Right outside, after this surreal meeting with editor Y-san at the Ribon Editorial Office in the Shueisha building in March of 2010, I started plotting a shojo manga story with my friends. Something that could be relatable for both me and Japanese girls... something that I could make that still would matter to them.
I flew home and started working on a manga one shot called Circus Romantique. Karin (a common name in both Sweden and Japan) is a clown at a circus, with a secret crush on the trapeze artist Jon. It's a story about not feeling worthy or talented enough to fit in with your peers. I made this character design illustration, to ask my new Japanese editor Y-san for her advice. This is part of the email she sent me, where she first talked about the picture, then (in English) gave me passionate feedback about the plot I had written. She suggested to make Karin and Jon become trapeze artists together, and that she should become a Circus Princess! She also suggested that I would try to make Karin's hair long, because that would look beautiful when she is up in the air jumping.
She finished with this part in Japanese, which is about how she wish I will make a debut in Ribon one day, how the next step is the namu (storyboards) and that I should take her suggestions and use them as I wish. She also says young women should smile when they read my manga.
More in part 4...

Tokyo 2010, Shueisha's office building. We got out of the elevator on the Ribbon Editorial Office floor, and editor Y-san led us all the way up to the Editor-in-chief! This felt like a surreal dream, as we all bowed to him. (Later, I analysed this situation and I think the fact that I sent them a manga published in Sweden by a publisher, with a barcode on the back, made them feel like I was a respected mangaka in my home country, perhaps?) He then stood up, took out a folder from his top desk drawer, opened it up and handed over to me a pile of manga original pages from one of their top artists in the magazine!! I stood their, held them and said "Kakoii desu" or something similar (yes, my Japanese was not the best, but I made an effort to show my utter amazement over the situation, without seeming weird). I carefully returned the artworks to the Editor-in-chief.
After bowing and thanking, editor Y-san and one of her colleagues showed us to a meeting room where we sat down to talk. Thanks to my interpreter friend M, I could show them a manga I had with me, that I had translated with the help from some other friends back home in Sweden. The manga's name is Walpurgis and it is about a girl meeting her secret crush at the Swedish traditional Spring bon fire. They read it through (only 13 pages) and gave me feedback on the spot on what they though was lacking in the work. It still felt surreal, everything, but I enjoyed every moment of it, knowing that this feedback is invaluable coming from people who've worked in the Japanese manga industry for many years.
At the end of the meeting, the editors suggested that Y-san would become my editor via email, and that I could start making manga one shots for their monthly rookie contest Ribon Manga School! It was surprising and we all left the meeting with a feeling of amazement. I had a Japanese editor!!!
More in part 4...

I landed in Japan in March 2010 with my sister and my friend, meeting up our mutual friend M who had lived in Tokyo for 2 years. She guided us around and we did a bunch of fun things like onsen bath, Fuji-Q Highlands, etc.

Then came the day of my planned meeting. My friend M was to be my interpreter at the meeting, and my sister and our friend was to tag along. M instructed us all to wear black, as that is more a business color.

We arrived early (too early!) and entered the Shueisha building. We had to wait in the entrance hall where they had booths for editors and artists to meet at, just like you can read about in Bakuman. During our wait, we could overhear the meeting between an artist and an editor. The editor gave their opinion on the artist's namu and then stood up an left. Very interesting...

After some time, editor Y greeted us. She had even learned a Swedish phrase to greet us properly, haha. So kind. We expected the meeting to take place in the entrance hall, but then she invited us up to their editorial office instead!!
So, we all took the elevator up to the Ribon editorial level. While doing so, the elevator stopped at Shonen Jump's level too. We all felt an epic aura of the place. How many famous creators had not stood in this elevator!? We where starstruck!

More in part 3...

In 2010, I was planning my first visit to Japan for the first time. I had just finished my kitten manga Mjau! for a Swedish publisher, and decided to take the chance and send it to some Japanese publishers, to see if I could book a meeting.

I sent the first book (a small one with only 64 pages) to 8 publishers and magazines in Japan. I also included a letter about me and the manga and asking for a meeting, all in Japanese (I studied Japanese for 2 semesters at the University, but I also had a bunch of friends with Japanese knowledge to help me a lot with the letter!).

Four of the publishers replied in email, and out of them there was two that said yes to a meeting, but only one of them replied to my email response. It was editor Y (I will disguise their names) at Shueisha's Ribon, one of Japan's biggest shojo manga magazines. We booked a meeting and I planned my trip to Japan!

More in part 2...