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Princess Jellyfish Creator Akiko Higashimura Participates in 'Moe Character' Drawing Battle

Princess Jellyfish and Tokyo Tarareba Girls manga creator Akiko Higashimura made a surprise appearance on the Japanese YouTube channel Dondake Challenge Do! (Do Incredible Challenges), where she was told to compete against two other guests to draw the most "moe" rendition of Japanese folktale characters.

The first challenge was Princess Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Because Kaguya was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant, Higashimura was very insistent that everyone draw proper bamboo plants. However, despite winning the challenge for that round, she criticized her own drawing, saying that the way she draws noses isn't very "moe."

The second challenge was Kachi-Kachi Mountain (or The Farmer and the Badger), a story about a trouble-making tanuki. Higashimura decided to draw all the characters as handsome men, as if they were "voiced by famous male voice actors." However, she lost that round because the judge said she was supposed to draw the characters to be "moe", not as if they were anime guys.

Higashimura ended up repeating the same tactic in the final challenge, Kobutori Jisan, a story about an old man who lost the lump in his face after joining a party of oni to celebrate and dance for a night. Her rendition of the old man was rather dashing, and his oni friends were also very good-looking. Higashimura didn't win that challenge either, to which she remarked flippantly, "I don't understand moe!"

Although she didn't clinch all the challenges during her web show appearance, it was a good opportunity for Higashimura to flex her drawing skills before she launches her newest manga in spring.

Source: Comic Natalie