Yugami-kun has no friends thread

Took twice as long as I thought it would to be able to continue posting chapter 78.

> Turns out that even running is not enough for Chihiro to catch up with Yugami.

Attached: ef9a6d1b623606766169083eeca49873341.jpg (836x1200, 233K)

Other urls found in this thread:

yugamiyuuji.tumblr.com
nocandnc.tumblr.com/tagged/yugami-kun
kamihoshi.tumblr.com
youtube.com/watch?time_continue=78&v=8FCs2D_i3mI
senjiyose.cocolog-nifty.com/fullface/2004/11/post_37.html
twitter.com/AnonBabble

However chihiro is no quitter, and will catch up to him even if she has to pedal as hard as he does (as the baseball club players note).

Attached: dd54d1c59304b228e902485027588bcf342.jpg (836x1200, 303K)

bumpan

As for yugami, turns out he decided to celebrate attending a live heiraku show by going out to drink a very nice cup of coffee in a classy cafe.

Attached: d088a66b4bf6fa781d5184ee4381a83e343.jpg (836x1200, 298K)

Obviously Yugami has exquisite taste on two levels, but probably more.

Attached: 75b75436bfb74bc646c5b46061ecdb98344.jpg (836x1200, 277K)

Meanwhile chihiro called her classmates to tell them she caught up with him, and they tell her to wait up in the cafe so they can show up later, while planning to only get there really late to give them some time.

Attached: 799ba93c93255f2aade231c33a630e45345.jpg (836x1200, 249K)

sorry about your last thread I wasn't able to bump it in time

Chihiro seems to enjoy the place, and yugami mentions that while the coffee there is 800 yen, going out without lunch one day to be able to afford the coffee could be worth it because you savour it more while Chihiro then remembers she only brought 300 yen in her pocket.

But then the cafe gets a new costumer, and yugami asks chihiro to quiet down.

Attached: 2426bb608eab4bffa72e15160237b43f346.jpg (836x1200, 244K)

Takes a while to make chihiro stop gawking at the prices

Attached: d3750b56a7ef412ae5df13e4a5caf959347.jpg (836x1200, 228K)

Oh damn, been wondering where you've been. Thanks for the dump.

Talk about coicidences.

I took more than 4 hours rather than 2, so it's my fault more than anything.

Attached: 0390c3af7f09b0603c1494f1febf64ba348.jpg (836x1200, 200K)

Meanwhile Chihiro sends another message saying the 2 of them will be fine on their own (she didn't want to invite her classmates to such an expensive place). This is interpreted as the friendship "date" going fine so everyone decides to go out for karaoke. Momo is sceptical.

Attached: 4cd9c5e5763af429572b7fe803d562ce349.jpg (836x1200, 254K)

Now what i think happens here is that Kuzumi reminds her that yugami has managed to be rather supporting in the past, while Yeagashi thinks yugami can do no wrong. Regardless, Momo is still sceptical.

Attached: 815c0a317708cb014cccd1c69c99e7f6350.jpg (836x1200, 210K)

Meanwhile heiraku decides to treat both youngsters to either coffee or desert, which they both graciosly accept.

He's really amused by their demeaneur though...

Attached: f4bda8f7d402ef1a381a148d64ef676c351.jpg (836x1200, 201K)

And asks them if they are in love with each other (clearly old men just don't waste time). Yugami just chides Chihiro for spitting her expensive coffee while she's trying to deny it.

Attached: 1b0eb35a508ada64085e35f785f9f1c5352.jpg (836x1200, 241K)

literally

Attached: tumblr_pmhjp858uq1wvxoolo1_1280.png (1280x1845, 1.17M)

Chihiro then says they are just classmates, but Heiraku asks if they are not even friends.

Chihiro doesn't know what to say, since she remembers oh so very clearly yugami's statement that he doesn't need any friends...

Attached: 6bc6187bedf786f05d033451c099adc3353.jpg (836x1200, 212K)

So she doesn't know where she stands with yugami, so she stares at yugami hoping for his answer. The chapter ends before he replies, and fans had to suffer a whole month in anticipation.

Attached: 842e95cbd7a85933b703547a1c7dd198354.jpg (836x1200, 198K)

BASED old man.

Thank you, OP.

While anons decide what answer they prefer:

a)Yugami stands by his principles and rejects being friends

b)Yugami decides they've become friends

c)Yugami reveals he has feeling for Chihiro

Might as well post what the fan translation did during these two months.

Attached: 000_1549526813.png (900x1409, 229K)

Clearly this is about yugami and kadota's relationship, old school japan style.

Attached: 001_1549526813.png (900x1409, 219K)

Seems anger keeps him focused.

Attached: 002_1549526813.png (900x1409, 216K)

I hardcore ship the two so I want C, but B is the right thing to do. Being that it's ending soon, it will kind of wrap the whole manga up in a way.

So sad it's ending though.

I don't think kuzumi is kadota's shipping endgame in the actual series.

Attached: 003_1549526813.png (900x1409, 219K)

I do want C, I used to be in the "not all opposite sex relationships need to be romantic" group, but they are too cute together and need to be in a relationship by the end.

I do expect it to end with them just becoming friends though, maybe a flashforward with them meeting up way later where despite Chihiro thinking that Yugami would forget about her as soon as high school ends, he still remembered her and he asks her out.

Ah yes, the classic though love.

Attached: 004_1549526813.png (900x1409, 196K)

The perils of getting drunk...

Attached: 005_1549526813.png (900x1409, 181K)

Is that the manager?

Edo japan is harsh

Yes, but it's just a play.

Attached: 006_1549526813.png (900x1409, 246K)

C.
he acts like an average male teen when he's with Chihiro at some points (e.g. home visit) and has became wary of her in the past couple chapters but not as friends.

Dunno, he already paid you back one loan, that is good guarantee he would pay you another.

Attached: 007_1549526813.png (900x1409, 217K)

Edo japan is REALLY harsh

Attached: 008_1549526813.png (900x1409, 201K)

What a literal nightmare.

Attached: 009_1549526813.png (900x1409, 287K)

But since this is japanese comedy, it's all about a pun.

Attached: 010_1549526813.png (900x1409, 215K)

Anyway back to our scheduled storytime, and it's time for chapter 79.

And the answer is...

Attached: a3469f2e9092e36b651e043bdf6696e9323.jpg (836x1200, 230K)

>"just friends"

NOPE WE'RE JUST CLASSMATES.

Yugami is clearly too hardcore for Yea Forums.

Attached: b6e318fa07a5966654baa7199c4084dc324.jpg (836x1200, 315K)

Kono hito wa.. ore no.. tomodachi.. ja nai desu.
that speech bubble though

I feel for you chihiro. Heiraku meanwhile says something about friends being something good to have.

Attached: e1b7645e78deb69e52cd9186f467b1d6325.jpg (836x1200, 238K)

FUCK YOU YUGAMI. YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BEFRIEND THE CHIHIRO NOT BETRAY HER!

While Yugami insists that he doesn't need friends and will go on just fine without them. Afterwards they just talk about rakugou and yugami nabs his autograph.

Attached: bf0396a682efa2b96eb03690eb7e8ae0326.jpg (836x1200, 227K)

Then chihiro sends a message to her classmates saying the two won't go to the group meeting, which they misunderstand as the two of them managing to get up together.

Attached: 5cd7c0b8e58e33b79f90333edbc94082327.jpg (836x1200, 248K)

In reality chihiro is just biding her time to confront yugami, managing to hold on until heiraku leaves.

Attached: 89d94426668881f2128ace71e2c8bfbd328.jpg (836x1200, 233K)

Can anyone beat crap out of him, please.

Attached: 1549546396085.png (354x569, 172K)

So she cries out that, since they are not even being friends, yugami is just going to forget all about her and then leaves.

Attached: 8bc48ce5bbade32c07ec4563cb65903f329.jpg (836x1200, 198K)

Oh boy.

literally

Attached: tumblr_inline_po3vqi5jxG1v3ofai_1280.png (1280x692, 434K)

Rare footage of Chihiro actually angry

If you say anything but A you're a weak piece of shit that compromises his ideals for pussy and you should be ashamed of yourself.

Playing it straight right until the end. I respect Yugami.

On her way back home chihiro's anger somewhat subsides, as she rationalises that was just how yugami is, that he didn't mean to hurt her...

Attached: 3f41f2477c4b826c0fec0086ae990da3330.jpg (836x1200, 223K)

And that in reality she is angry with him simply because she used to be so lonely and she didn't want to see it happen again.

Attached: 157c6e7e6b2bab7e7aa73fc06c41f47f331.jpg (836x1200, 277K)

The next day, in school, yugami tries to reach out to her out of concern for what happened yesterday...

Attached: 7fff7231c8e8a1811bee8f5198b91a68332.jpg (836x1200, 194K)

But chihiro apologises for what happened and brushes him off, which freaks out momo to no end.

Attached: 7b931ab4f453af5e661a6a9b757e9a88333.jpg (836x1200, 249K)

She asks the rest of the class what the hell happened and what they are gonna do about it, but everyone else gave up saying that perhaps that's just the only way things would play out.

Attached: f90066b74823c6f10ba013514366ab5b334.jpg (836x1200, 256K)

I'm only up to date with the current, very slow, ongoing translations. whats the rundown of any major events in the intervening 30 chapters or so?

Time passes without either of the two managing to talk much with each other.

And now i'm gonna have to make another short break from posting, probably for an hour or two.

Attached: a75ce59b184658e643329a452b7e823d335.jpg (836x1200, 221K)

Thanks for dumping

Attached: 1538139873188.jpg (843x4005, 975K)

Chihiro seems to be avoiding the handiworks club.

Attached: 66622070b428efc01be2ef6a752ac0e7336.jpg (836x1200, 149K)

However it's not like she's avoiding people in general or missing out on schoolwork, she's just distraught.

Attached: 02c2dec9d1e8bc934a9bc818e7263f8e337.jpg (836x1200, 203K)

Her friends are concerned, and since christmas is approaching momo decides to have a big christmas party with the girls before graduation.

Attached: 68423aacab4b2a8bca79708525ec7948338.jpg (836x1200, 269K)

Which will take place in Rio's house.

Attached: 7a079130a761e9097af7edbb812d8e4b339.jpg (836x1200, 371K)

Back in yugami's house, he is busy sitting pretty cosy watching rakugou while his little sister is busy writing new year cards. The grandmother is pretty surprised that she didn''t just decide to send e-mails.

Attached: 6693fda2ee6604af2b60bdac089dfff4340.jpg (836x1200, 208K)

I fucking love this beautiful bastard.

Attached: 1551033115525.jpg (316x516, 37K)

Yuuko replies that she feels that handwriting allows herself to convey feelings and express better, which impresses the grandmother while yugami doesn't think it makes a difference.

Attached: c0b6a4b69fcc25a6c5e28be2d8079862341.jpg (836x1200, 235K)

Back in the chritsmas party they seem to be channel hopping until there's some rakugou on television.

Attached: a188d1a63dfcecf2cd0aec095ba601ae342.jpg (836x1200, 218K)

After having some fun, they decide to talk about what they are gonna do in the future.

Attached: 9baab686a752e585b23723ecd78af6d0343.jpg (836x1200, 243K)

Momo's a good girl after all.

From right to left, Momo is trying for university, Kuzumi is aiming at becoming a sports reporter, Chihiro is going to university, Rio is aiming to be a diplomat and Kimura (girl that made the terrible cookies for kadota) wants to be a nutricionist.

Attached: e27bff96c82cafb4240c5a846eec8043344.jpg (836x1200, 270K)

Back in Yugami's house, Youko has finally reached the point of writing a letter for chihiro, who helped her study for the math test she struggled with, but doesn't know what to write.

Attached: eddb36272a169c80ef41a8b592b3a305345.jpg (836x1200, 195K)

So she asks her brother if chihiro will manage to reach university, and he replies chihiro she won't have any problems because she is a quite capable and determined person.

Attached: 74e711b2bd205a58eee80146339cda66346.jpg (836x1200, 179K)

>our autist compliments someone
that's rare

Her sister tells him he really should tell chihiro that and that he should open more to her.

Attached: 73168ca196d5c40a41bc629771495f17347.jpg (836x1200, 229K)

The fact that this series didn’t get an anime or live action adapation is a damn shame.

Afterwards chihiro returns from the party so happy her mother has to shake off the snow from her head, and she says she's proud of her.

We can always hope they'll make one if they decide to make a sequel in college.

Attached: baa385141a45a54775ea687e543cc765348.jpg (836x1200, 182K)

I thought for a moment we were getting a reverse

Before going to sleep, chihiro starts to think of how she met her first friend (kuzumi) thanks to yugami, as well as most of her other friends.

Attached: 4138ad5f0925a6a3686b547acc031042349.jpg (836x1200, 230K)

She starts to think of the guys from the baseball club, and hayashiyama who tried to ask her out on a date.

She starts to think of the underclassman from the handiworks club she nearly drove out if not for yugami.

She thinks of the yugami's little sister, his cousin, and his pet turtle.

Finally she thinks of the whale plushie he gave her last winter.

Attached: 565cd07f1195409d3331031db8469996350.jpg (836x1200, 196K)

Yugami you fucking idiot. You FUCKED UP.

Yugami doesn't need no woman

The time he told her what he thought about her before warning her that her father was about to take her away to america...

The time he brought over food when she was alone at home and then stayed with her to cook dinner to prove he could live on his own, and got quite intimate...

The time he thanked her for snapping him out of his mental block in the baseball tournament semi-finals...

When he showed her what university he was aiming for, and that he would take no second choices...

Attached: 7b3734b4a4e3e2e9ba57e9578fed35a0351.jpg (836x1200, 269K)

My god

And at the end that he showed that he was happy with how he spent the day.

And those two panels we can see yugami's face straight on from chihiro's perspective? I checked, and they are new.

She looks back to how they started out...

Attached: ee45a45ddd0d6a718902f0c8f4f568c8352.jpg (836x1200, 189K)

And realizes that whatever happens, he was an important friend and she's glad for the times she already got from him.

There's something else i don't quite understand about feeling relieved? Anyway time passes some more and it's time for the new year.

Attached: 926a2319df3f4ca2457e02ddf4b482d9353.jpg (836x1200, 142K)

Chihiro checks her messages and e-mails without too much enthusiasm, feeling more curious about her letters.

Attached: 362455d66c1c16c147766a3d90693c8e354.jpg (836x1200, 265K)

While sorting out the letters, she notices a particular handwriting she's quite familiar with...

Attached: 56b9c652d1f7f3897a36280be53cc1b0355.jpg (836x1200, 191K)

And when she confirms who sent it, she gets up and asks her mother if she has any leftover new year cards so she can reply to yugami.

And that's the end of the chapter! Apparently next chapter will be about graduation day, and it will be released the 17th of April.

just for that get, i'm posting the image here

Attached: 37d65f4cd2d23dd997c25740b3c446ae356.jpg (836x1200, 223K)

rare, but not unheard off

Attached: yugami and his father in law.png (827x603, 116K)

>The time he brought over food when she was alone at home and then stayed with her to cook dinner to prove he could live on his own, and got quite intimate...
What volume was this? I'm thinking of buying a tank soon and this seems interesting

I still believe!

Attached: 1532017601203.jpg (600x700, 73K)

what did the letter saaaaaaay?!?

are those two rare Yugamis I see?

Well, you can guess a lot of what has happened from the coments on this thread, but off the top of my head:

School trip happens, the class get some minor fame but it fades out, Momo gets a crush on Yugami but he crushes it, Yugami goes watch rakugou with chihiro during christmas, Chihiro tries to organize and attend three christmas parties at the same time and fails, yugami's cousin thinks they are having a lover's spat and yugami reveals to chihiro she might be moving out soon, at which point chihiro goes ultra mad and convinces her father to change places on his own so she won't have to, Hayashiyama tries to date chihiro with the finesse of an elephant in a china shop but moves on once he does well in the spring tournament and gets his own groupies, the elder classmen graduate so yugami manages to get his killer training schedule into gear, Yugami's sister needs help to study and gets it from chihiro, Yugami makes a deal with his father that he gets to move out and live on his own if he reaches koshien and he scores his first no hit, no run game, Momo makes chihiro write a love letter for yugami, Yugami accompanies chihiro while she's alone at home, Yugami wins in the school games in which he literally carries chihiro in the three leggged race, Yugami beats the strongest team in the tournament but loses the finals because he broke the catcher's hand, Yugami quits the baseball team and throws away his phone, Yugami helps make the school festival a reality and helps Rio get over her control issues, Chihiro blows up at her classmates for talking behind yugami's back, then these chapters

And honestly, i'm skipping a lot of stuff. This manga may be a slice of life with only 79 chapters, but really it's surprisingly quite dense in terms of plot.

Attached: yugami thanks chihiro.jpg (1270x1280, 457K)

>Tfw looking more foward to yugami finally saying that chihiro is his first real friend than a relationship coming out of nowhere

The emotional impact would be greater on that front when you consider all they been through. I can see the author having them meet up again in a timeskip and catching up in the last panel.

There are also some tumblr blogs that have translations of events the fan translation hasn't caught up with yet.

yugamiyuuji.tumblr.com

nocandnc.tumblr.com/tagged/yugami-kun

kamihoshi.tumblr.com

It happened on chapter 67, which i guess corresponds to volume 14.

Attached: yugami reaching out to chihiro.png (624x927, 291K)

I honestly think yugami would find it easier to accept having a girlfriend at this point, if you recall the time when he received a love letter from rio he stated that he would not mind dating someone provided that person understood and accepted him for who he was, rather than some delusion of him.

Attached: yugami class.jpg (1000x800, 397K)

The problem is that's a good ways back now isn't it? The characters might've changed since then and that's not been brought up really since, so it's ambiguous at this point

Attached: yugami bosses you.jpg (566x433, 48K)

This one happened not too long ago chapter-wise/in-universe wise speaking, and the author also only tried to imply Chihiro having feelings for him and him being troubled by not being in good terms with her, on recent chapters, not to mention all the classmates shipping make up plan.

Well, fair enough.

I honestly do hope there is a romantic end, but I wonder how naturally it can be done with just two chapters left in a series that works so well because of, and prides itself on, gradual and realistic development.

tfw

Attached: Yugami-kun-ni-wa-Tomodachi-ga-Inai-manga-002.jpg (610x343, 25K)

I have to say I want that too. I don't want to see a last chapter hookup, there's been too much of that already, and something doesn't settle right with him just bouncing from acquaintances to lovers. If they can mutually acknowledge each other as friends I would be more than happy with that.

Is this the actual Rathole story? What part of this is supposed to be funny?

Damn Yugami. You never disappoints me.
But Chihiro is really hurt. I feel bad for her.

I didn't think I would say this, but please acknowledge Chihiro as your friend already, Yugami-kun.

The part where you're japanese and read/hear it in japanese.

I was talking about the content of story, about the guy losing everything in a fire, his wife is ill, and he has to sell his daughter, then his money got stolen. I remember Yugami's classmates also comment that this story is depressing as fuck.

Japs are heartless I guess?

youtube.com/watch?time_continue=78&v=8FCs2D_i3mI
This is pretty good.

The manga is ending but it would be awesome if the author could make a college sequel, or better yet, a manga about a working Yugami and his colleague Chihiro.

That later part is a dream even in the original story though, so really the comic is quite accurate.

senjiyose.cocolog-nifty.com/fullface/2004/11/post_37.html (use the translator)

So the story is only depressing if you don´t get to hear the ending, which yugami didn´t manage to tell because he was out of time.

It´s also a cautionary tale against slacking. The younger brother slacks after his father dies, and has to start over with pennies. He slacks when he leaves the house without having taken care of the rat hole, and he gets nightmares over it.

Old tale definitely has different tone than todays.
The story usually darker, subtler, or sometimes too blatant for todays morals.

>Yugami in the office
or
>Yugami as a Rakugou performer

Either one would be golden.

Grimm fairy tales in their original form aren´t easy to digest for modern audiences either.

I'm kind of miffed at how much school time was skipped over. Especially since even though we see occasions where Yugami breaks out of his mold, we never actually got to see real introspection about his internal changes. It feels unsatisfactory and I wish the author had used the huge timeskips for more Yugami development.

With the chapters we have translated, I always considered it kind of a 50/50 split between who was the MC of the manga. Knowing the raws however it's clearly Chihiro. A little something special was lost but the manga still seems godlike even this late.

Jesus christ Vanessa is thrashing about as Mafia.

So chapter 5 was supposed to be the original end of the manga? It´s interesting because it doesn´t feel like it, even if you took the love letter plot hook out.

Think most of yugami´s internal introspection took place in earlier chapters, expecially the baseball related ones.

>chapter 5 was supposed to be the original end of the manga
They really said that? So Yugami was planned to be one volume long?

Author only had drawn oneshots before, so didn´t really expect the manga to take off as it did. Especially touching considering the storyboard for Yugami was the last ditch effort before throwing down the towel and giving up becoming a mangaka.

And I took a glance at the raw chapters. chapter 75 to 79 is mainly chihiro, while 70 to 74 is mainly yugami, and the chapters before that were not as clear cut but there´s still some back and forth going on. So i´d still say they are both the protagonists.

Jun sakura posted the inbetween scene in her twitter.

Attached: D0-2rMoV4AAfuWB.jpg (2048x1578, 270K)

Based autist Yugami not understanding what he did wrong.

but would he regret it later?

Attached: yugami chihiro beach.png (790x1200, 1.11M)

The author of such a brilliant manga (as the first serialization no less) almost gave up on becoming a mangaka? I'm so glad it worked out for her, otherwise we wouldn't have Yugami-kun. I will look forward to her next work for sure. Too bad Yugami is not licensed in my country.
So i guess the chance for anime adaptation is zero now the manga is ending next chapter (not that it had much chance before)

>now the manga is ending next chapter
Not yet, the next after, this was chapter 79, it's due to end on chapter 81, so still two chapters to go.

Now I seriously wonder if I should read Yea Forums threads for the finale or wait for the translation team to catch up in 5 years at the current rate

might as well post the translated interview from tumblr:

Rikiya Kurimata: Alright, first question, what made each of you decide you wanted to become a mangaka? Sakura-sensei, you can start, if you please.

Jun Sakura: There wasn’t a particular event that made me want to do it but I’ve liked drawing ever since kindergarten. That never changed and in elementary school, I’d draw manga all over my notebooks.

RK: You were drawing original stuff from the start?!

JS: It was nothing that spectacular, just stuff like copying Doraemon. I remember doing the same with other manga I liked in my later years of elementary school.

RK: Did you like making your own stories back then?

JS: …………Probably, I guess?

RK: That was a long pause (laughs).

RK: What was it like when you were aiming to become a mangaka?

JS: I worked a side job in my hometown at the time. I’d get home from work dead tired and fall asleep before even drawing manga (laughs). After saving up some money from working, I quit my job and started working as an assistant for a mangaka who was publishing in a monthly magazine in my area. As a monthly assistant, you really need to have another job or else you don’t have many days where you’re actually working, so my living expenses were tight at the time but I figured I’d draw manga while living off my savings.

JS: I submitted my work to a competition and even though I didn’t win, I got a call from an editor at Shogakukan who wanted to work with me. After that I was told, “Draw whatever you want” and what I came up with ended up getting selected. It was decided that I’d debut so I moved to Tokyo and got to draw a number of oneshots while working as an assistant for a weekly magazine but I just couldn’t think of a storyboard for a series no matter how much I tried. I drew my last idea thinking I’d go back home if it didn’t get accepted. That was Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai.

cont.

RK: Risapaso-san is currently also an assistant to you, Sakura-san. How’s their work?

JS: They’re very dependable and always draw up these awesome backgrounds for me. It makes my art look so much better (laughs)! They’re a real pro and very reliable.

Risapaso: You flatter me.

RK: I think a lot of people aren’t aware of what assistants do - could you fill us in?

RP: I guess you can say we help give form to the what the author envisions. Sakura-sensei basically gives me a drawing as a rough guideline and using that as a base, I draw in the details.

RK: Ah, so you have to be able to read what the author wants and help them complete the drawing! That takes the skill of a professional!

JS: Yes. I’ll ask them to spruce a panel up for me and they’ll give me a draw up a really nice backdrop for me.

RK: Sakura-san, what do you think of Risapaso-san’s series, Garyayama Poyomi no Kataomoi?

JS: The black humor and twists are really great! Whether it’s being comedic or serious, it surprises me, like, “That’s how it plays out?!” It betrays my expectations in a good way and the developments are so engaging. Even when the mood becomes serious, it’s well-balanced so I have nothing but glowing thoughts after reading it. Likewise, even when the story gets dark and heavy, there’s always a bit of comedy afterwards. I really like how it’s able to flip the mood back like that. I’m eager to see what happens next.

RK: And how about your thoughts on Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai?

RP: I love it. I really like Yugami for how he’s the complete opposite of your typical shounen manga protagonist - acting not for the sake of those around him but for himself.

RK: For sure. When Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai first came out, there weren’t many protagonists like Yugami. I think as the series got popular, we’ve seen an increase in them. How did you come up with Yugami-kun?

cont.

JS: It was born from a conversation I had with my editor. We were talking about people that were oddballs yet could also be strangely likable and that’s when I realized there are actually tons of people like that all around me, myself included. I took a bunch of those different aspects, pieced them all together bit-by-bit and made it into a manga.

RK: Wow, from a random chat like that?! When the first volume (of Yugami-kun) came out, my bookstore colleagues talked about it a lot. They were surprised at how well it sold. I think it really changed our image of a shounen manga protagonist and because you modeled the characters after people you know, that might be why a lot of the characters feel so real.

[…]

RK: And do you use Twitter too, Sakura-san?

JS: I do, but I’m no good at social media. I never know what to tweet. I’ve been like this since my student days so I’m probably just not suited for it. Yugami-kun is being rerun on Sunday Webry right now so I use Twitter to get the series out there while adding some of my own commentary on it. But I’m so stuck on what to say that it takes about three hours just to write three lines…

RK: Three hours?! That time ought to go to working on your manuscript, no? (laughs) But since you’re serializing in a magazine, you must get some fan mail, correct?

JS: Yes! Getting fan mail is so encouraging. I feel bad that I can’t return the favor with anything but new year’s cards… But I treasure every letter I get. When I’m feeling tired, I read them over again and they cheer me right up. Some senders have been writing to me since they were students and as time’s passed, they’ve sent me letters telling me they’ve gotten married. It feels like I’ve really gotten to know these people through their letters.

RK: Well then, Sakura-san, is there a particular chapter of Yugami-kun that sticks out in your mind?

cont.

JS: There was a moment when I was drawing up the draft storyboards and felt like I finally understood the characters. So in Yugami-kun, there’s an arc where the hero and heroine sever ties with one another. I wrote it without deciding how the two of them would make up. All I knew was that it would end with them reconciling and I forged ahead without deciding how it’d happen. But once I started drafting the storyboard, the chapter just wouldn’t go the way I wanted it to. Even if the story ended there, it wasn’t over for the characters. Characters were saying things they’d never say and things just didn’t feel right.

JS: I have a habit of cutting up parts of my storyboard drafts and reassembling them and in that mountain of papers was the heroine’s smile. Suddenly it hit me, “Ah, this is it!” and the somewhat sombre end of that arc did a complete turnaround. Just by picking up one piece of scrap from my drafts, all the other aspects of that chapter I was struggling with started to click as I pieced everything together like a puzzle. Like, “Oh, so that’s what he was thinking?” It felt like the characters were guiding me. It took a while to go through all of it but part of me drew the storyboard wanting to know how they all ticked.

RK: It sounds like the characters came to life in that moment!

JS: I discussed it with my editor beforehand but when I went to draw the chapter, something about the characters just seemed off so I submitted a completely different storyboard from the one I discussed with my editor, rewritten even though I’d already gotten the OK for the previous draft… I’m nothing but grateful to my editor for letting me make those changes.

RK: Thank you for all the work you put into this series! Well then, are there any manga you’d like to recommend?

cont.

JS: My friend told me I should read Ousama Ranking (King Ranking) by Sousuke Toka. It’s great; it has a kind of warmth to its style like a children’s story but also has these intense scenes that feel straight out of a shounen manga. A lot of times I’ve cried reading it. I love how multifaceted the characters are. Re-reading it and reflecting on the characters thoughts and actions with that hindsight never gets old.

[…]

RK: Finally, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?

JS: Yugami-kun was really only slated to run for one volume with five chapters but it received a lot of positive feedback on reader surveys so it was given a second volume, and then the first volume got a reprint… And on and on, that cycle repeated. It’s thanks to all of your support that the series is still going and I’m forever grateful. When I was drawing Chapter 1, I’d thought of the ending by then but writing the story up to that point wasn’t possible so I figured that at its slated end, I’d show how the characters had grown in that time frame. But thanks to everyone, it looks like Yugami-kun will be fortuitous enough to finally have the ending I’d envisioned. I’ll be doing my best to make the rest of the ride enjoyable, so I’d be happy if you stuck with me.

>end interview

As an aside note, i distictly recall something about one of early drafts for yugami being about him not being able to get any girlfriend, but the idea being dismissed for being to limited, but this interview doesn´t mention it. Probably some extra.

This image is going to be so funny once the translation advances a few chapters.

Attached: yugami rescue.png (779x1200, 625K)

Thank you. I didn't know about this blog before.
So the author managed to have story completed in 16(?) volume instead of just 1. Good for her (and for us)

Based Yugami user. Thank you for your work.