Too realistic! The secret story behind the birth of “The Queen of Location Bento,” a manga that has become a hot topic in the TV industry.

One of the indispensable items in the production of TV programs is location bento. At drama production sites, where filming continues from early morning to late at night, it is not unusual for all three meals a day to be location bento. With the addition of late-night meals, there are even times when four meals are consumed. Location bento, the “work meal” of celebrities, who are often food connoisseurs, is an exquisite gourmet food that has not yet been explored by the general public.

A manga that sheds light on the appeal of such “location bento” has appeared, “Queen of Location Bento,” which started serializing on “LINE Manga” on March 27. The first episode, which was first published on Twitter last December (and the first two episodes in the series), was already groundbreaking. In addition to the food terror element of “location bento,” the story realistically depicts the backstage and human aspects of drama production, and like the colorful bentos that make it hard to stop eating, it is a work that makes you want to savor the rest of the story.

The main character is Yoneko Tawara, who works as a production assistant in the drama filming production department. Although her enthusiasm often causes her to spin out of control and make mistakes, she has an extraordinary passion for location bento and works hard to raise morale on location. Yoneko’s dedication to location bento and the way she eats them with relish are the main points of the film.

The other main character is the chief assistant director, Seiga Nagumo. He is a man with a good work ethic who scolds Yoneko for her frequent failures with “KOMEDAWARA! but his tsundere attitude of secretly following up and protecting her is sure to make many girls swoon.

The “location bento manga,” the first of its kind in history, was created by Tsunoda Fumu (name) and drawn by Saegusa Kei. The reason for the ultra-realistic depiction of the core drama production is the original author, Noyama Aki. Although he has remained completely anonymous and has not revealed his face even to the editors in charge of his work so as not to make it difficult for him to do his day job, he is a “man in the middle” of the TV industry. He is a “middle man” in the TV industry, someone who knows what goes on behind the scenes of a TV drama shoot. There was a major reason why Mr. Noyama chose location bens as the theme of this issue.

He said, “Since the COVID-19 crisis began in 2020, production crews have been required to have their own breakfast before gathering, caterers have been forced to refrain from catering from a hygienic standpoint, and location bento for lunch and dinner have been reduced to a silent meal. There were really a lot of restrictions. The entire food and beverage industry was hit hard, and when I thought about the number of restaurants that provided location bento that had been ordered, I thought, “It must be very difficult.

Some people think that you have to be a specialist to buy location bento, but if you have a large quantity for an event or company meeting, they can deliver them to you. With every family refraining from eating out and the demand for takeout increasing, I thought that if I made a manga featuring location bento, people would know about their appeal and that they can be purchased by the general public, and I would be able to give a little back to the location bento shops that have been so kind to me. …… I wanted to do that.”

Mr. Noyama approached Cork, an agent for manga artists and novelists, with the project and started production . I have learned that it takes more time to make a manga than a drama. While it was taking so long from conception to unveiling, we had already revived the standard breakfast location bento ‘Popeye’ and catering at the site (laugh),” he said, adding that some aspects of the project did not go according to his original plan.

The location bento at the filming site has been restored, but I think that the situation is now that they are struggling economically due to the rising prices of commodities. So our stance remains the same: ‘We would be happy if we could help the location bento shops by making it into a manga. And since everything that appears in the manga is real, it is all location bento that “Mr. X, whom I admire, must have eaten before. If you read the manga and think it looks delicious, I hope you will try it for yourself.