The Magazine House manga editorial department that starts with "like"

We introduce three representative works of the manga editorial department along with episodes.

Mr. Sekiya and the Manga Editorial Department

――First, may I ask about your background before joining "Magazine House"?

Sekiya: I was previously the editor-in-chief for about 10 years, involved in planning and launching the manga web site and book label called "Torch web," and I moved to "Magazine House" in October 2021.

――Did you belong to the manga editorial department from the start of your employment?

Sekiya: At first, I was the only one, since it was a startup. The department was called the "Manga Preparation Room," and I was the sole head (laughs). But I knew from "Magazine House" history that the editorial department was formed from a preparation room, like how the "Hanako" editorial department was formed from the new magazine preparation room, so I thought it was the same for me. From there, I gradually increased the team, and in spring 2023, it became the "Manga Editorial Department."

Three Books Symbolizing the Editorial Department

――This time, you selected three books representing the editorial department. Could you tell us about each work?

Sekiya: First is Kyoko Okazaki's "pink". It was serialized in "NEW Punch Saurus" by "Magazine House" in 1989. It is Okazaki Kyoko's representative work that vividly vacuum-packs the atmosphere and mood of Japan at the time, depicting "love" and "capitalism" with the stance that "all work is prostitution." The lines of the drawings, panel layouts, dialogue, and incredibly cool tone work all have a pleasant rhythm, which is still felt today and continues to influence successors. I think it is a classic manga work.

――Next is "Today's Nekomura-san", right?

Sekiya: This is a work by Yoriko Hoshi, who has been serializing one panel every day without a break since July 2003 for 22 years. It has been published on "Nekomura.jp" since 2006 (previously serialized on "@NetHome"). First of all, continuing a daily one-panel serialization for 22 years itself is a great achievement. There is no other work with such continuity in this serialization style. The total sales of the tankobon exceed 3.5 million copies, and it is a work loved by many people for a long time. Nekomura-san is a cat but works as a housekeeper for the human family called the Inugami family. You are healed by her earnest working figure, but there are also depictions that make you laugh because she is still a cat. While witnessing the desires, conflicts, kindness, and quarrels of the surrounding humans, there are things she cannot fully understand because she is a cat, but her way of interpreting and managing things in her own way is irresistibly adorable.

――And finally, "Ball and Chain".

Sekiya: This is a work serialized from the early days on "SHURO," the manga web site launched soon after the manga editorial department was established at "Magazine House." It is also simultaneously serialized on the "GINZA" web and ranked 3rd in the women's category of "This Manga is Amazing! 2025." The protagonists are Keito, a late-20s woman feeling sexual fluidity, and Ayano, a full-time housewife whose married life of 20 years has grown cold. Keito is in a state of trying to marry a man as a heterosexual, and Ayano was persuaded to marry, have children, and raise them but is treated badly by her husband. The story is about these two discovering their true "identity" and regenerating. As a reader watching the two protagonists, you somehow feel encouraged, and you also think about whether your own "identity" really fits your current self-recognition without discomfort. There are also special depictions that only the author, Kyuta Minami, can draw. Regarding these special things, Naokora Yamazaki, a writer, wrote about them in a contribution to volume 4 of the tankobon, so I hope people enjoy it along with the work. It is a wonderful work that empowers Japan in the Reiwa era.

Manga Creation Unique to "Magazine House"

――"Magazine House" is strongly associated with magazines. When the manga editorial department was born, many people were probably surprised.

Sekiya: There was "NEW Punch Saurus," which published "pink," and Fumiko Takano's "Ruki-san," serialized at the end of "Hanako," and the manga magazine "COMIC Are!" published for nearly three years from 1994, and many tankobon were born from there. There was actually a period from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s that can be called the dawn of manga at "Magazine House." Later, in the 2000s, they published the tankobon of "Today's Nekomura-san," and in the 2010s, "How Do You Live?" became a big hit. I think there was a context of publishing manga even without a manga editorial department. I started with the feeling that there were such predecessors, and in the 2020s, I am establishing the manga editorial department again. I was asked to create a manga editorial department, and since I had many "Magazine House" manga at home, I thought it would be "interesting" to create a manga editorial department again at "Magazine House," so I came here.

How to Play with Manga × Culture

――I heard that many unique projects are progressing at the 80th anniversary event.

Sekiya: I have many ideas for projects I want to try (laughs). The first is a project for Yoriko Hoshi's "Today's Nekomura-san." This is a bit off-topic, but in 2018, there was an event called "Dream Nekomura Land" held for the 20th anniversary of "Casa BRUTUS," which is like a model for the kind of project I want to do from now on. It was a dreamlike project where the tea room of Nekomura-san was designed by Tsunoru Nagasaka's , the tea box for storing tea utensils was made by , the tools decorating the tea ceremony were made by , , and , and Nekomura-san's apron was by . While re-exhibiting that, the first idea was to create new "tea sweets" this time. When I consulted Hoshi-san, she said she wanted to collaborate with Sakiko Hirano's "No-Raisin Sandwich," and it was realized. The "No-Raisin Nekomura-san Doitch." Nekomura-san always ties her apron with a vertical knot, and the original package has a vertical knot ribbon, with three special flavors inside. It's a very cute, luxurious, and delicious box. We also made an original Nekomura-san cookie tin, and the product description bookmark included inside was newly drawn in three types by Hoshi-san this time. One type of bookmark is randomly included, so it's a surprise when you open it.

――It sounds very attractive. It seems it would sell out immediately if sold.

Sekiya: Also, the collaboration project with Kyoko Okazaki's "pink" was realized by consulting with Meriyasu Kataoka, a plush toy artist whom I love and am a fan of. For me, it is a big event just that a collaboration between a favorite work and a favorite artist was realized (laughs). Inspired by pages and panels from "pink," Meriyasu Kataoka will make plush toys... Fourteen incredibly cute plush toys will be born on Earth.

――They will be exhibited and sold at the event. I think many people are looking forward to it.

Sekiya: Furthermore, we will do a collaboration project with the Japanese fashion brand , which presents collections at London Fashion Week, and Natsutsugumi Miyazaki, who serializes "Kappa no Kaati to Tatari-domo no Ai" on SHURO. We will exhibit and sell two types of souvenir T-shirts packaged with original A4-size stickers, one original bag, and a one-of-a-kind jacket painted directly by Natsutsugumi Miyazaki on a jacket. I wanted to do something that only "Magazine House" as a manga editorial department would try. I hope people enjoy it.

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What I felt listening to Mr. Sekiya's story is that the feeling of "love" is a great driving force behind the projects.Manga, food, fashion, and culture freely intersect and take new forms. The unexpected combination is also characteristic of the "Magazine House" manga editorial department.At the milestone of the 80th anniversary, what kind of challenges will be born from here? The future created by the manga editorial department will surely be more pop, free, and interesting than expected.