In a single frame in the style of a girl&#8217;s manga, she complains about &#8220;common housewives. When she posted her illustrations on her blog and SNS, they became a hit, and the series was serialized in &#8220;Walker Plus&#8221; (KADOKAWA), the book went on sale, and was soon in its third printing!
 We asked Tara Minoru, a picture diary blogger who used to be a manga artist, about the reasons and benefits of shifting from commercial magazines to focusing on her blog, her writing activities, and more. 
<figure id="attachment_289445" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289445" style="width: 3496px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d5f6d81d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/A_P57.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289445" class="wp-caption-text"> The book went into its third printing immediately after its release because it was &#8220;hilarious&#8221; and &#8220;I can&#8217;t stop sympathizing with the author.　（The book &#8220;Shoujo manga poku gibberu&#8221; (&#8220;Complaining like a girl manga&#8221;) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
<h3> At the time I stopped being an artist, I was feeling a bit battered, so I was happy that what I wanted to draw came out just as I wanted it to&#8230;</h3>
 Tara made her debut as a girls&#8217; manga artist in a commercial magazine at the age of 20; she married at 24 and juggled work and child-rearing. However, in 2013, she stopped working for commercial magazines.
 &#8211;Why did you stop working as a manga artist?
 Tarami: Right after my older son was born, I started to feel strongly that I wanted to draw about children. But I couldn&#8217;t express child-rearing and childcare well as a girls&#8217; manga, so I decided to move to a blog where I could draw what I wanted.
 &#8211;What are the advantages and disadvantages of both commercial magazines and blogs?
 Tarami: With a commercial magazine, I was very happy to be published in a magazine that I had longed for and to have my work published in book form. However, it was sometimes painful that I could not release my work to the world without the editor&#8217;s OK, and this feeling continued to haunt me for a long time. There was also a lot of pressure to receive money from the company for my work. 
 My experience as a writer was a great learning experience, and I still use it today. However, there were many difficult times, including slumps. 
 On the other hand, with a blog, what you draw goes out to the world as it is with a &#8220;Pochi. At the time when I quit my career as an artist, I was feeling pretty shattered, so I was happy that my drawings appeared as they were, without going through anyone else. The blog saved me. 
 However, it&#8217;s also a harsh world, because I am responsible for what is or isn&#8217;t interesting, and if it isn&#8217;t popular, the PV won&#8217;t go up.
 &#8211;Do you still worry about the number of followers and PV?
 Tarami: Sometimes I think, &#8220;I have to come up with something interesting next time! But I have already experienced the slump that occurs when you start worrying about such things when you are working for a commercial magazine, so I have made up my mind that I will never let that happen again! I&#8217;m determined not to let that happen again! I&#8217;ll submit what I want to draw, and if it doesn&#8217;t hit the mark, I&#8217;ll say, &#8220;Well, next time! And if I don&#8217;t win, I say, &#8220;Next time! If I win, I consider myself lucky. 
<figure id="attachment_289466" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289466" style="width: 1746px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b5f1b13d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/BN_yakudoshi.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289466" class="wp-caption-text"> Here is my memorable first one-panel work (&#8220;Shoujo manga poku gibberu.&#8221;) Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
<h3> The secret is a &#8220;Complaining Notebook&#8221; in which I write down every time a complaint is made.</h3>
 &#8211;How did you come up with the style of complaining about &#8220;common housewives&#8221; in a shoujo manga style?
 Tarami: At first, I thought it would be a good idea to have people say what they were thinking, not just complaining, in a shoujo manga style. The response was good, and as I drew more and more things, the main focus gradually shifted to complaining.
 &#8211;I have two children, a girl and a boy, who are now 10 and 8 years old, respectively. Do you have no trouble with stories for the time being?
 Tarami: When I was working on &#8220;Walker Plus,&#8221; I had a lot of stories, so the editors gave me a lot of sources (laughs). 
 But there are times when I have a lot of complaints all at once and times when I don&#8217;t have any at all, so I make a &#8220;Complaints Notebook&#8221; and save them up, then choose &#8220;this one today&#8221; from among them. 
<figure id="attachment_289447" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289447" style="width: 3496px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4b7a7334"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/C_P19.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289447" class="wp-caption-text"> I sleep when I want to sleep and wake up when I want to wake up. That&#8217;s what a toddler (&#8220;Shoujo manga poku gripe.&#8221;) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Illustrations that make viewers laugh and lighten their hearts are not the kind of serious complaints that raise problems.</h3>
 &#8211;What kind of feedback do you receive from readers?
 Tarami: &#8220;I understand,&#8221; &#8220;Yes, I know! I often receive sympathetic comments such as, &#8220;My family is the same way. I myself sometimes think, &#8220;What if this is just my family? I feel relieved when people say, &#8220;Yes, I know! 
 What you are secretly bothered by may be common to everyone! I would be happy if this illustration could convey the message that &#8220;what you are secretly bothered about might be the same for everyone&#8221; or &#8220;everyone is like that. 

 &#8211;Do you pay attention to anything when you create your works?
 Tarami: In terms of content, I have decided not to draw too deep complaints. I don&#8217;t want to just read it and be the source of raising issues. I definitely don&#8217;t want to create a flow of conflict or discussion. So I try to choose light complaints that a wide range of people can relate to or laugh at. 
<figure id="attachment_289448" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289448" style="width: 3496px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="06f470ef"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/D_P97.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289448" class="wp-caption-text"> With that sense of togetherness, we can overcome the skin&#8217;s curvatures!　(A girl&#8217;s manga-like whine.) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
 &#8211;How do you handle your own heavy complaints?
 Tarami: I talk it out with the person I&#8217;m complaining to, or I write my anger and frustration on a piece of paper, tear it up, and throw it away, or I call a friend, etc. Sometimes I feel like complaining on social media, so I created another account and tried to tweet without following anyone, and even locked my account. But I couldn&#8217;t do it after all. I was too scared (laughs).
 &#8211;Do you have any plans to create works about the emotions given to you by your children in the future?
 Tarami: I would like to depict the events that moved me in the future, but basically, I want people to laugh when they see my work. Of course, I want to be moved, but I also want people to look at funny events with an empty brain and say, &#8220;That made me giggle. 
Tarami is a mother of two. She lives with her husband, who is a transferee from one place to another. After working as a girls&#8217; manga artist, she is now a picture diary blogger and illustrator.
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3XvidXm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Click here to buy &#8220;Shoujo manga poku gibberu&#8221; (Complain like a girl manga artist). Click here to buy it.</a>
<a href="https://taratarimainichi.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Her blog &#8220;Taratari Mainichi. Click here</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/yamatarami/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Instagram (108,000 followers!) Click here</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/yamawaraemi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> For Twitter, click here.</a>
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<figure id="attachment_289449" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289449" style="width: 845px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="51618ea2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/E_main.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289449" class="wp-caption-text"> Shoujo manga poku gibberu.&#8221; (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA) This book is based on an illustration work that often gets a lot of attention on SNS, and includes many newly drawn illustrations!　The delicate illustrations and the mismatched &#8220;housewife stuff&#8221; will make you grin nonstop!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_289450" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289450" style="width: 846px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="027f1900"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/1_sub1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289450" class="wp-caption-text"> （The illustrations are so delicate that you can&#8217;t stop grinning at the mismatched &#8220;housewives&#8217; tales&#8221;! (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_289451" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289451" style="width: 845px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8f1770c8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/2_sub2.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289451" class="wp-caption-text"> (&#8220;Shoujo manga poku gibberu.&#8221; Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_289452" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289452" style="width: 845px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7e01497f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/3_sub3.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289452" class="wp-caption-text"> (&#8220;Shoujo manga poku gibberu.&#8221; Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_289453" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289453" style="width: 846px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e245506f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/01/4_sub8.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289453" class="wp-caption-text"> (&#8220;Shoujo manga poku bitchy.&#8221; Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA) (Tara Minoru/KADOKAWA)</figcaption></figure>

 Chimasa Ide

 An illustration of a "typical housewife" complaining in a girl's manga-like style is gaining sympathy on social networking sites. We asked Tara Minoru, a former manga artist and picture diary blogger, about her shift from commercial magazines to blogging, its merits, and her writing activities.

A popular girls’ manga-style “A Housewife’s Daydiary” of housewives complaining about their laundry being covered in tissues.

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