Mashiro/Interview

Overview**Interview**Illustrations
This article presents a comprehensive anthology of interviews with Mashiro, the esteemed author of the manga series My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999. Within these interviews, there is the possibility of exploring the author's insights regarding its anime adaptation, should there be any relevant discussions on this topic.

## Interview with Realsound

**“*Loving Yamada at Lv999!*: The Creative Secret Story Revealed by the Manga Artist Mashiro and the Editor in Charge - How is the Popular Work of Game x Romance and Age Gap Love Created?”**

*Loving Yamada at Lv999!*: winner of prestigious manga awards such as the 6th Tsutaya Comic Award and the 13th Anan Manga Award. In addition, the highly anticipated anime adaptation has been confirmed. This series, currently serialized on the manga app "GANMA!", has captured the hearts of readers with its frustratingly cute age-gap love story between a female college student and a male high school student who met in an online game. In this interview with manga artist Mashiro and the editor in charge, we delve into how this popular work was created with a sincere attitude towards shoujo manga and its readers, as well as a great love for the character "Yamada."

Looking back at the successful year of 2022 with major awards in various prestigious manga awards and the announcement of anime adaptation.
 ***──2022 was a year where it gained popularity, both in name and reality, as you received major awards in various prestigious manga competitions and announced the anime adaptation. Did you have any changes in your mindset due to this excitement?***
**Mashiro:** Sometimes I felt like it wasn't my own work, which was a strange feeling. However, since I have been doing the same work of drawing manga at home since the beginning of the serialization, I think I was able to continue doing it without anything changing in a good way.

 ***──Did you continue drawing without losing your own focus?***
**Mashiro:** Yes, that's right. Since the beginning of serialization, I have been drawing while trying to predict what readers want to read next, rather than just what I want to draw. And I think I was able to continue doing that without any changes this year too.

 ***──What about your editor, Tsukahara-san?***
**Tsukahara:** As *Loving Yamada at Lv999!* gained more popularity, it became busier, but what I strongly felt in the midst of it was Mashiro-sensei's professionalism. I have always learned a lot from Mashiro-sensei about how to make the work, but I realized again how amazing it is.

A 'Game x Love' story born from my own experience.
 ***──Where did the idea of combining games and love come from?***
**Mashiro:** When I was coming up with ideas for the series, I had several candidates for the theme, but I thought a topic that I had extensive knowledge on would be good. I myself had played a lot of games before, so I chose the idea of a love story that incorporates games.

 ***──At that time, were the main characters such as Akane and Yamada already completed?***
**Mashiro:** No, it was completely different from the current *Loving Yamada at Lv999!.* At first, it was more like a story about meeting through the internet than a game and romance.

 ***──Are the actual experiences of Mashiro-sensei reflected in the work, given that Mashiro-sensei played games?***
**Mashiro:** Yes. The worldview and mechanisms of the game "Forest of Savior" played by Yamada and Akane are based on the game I played before.

As for the offline meetings that appear in the work, I haven't actually participated because I'm a bit shy. However, I had a desire to casually meet and talk with people I became friends with in games. I drew Akane's light-footedness with that yearning in mind.

 ***──When Mashiro-sensei proposed the game x romance concept, what did Tsukahara-san honestly think?***
**Tsukahara:** I felt that games were a rare theme in romance manga. I had the impression that many people around me were enthusiastic about online games, so I thought, "Absolutely!" (laughs). Then they immediately started working on the manuscript. The completed manuscript was also very interesting, and we submitted it to the meeting with almost no revisions.

"Struggling with how far to go with romance in shoujo manga" - Initial struggles during serialization
 ***──The serialization began in March 2019, and it's now in its fourth year. If there were any struggles or memorable events you had during this time, please share them with us.***
**Tsukahara:** I think it was mainly in the beginning.

**Mashiro:** Yes, that's right. When Runa first appeared and Akane was like, "Who is this girl?" At that time, we hadn't yet established the direction of the story. So we weren't sure how to treat Runa, whether to make her a love rival or a mascot character... We introduced her before everything had solidified. Also, in the early stages, there was a particularly strong comical aspect. Of course, it was partly to move the story along, but there were many scenes where Akane played the role of a clown. It was truly a trial-and-error period.

 ***──Why did you struggle with the direction of the manga?***
**Mashiro:** Initially, we were conscious of a broad readership. So, I always felt pressure to consider male readers, even though I am more comfortable with shoujo manga. I was constantly worried about how far I should steer the manga towards that direction.

**Tsukahara:** At the time, there were many male readers on "GANMA!" So, we were also conscious of wanting many people to read it, and we were considering male readers a lot.

**Mashiro:** Certainly, at the beginning, the panels displayed on "GANMA!" were pushing out Afro Yamada (a male-oriented manga). So even for promotions, we used things that didn't look like typical shoujo manga, conscious of a wide audience, including male readers.

**Tsukahara:** But around chapter 10, where the romance element became stronger, "Loving Yamada at Lv999" entered the top 10 of the rankings, and it started to become popular. Female readers increased, and fans left comments.

**Mashiro:** I think it was around the time when Tsubaki appeared. From there, we focused more on the direction of my specialty, romance and shoujo manga.

What we are conscious of is not "going too far"
 ***──Is there anything that the two of you are conscious of while serializing* Loving Yamada at Lv999!*?***
**Mashiro:** Not making it too cool. In other words, we're conscious of not going too far. "Loving Yamada at Lv999" is read by a wide range of ages, from those in their 10s to 20s on "GANMA!" to even younger readers in the tankobon format. Therefore, we try to be careful so that readers don't feel too embarrassed while reading.

**Tsukahara:** Since it's a work with game elements, as an editor, I'm conscious of working with Mashiro-sensei to make sure it's easy to understand even for those who aren't familiar with games.

 ***──You mentioned that you're conscious of not making it too cool, but... isn't Yamada too cool? (laughs) I get excited with every move he makes, but how did you develop the character of Yamada?***
**Mashiro:** In my mind, Yamada has always been the template of a "cool guy" that has been passed down since long ago. I added a part where he excels in one area. I think male characters who have something special that they excel in, or something that they don't lose to others, are cool. It could be that they're good at drawing, good at their job, or good at anything. As I mentioned earlier, since I had knowledge about games, I gave him the setting of a professional gamer.

## Reference

 "Mashiro and Tsukahara's Interview with Realsound". *Realsound*.
2. ↑ Tsukahara-san is the Editor in-charge of the Loving Yamada at Lv999! Production