Interest
Japanese AV Star Revealed as Shonen Jump+ Manga Writer
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ manga website launched in 2014 with over 30 different, free series for readers to peruse. Among series like Akira Amano's ēlDLIVE and Hidekaz Himaruya's Hetalia World Stars was Seiyū Mashimashi Club. The four-panel series, written by newcomer Hibari Meguro and drawn by School Rumble creator Jin Kobayashi, follows girls who aim to be the top voice actresses.
The writer has remained relatively unknown until the Weekly Playboy News Site revealed in an interview that Hibari Meguro is a pseudonym for adult video actress Noa (also known as Noa Torigoe). Her job as a manga writer for Shonen Jump+ was actually put into motion by coincidence. She ran into Kobayashi for the first time while drinking and while he didn't know her work, he introduced himself as the creator of School Rumble. The two became good friends after hanging out a few times and eating ramen together.
During one of their trips to a ramen restaurant, the two jokingly discussed drawing a manga about ramen. The idea started out as a lark but Noa started seriously putting together a concept. Seiyū Mashimashi Club was eventually born from Noa's research.
The story stars rookie voice actress Iroharu Mashima, whose favorite thing is herself. She pursues her dream of being a top voice actress out of a passionate desire to be praised and pampered. Eating ramen also plays as a backdrop for some of the manga.
The seiyū topic is an interesting choice, since the actress notes that she never had any personal interest in being a voice actress nor does she really watch anime herself.
Noa mentions she was initially scared to reveal her previous work as an adult film actress to Shueisha's editors, but they actually didn't mind. However, her identity wasn't even revealed to her editor until after the first volume was published.
Technically this isn't the actress' time drawing manga. She previously submitted a four-frame comic about Dragon Quest to Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine when she was in elementary school.
The Seiyū Mashimashi Club series recently ended and has three compiled volumes.
