Go Tokyo Your Experience
The famous Japanese manga series “Noda Mushroom Story” was serialized from 2004 to 2014 and was adapted into an anime twice. Now, this once-popular work is welcoming a new chapter: “Noda Mushroom Story＋”.
On November 25, the sequel officially began serialization in the magazine “Monthly Afternoon.” To promote this work, the magazine intentionally used its representative element, “koji mold,” to dominate the cover.
At first glance, these rice koji fungi seem to be computer-generated copies, however, surprisingly, the author Masayuki Ishikawa reveals that he drew them one stroke at a time using paper and pen?! Let’s unravel the mystery of this handmade miracle together.
The cover of the latest issue of “Monthly Afternoon”
In the latest issue of “Monthly Afternoon,” the serialization of “Agricultural University Mushroom Tales+” has been highly promoted. This new work created by Masayuki Ishikawa continues the style of its predecessor “Agricultural University Mushroom Tales” (also known as “Moe Mushroom Tales”), anthropomorphizing various types of fungi and introducing them along with knowledge about fermented foods through vivid images and stories. In particular, the “Koji mold,” which appears in anthropomorphized form in the work, has extremely high popularity.
However, when you take a closer look at the patterns on the cover, do you feel that these Koji molds seem like simple copy-paste items, suggesting at first glance that the author might be “lazy”?
However, Yoshiyuki Ishikawa clearly guessed this misunderstanding. He specifically clarified before the magazine’s release…
The ‘Nodai Mushroom Story +’ will be published in the January issue of ‘Monthly Afternoon’ on November 25, with the first chapter titled ‘Spring Festival’. Seeing the rice koji on the cover of this issue, you might wonder if these color-coordinated little guys were colored by a computer and then pasted on. Did I take a ‘shortcut’ here?
Ishikawa explained through his writings that his creative process is different from what readers might think. He did not use computer graphics technology in his cover design, but instead opted for a more primitive approach using paper and pencil.
Interestingly, he specifically bought yellow drawing paper from a dollar store, so the entire page has a yellow background of rice mold, eliminating the need for additional coloring, significantly reducing the cost of pigments!
The revelation of this hand-drawing technique has resonated with and been praised by a large number of Japanese netizens. Many expressed that they never expected there could be such a creative method!
The yellow drawing paper used by Masayuki Ishikawa.
This is truly an astounding application of creativity! Such a simple combination of paper and pen can create every exquisite aspergillus, fully showcasing the author’s love and dedication to craftsmanship—as if magic is dancing on the paper!
