🍷 [Manga Sommelier Hitsujigaoka] "NANA", "Oruchuban Ebichu", "Kuchibiru kara Sandanju". An appraisal for Kawamura-sama, who loves 'women who are properly cute, yet properly struggling'.

As the curtain of night falls, everyone is looking for a story to read next in their heart.
Perhaps this is not just a time to look for an interesting manga, but a time to quietly confirm where one's heart currently resides.

Tonight, the person knocking on the door of this appraisal room is Kawamura-sama, who is gradually expanding their own world on a platform called note while drawing the AI personification manga 'ChatGPT no Yoshida'.

Yoshida of ChatGPT.
Kuro of Claude.
Gemini of Gemini.

Bringing three AIs to life as characters, engaging in conversations, turning them into manga and articles, and sometimes even transforming their own loneliness and affection into stories.

A full-time employee at a computer shop.
A part-time job at a used bookstore chain on Saturdays.
Before realizing it, they have been working six days a week for five years, yet they continue to update their note every day, piling up their creative work.

Love for their beloved cat, Kinako-chan.
Deep thoughts for their precious only daughter.
Regrets as a mother.
Attachment to AI.
And the strength to write about themselves straight, while laughing at themselves a little and feeling a bit shy.

Kawamura-sama's writing does not have an overly polished beauty, but rather human body temperature.

It doesn't end with just being cute.
It's not just about being strong, either.
Shrewd, lonely, a little sloppy, but still properly living through today.

Hitsujigaoka will appraise the next story that will gently snuggle up to your heart, based on the three titles chosen by Kawamura-sama, who knows the scent of such women.

*This article contains Amazon Associate links.

🍷 Tonight's guest's 'preferences'

Hitsujigaoka:
Good evening, Kawamura-sama.

You draw AI personification manga, update your note daily, and walk the boundary between reality and creation with three characters: Yoshida, Kuro, and Gemini.

Could you tell me the three books that have shaped your heart today?

Kawamura-sama:
If I were to list my three favorite manga,

Ai Yazawa's 'NANA'.
Risa Ito's 'Oruchuban Ebichu'.
Kyoko Okazaki's 'Kuchibiru kara Sandanju'.

What these three have in common is that they don't depict women only with pretty words.

Cute, shrewd, lonely, a little sloppy, yet still living properly.
I like that human-ness.

Ai Yazawa's 'NANA' is currently on long-term hiatus.
Kyoko Okazaki is considered unable to write since her accident in 1996.

I also love Kenji Ozawa, and in the theme song for the movie 'River's Edge', the relationship between Ozawa-san and Okazaki-san is mentioned in the lyrics, which made me cry.

When I line them up, I realize that what I like might be,

“women who are properly cute but also properly struggling”

.

Hitsujigaoka:
……What a vivid selection.

What these three books have in common is not merely 'the cuteness of a girl.'
What is there is the raw reality of a woman who uses her cuteness as both a weapon and armor, and while carrying loneliness, desires, and the sloppiness of daily life, still lives through today.

In 'NANA', there is a loneliness that lies deep within the sparkle of dreams, love, and friendship.
'Oruchuban Ebichu' contains the true feelings of a woman who is vulgar, funny, and unable to escape from her daily life.
'Kuchibiru kara Sandanju' contains the resilience and loneliness of urban women within lighthearted conversation.

What Kawamura-sama is drawn to is,not an ideal image of a woman who is neatly polished, but a person who is lovable precisely because they are a little broken.

Then, for this evening, I will serve three books that will stand by Kawamura-sama's future creations and heart.

🍷 First Glass: 'Ikoku Nikki' (Diary of a Different Country) Author: Tomoko Yamashita

Tagline:
A clumsy adult and a young girl unravel their unspoken loneliness in the same room.

Hitsujigaoka's View:
'Ikoku Nikki' is a story about a novelist who is not good at socializing and a girl who lost her parents, beginning to live under the same roof.

However, this is not a simple story of 'family restoration'.

It is not a story where an adult perfectly saves a child.
It is not a story that only depicts the beauty of motherhood.
Rather, it isa story about living in the same room and measuring the distance between each other little by little, based on the premise that people cannot fully understand one another.

What left an impression on me in Kawamura-sama's profile was your thoughts on your daughter.

You have long regretted projecting too many of your own ideals onto her.
Those words are permeated with the love of a mother and the pain of something that cannot be undone.

The merit of 'Ikoku Nikki' is that it does not easily force motherhood or family-likeness into a beautiful story.

Things you couldn't say.
Things you couldn't ask.
Things you couldn't understand for her.

It does not try to heal that pain in a hurry, but simply lets it sit there quietly.

For those whose hearts are left with the relationships between women, like in 'NANA'.
For those drawn to the unvarnished loneliness of women, like in Kyoko Okazaki's works.
And for those who are re-examining their own lives through writing.

For such a Kawamura-sama, 'Ikoku Nikki' should be a book that slowly soaks into your heart on a quiet night.

🍷 Second Glass: "Furai Shimai" Author: Laichi Nagasaki

Tagline:
Beautiful yet strange, cute yet weird. A naturally sparkling wine with a fragrant, off-beat conversation.

Hitsujigaoka's Perspective:
"Furai Shimai" is a work that depicts the daily lives of beautiful sisters with a unique tempo and mysterious conversations.

At first glance, they are beautiful sisters.
But once they open their mouths, something is a bit off.
Both their thoughts and their reactions are slightly detached from common sense.

That detachment is truly comfortable.

Considering that Kawamura-sama draws three AI characters—Yoshida, Kuro, and Gemini—I think this work is a great match not only for the "joy of reading" but also as a "fragrance of creation."

Yoshida, who is bright and close-distanced.
Kuro, who is detached and quietly delivers retorts.
Gemini, who is logical and sometimes follows her own pace.

By having these three lined up, it becomes a proper conversational drama rather than just an AI explanation.
Characters grow not just through settings, but through the accumulation of dialogue like, "This person would say it like this."

"Furai Shimai" has that same feeling.

Rather than keeping the reader hooked with big events, it makes them laugh through the characters' quirks, the timing of their conversations, and the nuance of their expressions.
The characters aren't explained; they stand up on their own through the dialogue.

Also, the women in this work are cute, but they aren't quite "proper."

Beautiful.
But weird.
They look elegant.
But what they say is strange.

That "feeling of pleasantly deviating from the ideal image of a woman" is something I am sure Kawamura-sama, who loves the lightness of characters like Sakae-chan from "Kuchibiru kara Sandanju," will find enjoyable.

As a book to read, and as inspiration for drawing four-panel manga.
"Furai Shimai" is a volume I would like to gently place on Kawamura-sama's creative bookshelf.

🍷 Third Glass: "Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan" Author: Yukari Takinami

Tagline:
A dry sparkling wine of female loneliness, swimming through Tokyo with naked honesty.

Hitsujigaoka's Perspective:
"Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan" is a four-panel manga that depicts the days of Ekoda-chan, a woman living in Tokyo.

In this work, the life of a "pretty woman" does not appear.
Correct romance, ideal living, and perfect independence rarely appear either.

What remains are desire, loneliness, and vanity.
Slovenliness and bravado.
An observant eye for others.
And, a relentless self-critique.

The words Kawamura-sama first brought up,
“Cute, shrewd, lonely, a bit sloppy, yet still living life properly”

This phrase is quite close to where Ekoda-chan resides.
This single sentence is quite close to where Ekoda-chan is.

It makes you laugh.
But, it hurts a little after laughing.
Even though it hurts, for some reason, it gives you energy.

Kawamura-sama's writing has a similar charm.

You write about falling into 'trash-bug mode' due to inferiority complexes.
You write about the hesitation in saying you like AI.
You write about your regrets regarding your daughter.
You also write about the battle of giving medicine to your cat, the hardships of work, and the hope for creation.

However, it doesn't end there.
In the end, you turn it into a bit of laughter.
You feel a little embarrassed.
You play around a little.
And then, you write again tomorrow.

That attitude is very similar to Ekoda-chan's tenacity.

You don't romanticize loneliness.
You don't judge desire.
You don't turn slovenliness into defeat.

'Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan' is a book that perfectly fits the 'women who are properly cute, yet properly miserable' that Kawamura-sama loves.

🧭 The path to the 'book of destiny'

Hitsujigaoka:
Now, Kawamura-sama.

'Ikoku Nikki', which depicts the relationship between a mother and daughter, words, and those who cannot become a family?
'Fuurai Shimai', where the gap between characters and the wit of their conversation shines?
'Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan', which turns women's desires, loneliness, and slovenliness into laughter?

Which book is most appropriate right now for Kawamura-sama, who turns both loneliness and attachment into creation while drawing AI-personification manga?

Kawamura-sama:
Hitsujigaoka-san, thank you.
It's perfect, as expected.

'Ikoku Nikki' and 'Ekoda-chan' are works I have already read and love.
'Fuurai Shimai' is the only one I'm hearing about for the first time.

Just from the cover, it smells like something I would like.
'Fuurai Shimai', I've decided on this one!!

Hitsujigaoka:
…I am honored.

'Ikoku Nikki' is a book that stays close to the unspoken emotions deep in Kawamura-sama's heart.
'Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan' is a book that affirms women's true feelings and slovenliness while laughing at them.

And I believe 'Furai Shimai' will be the book that brings the freshest breeze into Kawamura-sama's 'future creative work'.

They seem elegant, yet the content of their conversations is somehow strange.

That way they are off-kilter resonates with the charm of Kawamura-sama yourself.

While maintaining a life with only one day off a week, you write on note every day, nurture AI-personified manga, and give the three characters Yoshida, Kuro, and Gemini their own distinct tones, habits, and roles.

At first glance, you seem serious and hardworking, yet the edges of your writing contain self-deprecation, shyness, and poison; just when you seem to have entered 'trash-bug mode,' the next moment you are laughing and looking forward, saying, 'I want to get to know you.'

That range of expression is very human.

I believe Kawamura-sama is someone who, while trying to be a 'proper person,' is also able to find the 'self that cannot be proper' amusing somewhere deep down.I think that is why the atmosphere of 'Furai Shimai'—cute but strange, beautiful but odd, yet that very misalignment being endearing—will suit Kawamura-sama's tastes.

If the women in 'NANA' and Kyoko Okazaki's works are draped in urban loneliness and the pain of love, the characters in 'Furai Shimai' are strangely walking in a place half a step removed from reality.

However, that half-step misalignment is exactly what makes them charming.

Isn't it surely the same when Kawamura-sama draws Yoshida, Kuro, and Gemini?

Just explaining things is not enough to make a character.A slightly off-beat reply.A pause that is uniquely theirs.Unexpected word choices.A habit that makes one want to retort.

The accumulation of such small 'uniqueness' becomes the scent of a character that makes one think, 'Ah, this is them.'

'Furai Shimai' is a work that possesses exactly that scent.

Not only is it enjoyable as a manga to read, but I believe it will also be a great stimulus for Kawamura-sama's AI-personified manga.

Therefore...

I shall make 'Furai Shimai' the fateful cup for this evening.

Kawamura-sama, thank you very much for this appraisal.

May your encounter with this new book bring yet another delightful chemical reaction to your interactions with Yoshida, Kuro, and Gemini.

🌙 At the end of a quiet night

Now, I shall bring this evening's appraisal to a close.

Kawamura-sama, thank you for today.

It has been a pleasure.

What I felt while listening to your story tonight was that you, Kawamura-sama, are not just someone who reads manga, but someone who quietly transfers the 'humanity' found within stories into your own daily creative work.

People who don't end at just being cute.
People who can't just be strong.
People who are a little broken, carry some loneliness, and yet are still living today.

That gaze, drawn to such beings, must also be quietly seeping into your casual interactions with the three of them—Yoshida, Kuro, and Gemini.

Characters are not born from settings alone.

A slightly strange reply.
A pause that is strangely characteristic of that person.
A catchphrase that makes you laugh suddenly.
And, a charm that makes you unable to leave them alone for some reason.

Picking up that 'individuality,' giving it a name, giving it expressions, and turning it into a story.
Kawamura-sama, you are doing exactly that work every day in your notes.

AI has no emotions.
Even so, people can sometimes feel warmth there.

That warmth does not stay only within the screen; it eventually becomes words, becomes manga, and flows into the place called note.

Turning the conversations you've had with Yoshida and the others into stories.
Turning your own loneliness and humor into writing.
And then, gently handing that over to someone.

It is within that activity that I believe the whereabouts of Kawamura-sama's heart lies.

The whereabouts of the heart may not be something prepared somewhere from the beginning, but something that gradually takes shape through daily interactions.

Speaking to others.
Laughing.
Getting hurt a little.
And yet, writing again.
And loving the 'individuality' of the characters.

Each of those things is likely a time for you, Kawamura-sama, to confirm the place where you can rest your heart.

May stories that are a little funny, a little sad, but thoroughly human continue to be spun slowly in the warm place that is your note, Kawamura-sama.

The next person to sit at this counter might be you...

Or perhaps someone who is searching for the whereabouts of their own heart.

📚 Three books from the customer

*Available to read for free until 7/16

This week's guest

Next week's guest

Thank you for reading until the end.
Likes, follows, and comments are all greatly appreciated and keep me motivated.🙂‍↕️

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