Pardon the Intrusion, I’m Home!follows the story of 24-year-old office worker Rinko, whose life gets completely upended when a series of events ends with her apartment being connected to her neighbors’ through gaping holes in her walls. Now, she’s cohabiting with Usada, the author of her favorite manga and the cause of the holes in her walls, and Satsuki, her chivalrous neighbor who offers to be her fake boyfriend to protect her from Usada. The manga, which debuted in 2020 and is currently ongoing, received ananime adaptationthat aired in the Summer 2026 season.
Anime Trending had the lovely opportunity to conduct an email interview withwatomura, the creator behind thisrom-com manga, about the comic’s production process, the various dynamics within the main trio, and advice for aspiring authors.
Congratulations on the anime adaptation ofPardon the Intrusion, I’m Home! How did you feel seeing your story come to life in a different medium?
watomura: Thank you for the congratulations! With manga, I create both the story and the art by myself, which brings a great sense of satisfaction, but it also means there is almost no opportunity for perspectives or ideas other than my own to enter the work. Through the anime adaptation, so many people have become involved with the series, and it was a wonderfully fresh experience to watch forms of expression unique to anime, and new interpretations, be added to the story.
In terms of the manga,Pardon the Intrusion, I’m Home!is in a webcomic format. What does your planning process look like for each chapter, in terms of mapping out the pacing for the digital “scroll”?
watomura: There is also a two-page-spread, print-style version, so I complete that first and then rebuild it in the webcomic format. At that stage, I experiment with the kind of pacing and staging that only vertical scrolling allows — timing that is not bound by page breaks. At the same time, I keep the placement of the speech bubbles and the gaps between panels a little tighter than in a typical webcomic so that the rhythm does not drift too far from the spread version.
Because I handle the restructuring into the webcomic version myself, I build the spread version from the manuscript stage so that the dialogue, characters, and backgrounds can each be separated out. Being able to create a single set of artwork that can be reassembled into different formats feels like an advantage unique to digital manga.
How did you arrive at the premise of neighbors living together through the holes in their walls?
watomura: Years ago, I saw a TV program where a viewer wrote in with a problem: “I kicked the wall in my room, and it left a hole.” It stuck with me — walls are surprisingly flimsy. So when I set out to draw a romantic comedy between next-door neighbors, the idea came to me almost offhandedly: “Well, why not connect their apartments? Walls are pretty flimsy anyway.” That is how the premise came about.
Could you talk a bit about how you landed on Rinko, Satsuki, and Usada’s character designs?
watomura: I designed Rinko as the shoujo manga heroine I picture in my head, simply aged up to 24. When I read romance manga aimed at adults, I sometimes found myself wondering, “Once you become an adult, is everyone’s romance supposed to be this grown-up?” But in reality, I think there are people at any age who are still delighted or deflated by the smallest things, the way they are in shoujo manga. I wanted to draw a heroine who stays close to that sensibility, so I gave her a girlish look.
From there came the idea that she is a little self-conscious about her childish appearance. As for fashion, Rinko chooses hairstyles and clothes suited to the occasion, such as for the office or for cooking, but depending on where she is going and how she feels, she is also the type to enjoy dressing up for herself.
Satsuki is secretive, so I wanted him to give the impression of someone who does not show his inner self easily, and I gave him glasses and heavy bangs to create a slightly closed-off air. Around Rinko, his expression is gentle and he smiles a lot, so it seems he has succeeded in getting her to see him as a refreshing gentleman. He is not especially particular about clothes, and goes for calm silhouettes and tones.
In contrast to Satsuki, I made Usada flashy and eye-catching, with a bright color palette. He prefers loose-fitting clothes, and he has a few favorite streetwear brands. Wherever he goes, he never compromises his own style. Also, since I figured the dramatic wall-smashing scene would require him to have shoes on, he ended up being a sneaker lover who keeps them on even at home [laughs].
This story is about a love triangle, but it also focuses heavily on the strength of Rinko, Satsuki, and Usada’s relationship as a trio. What is it about this “unconventional” relationship dynamic that you wanted to explore?
watomura: We have all sorts of names for human relationships — neighbors, friends, lovers, family — but I find the relationships that spill a little outside those frames really interesting. I think it is fine to have a stretch of time where the relationship stays hard to define and what you value is simply the wish to be together. I would love for readers to enjoy that free, yet slightly alluring kind of comfort.
Rinko has formed a strong romantic crush on Satsuki, but she is also very affectionate with and comfortable around Usada. Have her feelings toward Usada evolved in any way beyond revering him as a “god”?
watomura: Rinko seems to draw a real sense of happiness fromUsaneko Club, so I imagine that while she is spending time with Usada, there are quite a few moments when she finds that sameUsaneko Clubsensibility in him — in how he feels about food, or about cute things — and feels a sense of closeness and shared feeling.
The lines and monologues that are put into words in the series only go as far as the character herself is aware, so there may very well be changes Rinko has not recognized yet, and feelings that do not have a name yet.
Satsuki and Usada have an interesting love-hate relationship where, despite their rivalry, they ultimately understand each other. What is it that they admire about the other person, if anything?
watomura: Satsuki does not treat Usada like a god the way Rinko does, but as a fellow creator, I think he properly respects his work and his achievements. As a rival in love, I think he also feels a certain envy toward the way Usada throws himself at things without putting up a front.
Usada, for his part, would never openly admit that he thinks well of Satsuki. But inwardly, I think he senses a perspective he himself lacks in how Satsuki approaches creative work, and in the way that, as her boyfriend, Satsuki respects the things Rinko loves and her work as a meal assistant.
In Chapter 50, Usada discloses that his parents “married not out of love but respect.” Could you speak to the importance of love and respect in your story? For your characters, can a relationship built on mutual respect be just as significant as one built on romantic love?
watomura: First, if I may add a small note: The Japanese line is not quite “married not out of love but respect” — it reads, “They married not out of romantic feelings, but out ofkeiai.” The wordkeiaicarries not only respect but also affection, and the wish to cherish the other person.
I think the feelings we have for another person are always a mixture of different emotions, and that they change over time. So in this series as well, I want to keep drawing the characters as they face the other person, and themselves, in each given moment.
Usada goes through a serious creative block that Rinko and Satsuki try to get him out of in various ways. As amangakayourself, what do you do to take care of yourself when you experience a creative block?
watomura: Just as the characters do in the series, I often go out for walks. Mentally, I try not to convince myself that “manga has to be like this” or that “I want people to think I’m good at this.” As a reader myself, I sometimes find a work appealing precisely because of its clumsiness or its uneven edges, so I try to tell myself that, as a creator, I do not have to be the model student either.
As seen through the author-fan dynamics in this story, writers’ close personal relationships can greatly inspire their works. However, writers might also push people away out of fear of sharing their most vulnerable selves and changing their relationship dynamics in the process. What advice do you have for fellow writers who struggle to share their work with others due to this vulnerability?
watomura: There are so many options for how you release your work, so I think it is also important to choose a way that does not hurt you — one where you can keep creating with peace of mind.
In this series, the creator and the reader end up directly connected simply because they happen to be neighbors, and there are many scenes where Satsuki is criticized for keeping his pen name and his work a secret. But really, there is nothing wrong with that at all (laughs). On top of that, I do think there are things you can only gain by showing your work to other people. You won’t always receive praise, so there will be times when it hurts — but even that can nourish your creativity, so I think it is worth taking that step forward.
Rinko’s favorite novel series of all time isThe Tale of Jorn. Do you have an all-time favorite novel that you hold close to your heart?
watomura: There are so many novels I love that I would like to give you a top 100…! But if we are talking about a work I have kept reading since my teens, the way Rinko has, it would beFuyumi Ono’sThe Twelve Kingdomsseries. And a new installment is coming soon, the first in seven years! I cannot wait!
What has been your favorite part of developing this story, from when you started six years ago to now?
watomura:Tada-Oja!, as we call it for short [in Japanese], is a boisterous romantic comedy, but it is also the first work in which I have taken shoujo manga head-on. Creating scenes that make readers’ hearts flutter, and the many challenges on the art side, have been a huge experience for me. Because of that, though, I agonize quite a bit every time I draw it.
Since I was drawing short gag manga when I first debuted, the everyday comedy parts are relatively easy for me to draw. So the short strips that capture an ordinary day with the three of them — the ones included in the special editions and the collected volumes — are a favorite part that I can purely enjoy, because I can relax a little while drawing them.
Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share with your overseas fans?
watomura: To everyone overseas who reads this series, thank you so much! We live in an age where works reach people across countries and languages, so I draw a lot with overseas readers in mind. For example, I sometimes compose a panel so that the horizontally translated text will fit better. I feel truly honored that work created that way actually reaches readers abroad. I would be delighted if you continue to enjoy it!
Pardon the Intrusion, I’m Home!is available to read in English onMangaPlaza.
