Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun

3rd Place in the overall Bunko rankings

Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun

Interview with Yaku Yuuki

Tomozaki steadily approaches riajuu territory in order to take on Life.

Now then, what kind of person is the writer who produced this novel?

Is he a serious otaku like Tomozaki?

Or perhaps a riajuu like Hinami?

In this interview, we get Yaku Yuuki to speak at length about a number of things, from his surprising background prior to becoming a writer, to the future prospects of this work!

Interviewer: Kakizaki Ken

Illustrations: Fly

PROFILE

Yaku Yuuki

Recipient of the Award for Excellence at the 10th Shogakukan Light Novel Awards for his work 「Mantenkazari no Ganbariron!」, making his debut in 2016 with the same work under a different name「Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun」.

With an unshakeable popularity, Jaku-chara makes it to the top 3!

A work in which the author makes use of their past experiences

── It was two years ago that「Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun」made its first appearance in the「Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!」rankings at 8th place. It has been steadily ranking up, taking 7th place last year, and 3rd place this year. Please tell us your impressions.

Yaku: I'm very happy. For me, since it made the rankings twice so far, I was expecting voters to already be all 「Isn't that enough of『Tomozaki-kun』?」and push for a newer work. That's why when I first heard that it made the top 3, I was extremely surprised, going「Eh!」over the phone. I could really feel how so many passionate fans were pushing for it despite this being the third year, and it made me want to keep working at it even harder.

── The first time around it was mainly collaborator votes that made up the total, but the number of votes received from the general populace have been increasing year by year. It even took first place in points from votes in the 15-19 year old category.

Yaku: I'm happy about that! After all, the contents are what I'd like people in that age group to read.

── We saw many voters commenting that your depictions of the classroom atmosphere have an incredible sense of realism.

Yaku: That's right. Since around the time I was a high school student, I've been going about my business while looking at my surroundings after stepping back a little, wondering things like, 'what makes something interesting?' or 'how is this made?'. I liked putting those parts of the whole structure into words, so I probably made use of those experiences when incorporating them into the story.

── And in the story, Hinami is a high schooler who observes her surroundings in order to put things into practice.

Yaku: During my high school days I was quite cheerful, though it does look like Hinami was somewhere in my mind (laughs). But there were many times when I would act while reading the mood, so I suspect that in reality I might have more closely resembled Izumi Yuzu.

── So you're more similar to not one of the male characters like Tomozaki or Mizusawa, but one of the female characters.

Yaku: Yes, it wouldn't be one of the male characters. Also, don't you think it would be embarrassing for me to say of my own accord that I resemble Mizusawa? (laugh).

── Still, with regards to the pick-up[1] techniques used by Mizusawa in Volume 6, I've heard that Yuubi Nagi-sensei witnessed you actually using them, Yaku-sensei. [2]

Yaku: (laughs) That's because he is a writer who rarely sees that side of me. I was with him at an AniClub, that is, we were at a club event at which anime songs play, and he watched as I talked to boys and girls alike. After all, talking to all sorts of people and increasing your number of acquaintances is also one of the things to enjoy there.

── Indeed, you do have that Yō-chara[3] feeling, don't you!

Yaku: Well, but it does feel like that character is like a front. I'm not a cheerful person by nature, so while raising a Hinami in my mind I would analytically think about how to present myself in a cheerful manner. I think it might be precisely because I have had those real-life experiences that「Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun」came to be structured in this way.

── Even in the story, the various training methods that Hinami uses to teach Tomozaki make quite the impression. How did you come up with those?

Yaku: Basically, a lot of them were originals. Although it would have also been a simple matter to use self-development or how-to books, because I was writing a novel, the crash course itself needed to be interesting, so while using existing training methods as reference, I would throw in something new and show them in a different light.

── That part in the 6th volume where he took a picture of a friend's usually-not-seen facial expression and uploaded it to Instagram was also interesting.

Yaku: Wouldn't you say that SNS plays an integral role in the life of a high school student these days? That's why I thought that including something like that might bring it closer to today's reality, and so I put it in.

── There's an age gap between Yaku-sensei and today's high school students. Do you have some kind of device for bridging that gap?

Yaku: I make comparisons with the things I've seen during my time as a high school student. Nowadays it's Instagram or Youtube, so I'd say a lot has been changing in terms of appearance. However, as for the fundamental structure, I think that no matter how many hundred, how many thousand years pass, it will repeat without changing. So I feel that if one were to study what today's high school students have an interest in, they would be able to create a story that fits those. Also, there's the simple fact that I like new things, and enjoy Youtubers and the like, which might be a part of my personality that makes it easily relatable to a young person.

Career change from comedian to novelist: A feeling of wanting to create something interesting

── I heard that prior to becoming a writer, you were a comedian, which is quite the rare background. Please tell us what made you decide to submit an entry for the Rookie of the Year award.

Yaku: To begin with, I did have vague feelings about converting my interesting thoughts into a form I could convey to everyone, and wanting to do it for a job. I quite like comedy, and creating funny things was a relatively strong trait of mine, so I became a comedian for a while. After that, there were also times when I would upload videos and such, but it came to me that if I were to put one of the ideas that came across my mind during that time in novel format and bring the characters to life, then it might reach a lot of people. As those sorts of ideas piled up, in no time a composition that seemed like it would work had been completed, so what came out after I finished writing that was『Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun』, basically. That's why, on the inside, whether I'm doing comedy work or writing novels, the sense where I'm delivering something interesting has not changed.

── It's amazing how you can start writing so suddenly and before you know it the novel's done, isn't it.

Yaku: From the age of 18 for about 7 years, I continued with the life of a comedian, and during that time it always felt like I was at the bottom of the ladder. I would come up with material to show people, and get reactions, all the while noting things like 「This was well-received」「I thought this would go down well but it wasn't well-received」「This part was surprisingly well-received」, making revisions over and over again. In that sense, rather than myself suddenly being able to write a good novel by chance on the first attempt, you could say that it feels more like the completed result after making use of what I had been accumulating inside of me.

── To be able to write novels, did you do any sort of training?

Yaku: I'm not the type to read a lot of anything and everything, but rather the type to read the works that I like and works from writers that I like over and over again. But even among those, I really liked the rhythmical feeling of Maijou Outarou-san and Wataya Risa-san's literary styles, so I did do some training where I would commit my favourite scenes in their works to memory as I copied them down.[4]

── When writing novels, are there parts where you make use of experiences from when you were a comedian?

Yaku: There isn't really anything specific like that, but there is the general theatrical elocution and setting up of curious foreshadowings to avoid making things tedious, things like that. Those devices have been quite useful in keeping the general reader from losing interest. The awareness that it's important to ensure even the dialogue proceeds in a way that won't be dull is also related.

── On the other hand, what about the parts you feel the way of doing things is different?

Yaku: For sketches, you often have cases where「This line is funny because you say it with this intonation」or 「This line is said with about this much tempo and in an interrupting way, so it's funny, but if it's saved for later then it's too normal and boring」, but for novels, different people read at a different tempo, so there is a limitation in that you have to form the work using only content that is unrelated to timing and intonation.

── Yaku-sensei, we know Tomozaki is an avid gamer, but would you yourself happen to like video games?

Yaku: I haven't played it that much lately, but the game said to be the original inspiration for「AtaFami」, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is something I was quite into up until around my high school days. For my generation, that would be around「DX」, I suppose. For my high school's culture festival, I'd open up a booth resembling a game center, and I would hook up one of the machines to run Smash Bros. I had one skilled classmate, someone who is currently a light novel writer by the name of Suzukure Kou (note 2). Anyway, there was someone who Suzukure had never beat even once despite dozens of battles. That person who had never lost even once was myself, see. Though I never entered any competitions, at least within the school I was at the level of number one strongest.

── The depictions of AtaFami in Volume 1 are written right down to the finest details, which was surprising.

Yaku: However, on that subject, in Volume 1 there was one section with a mistake in it that got me beat up, you know. (laugh) (note 3)

── Are there any other games you've been addicted to?

Yaku: I've been playing this『Million Doubts』thing for quite a while ─ a game that sort of combines the card games Doubt and Daifugou. At one point I was so engrossed my average rating one month even reached the national top five. Though there was no way I could maintain my ranking forever, so it's not that clear-cut.

── That's pretty hardcore, isn't it……

Yaku: It's not like I do everything, but I'm the type to take the games I do like very seriously.

About the challenges encountered when depicting the appeals of each heroine

── This year it wasn't just the light novel rankings, but the character rankings as well where Mimimi (Nanami Minami) broke into the upper ranks. Yaku-sensei, did you think that Mimimi would end up being this popular in the beginning?

Yaku: Even among the heroines, I wrote Mimimi with the image of her being the most like an ordinary girl. I did have a discussion with my editor where we noted how if a character in the story was to become popular it would have to be Mimimi. However, at the stage of volume 1, the fans of Kikuchi-san were stronger than I thought (laugh). But as I wrote, I could feel Mimimi's popularity rapidly increasing, so I'm not that surprised, really.

── Each time Kikuchi-san makes an appearance, Tomozaki's monologue turns fantasy-like. How did you come up with the idea for that?

Yaku: Tomozaki's first person narrative was in the same tone throughout. In a sense, I was trying to change the rhythm, then ended up discovering it worked quite well. I originally intended for it to be a joke, though.

── Are there any other parts where you messed with the literary style?

Yaku: The scene in the latter half of volume 1 where Tomozaki one-sidedly beats Nakamura up in AtaFami has a different writing style, I suppose. Aside from that, the latest volume 6.5 has each heroine's first perspective and a composition by Kikuchi-san, so volume 6.5 has a lot of content that challenged me as a writer in the sense that I was testing a lot of different styles.

── Volume 6.5 is a collection of short stories. It's rare to see what is pretty much a compilation of originals be published just as the main story has reached an exciting part.

Yaku:『Tomozaki-kun』has always been told through Tomozaki's first-person narrative, so there are parts you would never see from his point of view. For example, what each heroine thinks of Tomozaki, what kind of thoughts they had of him in the past, and how they are linked to the present. I thought that by writing those parts now, the developments in Volume 7 would be more compelling, so I wanted to delve into each character's feelings and sense of values once.

── Incidentally, in contrast with Mimimi, the main heroine Hinami's popularity is…

Yaku: I had the feeling that would happen (laugh). I've been writing『Tomozaki-kun』as a youth romcom, but if someone were to ask me if I'm making the story revolve around the romantic aspect, I would say that's not the case. I think that when writing about human relationships, it's fine to not have a focus on romance. That's why even if Hinami lost out to Mimimi in popularity, that isn't such a bad thing. And lately she hasn't been called a heroine, but a last boss instead.

── Volume 5's Hinami was incredible, wasn't she…… Tomozaki gets asked by Hinami to choose from multiple attractive heroines「Which girl he would like to go out with」and has a lot of trouble deciding, but if it was you, Yaku-sensei, which character from the story would you like to go out with the most?

Yaku: Well let me see……if I had to give a proper answer, it would likely be Tama-chan.

── That is an unexpected answer.

Yaku: I like independent girls, so if you mean my extremely personal opinion, it's Tama-chan, but it's difficult to reach a decision since I'm merely writing each character to my liking. But if I had to pick one it would be Tama-chan. I think that among the fans Mimimi and Kikuchi-san are quite popular, though.

── Yaku-sensei, you always speak very highly of Fly-sensei's illustrations in every afterword. Is there a particular illustration of hers that you like the most?

Yaku: For me, the one illustration that I found particularly impressive was the one of Tama-chan's smile at the end of Volume 5. The scene was an important shot which deftly drew the slightly dark story that continued on from Volume 4 to a close, so I had some discussion with my editor on if it would be a better idea to not have the picture and instead leave it to the reader's imagination. But since it was Fly-san, we decided to leave it to her and requested it anyway. Then, what came was an ideal illustration that surpassed the ideal I had painted in my mind, and it amazed me, taking me by surprise. That drawing really gave me goosebumps.

── In the afterwords, you pick out the meticulous details of Fly-sensei's work. Conversely, are there times where you yourself get very particular when writing a character, Yaku-sensei?

Yaku: When writing a character, the part I'm usually conscious of is having the unprocessed things like「Girls have this side to them」or「There are girls like this」prepared as themes. I then cover them with the image of a character from signage. I'm aware that it's a light novel on the surface, but my intent is to write so that things like their inner sense of values or evaluation criteria are from start to finish that of an unwavering girl. They do grow and change during the story, but I'm careful to ensure that even so, they do so in the form of one connected personality.

A story about challenges and growth. What's coming up next for the subject of our curiosity『Tomozaki-kun』?

── I think「Growth」 is one of the themes of this work. Yaku-sensei, having now been a writer for two years, what are the areas in which you think you've grown?

Yaku: Hmm, I wonder? How about an answer from the perspective of my editor? I don't quite know myself.

Editor: Let me see… lately, I've had this feeling that his sense of keeping to schedule has been improving. It's a distinctive characteristic of Yaku-sensei that he keeps making changes to the story up until the very last moment, to the point that the story's important points are getting decided a month just before release, you know. The most extreme case of that was for Volume 5, where outcome-wise it brought a feeling of realism which improved the story, but when I brought up the topic of having to do something about it the next time, there was some slight improvement for Volume 6.

Yaku: Admirable, don't you think?

Editor: Yes, yes, admirable (laugh). That's why on the note of growth, I suppose it would be how he's become able to have both quality and keeping to the schedule co-exist. Like how it was for 6.5's Yaku Yuuki, that is.

In Volumes 6 and 6.5, a fantasy-style novel written by Kikuchi-san and a novel by her favourite Michael Andi make their appearance. Have you written those kinds of works before?

Yaku: This time was the first. I think there were scenes characteristic of a fantasy, but reckon that the actual composition and overall flow of those tales don't differ that much from the makeup of 『Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun』, so I wasn't at all that conscious of things such as it being difficult to write on account of being a fantasy.

── Do you think you would like to try writing that kind of novel too in the future?

Yaku: In Volume 6.5, I go about as far as writing the plot of an Andi novel. It did feel like I was able to write it decently, so I kind of did wonder if it might be interesting once properly written out.

ーAs expected『Tomozaki-kun』comes first then. Is the conclusion of the story already decided?

Yaku: I think that for the process leading up to the end, you can empathize better if it matches how the characters move in the story. So it's not completely decided, but the rough waypoints are. As for how to connect those waypoints with a route, I'll think over it as I write, changing things according to the characters' feelings at the time.

── Incidentally, how far progressed is the whole story?

Yaku: Perhaps two-thirds of the way done. I think we've already passed the halfway mark.

Editor: However, for Yaku-san's work, even the plot can change considerably, so even if he thinks that now, things may change later on. After all, the development at the end of Volume 6 was something I myself only came to know about after reading the manuscript (laugh).

ー I take it to mean there might also be a university student rendition. Well then, please tell us about what's in store for『Tomozaki-kun』.

Yaku: This isn't something for me to say, so I'll leave this to my editor.

Editor: For the media mix, there's the manga adaptation it's receiving in『Gangan Joker』. That has ended for now with the release of Volume 2 of the manga the other day which covered up to the end of Volume 1 of the novel. However, it had the positive kind of 'it would be nice if you could look forward to the next one' ending to it, so we ourselves are also looking forward to future developments. Also, lately we've been feeling this『Give us the anime adaptation already』pressure from our Internet fans, but…… as expected, as far as an anime adaptation is concerned there's also the expectations of all sorts of people to consider, so as frustrating as it is to not really be able to give the answer everyone wants, we're trying our best.

Yaku: I'll just say it here, but as far as an anime adaptation is concerned, the will of Yaku Yuuki is such that「We'll do it one day」. That's simply my own will, though (laugh).

── Well then, to wrap things up, please tell us what you can about the developments of Volume 7.

Yaku: In terms of what's happened up to now, Volume 3 was a sort of divider marking the end of the first part. On that note, I have the feeling Volume 7 might also be another big divider. Please look forward to that!

Note 1: Light novel writer. Author of 『Pastel Pink』(ref pg. 163 of KonoRano 2019). Prior to his debut, Yuubi-sensei attended an autograph session of Yaku-sensei, which served as the start of their interaction.

Note 2: Light novel writer. Author of『Yarinaoshi Eiyuu no Kyouiku Isshi』、『Wakiya-kun no Shuyaku Riron』（ref pg. 118, 163 of KonoRano 2019）. A high school classmate of Yaku-sensei. For a short while after debuting they hadn't realized each other's existence, but after the niche observation from a fan「The writing style in the Saitama area is similar」, realized that they had both become writers.

Note 3: The cause was Tomozaki's remark towards the end of volume 1,「Listen, that move he did during the second stock of the second game to escape my combo! That move! It's super, super difficult! (content omitted) It only has a leeway of tens of frames!!」. Yaku-sensei intended to write it as「ten frames」, but the interpretation「Doesn't tens of frames for the timeframe give a lot of leeway」arose, and the Yaku-sensei who was unbeatable back in his hometown was given the treatment of a bandwagoning gamer; a miserable affair. In the later editions out right now the wording has changed slightly, so those interested can go and check it out! (TL Note: not a direct translation of that phrase. The original conveys two different meanings if read differently because there's no comma. The official english TL, well, uh, it simply left out that detail but then again I'm not sure if it was based on a version different from what I used for translation.)

Translator Notes:

[1] Original word ナンパ; the act of picking up women. Do look forward to that scene, it's great.

[2] Friend of Yaku Yuuki and author of Pastel Pink. Twitter:

[3] Someone with a cheerful/bright personality. Make sure to pronounce it phonetically (yo-u).

[4] 舞城王太郎 and 綿矢りさ are the Kanji for their names if you want to find out more about them.

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