Experiencing a good love story
can truly fill you with happiness.

Even if you have yet to succeed in love.

I'd like to one like that someday.

The kind that makes you blush.

Manga - where drama is created with the tip of a pen.

In this program, we show you where manga is made - usually off-limits to public - and explore the craft.

The idea started with Urasawa Naoki, a popular manga artist behind various hit series.

Our guest this time is Minase Ai, a manga artist who has been creating love stories since her debut.

She is best known for "Hachimitsu ni Hatsukoi."

In the manga, a high school girl falls in love with a childhood friend.

He announces his love on the school broadcast.

Minase portrays their romantic love story with delicacy.

Beloved by middle and high school students across Japan,

the heart-pounding romance has sold more than 3 million copies.

Many fans eagerly await a TV drama or movie adaptation.

I can't just take any two characters
and make them a couple.

Even though I can draw whatever,
the characters need to fall in love.

That's where the emotions come from.

It's a lot of fun to know I can
make characters happy using my hands.

Emotionally compelling manga.

That's what I aim to create.

Our show hasn't featured a mainstream shojo manga artist in a while.

The act of falling in love.

Shojo manga has tackled
this mysterious concept for generations.

Today, I'll talk with a shojo manga artist
leading the genre with outstanding technical skills.

Her work will keep you grinning!

- Hello!
- Hello! It's been a while.

I had to go out of my way
to get you to appear on this program!

I was so surprised about the offer!

Thank you for accepting!

Their conversation takes place at a dreamy location reminiscent of Minase's work.

Now let's learn about the exciting secrets of shojo manga!

Minase works in an apartment in Tokyo.

Over three days, we discreetly placed six cameras in the workspace to document Minase's process.

Your office is quite tidy.

Do you think so?

Manga workspaces should look like this.

Minase's seat is at the far end of the room.

She builds her dreamlike worlds with four assistants.

Fukutaro and Ushirin are in charge of backgrounds.

Their indispensable work adds dramatic flair.

Moririn specializes in male characters.

She makes sure they always look as cool as possible.

Saochan is in charge of costumes, where technique shines.

Your assistant made the laced patterns?

Yes, she does all the lace art.

They are very detail-oriented.

It looks like actual lace was pasted on!

In the corner of the room are a bunch of reference materials.

- Research?
- Yes.

We visit real schools for setting ideas.

Story ideas often develop from staff discussions during their research.

Most of your stories
begin from neighboring desks.

Yes, of course.

What's so special about that situation?

First, the two seats in the back

near the window are the best.

The back of class by the window?

Yes, those two.

They are hidden from the teacher's sight.

Perfect for secrets.

I've never experienced mutual love like that.

- Sounds really nice! - It is!

Minase is working on "The springtime of my life,"

a schoolyard love story that started serialization in 2020.

The main character is Nao,

a cheerful and kind student who gives her own good luck charm to a friend during the high school entrance exam.

As Nao trembles with nerves, Haruna shows up.

At first, Haruna seems like nothing more than a bully.

But in cheering club, their love begins to bloom.

Every love story needs a rival.

In this scene, a younger student embraces Nao.

Minase will be working on what comes next.

She's already completed 28 storyboards.

How does Nao react?

What will Haruna do?

Let's find out.

In the scene, Haruna shares his feelings for Nao on the beach.

Over the pencil-sketched rough draft, Minase starts inking.

First, the main lines.

She outlines Haruna's face with a mapping pen.

Layering the lines adds thickness.

Next up are Haruna's eyes.

Wow. They're like rubies.

- Eyes are everything. - They are.

At this size, it feels like the character

is making eye contact with the reader.

That's true. He's looking at the reader.

These eyes look amazing.

I used to focus on cross-hatching the eyes,

but I like how solid black looks.

In "Hachimitsu ni Hatsukoi,"

the lines feel geometric.

Watching you work now shows your evolution.

I was three or four years into my career.

I was worried about look, not expression.

You started with standard techniques

but created something original.

Working over the rough draft, Minase searches for the right expression.

Beautiful.

Silky-smooth hair.

Minase's pen moves and sounds completely different than before.

I like how you hold the pen.

That angle is good with large arcs for hair.

Next: Nao's eyes.

Minase uses a brush pen for the inner eye -

- And adds fine lines with a mapping pen.

Nao's delicate expression slowly comes together.

The improvised light is amazing.

I'm focused on adding sparkle.

It feels like there's some blurring.

There is an emotional, watercolor-like blur.

It looks like a universe.

Two impressive close-ups.

What does Minase think of as she works?

I want male characters to thrill readers.

They open the page, and their eyes meet.

I see! The boys excite the female readers.

Yes. And I make cute female characters

that readers can connect with.

And share the feeling of falling in love.

Female characters they want to befriend.

That's the meaning of "know your audience."

It's like the characters are looking right back at the reader.

This direct gaze leaves a strong impression.

Here, Minase replaces the nib of her mapping pen with a new one.

The thin lines on Nao's cheeks are only possible with a brand-new pen nib.

Nao's shyness fills her cheeks.

Minase uses white as a finisher.

In one hour, the inking for this page is complete.

Next, Minase gets up and walks to a shelf.

She returns with three screentone sheets.

Screentones are usually used for backgrounds, but this page is a close-up.

How will Minase use these?

Minase places a screentone over the face -

And uses it for hair!

- Here we go. - The fun part.

The Minase Show.

Why did you choose this screentone?

I'm dumbfounded.

I kept thinking about screentones for hair.

- Hair is so much fun. - Even so...

I was testing out different screentones.

I wanted a reflecting light look.

Strand by strand, Minase creates Haruna's silky hair.

You make your decisions so fast.

It's like natural instinct.

When inking, your lines are quite delicate.

But with screentones,

you're full of so much childlike joy!

Yes, like playing with stickers.

So fun!

Do you use more screentones

now that you're a professional?

Even when I struggled financially,

I never cut down on screentones.

Even if it meant less money for food.

From the start?

Yes. I loved specific screentone parts.

I use them to add a natural gradation.

That seems like the typical use.

You use screentones in more extreme ways.

Since this scene is at the beach,

I wanted to make it as sparkly as possible.

I purposely use hard edges.

Most manga artists add vertical gradation.

But you come in from the side.

That shows the light shining from the side.

I don't think digital tools are capable

of making something like this.

In a good way, analog work adds messiness.

- By coincidence? - Exactly.

This is difficult to do digitally.

The messiness of analog.

Let's all go screentone hunting tomorrow.

Minase grabs another screentone.

From a distance, the detailed dots give it a light-gray look.

She goes with bold, large cuts.

Looks like they'll be used for faint shadows.

You shadow without blue-pencil guidelines?

Yes. Even though blue lines are temporary,

they still confuse me.

Looking at the facial shadow,

it feels like you have some magic ability

to know exactly how shadows land on the page.

Minase shaves the screentone edges with a cutter, creating a natural light-to-shadow gradation.

So sparkly!

Who knew screentones could look like this!

Another screentone.

Mysterious, pentagonal patterns.

Minase will use these for eyelashes!?

In most cases, eyelashes are solid black.

I use screentones when I want something

that feels different from my penwork.

This is one of my favorites.

But it's no longer in production,

so I'm careful about when to use it.

I love the randomness of light and dark.

As many manga artists have turned to digital tools, screentone production has dwindled.

Minase buys whatever she can find and stores them in these drawers.

She has more than 1,000 varieties.

Screentones no longer in production are stored in a drawer labeled "The Final Stronghold."

We must do something to help screentones!

Please. Buy as many as possible.

Nao's eyes are made with a screentone with tiny dots.

- For blur?
- It helps the eyes look wet.

The pieces are big.

After inking, the eyes felt dry,

so I added more moisture with screentones.

but I went back with screentones.

Looking closely, it does give it a soft-focus look.

To add moisture, Minase applied the film to slightly protrude outside the line.

Incredible detail!

I love this screentone.

It's so useful.

What's next?

You go outside the lines.

I want it to feel as big as possible.

I love how it drifts.

I would never have come up with this.

The emotions float around.

- A special aura. - The aura of love.

Nao's emotions are represented through romantic screentones.

Clouds.

I wanted to brighten the night scene.

This is at night?

Yes! But their emotions are shining bright.

I'm learning a lot.

No matter how great a scene,

making it dark can affect reader reaction.

I want them to feel joy right away.

An expression of emotion.

It's more important than being correct.

Emotions across the page!

Minase finishes the screentone work in one hour.

Here's how different it looks compared to the inked image.

The light sparkles over Haruna as he gently gazes at Nao.

Nao's flushed cheeks.

The emotions of a young love overflow through the page.

Minase has created a scene to thrill her readers.

Minase was born in Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture.

I was a good artist in preschool.

I sketched on the back of fliers.

I loved the smooth feel of the paper.

Finding fliers with a blank side
was so exciting.

Minase's manga destiny was set in elementary school after discovering two shojo manga.

The first was "Purple Eyes in the Dark."

The sci-fi fantasy tells the story of a young girl who can transform into a leopard.

Readers loved the unpredictable storytelling.

I liked playing outside like other kids.

But shojo manga immediately
became my favorite hobby.

The other was "1000% For You," a mainstream romantic comedy about high school love.

Girls were cute but sexy.

Boys were cool and sexy.

A shojo manga with sexy charm,

like much of Kitagawa Miyuki's work.

And in fifth grade, Minase created a manga magazine with her friends.

It was in the class library,
made by two-thirds of the girls in class.

Some had never drawn before,
but they were still more skilled than I was.

From a young age, I realized
I wasn't a very talented artist.

Minase lost confidence in her artistic ability.

But she still had her parents' full support.

After high school, Minase studied manga at a vocational school.

At that time, Minase's friend in Aichi released her debut manga.

That friend was Tanemura Arina, a manga artist known for "Phantom Thief Jeanne."

Things got crazy after debuting
and she needed help.

I said, "Of course!"

I was still living in Hiroshima.

One of Tanemura's trademarks is her elegant use of screentones.

Her distinctive style comes from the way she uses tones for hair and eyes.

Tanemura loved screentones.

I had no idea what to do at first.

She would give me specific screentones
to use for hair.

But I was clueless!

All I could do was
repeat the process on my own,

searching for the best ways
to use screentones.

Meeting Tanemura is what would help Minase refine her delicate artistic skills.

As Minase worked as an assistant, someone told her she should make her own manga -

- Minase's current colleague, Moririn.

Minase has both skill and ambition.

I had never met someone who was
already so complete as an artist.

I told her she was different from everyone
and should make her own manga.

Moririn's words pushed Minase to press on despite her lack of confidence.

I let her know that if things got hard,

I had a separate income,
so I could help regardless of money.

That helped convince her
she should debut.

Minase's first work was a 16-page manga that won her a newcomer award and led to her debut.

Since then, she has released numerous hits about pure young love.

Back to work.

Haruna and Nao are taking a selfie.

Suddenly, a kiss on the cheek.

This tender scene portrays Haruna comforting Nao.

For important scenes like this, Minase traces the storyboard, searching for the perfect expressions.

She uses a blue-leaded mechanical pencil.

You trace over the storyboard?

Yes, it's like laying out poses.

Are you using manuscript paper?

No, standard printing paper.

This isn't the final page?

Right. It's a sketch of the rough draft.

For very important scenes,

I am very thorough.

A rough sketch of the rough draft.

Character faces are very important.

I used to do more.

A rough draft of the storyboard,

the storyboard, a refined storyboard,

a sketch of the rough draft,

the rough draft, then the inked image.

Seriously!?

Minase's previous process took six steps.

That's been reduced to four, but finding the perfect look still takes a lot of effort.

The sketch of the rough draft takes 15 minutes.

Next, Minase moves to the panel after the kiss.

They are kissing in the top panel.

So, this is when they separate?

Yes, the moment of separation.

Since they are so close together,

eyes don't have to match up perfectly.

I wanted to draw from a higher angle,

but I also want to guide reader focus.

Sometimes proportions are a little off.

Haruna is 181 centimeters tall, a significant difference over Nao's 156 centimeters.

How should Haruna's face be positioned in this scene?

From one storyboard, Minase creates three different sketches of the rough draft.

She splits the lower panel in half as she decides the composition.

Now she's using scissors!

Like a professional silhouette cutter!

Is that so?

You need a lot of experience to be so fast.

This is what we love at our show!

You compare different looks

by adjusting angles and distance.

I love it.

See! The angles. The subtle differences.

It's so interesting how the page changes.

Eventually, Minase adjusts the image so Haruna is looking down at Nao.

Two slightly different compositions.

Which will make it to the final rough draft?

I ended up using the storyboard.

The previous draft wasn't bad.

Looking at it now, I prefer the draft.

A lot of balancing.

I love this part!

The artist doesn't know what to do next.

When this happens to me, I take a break.

After an hour of contemplation, the rough draft is finished.

Two different ways to represent distance.

Minase went with the version that felt closer.

Here is the finished page.

Haruna's sudden kiss comforts Nao's uneasiness.

The panels emphasize their close connection.

Our host Urasawa wrote down some questions for Minase.

One question was about the main character, Nao.

Your work "The springtime of my life,"

is so bright!

No darkness at all.

Was that your plan?

Yes. I released volumes one and two

during the pandemic.

So, I wanted to create something

readers could genuinely enjoy.

The pandemic was part of its creation?

It might be the biggest part.

All I wanted was to create a manga

people could enjoy even when exhausted.

An easy way to feel joy and happiness.

Nao is such a cheerful character.

I gave her strong emotional reflexes.

Like when she fights with Haruna

and he says to date another guy,
Nao replies, "Sure, why not?"

Reacting instead of thinking,
then immediately regretting it.

I see. Emotional reflexes. Very educational.

Asa in my manga "Asadora!" is the same.

She's very cheerful.

I love the concept of emotional reflexes.
Reacting exactly how you think.

Some readers sent me messages
during the pandemic.

They were reading the manga
as they entered high school,

only for school events to be canceled,
unlike what they expected.

But they could experience those things
by reading "The springtime of my life."

There was no way to work on
our emotional reflexes in the pandemic.

That's true.

We've been isolated and unable
to stretch our emotional muscles.

Real life is the best teacher.

But for now, we can say,
"Read this and do your best."

When I create, I imagine the reader
is a part of the story.

That's played a big factor in this manga.

Much of the youth missed out on their own coming-of-age experiences.

Hopefully, some readers can use this work to rediscover their everyday selves.

We were able to capture Minase working on a full-color page.

This will be the cover page.

It's of Nao putting on makeup before a date.

Minase places watercolor ink on a watercolor board.

- The paper doesn't roll up. - Yes.

How did you draw the main lines?

I used diluted water-resistant sepia ink.

Minase holds two brushes.

One brush is dipped in water, while the other is used for color.

She starts with the skin.

Minase moistens the area to be colored, then adds light colors.

The skin tone is a mix of five colors, including orange and pink.

Two brushes, one for water and one for ink.

I'm learning so much. I use one brush.

I would have the perfect color,

but adding water would ruin it.

Every dip of water changes the color.

But I could just use a separate brush!

Minase has been delicately using these high-end brushes for ten years.

Carefully, she layers on light colors to create an image full of warmth.

After the base of the skin, Minase moves on to vermillion.

I just keep blurring colors.

This is nerve-wracking.

- Cheeks are scary. - Very scary.

Most women are used to makeup,

but it's so difficult for men!

I'm always lost when coloring cheeks.

Next up are Nao's eyes.

Minase lightly adds beige.

You use thick strokes.

Your color pages have a soft-focus look.

The colors create a soft-focus effect.

It's your style of going outside the lines.

Going outside the lines.

The technique is similar to how Minase places tones.

Next up is beige for the hair.

Like before, Minase places color outside the lines and blots it with the water brush.

She layers colors over the hair while taking light into consideration.

And, of course, light in the eyes, too.

The sepia-toned colors come together to form a nostalgic look.

Here she grabs another color: sunset red.

Minase lightly colors the eyes.

I wouldn't have chosen this color.

It's more yellow than I expected.

Adding blacks at the end feels so good.

Yes! I used to put it all over the page,

but the contrast was too strong.

I tell myself to be patient.

It's coming together.

Minase moves on to highlights.

She makes even the thinnest lines sparkle across the page.

Next, the lips, with the same vermillion as the cheeks.

It really looks like makeup!

Lipstick trends change so much.

Lip shape, too.

For guys like me,

it's so hard to keep up with it all.

It's always changing.

Blush position, layering, and application

change with the trends.

Even I need to do some research.

But new trends give me ideas

for stories or styles to try.

Everything changes so fast.

Here, Minase grabs a box of transparent watercolor paint.

A total of 108 colors!

She chooses two shades of red.

After confirming the colors...

Minase adds the darker shade to the inner part of the lips.

She adds detailed highlights, too.

What great lips!

Are these stickers?

What's next?

The page looked almost complete, but now Minase is placing stickers all over the page!

She adds more and more.

Is this the final image?

Everyone will be so surprised to see this.

They're likely saying, "What's going on!?"

You start placing stickers across the page.

And just as fast as the screentones!

It's intuition, I guess.

Minase then adds color over the sticker...

And removes the sticker to reveal a flower silhouette!

Here we go.

Amazing!

I felt the page lacked fluffiness.

The soft, nervous excitement before a date.

That fluffy, floaty feeling, right?

I love it!

With some rough edges.

It wasn't dry so some color didn't stick.

I use colored pencils for softness.

- Well done! - Thank you!

After six hours, Minase finishes the full-color page.

Nao turns around as she puts makeup on before a date.

The red lipstick adds maturity to the character.

The emotions of a young girl in love come through the page.

The moment we find reciprocated love
is one of the best feelings in life.

Yes, it's pretty much a miracle.

When making "Hachimitsu ni Hatsukoi,"
the editor said to write for 11-year-olds.

For many, it is their first shojo manga.

I was introducing them to concepts of love,

and how love evolves
in middle and high school.

My focus has stayed the same,
but some readers have gotten older.

Some readers have become mothers

who now relive youthful memories
through my work.

My goal is to create stories
anyone can relate to.

- I get it.
- Really?

- I totally related to it!
- That's wonderful.

On any page, you'll find the sparkling days of youth.

The springtime of my life, born during the pandemic, will continue to support its readers.

It's a lot of fun to know I can
make characters happy using my hands.

The readers enjoy spending time
with my characters.

That's helped me be proud about my work.

Especially during the pandemic.

I just want everyone to have fun
while reading my work!