Battan may have built her reputation on yuri manga, but her work cannot be boxed into any single category. Her manga is focused on the interpersonal dynamics and complexities that drive her stories and characters. 

Battan debuted with the drama manga series Nijiiro Complex, which was published by Kodansha in 2016. Her other works include the 2018 manga Ane no Yujin and the 2021 Soshite Hiroin wa Inaku natta (And Then There Were No Heroines) manga series, which is currently being serialized on Futabasha’s online Web Action platform and will be getting an English release. 

Photo taken by William Moo.

Her works published in English include 2018’s Run Away with Me, Girl and 2021’s Secondhand Sisters, both of which have been released by Kodansha USA. Her other currently serialized manga, Fatale Game, is available in English digitally on the K MANGA service, and her 2022 one-shot, The Golden Fly, has been published by BDP Press. 

Anime Trending spoke with Battan to discuss some of her past and upcoming works, as well as what makes her characters so complicated and compelling. 

Could you talk about your first exposure and experience with the yuri genre? Were there any specific works that inspired you to make your own yuri manga?

Battan: I don’t really have a sense of noticing things and thinking, “Oh, this is yuri,” at the very beginning. Looking back on the things I’ve read, I think the first yuri I really encountered was probably Cardcaptor Sakura — specifically Sakura and Tomoyo’s relationship. Obviously, at the time, I didn’t think of it as yuri. It’s only looking back on it now that I can say, “Oh, that probably was yuri.” 

In Run Away with Me, Girl, the main and side characters are portrayed with emotional depth and complexity. Why was it important for you to give your cast these dimensions as opposed to sticking to clichés or stereotypes?

Battan: What inspired me to write this series was this guy I knew. He’s actually the model for the husband character in the series. I was in a situation of power harassment with this guy, and he seemed to have a complex going on behind the scenes. I heard [there were] a lot of things going on inside of him. 

I realized that people express things outwardly on the surface, but then on the inside, their actual feelings are so much more complicated. I wanted to take a proper look at that in detail and not shy away from looking at those sides of people because I didn’t want to leave anything out in that depiction. The thing is, I [just] really love people. 

Photo taken by William Moo

Characters like Midori and Momo seem to always be talking about running away, whether it’s running away from responsibility or their current lifestyle. Why did you want to make the act of running away a central theme of the manga?

Battan: The man I mentioned before — I had this feeling that I had to get away, that I had to run away from this person. That was my personal situation at the time.

I was so depressed and down about that situation that I almost couldn’t draw manga anymore. From my own personal experience and that situation, there was that desire in me to run away. Looking back on it now, I think that’s where that comes from in the manga as well.

What is your process for developing story arcs for your characters and ensuring that they have an impact on your readers? Do you have a plan beforehand, or are you adapting the storyline as it comes?

Battan: I’m always inserting some part of myself into all of my characters. They’re almost like avatars of me or split characters of myself. 

There’s that in my character creation process, but when it comes to the story itself, I usually decide on the ending, and then I start the actual story. I feel like I can’t actually start the story until I have the ending pinned down.

Your works such as Run Away with Me, Girl and Fatale Game often focus on female relationships. What’s the appeal of exploring the dynamics and interactions of women in your stories?

Battan: When I first started drawing Run Away with Me, Girl, I hated my own femininity and femaleness at the time. I wanted to draw something to make me happy with my femininity and being female. By the time I finished that, I was comfortable with my femininity and was happy with it again. Drawing girl-on-girl relationships is almost like medicine for me, I guess? It’s a chance to look at and reevaluate myself.

Fatale Game is a current work of yours that explores the manga industry and the relationship between creator and editor. How much did you draw from your own experiences as you were developing the series?

Battan: I’ve never heard any rumors of an editor like the one in Fatale Game, and I’ve certainly never met anyone like that. In the manga series, there’s not really a lot of talk about manga or the industry itself. 

The main part of the story is the relationships between the people. So it’s not so much based on my experience, but I do add in elements of drawing manga that have made me happy or times when I’ve been so frustrated and down with my work. Then I get some readers telling me how much they love it, and that experience is also reflected in the [manga].

What can readers discover about the manga creation process in Fatale Game? Why should they give the series a chance to read?

Battan: There isn’t a lot of talk about manga in [the series], so I don’t know about that aspect of it. But I am drawing it with the intention of exciting the readers. I want them to feel good and excited about women. So I’m drawing with that intention at least.

What have you learned as a creator over the years that you would want to tell your younger self now or the next generation of manga artists?

Battan: I surprisingly have very little to tell anyone! I guess I’d say, “You will have fun drawing!” You’ll enjoy it, maybe even when things aren’t going well. Don’t stop. Get together with a friend and cheer each other on, but just keep drawing. I think I would go back and tell myself that it’s okay to have fun drawing.

The Beguiling’s BDP Press is bringing The Golden Fly (Kinbae) into English for the first time. What should readers know about this work, and what can they look forward to regarding its release?

Photo taken by William Moo

Battan: It’s basically a work stuffed with all of my own sexual preferences, ideas, and the things I like — all of my personal habits, you could say. So anyone who likes my other manga will love this one too, and I definitely want everyone to read it.

Could you tell me about your experience with the MINT program and how you joined it? How has it helped you as a professional manga artist?

Battan: Being part of the program has [allowed me] to participate in events like this and come abroad. I’ve had exchanges with overseas fans on social media, but now I can meet them in person for the first time, which is great. My overseas fans are so passionate, and they have so much love for the work. I feel really fortunate to be a part of a project like this.

Is there a message you’d like to share with your overseas fans that are here at TCAF?

Battan: Being a manga artist is a really lonely job. You’re never sure if your fans are out there — there’s always that anxiety. So getting those comments from overseas fans online and feeling their passion for the work has been so powerful for me. It really has helped me so much. I’m going to keep drawing manga until the day I die, and I hope everyone will keep reading it. 

Thank you so much for your time!

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

Interpreter: Jocelyne Allen 

You can follow Battan on X/Twitter and Instagram. This interview was made possible with the cooperation of Manga International Network Team (MINT), a Japan Creator Support Fund initiative.