We interviewed Nemu and asked about her career! To commemorate Nemu’s interview, The Tanuki’s Lover is “Free-to-Read” until Dec 16th! You can, of course, choose to buy it during the Black Friday Sale as well!
Lustful Little Kitty Cat Physical Book is on 20% Discount during the Black Friday Sale until Nov 30th! The stocks are very limited. The Free Shipping spending threshold is also lowered to “$100 USD” during the Black Friday Sale, so make sure to get it while it lasts!
Irodori Comics (IC): Thank you for taking part in this interview. Please give us a quick introduction.
Nemu (N): Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Nemu. I create romance and adult works featuring “human x non-human” interspecies pairings in my circle, “Norakurari.”
IC: What have you been doing recently?
N: In terms of work, I’ve been drawing the sequel to the sequel of Lustful Little Kitty Cat right now. In my private life, I’ve been pretty much dedicating my time to playing games (doing Salmon Run on Splatoon™ 3 and playing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet).
Note*: At this time of writing, Lustful Little Kitty Cat 2 has already been released.
Questions about Nemu
IC: How did you become a mangaka?
N: Someone from a publisher talked to me at a past Comiket I was at, and that was how I started making manga as my main work.
Before I started my work as a mangaka, I didn’t think I was good at drawing manga, and I still feel that way, but I felt even less confident back then, so I tried my best to avoid it as much as I could. However, I realized that the best medium to communicate what I wanted to express was manga, and that got me into drawing it.
IC: Your icon is a cat, and a lot of your works contain non-human characters. Do you have pets?
N: Yes, I have two cats. They are adorable.
IC: Where did your fascination for non-human characters start? Do you have an origin for your love for non-human characters?
N: I was initially a furry, and I loved female animal characters in particular. I think my first love was Tico (the orca) from Tico and Friends. After Tico, I fell in love with Moro (the giant white mother wolf) from Princess Mononoke.
When I was a child, I just really loved strong female animal characters.
I was incredibly disappointed when animal characters in some works developed the ability to transform into humanoids, and after such developments in the stories, they were no longer depicted in their original animal forms.
While this isn’t a “strong animal” character per se, I was shocked by the sight of Renamon (the yellow fox Digimon) back then. That was the kind of childhood I had.
Right now, I’m really into big buff non-human characters, and I believe it’s all because I got into Dragon Ball. I liked Cell. Then I became completely head over heels for Cooler (Frieza’s older brother from Dragon Ball Z).
Also, I think my current preference was largely affected by getting into the Kinnikuman series. I used to fantasize about myself pairing up with Warsman and was completely crazy about Robin Mask/Alisa Mackintosh pairing. I have no idea how I suddenly became a lover of super muscular men from being a furry lover. Especially because before becoming a fan of buff men, I wasn’t into them at all. Rather, I was into beautiful, slender men like Sesshōmaru (from Inuyasha). It’s a mystery.
IC: What’s your favorite non-human character of all time?
N: When people ask me that question, I honestly become so troubled…! I just cannot choose.
So instead, I’ll list up all the characters who have messed up my fetishes through the course of my life.
- Dragon Ball series: Cell and Cooler.
- Kinnikuman series: Warsman.
- Transformer (original series): Soundwave.
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series: Killer Queen.
- Tokyo Afterschool Summoners: Shiva.
- Pokémon series: Dusknoir, Greninja, Ceruledge, and Armarouge.
And while these characters aren’t non-human but rather fall under the “masked characters” genre, I like the Yiga Clan Blademaster in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. (In terms of non-humans, I like Prince Sidon from this game.) I also like Sooga, the top general of the Yiga Clan, from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
I think this list gives you a general idea of what kind of features I like in characters.
IC: You often tweet a lot about games. What are some of your favorite games, and what are you playing now?
N: I’ve already mentioned this earlier, but I do like the Pokémon series. I’ve also been playing Undertale and DELTARUNE again, right from the beginning recently. I also like Monster Hunter.
At the moment, I’m playing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and Splatoon™ 3. But now that I have new favorite Pokémon characters, I’ve been spending more hours doing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet as of late.
IC: Do you get inspiration for non-human character designs from games you play?
N: Yeah, definitely! I look at the character designs from the games and think to myself, “I see. For this part of this design, handling it in this way looks cool!” And looking at the designs of these characters makes me reaffirm how much I like this particular kind of design. Another thing I think to myself is, “I wish this bit of this character design was modified…” I play around with a bunch of ideas in my head like that.
IC: Are there any artists you take inspiration from or enjoy reading works of?
N: I believe the person I am today is created through the stimuli I received from many works and authors. Not just commercial works, but I think platforms like Pixiv and Twitter have a lot of exciting inspirations.
With regards to non-human designs, people have told me my characters look like the superhuman characters from the Kinnnikuman series, so I do believe the influences I had from Yudetamago sensei (the author of Kinnikuman) are quite immense.
Questions About the Manga Profession
IC: Most works featuring non-human characters have a “Human male x Female Non-human” pair. You’re somewhat of a “specialist” for the “Female MC x Male non-human” pairing. What made you choose to work in that pairing?
N: It all started when I found a tag for the “non-human/human female” tag on Pixiv. When I saw that tag, I was utterly shocked. I was like, “Wait, isn’t this exactly the thing I’m looking for and want to draw!?”
My preference had always been quite narrow and particular, so I hadn’t been able to find the kind of stuff I liked, and back then, there were fewer people drawing this pairing even when there was demand. So I started drawing with the mentality of “If what I want isn’t available, I will draw it MYSELF.” That’s got me to where I am now.
IC: Your older work The Oni and the Fresh Peach series had a “Human Male x Female non-human” pairing before you switched to your current “Female MC x Male non-human” style. Do you think you’ll draw a “Human male x Female Non-human” work again in the future?
N: I have no plans to draw work with that pairing at the moment.
IC: Even amongst non-human characters, you stray from the usual Elves, Succubi, or other typical non-human species and go for *really different* but awesome designs. What are your inspirations for these buff, non-human guys?
N: My answer here is going to overlap with what I already said for a previous question of this interview, but I’ve been inspired by so many works and artists. Games, artworks, manga, movies, and even Japanese traditional craftworks as well as animals, insects, reptiles, and living organisms. I can get ideas from so many matters. I make it a point to treasure the materials that I find erotic or that invoke emotions.
IC: A lot of your non-human monster guy characters have really interesting penis designs. How do you come up with these creative designs?
N: If a character of mine is based on an animal, I design the penis off of that animal’s sexual organ.
For example, I looked at the canine penis when working on Katsujiro in The Tanuki’s Lover. (Note: Tanuki, a Japanese raccoon dog, is of the Canid family.)
Animals have uniquely shaped sexual organs, so I often refer to their shapes for my designs.
But personally, I think the shape of a human penis is the most erotic, so I like to keep the basic human penis form and add some more valuable features to it.
Questions About Nemu’s Stories
IC: For parody works, you draw a lot of “human male x human female” pairings. Is there a reason why you don’t do as much of your characteristic non-human pairing (“human female x non-human male”) for parody titles?
N: I think that is due to my unbalanced preference for pairings. In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Jeritza was the human male character I got obsessed with for the first time in a few years, and I also really, really liked the design for Byleth. On top of that, I thought the relationship they had in the game was the best, so I was totally engrossed in them.
Just because a work has a non-human male character and a human female character, I just don’t hop onto it to gobble it up or be inspired to create parody works of them. Not unless it has a huge catalyst driving me crazy, I don’t draw parody works. I just have a very narrow range of preferences.
The reason why I often create fantasy works of myself with my beloved fictional character or create parody works featuring a pairing of an original character with the fictional character is also due to what I just said.
IC: Of all the characters that you’ve designed over the years, do you have a particular favorite? And if you do, why?
N: I love all my characters, but if I have to pick one, I’d say Shiranui from Ninja In Love. Simply, being a ninja is a cool factor, not to mention being a ninja is sexy.
I also like Adler from Lustful Little Kitty Cat. His gentlemanly speech, muscular physique, and the quality of being non-human. That’s a killer platter of my fetishes.
If we’re talking about female characters, I like Tanya from Kissing is a No-No! I love how she can’t be honest with her feelings toward her master. And I think her tanned skin makes her cute.
Lanhua from Lustful Little Kitty Cat is also a killer platter of my fetishes, so I take a great liking to her. I like how she’s a smart mouth and sly but is a bit of a ditz.
IC: What makes you decide to work on sequels for certain works? Love Marking, a sequel to Kissing is a No-No! seemingly came out of nowhere, while works like Lustful Little Kitty Cat seemed to tease at future stories in the end. Do you have sequels already planned, or do you decide to make them based on how well they sell?
N: Deciding on a sequel completely depends on if I want to draw it or not at that moment. Sometimes, I consider working on a sequel depending on the sales. But just because one of my works is selling well, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll work on its sequel.
IC: Are there plans for sequels for Ninja In Love and The Siren’s Cradle?
N: Who knows…? I have no plans to draw any sequel right now, but if some great ideas pop into my head, I just might.
IC: How did you feel seeing the physical versions of your works?
N: I am so happy about it! I never imagined that Irodori Comics would publish physical versions of my works! (And not just one but TWO!) I am very thankful for it. I really hope my books can help boost your sales…
Also, it really makes me happy that people tell me they bought my works via Twitter. Thank you so much!
IC: Thank you so much for taking part. Finally, can you please give us a message to your foreign fans?
N: Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
It gives me great joy to have my works translated and enjoyed by so many people around the world. I am incredibly grateful for it.
I don’t think the “non-human male x human female” is a minor pairing, but when I browse around, I feel like the pairing has a very broad range. (Although, that might be particular to Japan.) It can be hard to find just the work that hits the right spot in this genre.
Given the vastness of the internet and this genre, I would be glad if my translated works can satisfy the fetishes of international readers.
I plan to keep publishing interspecies romance and adult works, so it would be wonderful if you could continue supporting me.
Thank you very much.
IC: Thank you so much for taking part in this interview!
Read Nemu’s Hentai Doujinshi For Free!
To commemorate Nemu’s interview, The Tanuki’s Lover is “Free-to-Read” until Dec 16th! You can, of course, choose to buy it during the Black Friday Sale as well.
You can also read other titles for free and buy over 15 doujinshi a month for 99 cents each! Check it out!
ALSO: Lustful Little Kitty Cat Physical Book is on 20% Discount during the Black Friday Sale until Nov 30th! The stocks are very limited. The Free Shipping spending threshold is also lowered to “$100 USD” during the Black Friday Sale.
Did you know we have a catalog of FREE-TO-READ doujinshi and a collection of works available for 99 CENTS each? Check them out!
If you enjoyed this article, you can support us by buying our officially localized English Doujinshi at our Irodori Comics Store! Works are uncensored and DRM-Free for you to keep!
When you buy works on our website, up to 60% of the selling price goes directly to the artists as royalties!
You can check out other interviews here!
