Onimai author Nekotofu talks building an audience for original content - Overcoming obstacles to produce an anime during the pandemic

People seemed to like it, so I started thinking about writing an original manga. However, I knew it would be hard to get people to pick up an original story right off the bat, so I started out by posting it online.

Also, after I started posting my work on NicoNico Seiga in addition to pixiv, the number of readers jumped significantly, which I feel like brought me to a whole new level. Because NicoNico makes it so simple to leave comments, I received a lot of them. The year I started posting on NicoNico Seiga, I believe Onimai ranked first or second in the annual ranking of total comments received. I got a lot of feedback, from fans of the gender-bending trope as well as from people who weren't as familiar with it.

I've always been good at creating mellow, wholesome comedy, so it's possible that the fact that I drew this story without changing my style contributed to its success. It'd be great if Onimai could help introduce lots of new people to this trope.

First of all, I think it's crucial to grab the reader's interest in the span of the 4 pages that can be uploaded at once on Twitter. In my case, the first page of the first episode reads, "One day when I woke up..." which gives a clear context and sets the scene. Also, I sometimes split episodes into two parts if I need to, but in general I think a story is simpler to read if it starts and ends in the same episode. The fewer pages, the better. That actually makes things harder for me since I have to come up with a fresh story after every episode (laughs), but I feel all these aspects have contributed to the success of my manga.

I gained all my knowledge by reading the great gender-bending works of the past, and Onimai contains a lot of that information. However, for really detailed, specific depictions like the process of washing hair, I use sources like a hairdresser's blog and other sources (laughs).

I sometimes depict middle school students as they were in the past, but I usually try to make them fit into the present. For example, I might draw an episode about health checkups and not remember what they were like in my day. So I look them up, only to find that things are very different now. Since Mahiro is actually older than he looks in his new body, it’s a good opportunity to showcase that gap between my past and the present, too. It’s a very conveniently structured narrative for me.

Onimai has been made into stand-alone books thanks to Ichijinsha, but profits from self-publishing remain significant. Ichijinsha agreed to let me continue selling my doujinshi after the manga was published, and I'm grateful for that.

However, things got a little out of hand and now the doujinshi has over 20 issues (laughs). As long as people keep buying them, I'll keep publishing them.

Yeah, I was kinda showing off there (laughs). I've always known that if I could increase the number of people who saw my work online and grow my fan base, sales would follow, so I've been sticking to that approach.

Right now, I'm posting my manga online, which I later collect into doujinshi, which are later published as commercial books. Actually, I'd like to devote more time to drawing stories exclusively for doujinshi, but I haven't been able to do so.

I began using FANBOX as soon as it was released. At first, I considered Patreon, another creator support service based outside of Japan, but the fact that it was an international platform made me a little hesitant. And then FANBOX launched! When I looked into it, the description said, "Get started at whatever pace works for you," so I decided to give it a shot.

After I joined, the number of subscribers gradually increased for about three years. Although it has since leveled off, FANBOX has been a huge help.

I've been publishing a doujinshi of Onimai once every three months for the past few years, and while I try to include about four previously unreleased pages in every issue, the content is mostly a reprint of what's already available online. People who buy them do so because they want to support me as an author. I believe the FANBOX service is a good fit for these readers.

Yes, and far more than I anticipated. Some people boost a significant amount of money, and in those cases, I occasionally add something extra to their order. BOOTH is fantastic because it makes things like this so simple. However, since the start of the TV anime, the number of orders has increased so dramatically that I can hardly keep up. (laughs)

I'm still experimenting with FANBOX, but for example, I'm using the 100 JPY/month support plan to let people read the latest episode of Onimai a week early. The main plan is 300 JPY/month, which gives subscribers access to unpublished manga and illustrations I created for my doujinshi, as well as the storyboard and setting materials that go into the creation process. At first, I released a slew of sketches and old illustrations, and while I'm still fumbling around, nowadays I'm focusing more on delivering content that matches the price point of each plan.

I'm using BOOTH to save money on shipping. What's more, if you're not great at inventory management, using BOOTH’s warehouse service will make things much easier. I'm trying to reduce the amount of inventory I have on hand, so I handle the goods myself, but it's nice to have the option.

They aren't much different from the drama CDs sold in stores, are they? (laughs) Takumi Kodama, the director, is a very passionate person who created an excellent product. Through a chance encounter, I asked Junichi Sato of Fhána (*1) to produce the music for the second drama CD and he graciously agreed even though it was an independent project. I've always been a fan, so I was overjoyed. I feel very lucky.

I had a friend who worked at a drama CD production company, and they suggested that I make a drama CD of my manga since it was getting popular. Full-scale self-published drama CDs were still uncommon at the time, and I thought it would be a good way to promote my work, so I asked for their help.

In general, yes. I wasn't confident in my ability to choose the right voice actor for the character, so he suggested a few candidates, and I chose the ones I liked best.

Since it was an independent drama CD, there were no auditions. It was a one-shot deal because we had to record the scenes right away, but everyone was extremely professional and skilled at what they did. Kodama did a great job with the casting.

Yes, casting different voice actors in anime is standard practice. But the voices fit the characters of Onimai perfectly, and we owed them for their participation in the production of those self-published drama CDs, so when we started working on the anime, we asked the voice actors to join us.

Many agencies are probably hesitant to have their talents work on independent projects, so the fact that Onimai was able to link self-published drama CDs with a TV anime gave those involved in doujin activities some hope.

When we first started planning the anime, Studio Bind had only released the first promotional video for Mushoku Tensei, so I didn't know much about them. They eventually proved to be amazing, lucky me! I got very emotional when I saw the characters I created moving around so freely.

I think they were director Shingo Fujii's ideas. He previously animated promotional videos with a similar style. When we first got the design, there was some debate about whether the color scheme would be too tiring for the eyes. However, the director said that using standard colors would make the anime look too plain, so we settled for this look. We had to make some changes, but for the most part, the anime was created in the style that was originally suggested.

Yes, very involved. Actually, before they approached me with the proposal for this anime adaptation, I approached various companies myself with the assistance of friends working in the industry. I had a good feeling about the project, but it wasn't going to be easy, and with the pandemic and all, I honestly thought making an anime would be even harder. Then, Ichijinsha was approached by the anime planning company EGG FIRM (which produced the TV anime Onimai), and from there we began the planning process.

I attend every script meeting, check character designs and storyboards, attend recording sessions, inspect official illustrations and merchandise, and so on.

The producers and staff told me that the script is the most important part of the production, so I was encouraged to speak up and express my thoughts. I mainly focus on the characters' tone and manner of speech. As for story structure and direction, I prioritize the suggestions of the director and scriptwriter, and only request specific changes for certain parts that I believe are critical.

I also made some character design requests, but when the staff expressed their own preferences, I told them to do as they please without pressuring them to do things my way. I’m well aware that the staff is very talented, so I delegated a lot of tasks to them so that the project could proceed smoothly.

The day the first episode was released, I searched Twitter for the hashtag Onimai, but there were so many comments that I couldn't read them all. (laughs) That's when I realized how enthusiastic the response was.

Also, the number of doujinshi orders placed through DLsite and BOOTH skyrocketed. I think the buyers were mostly new fans, and I was so glad that the anime got such a positive reaction.

I don't usually hire assistants and prefer to do everything myself. I draw backgrounds and other things myself, but being involved in anime production taught me that specialized fields like design and such should be left to professionals. I feel that being exposed to other people's ideas aided in the evolution of my work.

I love anime, and while this may sound like a total lie, I have watched almost every anime that has been broadcast in the last 20 years or so. I watch them all the way through, though I’ll admit that I’m usually drawing manga as I do. (laughs) Of course, I like some more than others, but I believe that having so much exposure to anime has given me quite an advantage as an artist. As an anime otaku, I found this behind-the-scenes look at the process of making anime to be particularly fascinating.

My feelings toward Mihari have shifted since I began drawing her. I didn't delve too deeply into the character's background at first because I had planned for the story to be about three doujinshi volumes long. At first, Mihari was a character who is tough on her brother, but as the story progressed, she began doting on him more and more. Also, Mahiro is also becoming more and more like a regular girl, but I believe that's part of his character's development. (laughs)

Yes, of Asahi. In Episode 8 of the anime, where she's one of the lead characters, she looks like she's having a great time. She was always energetic, but she went above and beyond my expectations, and my opinion of her improved significantly.

Yes. I didn't know what I wanted Asahi's voice to sound like. I don't really imagine the character's voice when I’m drawing manga, and even during the auditions, I couldn't find a voice that I immediately felt was right for the part. The director and other staff members all had different opinions, so we held a meeting and decided that Kana Yuki, who was hired for the role of Miyo, would be a better fit for the role of Asahi. It took me a while to picture how Asahi would sound when she spoke, but once I heard the final product, I knew it was the right choice.

I love all the main characters. Aside from them, I like the supporting classmate characters, like the two gyaru girls (Miyako Nagase and Mai Yasaka). But for some reason, the girl who's always sleeping (Nemu Fujimi) is a fan favorite. (laughs) They were supposed to be secondary characters, but they quickly gained a special place in my heart as I drew them in the episodes dedicated to them.

In the anime, it's Miyo. She didn't stand out much in the manga, so I worked hard to give her a personality, and now she's been portrayed in a very cute way in the anime and I'm completely smitten with her now. (laughs)

It's thanks to the support of my fans that Onimai could grow from a doujinshi to a full-fledged anime series. It means a lot to me.

I'd also like to encourage those of you who enjoyed Onimai as an anime to read the manga as well. It's not exactly like the anime, but it flows quite well and you can read an episode in the blink of an eye! It's available for free on pixiv!