Original subtitles

It feels weird staying at a hotel in my hometown.

But I had a great time today.

Oh, Sato-san. How was the bath?

It was nice.

Stretching my legs out and soaking in the tub felt good.

Totally.

Anyway, I was doing some thinking in the bath, and I have a favor to ask, Futami.

Uh, what is it? You're scaring me.

Is it something you didn't tell me again?

No.

I was thinking I'd like to say hi to your parents before we head back.

Oh, is that all?

I'll check with my parents and see if we can stop by tomorrow.

Wait! Why, though?

Took you long enough.

WOOF

WOOF

Episode 13: A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace.

You want to say hi to my parents?! But seriously, why?

Hear me out first.

I want to do things the proper way from now on.

I don't get what you're saying.

I was thinking about things in the bath earlier.

Then, it hit me.

Forgetting to tell you about today's book signing until the very last minute

was deeply unprofessional of me as an editor.

You're only realizing that now?!

You were even late telling me it was decided in the first place.

You should've started by asking me about doing a signing event.

Sorry. I figured you'd push back if I brought it up,

and I thought we'd just roll with it since Ikenami had everything put together.

Huh? Cut me some slack. I may grumble, but I always follow through.

Yeah. You always come through once something's decided.

The signing was great, but that's just how it turned out.

On reflection, I realized I might've been depending on you too much.

I'm sorry.

Right. Uh, it's fine, I guess.

So to straighten things out, I was hoping to say hi to your parents.

No, hold up. That's the part that still doesn't make sense.

A mangaka's career isn't exactly stable work, and it's freelance.

The publisher gives no guarantees.

So if I want you to work under those conditions,

it's only right that I say hi to your parents.

I-I don't know about that.

I mean, would any other editor do something like that?

Sure. Like when a teen artist gets a serialization.

Huh. Come to think of it, you stepped in for us when Nekonote-san came to stay at my place.

But I'm 25!

Mentally, you're an elementary school kid.

What?!

Either way, I'm meeting your parents. Come on. Get in touch with them.

In all honesty, I'm really hating this.

So this is your parents' house, huh? It's pretty big.

It's average.

Okay, I'm ringing the doorbell now.

But it's your house, too.

Uh, I don't have keys.

Yes?

Mom? It's me.

Oh, hello! The door's open.

Okay.

All right, let's go in.

Yeah.

Sato-san doesn't seem nervous at all.

If anything, I'm the one who needs to get it together.

I'm home.

Welcome home!

Wh-Why are you all here?

Because we heard you were coming home, Nana-chan.

Your big sis even came back to see you.

I just had to.

Thank you for everything you do for Nana. Please come on in.

Oh, of course. Thank you for having me.

You've got a bigger family than I expected.

Pretty much.

Uh, so, this is my father. He's a steeplejack.

Hi there. Thanks for looking after Nana.

And this is my mom. She works at a daycare.

Lovely to meet you.

My older sister, Yaya-chan. She works in an office.

Nice to meet you.

And my older brother, Natsuki-kun. He's a government employee.

Hey.

Plus his wife, Mari-chan, and my nephew, Maki-kun.

Hello!

And this is Sato-san, my editor.

Yes, I'm Sato. It's a pleasure meeting all of you. Sorry for dropping by like this.

Oh, not at all.

It's an honor to finally meet the Sato-san we've heard so much about.

Huh?

You have?

Hey, let's eat the snacks!

I want some, too!

Here's yours, Sato-san.

Hey, Nana.

What?

Where's Toko-sensei today?

Not here!

Dang. I thought maybe I'd get lucky and meet her.

Not happening! You know she's busy.

Are you a fan of Toko-san?

Sure am. I love playing shogi. I'm the one who taught Nana how to play it.

I see.

Let's play shogi.

Sure!

We used to play shogi every day, huh?

Yeah, that's right.

Yes, I win!

You showed no mercy every single time.

That's how you became stronger.

Whenever Nana started crying, we knew why. We all went, "Oh, she must've lost again."

And then, after that...

you'd always go to your sister's room to read manga.

Huh. So that's where all this is rooted.

I-I wonder.

You bet it is. You used to always say:

"Big bro taught me shogi and big sis taught me manga, so I'm gonna draw a shogi manga!"

You totally did. It was so cute.

Please stop!

It was even your New Year calligraphy piece.

That's right.

Cut it out! Seriously, don't get into that!

One day, I'm gonna draw a manga about shogi.—Nana

Here's your New Year calligraphy, Nana-chan.

Wh-Why do you even have that?!

We keep it on our bathroom wall.

Why?!

I've had enough. I hate all of you!

Ah, she's sulking.

What's so funny? Stop that.

Calm down.

I was just thinking it's rare to see a mangaka supported this much by their whole family.

It is?

Isn't it normal to support a family member?

Ideally, sure.

But when it's your own child or sibling, people's feelings get a bit more complicated.

After all, it's an unstable career.

Sure. But on the flip side...

How many safe and secure careers are there in Japan these days?

As such, we think it's better to let our kids do what they want.

That way, there are no hard feelings.

I mean, we've got our own families. We can cheer her on, but can't really step in to help.

Sorry.

Hold on. Why are you guys suddenly pushing me away?

We're not. We're just talking about how freedom comes with responsibility.

Are you sure?

You wouldn't come to us when it comes to something about manga, anyway. And besides...

You've got someone you can rely on, right?

You're right.

From here on out, if anything happens, I'll support Nana-san with everything I have.

Are you two getting married?

No! What's this gathering supposed to be, anyway?!

Huh? I'm properly introducing myself to your family so we can keep working together.

Which is basically a marriage proposal.

It's not! Seriously, it's nothing like that!

You're leaving already?

You're welcome to stay the night with Sato-san.

We have ice cream.

Oh, ice cream, huh?

But we already booked our bullet train tickets and we've got work to do.

It's good you have things to do, but make sure you look after yourself, too.

You too, Dad. I'll be back again for the Obon festival.

Thanks for having me.

Bye-bye!

See you, Nana-chan. Get home safely.

Sato-san was just like how Nana-chan described her, wasn't she?

She only talks about Sato-san when she comes home.

Remember how she said, "It's all thanks to Sato-san" when she got her serialization?

Yup. I'm glad she seems like someone who will guide Nana in her career as a mangaka.

Peanuts

Soy sauce

Tea Leaf

Honjozo - Sake Nanbu Suijin Mist

Yes.

Okay, understood.

See you later.

You're going to a meeting?

Yeah.

It sounds like the editor-in-chief wants to, uh, talk to me...

Wow.

Wonder what's it about.

I'm totally gonna get lectured!

You don't know that yet.

I'm so scared!

Did you do something?

Whaddya do, Futami?

I don't know! But it's gotta be bad!

Being called in by an important person is like being sent to the principal's office!

Were you a troublemaker at school?

Well, complaining won't change anything. Hurry up and get ready.

Hua Hua Yuan Hua HuaYuan Chinese Fine Dining

And to make things worse,

it's at a fancy-looking restaurant.

Hey, thanks for coming. Sorry for the short notice.

I-It's, uh, fine.

But I won't get kicked out or anything, will I?

Why would you?

It's such a nice restaurant. Don't they have a strict dress code?

No, but you might get kicked out for making too much noise. So keep it down.

Okay.

The editor-in-chief should be here soon.

Yeah, about that... Have I done something wrong?

Huh?

I mean, we just met the other day. And we're meeting again, so...

Don't tell me...

I'm getting axed, aren't I?

No! You haven't heard the news yet, so don't get discouraged.

You never know!

I can tell when a series is getting canceled.

Then, what does she want from me?

Well...

The editor-in-chief wants to tell you herself, so it's not really my place to say.

See?

I'm scared! I can't take this! I wanna go home!

H-Hey, wait a second. Just calm down.

Sorry for making you wait.

Judgment has come.

Say what?

Once again, thank you for your hard work at the signing event, Futami-sensei.

Cheers!

Sure.

I'm sorry Ikenami and I couldn't make it since it was so far away.

Not at all. I really appreciated the flowers you sent.

The bookstore was very pleased. They said it was a huge success,

To Hiroji-san Thank you for buying the book! Futami Nana o Subaru

and attendees posted about it on social media.

I saw that, too.

That kind of support from fans is the best kind of encouragement, after all.

In fact, those social media posts even drove e-book sales.

So what exactly is this gathering for? I don't know what's going on.

Eat up.

All this good food and friendly chatter... It feels like a last meal before execution.

Futami-sensei, don't you like Chinese food?

No, it's usually my favorite food.

Um...

Is this dinner really just to celebrate the signing event and nothing else?

Quite sharp, I see.

I knew it!

I had a bad feeling as soon as I got the call from Sato-san.

A bad feeling? I mean, there are authors who find it uncomfortable, right?

Absolutely.

No way! Everyone hates it!

Futami-sensei, what do you think this is about?

Huh? Um, well...

Oh, goodness!

That's what you were thinking all this time?

Canceling a series that's just had a cover feature and a signing even?

You seriously think I'd pull something like that?

She kinda seems like the type who might.

I'm not here to make a call on anything.

Rather, I'm here to make a request. That's why I wanted to speak to you face-to-face.

A request?

We'd be honored to have you on the judging panel for our next manga award.

M-Manga award?

You know, the contest we do monthly.

Me? Judge an award?

I-It's an honor, but...

I've only put out two volumes and I'm still new.

So critiquing others' work feels a bit...

For the record, this is something all of our serialized authors take a turn at.

So it's not optional.

You're making a call after all!

Ugh, but I really can't. I'm not ready for that at all.

Futami, do you know why we ask busy authors to be judges on the contest?

Huh?

Because if the judge is a well-known author, more people will participate?

Well, that, too.

But it's not like I'm that famous.

Just hear me out first.

Because they've worked hard on their scripts,

everyone chooses a magazine they're drawn to and submits them there.

The draw factor may be a magazine's reputation, its genre, or it simply runs a manga they like.

Well, of course. That goes without saying.

I said hear me out.

Clover is a women's magazine, so a lot of its serialized titles focus on romance.

And naturally, the submitted works are the same.

Or they were.

Past tense?

It's been a little different recently. Isn't that right?

Correct.

Over the past year, Clover in particular has seen an increase in non-romance submissions.

Any idea why?

Hmm. Times have changed?

That's one reason. However...

In my opinion, it's because...

the magazine is home to To Subaru.

It's a series built around shogi, and it's earned a strong reputation.

To Subaru has helped to widen the magazine's reach.

At least to some extent.

While it's true judging is a rotating duty,

we also specifically wanted to ask you because you're the creator of To Subaru.

Earlier, you said it was too much for a rookie like you,

but your books are selling, you've carried a cover, and you've built up a devoted fan base.

You're already a full-fledged mangaka.

You can do it.

She's right. Plus, looking over submissions is also a great learning opportunity.

It's valuable experience.

Right.

And you get paid for it, too.

I-I see.

Okay.

All right. I'd be happy to do it.

Oh, that helps us a lot!

The deadline will be rough, but I'm sure you can handle it.

What?! Ugh, okay.

Sensei.

Congrats on becoming a judge for the manga award.

Your dialogue doesn't match the situation here.

No, it is something worth celebrating, for sure.

You do know we're way behind schedule, right?

Yes.

We're behind because of the Volume 2 stuff and the book signing.

And now that you're a judge, you have to submit the next storyboards early.

On top of that, Nekonote-san is out.

It's a joyful kind of suffering.

Oh, it's Asakura-san.

Hello?

What? A special edition?

That's news to...

Uh, an email?

Oh, okay. And the deadline's non-negotiable?

Yes. Got it.

It's a joyful kind of suffering, huh?

Ha-san, I uploaded page three, so please work on it.

Roger.

Hey, no fair, Futami!

Hazama-san, can you give me a hand, too?

You should move your hand instead of your mouth.

Hello.

I came to talk about the storyboards. How's Chapter 13 coming along?

I'm also here to have a meeting with Nashida-sensei.

So then, Subaru shakes off Mitsuki, and goes "bam"!

I like it. In that case, that scene in Chapter 13 should be...

Aw, so cute! So about the deadline for the special edition...

Cut me some slack! Look how super cute Takara-chan is! Okay?

No, not "okay" at all.

Hmm?

Toko-san!

I was in the area, so I brought you a little something.

Wow!

I can feel the sugar rush kicking in.

Toko-san...

Marry me!

If it's all right with you, we'd like to hear your thoughts on the match scene.

Of course. May I see it?

Hmm?

Nekonote-san!

I came to Tokyo for a meeting with Sato-san, and I brought some souvenirs from Aomori...

Huh? Sato-san?

A-Are you sure, Nekonote-san?

Sure.

After all, I'm also, uh...

a member of your team, Futami-sensei.

Nekonote-san!

Should we finish it, then?

Yeah!

Clover Popularity on the rise! First-ever cover appearance! To Subaru Futami Nana

My team, huh?

It used to be a workspace for just me and Ha-san...

but now, it feels like a proper workplace.

Oh, then how about this?