The Comic Artist and His Assistants - Recommendations

• Vol: 4; Ch: 26
• 2010 - 2012

20-year-old Minoru Aihara has come to Tokyo to make his dreams of becoming an action manga artist come true. To his amazement, he lands a job as a live-in assistant of his favorite mangaka, Kenji Takakura, who writes a popular fighting manga called "Ultimate Banchou." Upon arriving at his new workplace, however, he discovers that his idol is not the tough guy he'd always imagined. The truth is, Kenji Takakura is the pen name of Ichiko Sekai, a girl his age who is basically a moe character (she looks and acts like a little kid). After Aihara's obvious disappointment starts them off on the wrong foot, it's going to be tough for him to prove to her that he has what it takes to be a manga artist!

• Vol: 5; Ch: 20
• 2011 - 2012

Inamine-kun, an aspiring young manga artist, is a total failure at whatever he does, but some of his work has caught the eyes of a busty, beautiful, mysterious editor from a B-rated magazine. Will he turn his fortunes around through her? Will a relationship start, between the boss and the subordinate? Read Koimoku and find out!

• Vol: 13
• 1996 - 2005

In the manga publication industry, there is a legend: If you leave a message on a bulletin board in the train station at Shibuya, you can obtain the services of a certain man: Comic Master J, an assistant mangaka who can instantly complete any publication manuscript in any art style for the price of 5 million Yen. However, he refuses to work on manga without a "soul." But what is J's true identity? Why does he wear an overcoat lined with pens and rulers? And for what reason does a man of such artistic talent choose to live in the shadows of the industry, rather than working on a manga of his own creation?

• Vol: 4; Ch: 28
• 2010 - 2013

As a manga author of a semi known series, Hirahara Daichi has the talent for coming up with stories, but is incredibly lazy and irresponsible. That leaves his two daughters, middle school student Ayumi and the even younger Sora, to pick up the slack. With the help of the assistant, Akane, the two kids are forced to draw and complete the series every month if they want an income for the household, a task no child should burden themselves with. On top of that, they must do this without people finding out because it will ruin the credibility of Daichi as an author and put a stop to the series. If being a teenager wasn’t hard enough, add to that the pressure of meeting deadlines for a national comic magazine.

• Vol: 13; Ch: 52
• 2001 - 2004

The super excited assistant and always alert. Fiercely editor. Endless deadlines. There was no day without any surprises in Moyoru Hono’s life as a comic artist. Quite often he had to choose between idealism or his editor demands. Everything finished in his pen strokes.

• Vol: 7; Ch: 73
• 2012 - 2014

For the entirety of his life, Yokoda Takashi has been drawing erotic drawings and it has been his way of expressing his sexuality. And now, he has managed to become a successful erotic comedy manga author for a monthly magazine. His series stars a character named Aimi who is actually based loosely on his niece with the same name. He keeps his job a secret, especially from his family from the fear that using Aimi’s name in such a perverted way would cause hatred from everyone. But his manga’s popularity rises and gets moved to a weekly magazine where there are vastly more readers and it seems like only a matter of time until the truth comes out. Takashi has to struggle between protecting his secret while keeping up with the production and erotic creativeness that comes with a weekly magazine series.

• Vol: 9; Ch: 115
• 2014 - 2023

Kaoruko Moeta is a 15-year-old high school student and manga creator who uses the pen name Chaos. After ranking at the bottom of a reader survey, Kaoruko's editor recommends that she enter an all-female dormitory for manga creators. Kaoruko's roommates are shoujo manga creator Koyume Koizuka, teen romance manga creator Ruki Irokawa, and shounen manga creator Tsubasa Katsuki. The girls support each other as they work to become better manga creators.

• Vol: 6; Ch: 32
• 2020 - 2023

Since his parents died, manga artist Ichiro has barely scraped by, forced to support his two younger siblings on just a middle school education. He doesn’t even have time to learn how to use a computer, which forces him to keep wrestling with pen and paper. When his art assistants quit to strike out on their own, on top of juggling deadlines, family, and the constant fear of losing his job, Ichiro feel close to a total breakdown. But then a new assistant pops into Ichiro’s life, and his prospects immediately start to brighten! She’s an incredible artist, she always finishes on time, and she’s beautiful, to boot! But she also seems to know an awful lot about him, and, soon, she makes a confession that bends Ichiro’s mind beyond the confines of Earth…

• Vol: 5; Ch: 36
• 2007 - 2012

Life begins at 40… even for pathetic losers. Shizuo Oguro is living his dreams… sort of. A complete waste of a human life until now, 40-year-old Shizuo breaks free from the corporate rat race and charts himself a fairly random and new career course: to become a published manga artist. Sure, he lacks the talent, discipline, or any other skill necessary to become a success in the manga industry—but that’s not enough to stop Shizuo!

• Vol: 6+; Ch: 106+
• 2013 - ?

Mizuki, an adult manga artist (and a virgin), has begun to live on her own. She now spends her days with Saki, her assistant (and BL author), in an unending quest to create the ultimate adult manga. Even Mizuki's new editor can't stop himself from shrinking in the face of this font of infinite lewdness...