafer?

Kodama: Yes. I was reading Monthly Afternoon, I think it was right around when the serialization started? I thought, "Wow, I've stumbled upon an amazing work..." From there, I also had the chance to read her early work, Kanaria-tachi no Fune (Boat of the Canaries), and I was like, "Wait a minute." You were surprised, weren't you? (laughs). I remember getting super excited, like, "Wait, wait, Takamatsu-sensei! If you were that kind of creator, you should have said so sooner!" I thought, "This person is too amazing!" I was wondering, "What is this 'way of falling'?" So when I read Kanaria-tachi no Fune, I understood, "Ah, so this is the kind of nature she has," and I realized she's very skilled at depicting the darker parts of human nature and things people carry that aren't visible on the surface. It made a lot of sense to me.

Takamatsu: Oh no, it's too embarrassing for me to read it myself now... Oh, I'm flattered... But it's true, if I draw as my true self, it becomes too dark, so I basically try to keep things bright. I figure it's just right to bring out the dark parts only occasionally. Even my parents have always told me, "You don't have a dark personality, so you should just draw comedies." But I don't have a sense of humor for gags. I wasn't the type to get laughs in my school days either, so I think there's no way I could be funny.

Kodama: I love it! Skip and Loafer, at first glance, has this heartwarming, warm, and gentle image, but the way the characters' emotions plummet is incredible.

Takamatsu: Thank you very much.

The sci-fi story "Kanaria-tachi no Fune" (The Boat of Canaries), which depicts a desperate struggle for survival in another world.

Interviewer: Kodama-sensei, what scene from Skip and Loafer left a particular impression on you?

Kodama: All of it (laughs).

Everyone: (Laughs).

Kodama: Actually, I cry about 10 times every time I read a volume.

Takamatsu: What?!

Kodama: At the so-called "crying points." Of course I cry then, but even in mundane scenes, I'll find myself crying out of an overwhelming feeling of affection, thinking, "This moment won't last forever..." or getting emotional just because the scenery is beautiful. Takamatsu-sensei is very skilled at guiding emotions. And the characters are so three-dimensional, aren't they? Things you can't see from one direction suddenly become visible when you change the angle. It's like a complex sculpture; I think she's doing something incredibly amazing.

Takamatsu: You're praising me so much… (laughs). That's what I always think. It shines in various ways… that's the feeling I get.

Kodama: Everyone thinks so!

A glimpse of the 'local realism' that Kodama-sensei is particular about. From Ao no Hana: The Forest of Pottery.

Methodology of research

Takamatsu: Kodama-sensei, you write a lot of fantasy one-shots, don't you? There's a one-shot included at the end of the Apollon volumes. Since I thought back then that you were the type of creator who draws these things, I wondered if The Wolf's Daughter was your long-awaited fantasy story. I was thinking maybe you like fantasy and wanted to do one, how about it?

Kodama: I don't know much about hardcore Western fantasy with magic and swords, but I've always liked stories that go back and forth between the ordinary and the extraordinary, so I did want to try it. But I'm still finding it difficult to do as a long-form series.

Takamatsu: It's what you might call a contemporary fantasy, I suppose. The exquisite balance between the ordinary and extraordinary is fascinating. However, I have this image of your works, Kodama-sensei, as always having a theme that requires thorough research. Apollon was set in your hometown, but Tsukikage Baby (hereafter Baby) is about the "Owara" festival in Toyama, isn't it? I think it's amazing that you thoroughly research things far removed from your own experience and turn them into a theme. How do you go about your research?

Kodama: That's right. For Baby, I was constantly commuting to Toyama. Maybe about once every 2-3 months. I would repeatedly listen to stories, take pictures, and while drawing, I was constantly running around with a camera during the main Owara Kaze no Bon festival.

Takamatsu: That's amazing!

Interviewer: I've heard that your commitment to realism is very strong, Kodama-sensei, and that you don't depict things or events that don't exist in reality.

Kodama: In Ao no Hana: Utsuwa no Mori, there's a scene where Aoko and Ryusei go for a wrap-up party just by themselves. I thought yakiniku would be nice, so I asked a local person, but they said that at the time of my research, there were no yakiniku restaurants in Hasami, so they'd have to go to the next town over. So I was like, "Okay, then they'll have to go by car!"

Takamatsu: To that extent! That's what creates such realism, I see.

Kodama: If it's something that can't be done in that location, I try to avoid drawing it as much as possible... Takamatsu-sensei, you also went to Ueno Zoo for research, didn't you?

Takamatsu: Yes, and I got heatstroke (laughs). When you actually go, it's quite different, isn't it? But when you're drawing a theme you have no personal experience with—for example, for Ao no Hana—I think drawing the feeling of the daily lives of the people who live there is more difficult than the technical skill of making pottery. That's something you can't understand without visiting many, many times, and I used to think creators who couldn't do that kind of research were amazing in their own right, but as I thought, Kodama-sensei, you actually do go to incredible lengths for your research.

Kodama: For Hasami, I stayed for several nights at a nearby facility and commuted to the kilns, and for my research for The Wolf's Daughter, I even climbed a mountain.

Takamatsu: Amazing! I understand now. So that's how your thorough research leads to that realistic sense of daily life.

Interviewer: When modeling a story on a real place, are there any particular points you stick to or difficulties you face?

Takamatsu: In my case, I subtly change the characters, like making it "Kazeshima" (Wind Island) instead of "Hegurajima." I've made it fiction because I thought having a certain degree of freedom would be better, but it's close enough that people who know will think, "It's probably here." However, Mitsumi's house isn't in my hometown; to be precise, it's my grandparents' house, and I'm drawing it with the image of wanting it to feel like "everyone's" family home. I wanted to create a homecoming episode where people would think, "Yeah, that's what a family home feels like." The Sea of Japan has wonderful sashimi, but actually, the locals love the gyoza from that one restaurant... you know how things like that exist? I want to create a realistic feeling that doesn't become too much like a PR campaign. In Apollon, too, a big watermelon appeared, right? I was reading it thinking, "I get it, watermelons from home are huge" (laughs).

Kodama: The watermelon episode comes from a story my parents told. When my mother visited my father's family home for the first time, she was served a whole watermelon and said, "Is this... for one person?" I heard that story and used it as is (laughs). I also draw quite a few places other than my hometown, so I'm conscious of not making it feel too strange for the people who actually live there. But I also have the desire to draw freely, so I aim for that sweet spot in between... borrowing the local atmosphere while also doing what I like. As I mentioned briefly before, I try not to draw things that aren't there, so adjusting for things like, "It's a bit of a walk from here to there," or, "I want to set this at dusk, but there isn't enough time," is quite difficult. But even more than that, I find it fun, and I'm always mulling it over.

The secret story of a serialized work's creation

Kodama: Why did you decide to draw a work like Skip and Loafer?

Takamatsu: To be blunt, until Skip and Loafer, my storyboards were rejected many times in the name meetings. In a seinen magazine like Monthly Afternoon, it became clear that having a theme that requires proper research was necessary. I was really worried, thinking, "Do I really need to have one?" But I didn't have anything I was interested in enough to want to research. I hadn't done anything besides drawing, and I really regretted not developing any hobbies outside of manga. If I had been a history buff, I could have thought about drawing a historical piece, or if I had experience pouring my passion into the Owara Bushi festival, I could have done a work about Owara... but I didn't have any interests like that. So, trying to find an interest, I read everything I could, starting with the works of Ryōtarō Shiba and other past masterpieces. In doing so, I came to see that what all the works that are still being read today have in common, regardless of theme or era, is whether or not you can empathize with the characters. I realized it's probably about how much you can raise the "resolution" of the human characters you draw. From there, while I didn't have any jobs or club activities I was interested in, I searched for something I could draw, and as a result, I decided to work within the framework of shōjo manga. Romance is a huge human theme in and of itself. So much so that you could draw a whole manga just about that. So I thought I'd borrow it. Having my characters fall desperately in love isn't really a tendency of my work, but I thought I could take it as an essence and create a story from there. It's like borrowing the power of shōjo manga.

Interviewer: I see. So drawing human beings within the framework of shōjo manga, that's what it is. On the other hand, Kodama-sensei, you draw shōjo manga with themes that are more like seinen manga, starting with specialized professions.

Takamatsu: It's certainly the opposite. In shōjo manga, I think it's rarer to have a clear subject for research like you do, Kodama-sensei. If anything, aren't the characters usually in the "go-home club" and dating like crazy (laughs)?

Kodama: And not studying, either (laughs).

Takamatsu: Right. And then time suddenly jumps forward when it's time for entrance exams. It's like 80% of the story is romance, and even so, the readers are eagerly waiting for that story.

Kodama: It's an interesting contrast, isn't it?

Takamatsu: Speaking of interesting things, the first manga I drew for Monthly Afternoon was actually a story about a wolf boy… My hometown is also Toyama, which is the setting for Baby, and as we mentioned earlier, I graduated from an art university, so there seem to be a few connections with you, sensei...

Kodama: Oh, I want to read that! In our works too, although there's a difference in whether there's a specific theme or not, I've arbitrarily felt a sense of sympathy, thinking that the way the weight of romance isn't too heavy is very similar.

Takamatsu: I'm happy to hear that (laughs).

Kodama: Where did you get the inspiration for The Wolf's Daughter?

Takamatsu: "I want to draw a wolf" was the real beginning. That's all I had, and I just went out to do research…

Kodama: Is that so!

Takamatsu: And there, my encounter with Mr. Terasaki, who is knowledgeable about wolves, and I learned there was a shrine in the Tanba Mountains that worships wolves... and so, as if rolling downhill, one connection led to another, and the work came together. Of course, if I hadn't met them, I think I would have drawn it in a different way, but thanks to them, I was able to form an image of the mountain where Kirito is, and my image of how to draw the wolf grew and grew.

Kodama: Becoming good friends with the people you're interviewing is very important, isn't it? I think I have good luck, too. At my research locations, I always meet kind people who are eager to teach me. At the end of the final volume of Apollon, there was an illustration of the Owara festival as a preview for Baby, and through that illustration, I connected with an active dancer on social media, who then let me interview them... that kind of thing happened.

Takamatsu: You really attract good fortune! It must be a reflection of your wonderful character!

A famous scene where they go to eat gyoza and reaffirm their friendship. From "Skip and Loafer."

How do you create characters?

Kodama: I've been wanting to ask you, Takamatsu-sensei, when you create a character, how much do you decide in advance? Do you have very detailed information from the start, or do you have a rough character image and add to it after they've made their appearance?

Takamatsu: Basically, they might not have changed that much from the beginning. When I'm on the first volume, there's always the possibility of cancellation, so I have a vague sense of, "She's this kind of girl," but rather than it changing, it's more of a feeling of fleshing it out from vague information, or it becoming more concrete within myself as I go. Perhaps... I imagine something like "a person who seems like they could exist." Like, maybe their body hair is a bit thick (laughs).

Kodama: Body hair (laughs).

Takamatsu: It's a feeling of vaguely thinking, "A plain girl like this would surely be like this..."

Kodama: I can really feel that. Like they probably have siblings, or their hair seems fine... Even though you haven't written the information, making the reader feel all of it is amazing. That's why I was wondering just how much you decide before you draw.

Takamatsu: I don't know how many volumes I'll get to draw, and since it's a school story, I want to draw it until graduation, but in the first place, do I even have the potential to do a long-term serialization, do I have the resolve to face this work for years... at first, I was anxious about everything. So I think it was a feeling of starting from "a girl like this exists" as if from a stranger's perspective, and getting to know her little by little as if she were a stranger.

Kodama: So it's a feeling like, "This is the kind of girl she is."

Takamatsu: Are you the type who decides a lot at the beginning, sensei?

Kodama: I see... so that's how it was. No, it's pretty loose. There are quite a few examples where I think, "It wasn't supposed to turn out this way..." In Apollon, for instance, Maruo was initially supposed to be just a character sitting next to or behind the protagonist, but he ended up being amazing at guitar, got a girlfriend before him, and was walking around with his arm linked with hers in a lovey-dovey way (laughs).

Takamatsu: That does happen. So it's the same for you, sensei.

Kodama: (Laughs) Things like that happen quite a lot, yes.

"Skip and Loafer," for which a second season of the TV anime has also been decided.

About the characters' emotions

Interviewer: Speaking of characters, I feel that you both do very delicate psychological depictions. Is there anything you are conscious of when drawing emotions?

Takamatsu: In my case, this is especially true for Skip and Loafer, but it's that I don't play favorites with specific characters. If I favor one, I think it will inevitably be conveyed to the reader. However, I always try to create a character that readers can empathize with. As I've gotten older, I find I can no longer relate to characters who are "too good." When I was young, I could get emotionally invested with the hope that "I'll be like that in the future...," but as an adult, thoughts like, "I couldn't become like that," or thoughts about the "not-so-good" person I was, start to cross my mind, you know? I think it's important that there are characters that people who feel like me can empathize with. After all, if only "good kids" appear, even if someone is enjoying reading it, they might feel left out, thinking, "Well, I can't join this circle."

Kodama: I think the anxieties and thoughts of adolescence are clearly put into words, but does it feel like the things you actually thought about as a student are reflected in the dialogue?

Takamatsu: However, there are aspects that are like me or my friends. I'm the type of person who can relatively clearly put into words "this is how I feel right now," or "I'm angry about this," but I later realized that not everyone is like that. When you become an adult and can drink with friends, stay up late, and when it's just the two of you late at night, everyone starts to spill their stories one by one. That's when I learn things for the first time... At that age, people are self-conscious and can't talk. They can't reveal that much. It's only after becoming an adult and shedding some of that vanity and the self-conscious desire to be seen a certain way that they can put into words, "That's how it was back then." That's when I often realize, "Oh, so that's how it felt."

Interviewer: Your characters also convey their feelings quite clearly, don't they, Kodama-sensei?

Kodama: I try to make them say it as much as possible. Because I think people won't understand unless it's said.

Takamatsu: But what's difficult is, you should really do this, but! That impulse of "But, because, I want to do this!" probably exists when you're a teenager, right? That kind of logic... beyond just logic, the way your works, Kodama-sensei, clearly verbalize things like selfishly speaking on impulse or causing trouble is a common thread I see. I tend to overthink things, so I find it difficult to draw the non-verbal emotions behind phrases like, "But, because, I want to do this!"—that kind of decisiveness. I think that's my current challenge (laughs).

Kodama: In your works, Takamatsu-sensei, characters often clash with their parents, or even though they really think one way, on impulse they'll say something to a friend... that impulse is properly depicted, isn't it? (laughs)

Takamatsu: No, it's drawn very well in your works too, Kodama-sensei! (laughs)

Kodama: In Apollon, there are things Kaoru says even though he likes Ritsuko, and scenes where Sentarō and Kaoru, knowing it's not the other's fault, push each other into a corner and get overwhelmed and lash out. It's the same in Baby, right? There's a scene where a character gets angry precisely because they love the other person, and in Ao no Hana they break up even though they love each other...

Takamatsu: You've read them so closely... thank you so much!

Maruo, skillfully playing the guitar. From "Kids on the Slope."

Favorite character?

Interviewer: For both of you, out of all the characters you've drawn in your works, who is your favorite?

Takamatsu: It's not just one person. But I think the one who told me it was okay to draw a scene of her falling was Mika-chan. In the story, it was right around the second volume, and there was an atmosphere of "Isn't a happy route better...?" But I personally wanted to draw a part where a human being falls a little, so I drew the volleyball arc. When I did, the reception was extremely good, and I felt like the readers were telling me it was okay to do things like that. In that sense, I'm incredibly grateful to the character of Mika-chan.

Interviewer: How about you, Kodama-sensei?

Kodama: I don't really know either. I get so wrapped up in the character I'm drawing at the moment. But, what I think was fun was that even though Kaoru from Apollon is a boy, there's a little bit of myself in him...

Takamatsu: You're incorporating your own personality...?

Kodama: It's more of a feeling of, "If I were a boy." If I were a boy, I'd be a boy with glasses, I'd have a well-built friend, and there would be a cute girl with freckles, and I'd be caught between them, wishing I could have spent my youth that way (laughs).

Takamatsu: I see! And you'd speak through the piano, right (laughs)!

Kodama: Yes! Speak through the piano, confess through the piano, and get rejected... that kind of youth I wish I had. Hikaru from Baby was a character created based on the premise of "what if there was a boy living there...," so I'm not that invested in him, but with Kaoru, I might be projecting a little bit of the youth I wanted to live, plus it'd be nice if he could play piano, and it'd be great if he were a genius (laughs), he's a character packed full of those kinds of dreams.

Takamatsu: That's great. A great story (laughs)!

Mika, whose complexes led her to adopt a sarcastic tone, but... From "Skip and Loafer".

On continuing to draw manga for 25 years

Takamatsu: There was the topic of research that I definitely wanted to ask you about today, and one more thing. If I were to continue as a manga artist for 25 years, I wonder if I could draw this many works... Sensei, the breaks between your serializations are very short, aren't they?

Kodama: That's true.

Takamatsu: How do you do it?

Kodama: Simply put, I don't take breaks (laughs).

Takamatsu: I knew it (laughs). No, but I want to be like that too! When you think you want to draw two or three works in your lifetime, it's probably better not to have breaks.

Interviewer: I have the image that seinen magazines have long preparation periods.

Takamatsu: First, there's the possibility that it's because research takes time, but if it were me, I'd probably just dither around. Instead of dithering, you think of a new protagonist and switch gears... I wonder how you manage to do that.

Kodama: My serializations are mostly about 10 volumes long, so around the 7th volume, I decide on a theme like, "Maybe I'll go with this for the next one."

Takamatsu: What?! You mean while you're still doing your current serialization?

Kodama: Yes, while I'm doing it. I decide on the next theme to some extent, start collecting books related to it, and if it's a place I can go for research, I go. That's why around the 7th volume of Apollon, I had already gone to see the Owara festival for the first time for my Baby research.

Takamatsu: You went during the serialization...?

Kodama: If I don't do that, I can't finish all the research in the one or two months between the end of one serialization and the start of the next.

Takamatsu: Ah, so you mean you're starting a new serialization in just one or two months?!

Kodama: Yep.

Takamatsu: What!! I have nothing but respect. I... I'll do my best (laughs).

A message to the readers

Interviewer: Finally, could you please give a message to the readers of flowers?

Takamatsu: I'm also interested in women's manga magazines!

Everyone: (Loud applause)

Takamatsu: flowers really has a wide range of genres, or rather, a high degree of freedom, doesn't it? Even Moto Hagio-sensei draws for it... The reason I applied for the Afternoon Four Seasons Award was because Hagio-sensei was a judge. After all, I applied hoping the god (Hagio-sensei) would read it. I was prepared to be torn to shreds (laughs). Truly, the readers of flowers have a discerning eye! If you'd like, please check out Skip and Loafer too!

Kodama: So that's how it was. Please read Skip and Loafer. Read it, I'm reading it.

Everyone: (Laugh)

Kodama: It's my 25th anniversary... I'm a bit surprised myself at how long it's been. Since my debut, the first two magazines I worked for went out of publication, and I had a blank period for some years after that... so I'm truly grateful to have been able to draw continuously for flowers where I re-debuted. It's because I've continued that I'm able to meet with you like this, Takamatsu-sensei, and talk so much, so I'm truly happy. Thank you very much!

Takamatsu: The pleasure was all mine, thank you very much!

Tsukina, From "The Wolf's Daughter".

Bonus page: "Please draw my character!!"

A post-dialogue treat! We had them request characters from each other and draw some "fan art"! This is a treasure you can only see on these pages ♡

(Illustration 1: "The Wolf's Daughter" as drawn by Misaki Takamatsu) Dialogue Bubbles: "I love 'Skip and Loafer'—", "I love Misaki Takamatsu-sensei's manga—", "Thank you for the conversation!"

(Illustration 2: "'Skip and Loafer'" as drawn by Yuki Kodama) Handwritten text: "Yuki Kodama-sensei," "Thank you for the conversation ♡," "I'm looking forward to more of 'The Wolf's Daughter'!"

Fan art for each other manga, drawn by Takamatsu-sensei and Kodama-sensei

The behind-the-scenes story of the fan art creation:

Takamatsu: A picture you want me to draw... Wow, I'm so happy! What should I do? (laughs) I'd like to see Shima-kun drawn by you, Kodama-sensei!

Kodama: I'd love to draw him! I want to draw both of them!

Takamatsu: Mitsumi-chan is okay too?

Kodama: Yes, Mitsumi-chan, or rather, please let me draw her.

Takamatsu: Yay!

Kodama: Can I also ask you to draw Tsukimugi, Kaoru, and Kirito, the three of them...?

Takamatsu: Of course!

Kodama: If I make it black and white, I was worried it might become like "which side are you on?"...

Takamatsu: That's true (laughs). Either one is great! The male characters in your works, Kodama-sensei, are always cool and alluring. Like Rin-nii.

Kodama: I like to give alluring men downturned eyebrows...

Takamatsu: And drooping eyes, right? (laughs)

Kodama: Yes, drooping eyes! I prefer when they have a "This is troubling" kind of face. Do you have any particular preferences, Takamatsu-sensei?

Takamatsu: Oh no, I'm always just feeling my way through it (laughs).

Kodama: Huh? But Shima-kun's character design is so cool, I thought you must have specific preferences.

Takamatsu: But there are many challenges. I did look at fashion magazines and use models as references.

Closing comment: The conversation was far from over... The two of them were still having a lively chat even after the official dialogue ended ♡

Special present!!!

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Book options:

A: The Wolf's Daughter Vol. 1 by Yuki Kodama
B: Skip and Loafer Vol. 1 by Misaki Takamatsu

Credits:

Design: Yū Sekito (ATOM STUDIO)
Composition: Emani Tominaga