“Moments of CRYING, SMILING or LOVE” is the theme for SMA15. With endless possibilities for stories covering each of these emotions, we’ll look at the work of Zenon’s own mangakas for inspiration. Each mangaka featured in this series started out just like you, by entering manga into the Japanese Silent Manga competition under the same emotional themes. From there, they have all gone onto professional careers with successful series in Monthly Comic Zenon.

Title: a full cup of… Author: Ohshima Chiharu Category: Love Round: #18 Year: 2013 Award: GP Runner-Up Current Series: Wataya-san no Tomodachi [lit: Wataya’s Friends]

Ohshima Chiharu-sensei, the creator of the “slice of life” high school drama, “Wataya’s Friends” first came to the attention of COAMIX Inc. via the domestic Silent Manga competition. Her entry “a full cup of…” is a subtle snapshot of blossoming love that, not only earned her a GP Runner-Up award, it also set pulses racing among the judging panel with her expert use of emotion!

  JUDGES COMMENT: “It was only six pages, but the core scene was tightly packed and the artistic direction of the heart-pounding moment was outstanding. In particular, the scene with the female protagonist making a cup of cafe latte with the male protagonist, you could feel the protagonist’s pulse racing. It’s such a wonderful piece of work that you will feel happy after reading it.”

Subtle emotion drives “Wataya’s Friends”, so it comes as no surprise to see this talent in Ohshima-sensei’s inaugural work. Working to her strengths, the artist has managed to build on her success and forged ahead with a professional career that shows no signs of stopping… and all it took was entering a Silent Manga competition!