<figure id="attachment_407560" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407560" style="width: 758px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="802f77ee"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/3646d88b8a1b3daa4e8cfbf09540a41f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407560" class="wp-caption-text">The award-winning work by Usagi Tsuchiya was released on January 10. The cover is by illustrator Posuka Demizu.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> I was always guessing, even at my part-time job.</span></h3>
<p> Takeru Kaido of &#8220;The Glory of Team Batista&#8221; and Hotei Shinkawa of &#8220;The Testament of My Ex&#8221; &#8230;&#8230;. Takarajimasha&#8217;s &#8220;This Mystery is Amazing! Grand Prize, but this year a new and unique Grand Prize winner was born. She is a 26-year-old female manga artist.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I received the award, I felt a sense of relief that I was able to return the favor. When I saw my father crying, I realized for the first time that I had won a prize. I would like to thank my parents and friends for allowing me to do my creative work this far as I wanted.</span></p>
<p> says Usagi Tsuchiya, winner of the Grand Prize for &#8220;Mysterious Fragrance Comes from a Bakery. It is a collection of &#8220;everyday mysteries&#8221; in which an aspiring manga artist working part-time at a bakery uses her powers of deduction to unravel the secrets of the people around her and solve their troubles. The book was published by Takarajima-sha on January 10, 2013.</p>
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<p> The combination of a bakery and a mystery is quite an unusual one. How did you come up with such a story?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I had a part-time job at a bakery myself when I was in college. I thought it would be more realistic to create my first novel from my own experience rather than forcing a particular setting. In fact, I was able to deduce many things from my part-time job. There is a scene in the novel where the mystery is solved based on the preparation of the egg filling, but that is a true story. It really is, &#8216;The cross section of the egg is coarse. This must have been prepared by a senior gal.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" What about the future? Novelist or manga artist? Or a manga artist?"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">I entered the &#8220;KONOMISU&#8221; Grand Prize in an attempt to take a cue from my mentor.</span></h3>
<p> The story is very fast-paced, and all the characters are unique, attractive, and lively. Once you open the page, you are drawn into the story and finish it in a flash. However, when he wrote the story, he was not so sure about it.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I wanted to win the Grand Prize! I was very anxious as much as I wanted to win the Grand Prize. On the contrary, I was very confident the first time I entered a manga award, but I failed three times in a row (laughs). But I was unsuccessful in three consecutive entries (laughs). (Laughs.) I was more anxious about winning the prize for my novel than for my manga, but I won. I think that&#8217;s how much I put my heart and soul into my work.</span></p>
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<p> As mentioned earlier, Usagi Tsuchiya&#8217;s original title was manga artist and assistant. In 2011, his debut was a runner-up in the Shueisha Akatsuka Award, and he was also selected as an honorable mention in the Shogakukan &#8220;Sousaku Yuri&#8221; Manga Award. In 24, a young lady&#8217;s rap comedy called &#8220;ORB&#8221; was published in &#8220;JUMP SQ.RISE 2024 SPRING. With a good start as a manga artist, why did you decide to enter a novel for the &#8220;Kono Miss&#8221; Grand Prize?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> My manga mentor, Mr. Oginuma X, also writes novels. He also submitted a novel to the &#8220;Kono Miss&#8221; Grand Prize and won the &#8220;Hidden Gem&#8221; (Editor&#8217;s Choice Award). When I saw that, I thought that being a manga artist was a full-time job, but I realized that I could do whatever I wanted!　I thought.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I was also aware that Mr. Oginuma had made it to the final round but had missed out on the Grand Prize, so I thought, &#8220;Let&#8217;s catch up to him! I was also thinking, &#8220;Let&#8217;s take the lead! He told me, &#8216;Thank you, I&#8217;m happy too.</span></p>
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<p> He expressed his enthusiasm for his dual career as a manga artist and a novelist.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I have to give it my all so that no one will say that I am doing both as an escape route. &#8230;&#8230; I feel that pressure, but when I was writing &#8220;Mysterious Fragrance from the Bakery,&#8221; I enjoyed the stimulation of doing something different from manga.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Of course, making time is hard. When I was aiming for the &#8220;Kono Miss&#8221; Grand Prize, I had to cut down on eating time and didn&#8217;t sleep much. I cut my hair and reduced the amount of time I spent in the shower in order to make as much time as possible. But I am doing this for my own sake, so I don&#8217;t feel that it is hard at all. I&#8217;ve been given this opportunity, so I&#8217;d like to do my best at both.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" What is the common &quot;obsession&quot; between novels and manga?"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">No cartoons or novels will feature characters you don&#8217;t like.</span></h3>
<p> Drawing manga and writing novels. Although they seem like completely different creative activities, they are surprisingly similar in many ways.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> There are many technical similarities. For example, a sense of tempo is emphasized in gag manga, and this is something I am aware of in novels as well. The difference is that &#8230;&#8230; I have been a debut manga artist for a year now, and in the case of drawings, the improvement is visible. But with writing, I can&#8217;t really see the growth even after finishing a piece. Even in the latter half of the year, there was still a lot of unnecessary punctuation, and I wondered if I was getting any better.</span></p>
<p> I was not confident until the very end.&#8221; He said, &#8220;I am a manga artist, and I am a novelist. There is one thing in common between myself as a manga artist and myself as a novelist.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I tried not to have people I really disliked appear in the story. The main character in the novel is an aspiring manga artist, but at first he was a dark character, overlapping with myself. I&#8217;m a bit of a negative person. &#8230;&#8230; I had written a scene where he was brooding about &#8216;who am I,&#8217; but I cut that out and replaced it with a character that says, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to do my best! I cut that out and replaced it with a character that says, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to do my best!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I also took the characters of the bakery&#8217;s senior staff, such as Rena and the store manager, and turned them into positive characters that were actually there. This is something I am particular about when drawing manga, and I don&#8217;t intentionally introduce characters I don&#8217;t sympathize with in order to enhance the story.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In my creative works, there are often scenes that make me say, &#8220;Why are you being such a jerk? In creative works, there are often scenes that make you say, &#8220;Why are you being such a jerk? But I want to create a work that everyone can enjoy without being disturbed. That is why I am conscious of setting up characters who all do their best with conviction, and I think that is the kind of work I can create because I am a manga and novelist.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Osamu Tezuka&#39;s words that have influenced me"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Why Do So Many Manga Artists Write Novels?</span></h3>
<p> Surprisingly few people are actually comic book artists who also write novels. What are the reasons for this? We asked Tsuchiya, a manga artist-turned-novelist.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In my case, I was influenced by the words of Osamu Tezuka, whom I heard at a manga award ceremony. He said, &#8216;Don&#8217;t study manga from manga. I think he meant that it is important to be exposed to various forms of entertainment in order to create your own unique worldview. I think one of the reasons why it is easier to become a novelist is because manga is written in the form of a plot when you start drawing, so those processes are common.</span></p>
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<p> Of course, there are many differences in other work processes.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Of course, there are many differences in the other processes,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The same is true of entertainment, which is created to entertain readers, but manga production is a team effort. There are assistants, and everyone talks together to come up with ideas. Novels, on the other hand, are a one-person process. I feel that it is more solitary than being a manga artist.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I also felt that it is difficult to convey blurred scenes in a novel. I was more conscious of the rhythm and tempo of the scenes, because you can&#8217;t convey nuance through pictures as you can in a manga.</span></p>
<p> This made me wonder if he would ever be interested in adapting the Grand Prize-winning work into a manga himself. This work features many delicious-looking breads. I would love to read it in picture form at &#8230;&#8230;.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;d like to see it in other people&#8217;s drawings if I have the chance. If I were to draw it myself?　It should be a completely new story. Because I think the best part of comic books is the chemical reaction that occurs when someone different from the original author draws the story. If I could choose a person to draw it, I would be happy if someone from the shonen manga field would draw it, since I am active in shonen manga.</span></p>
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<p> When asked if he had any ideas for his next work in mind, he replied <span class="strongInContent">, &#8220;After all, I am a manga artist, so I would like to write a mystery with a manga theme.</span></p>
<p> Finally, we asked him to give a message to readers who also aspire to become novelists.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When you are writing, you may wonder if it will be interesting, but I would like you to finish it first. I know it is hard to find the time, but there are quite a few people who manage to work as a company employee and a novelist at the same time. I would like to do the same and continue with a dual job, so let&#8217;s work together!</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_407563" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407563" style="width: 3541px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="32b58a8d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/29aa750d1aa4d768eb84a3e42c7257ee.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407563" class="wp-caption-text"> Tsuchiya&#8217;s self-portrait</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_407564" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407564" style="width: 757px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5e5a8446"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/51494b66b20eaec11fe501f5bdf797f4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407564" class="wp-caption-text"> Mysterious Fragrance from a Bakery&#8221; (Usagi Tsuchiya, published by Takarajimasya)</figcaption></figure>
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<p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4299062647?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_A39J3BKC8N79X8V9XPPX&amp;ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_A39J3BKC8N79X8V9XPPX&amp;social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_A39J3BKC8N79X8V9XPPX&amp;bestFormat=true"> Mysterious Fragrance from a Bakery&#8221; (Usagi Tsuchiya, published by Takarajimasya)</a></p>
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 Naoko Yamamoto

 On January 10, the 23rd "This Miss" Grand Prize winner, Usagi Tsuchiya's award-winning work was released. We caught up with Ms. Tsuchiya, a 26-year-old active female manga artist, to find out more about her unique "true face.

Interview with Usagi Tsuchiya, the unique 26-year-old manga artist who won the “Konomisu” Grand Prize

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