The manga "Sleepeeer Hit!" depicts the hardships and joys the editor’s job behind the scenes of a manga. We asked Naoko Matsuda, the manga's creator, and Naoko Yamauchi, its editor, about the job of creating manga. (July 2020 interview)
What is ”Sleepeeer hit!”!?
”Sleepeeer hit!”(by Naoko Matsuda, published by Shogakukan) has been serialized since 2012 in the seinen (targeted at young male adults) manga magazine Monthly Big Comic Spirits (as of March 2022). The story focuses on newbie editor Kokoro Kurosawa, who is assigned to the weekly manga editorial department, and depicts the people who toil at their jobs in order to get a work of manga out into the world, including those in the sales department, platemaking shop, and bookstores. The Japanese title, ”Sleepeeer hit!”, refers to the reprinting and selling of a previously published book (hence, the series is also known in English by the title Sleepeeer Hit!) . In 2016, the manga was adapted into a drama series by Tokyo Broadcasting System Television.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 2; Protagonist Kokoro Kurosawa stating her opinion to the popular manga artist under her editorshipOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
The job of a manga editor
The manga editor is the first reader to come face-to-face with work of manga. Rather than simply giving the manga artist free rein over the creation, the editor works together with the artist to cultivate the work, sometimes going through the unpleasant experience of providing the artist with negative feedback.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 6; Scene in which Kokoro tells a new manga artist she is in charge of that “the series has been confirmed!”Original Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
Kokoro Kurosawa, the protagonist of this manga, also strives to bring great works into the world as she honestly addresses the concerns and anxieties of each individual manga artist, from veteran to novice—and in the process, she grows a bit herself.
Leading up to the creation of ”Sleepeeer hit!”
In addition to working on ongoing manga series and cultivating new manga artists, editors often approach artists with whom they want to work and get them to start a new series. In fact,”Sleepeeer hit!” began when editor Naoko Yamauchi reached out to Matsuda, who was creating a serial manga for another company.“When I read Matsuda’s work, the ‘element of passion’ in it especially resonated with me. I thought that it was really special,” says Yamauchi.The passionate lines spoken by the characters in ”Sleepeeer hit!” about their jobs are one factor behind the series’ popularity.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 1; Employees from the publisher’s sales department and bookstore staff are depicted behind the line, “We are the ones who sold it!!”, emphasizing the fact that hit works do not simply “sell” themselves, rather, they are “sold” through the joint efforts of many professionalsOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
Matsuda and Yamauchi partnered up and began creating the concept for the new manga. It was right after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
Matsuda: “The disaster had a significant impact on the direction I envisioned for the work. I wanted to create a manga that would encourage readers, something that they could read before bed that would make them feel happy.”
Yamauchi: “There were already several great works of manga featuring manga artists and editors as the main characters. That’s why, when I considered what would work for a new manga, I thought that rather than creating a story about an editor who struggles alone, a story about the teamwork involved in releasing a manga—including the salespeople and bookstore staff—would be better suited to the times.”
Naoko Matsuda, ”Sleepeeer hit!”, ShogakukanOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
In the initial storyboard (a rough conceptual draft showing the panel layout, script, and scene compositions; called a “name” in the manga industry) created by Matsuda, the protagonist was a manga editor who was characterized as being “too busy to go on a date on Tuesday because of a proofreading deadline (but was available on other days).”
After seeing the storyboard, Yamauchi, who at the time was so busy that she rarely had a single night off for personal plans during a given week, used her actual schedule to explain how the characterization differed from her circumstances, and had Matsuda change the story.
She also suggested visiting a bookstore to gather ideas. Matsuda agreed, and after visiting bookstores and platemaking shops across Japan, eventually completed the story in its current form. This was the start of the manga production process, a close partnership between manga artist and manga editor.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 1; The protagonist, moved by the way in which bookstore staff displayed volumes of her company’s manga along with hand-drawn decorationsOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
Professionals involved in manga (1) Bookstore staff
”Sleepeeer hit!” goes beyond the inner workings of the manga editorial department and deals with a broad range of jobs related to manga.“Many people—manga artist, editor, sales representative, advertising, production, materials procurement, distributor, bookstore staff—work in relay to pass the baton to the reader.
If at any point in this process a person were to say, ‘well, whatever,’ and cut corners, or were to think, ‘I’m not up to this…’ and lose confidence in their job, the cycle would become distorted or diminished. When everyone is in this process together, the manga gets sold as a great work.”These words, which were spoken by a bookstore staff member in an interview prior to the manga’s creation, still serve as the inspiration for the work.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 2; The episode set in a platemaking shopOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
Professionals involved in manga (2) Platemakers
Episode nine of the story is set in a “platemaking shop.” The platemaking shop is where professionals scan the manuscript drawn by the manga artist, remove any excess marks or particles from the manuscript, combine these images with the specified text (dialogue), and create the final proof.
This work can continue late into the night, and not many staff are available for the task. In the manga, a female staff member, unable to go on a date due to work commitments, is depicted as deeply engrossed in her work in a passionate scene where she states, “Even then, I can’t betray this emotion.”
Fieldnotes filled with information from field research conducted by MatsudaOriginal Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
The making of ”Sleepeeer hit!” (1) Research
In creating”Sleepeeer hit!”!, Matsuda and Yamauchi often went out into the field to research places they were both interested in seeing and knowing more about, such as new initiatives and lesser-known jobs in the publishing industry. They then built the characters and story around the information they gathered.
“Instead of simply illustrating the contents of her research like a documentary, Matsuda is really good at turning the fascinating parts of the personalities and episodes she encounters into manga characters. It’s as though she uses her fieldnotes as ingredients to cook a delicious meal,” says Yamauchi.
Through this type of research, the job of a typeface designer, for example, as well as the distributors who created a system for the wholesale distribution of small quantities of books to general stores other than bookstores, also make an appearance in the manga.
In the fieldnotes, there is a record of an interview with a woman experienced in judo who served as the model for the protagonist Kokoro. Her features, such as “cauliflower ear” (a deformity caused by martial arts injury) and swollen knuckles, are sketched out in the notes.Original Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
Matsuda: “Until I created ”Sleepeeer hit!”!, I didn’t completely understand the process my manuscripts went through before they became books. For example, the platemaking shop I visited during my research was a whole world I had never seen before.
When the platemaker operator scanned the manuscript I had drawn, I was completely moved by how they wore white gloves and handled my manuscript with care, as though it were a national treasure. These kinds of things that I thought were interesting during my research are reflected in the manga.”
Naoko YamauchiOriginal Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
Yamauchi: “During interviews, Matsuda doesn’t only ask about the interviewee’s job, she also asks them to share episodes about themselves and their families. For example, she would ask people with jobs that aren’t generally well-known, such as the production manager or the materials procurement officer at a publishing company, about how their families understand their jobs. From there, she is able to build an image of a character.”
The making of ”Sleepeeer hit!” (2) Meetings
For the monthly magazine series ”Sleepeeer hit!”!, Matsuda’s workplace holds a meeting once per month.Matsuda: “We start with some small talk and topics in the publishing industry, then talk about how to develop the story of the manga going forward.”During these meetings, they decide on a plot trajectory and check whether the storyline is reasonable. After this, Yamauchi surveys both inside and outside the company to find information she can provide to Matsuda that will help her create realistic expressions, such as information about a publishing company’s internal system or phrases used by employees in the sales department.
The making of ”Sleepeeer hit!” (3) Storyboard
Yamauchi: “Matsuda’s works are memorable because they have strong dialogue. During the meeting stage, a line will emerge that we know is a ‘keeper,’ and we’ll paste it on the storyboard.”Once the general plot of the manga is decided, work can begin on the storyboard. The editor checks this storyboard, and if it gets an OK, the artist moves on to the illustration process.
The storyboardOriginal Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
When Matsuda sketches out the storyboard, she writes dialogue (and monologue) lines on sticky notes that she attaches to the paper. This makes work easier, because she can reattach the sticky notes in a different spot whenever she needs to adjust the position of the lines. As she worked on the series, she settled on this style while searching for a method that was less stressful for her.
The storyboard is something that looks completely different from one manga artist to the next—some are fleshed out in minute detail, while others contain only the minimum necessary elements. “Among all the manga artists I’m in charge of, Matsuda is number one for submitting storyboards without any pictures in them,” says Yamauchi, laughing.
The storyboardOriginal Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
This is the storyboard sketch of the first scene where we see the protagonist Kokoro Kurosawa in episode one. Kokoro is depicted with her back turned to the reader in a double-page opening spread.
Yamauchi: “Her character really shines through in details such as her muscular legs, which she has because she used to do judo.
But because it’s the opening of the first episode, I really wanted her to be facing the readers, as a sort of ‘hello.’ As the editor, I was the first reader, so I told Matsuda my opinion that I wanted to know more about what kind of person the protagonist is.”
In the corrected storyboard, Kokoro is depicted facing the reader.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 2Original Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
The manuscript is completed through this sort of process of communication.
Before ”Sleepeeer hit!” Volume 1 went on sale, a preliminary version of the manga, called a “proof,” was sent out to bookstores along with a questionnaire for the bookstore staff. Much of the feedback they provided in their responses served as reference material for later works.Original Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
Changes in the job of manga editor
Recently, the number of manga titles published each month has been increasing, and unlike in the past, many readers are introduced to these works through the internet, apps, Twitter, and media other than manga magazines.
”Sleepeeer hit!”, Volume 13; Kokoro and Himi from the publicity department present a proposal to an app company about publishing a travel-themed manga in a travel appOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan
What is the best way to get readers to know about a new manga? Constantly thinking about where the customers are is a new part of the editor’s job. Even in the story of ”Sleepeeer hit!”, there is talk of publishing a manga about travel in a travel app.
These changes are not only affecting editors. Manga artists’ use of Twitter and aspects of their job other than “drawing” have become more pronounced in recent years.
Naoko Matsuda, ”Sleepeeer hit!”, ShogakukanOriginal Source: © NAOKO MAZDA / Shogakukan, Photo by Kazue Kawase
Since the series started in 2012, the environment surrounding manga has changed significantly. These changes include the proliferation of webcomics, the rise of social media, and changes in the work environment due to the spread of COVID-19 infections in 2020. In order to avoid working together in enclosed spaces, there is a pressing need for work to be conducted on digital devices, whether or not one likes it.
Manga artist Naoko Matsuda (left) and editor Naoko Yamauchi (right)Original Source: Photo by Kazue Kawase
Going forward, how will the manga industry be depicted in the world of ”Sleepeeer hit!”? Will Kokoro Kurosawa be able to overcome the immediate hurdles she faces? These are the things to look forward to in upcoming episodes of the series.
Naoko Matsuda”Sleepeeer hit!”
Interview: Nanae Matsuo（MANGANIGHT）
Photo: Kazue Kawase
Edit: Natsuko Fukushima（BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.)
Supervisor: Hirohito Miyamoto（Meiji University）
Production: BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.
Written in 2020
Update in 2022/03
