A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace

A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace (笑顔のたえない職場です.) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kuzushiro. It was initially published as a one-shot published in Kodansha's manga magazine Kiss in February 2019. It later began serialization on Kodansha's Comic Days manga website in May 2019. An anime television series adaptation produced by Voil aired from October to December 2025.

Plot

Nana Futami is a fledgling mangaka who has recently started serialization of her first manga series, Dear Subaru. As this is her first series, she finds it difficult to cope with her work as a mangaka, missing deadlines and feeling nervous about her work. To make matters worse, she has begun to neglect her health, gaining weight and developing delusions. However, through her colleagues, including her assistant Mizuki Hazama and editor Kaede Satō, Nana learns to overcome her low self-esteem and enjoy her work.

Characters

• Nana Futami (双見 奈々)
• The main protagonist. A young mangaka who authors Dear Subaru, a shogi-themed manga centered around a teenage boy. Although a talented mangaka, Futami is generally a nervous wreck who overcomplicates situations, so she needs sense talked into her by Mizuki. Futami has a more serious side to her when she focuses on her manga and has new ideas to try. She is in love with Satō, who loves her back.
• Kaede Satō (佐藤 楓)
• Kaede is Futami's current editor. She's the polar opposite of Toda, being generally a much more supportive editor who believes any idea can flourish if properly developed. Although she has a serious outward demeanour she's very kind. She is in love with Futami, who loves her back.
• Mizuki Hazama (間 瑞希)
• Futami's main assistant, who regularly playing the straight-role for Futami whenever she's overcomplicates matters. Mizuki is very diligent in her work and is usually the one that tries to make Futami focused. She wanted to be a mangaka, but realized she didn't have enough talent for it, questioning herself. Soon after Futami asked her to be her assistant, to which she happily accepted. She's the younger sister of Yuzuki.
• Arisa Nashida (梨田 ありさ)
• Futami's co-worker and senior assistant from the time they worked under Takizawa, and a fellow professional mangaka. After her work was terminated by Toda, she came to reside in Futami's apartment. She generally vents her frustrations through drinking. Although a good person, Nashida can be complicated at times which annoys Mizuki. Nashida became the basis for a rival character in Futami's manga.She is in love with Toko.
• Toko Kakunodate (角館 塔子)
• A professional shogi player and the advisor for Dear Subaru. She's shown to be cheerful and respectful of Futami's work as a mangaka.
• Nekonote (ねこのて)
• Futami's second assistant. She's a high-school girl who works remotely as she's from another region. Nekonote is a very shy person, but is happy and grateful to work for Futami. She's noted to be very skilled and work fast in her art.
• Shiori Asakura (浅倉 栞)
• Kaede's subordinate.
• Ren Takizawa (滝沢 蓮)
• A popular mangaka and the mentor of Futami and Nashida who both worked as her assistants. She supports both their work as mangaka. A spin-off of her work was passed onto Nashida.
• Wakako Tatsunami (立浪 和歌子)
• The editor-in-chief of the magazine that publishes Dear Subaru and Kaede's boss. She's an avid fan of Futami and supports her work.
• Yuzuki Hazama (間 柚希)
• Futami's former classmate from their school years and her best friend. Although she isn't into manga, she does buy and read Futami's Dear Subaru. She's the older sister of Mizuki and a massage therapist.
• Nagomi Hayachine (早池峰 和)
• Masayuki Toda (戸田 昌行)
• An editor for the same magazine as Kaede and a coworker. He's infamous for being inflexible, unsupportive and forcing his ideas upon the mangaka under his charge, for which nearly all authors under him vehemently dislike him.

Media

External links