- Interview Location: Anime Expo 2026
- Interview Format: In-person, One-on-One
Anime Herald: What is your artistic training?
Yu-hachi: I studied product design at Tama Art University.
Anime Herald: While you were studying product design, were you planning on going into that industry?
Yu-hachi: Yes, I fully intended to work as a product designer.
Anime Herald: What happened?
Yu-hachi: I graduated right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of that, I couldn’t find a job.
Anime Herald: What were the manga or anime that inspired you?
Yu-hachi: I loved Crayon Shin-chan. I’ve been a fan of gag manga since I was a kid, and I think comedy manga is what has influenced me the most.
Anime Herald:Crayon Shin-Chanran for three seasons in America. We had a different translation. It was very funny. I’m a very big fan of Crayon Shin-Chan.
Anime Herald: How did you feel when you found out your work would receive an anime adaptation?
Yu-hachi: It’s hard to put into words. More than anything, I hope the fans are happy about it.
The adaptation only came about thanks to the help of the people around me, and the support of everyone who has been reading the original manga. Thank you so much for cheering me on all this time. The anime has original characters and a world of its own that are a little different from the manga, and I hope you’ll enjoy them. I’ll be putting just as much energy into the manga going forward, so I would be grateful for your continued support. Thank you very much.
Anime Herald: Which of your manga is most popular?
Yu-hachi: Honestly, it’s hard to say whether the tanuki, the bees, Spis, or the hamsters are the most popular.
Anime Herald: What do you expect will be different between the anime and the original manga?
Nakatani (Fuji TV / Animation Producer): That’s a difficult question. For the adaptation, we brought in Director Rarecho and Director Gaku Kinoshita, so the anime is built on Yu-hachi-sensei’s manga with the directors’ own creativity layered on top of it. As for differences, since everything is based on her manga, I don’t think there’s any clear-cut difference between the two. We hope people will enjoy both. The manga is the manga and the anime is the anime, and I think the best thing is simply to enjoy each of them for what they are.
Anime Herald: What would you like our readers to know about the anime adaptation?
Yu-hachi: I want existing fans to enjoy the anime as well, and I’d be delighted if new viewers who come in through the anime went on to read the manga.
Anime Herald: In “Spis,” Pisu works as a cashier. Is that a job you have worked?
Yu-hachi: I’ve never worked at a convenience store, but I have worked jobs dealing with customers. I draw on that experience in my manga.
Anime Herald: What kind of jobs did you have?
Yu-hachi: I had part-time jobs in food service and at an amusement park.
Anime Herald: It looks like one of the tanuki is addicted to social media. Is that true for you as well?
Yu-hachi: Yes, I’ll admit it. I’m addicted to social media too. (Laughs)
I drew this comic when tanuki were trending on Japanese social media. That comic is a good example of how things were at the time, but with tanuki.
Anime Herald: What attracts you to chonky bees?
Yu-hachi: They’re not just cute. They have a childlike selfishness to them, and they’ll do things a human never could without a second thought. I find that adorable and appealing.
Anime Herald: The Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) was the last system to have its controller have all of its buttons on the front. Do you believe it would be the best system for chonky bees?
Yu-hachi: There are several scenes where the big bees play video games. One is in front of a candy shop, and another is at a high schooler’s house. I’ve never played a Mega Drive myself, though.
Anime Herald: I recommend theMega Drive Miniand theMega Drive Mini 2.
Do you like roller coasters as much as the bees do?
Yu-hachi: I love them! I got completely hooked while I was working part-time at the amusement park. The roller coaster the bees ride is modeled on the one at that park. One day, the three of us went to Universal Studios, but the other two were no good with roller coasters, so I ended up riding on my own. (Laughs)
Anime Herald: How would you describe your pet hamster’s personality?
Yu-hachi: So you’ve read the hamster manga?
Anime Herald: Yes, I have.
Yu-hachi: That’s a difficult question…
Anime Herald: If you have a fun hamster story, we’d love to hear it.
Yu-hachi: I’ve kept a lot of hamsters over the years, and every one of them is always trying to gnaw on something. When they’re in the cage, they gnaw the cage; when you let them out, they gnaw the furniture.
One of them was especially bad and was constantly chewing on something. It was nothing like the cute image we have of hamsters. (Laughs) But that left a really strong impression on me.
Anime Herald: Did hamster-san bite you?
Yu-hachi: Every day! My hands were always covered in bandages.
Anime Herald: Do you have any questions for us?
Yu-hachi: Have you come across my work anywhere outside of the materials we sent you?
Anime Herald: Yes. My favorite of your works is the tanuki, because tanuki are cute and funny. However, I like the Hamster-san merchandise.
Yu-hachi: So the tanuki are your favorite?
Anime Herald: I love the tanuki’s sense of humor.
Yu-hachi: I am amazed. I was drawing it as a fairly Japanese kind of humor, so I didn’t expect it to land with readers overseas.
Anime Herald: My favorite tanuki gag is when they are looking at a dog and trying to figure out if it’s a tanuki. It’s very funny.
Have you ever been to America?
Yu-hachi: No, but I’d love to go. I visited Sydney, Australia when I was in high school.
Anime Herald: Did you visit the Opera House?
Yu-hachi: I did!
Anime Herald: I would like to go there one day.
Yu-hachi: If I go to the US, do you have any recommendations?
Anime Herald: I’m a New Yorker, so I recommend New York to everybody. It really is a wonderful city.
Yu-hachi: I’d love to visit New York!
Anime Herald: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.
Yu-hachi: Thank you very much.
Yu-hachi’s works are being turned into an anime, Welcome to Yu-hachi’s House! (Yu-sanchi!). That will include BIGBEE, Spis, the Shopkeeper, and my personal favorite, Oh great, the Tanuki are done for.
