Kyū Takahata
Description
Kyu Takahata is a Japanese manga creator known as the writer of the series Now That We Draw. His name in Japanese is 高畑弓. His professional background includes working as an assistant to Hajime Isayama, the creator of the Attack on Titan manga. In the manga industry, he is credited as the original creator and writer, while the illustration for his primary series is handled by artist Yuwji Kaba.
Takahata is the author of the romantic comedy manga Now That We Draw (Japanese: 描くなるうえは, Hepburn: Kakunaru Ue wa). The series has been serialized in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal since February 24, 2023. As of November 2025, its individual chapters have been collected into six tankōbon volumes. The story follows two high school students, the self-described otaku Yuuki Uehara and the popular gal Niina Miyamoto, who are both aspiring manga artists. After an editor criticizes their romantic storylines for lacking realism, they agree to enter a fake relationship with each other to gain authentic romantic experience for their manga. The series has been licensed for English-language release by Seven Seas Entertainment, with the first volume published in 2025.
An anime television series adaptation of Now That We Draw has been announced. The adaptation is produced by the animation studio Roll2, directed by Shunsuke Ishikawa, with scripts supervised and written by Deko Akao and character designs by Hiromi Nakagawa. The main cast includes Ayumu Murase as Yuuki Uehara and Sayumi Suzushiro as Niina Miyamoto.
The work of Kyu Takahata, particularly through Now That We Draw, centers on the theme of young creators navigating the challenges of the manga industry. The narrative uses the premise of a fake romantic relationship as a mechanism for its protagonists to overcome their creative shortcomings, blending a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic process with a high school romantic comedy. The series explores the gap between two-dimensional fictional ideals and three-dimensional reality, as the protagonists learn that authentic experience is necessary for creating believable art. This focus on the struggles and aspirations of becoming a professional manga artist gives the work a meta-fictional quality, as it depicts characters striving for the same career that its creator is actively pursuing.
Takahata is the author of the romantic comedy manga Now That We Draw (Japanese: 描くなるうえは, Hepburn: Kakunaru Ue wa). The series has been serialized in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal since February 24, 2023. As of November 2025, its individual chapters have been collected into six tankōbon volumes. The story follows two high school students, the self-described otaku Yuuki Uehara and the popular gal Niina Miyamoto, who are both aspiring manga artists. After an editor criticizes their romantic storylines for lacking realism, they agree to enter a fake relationship with each other to gain authentic romantic experience for their manga. The series has been licensed for English-language release by Seven Seas Entertainment, with the first volume published in 2025.
An anime television series adaptation of Now That We Draw has been announced. The adaptation is produced by the animation studio Roll2, directed by Shunsuke Ishikawa, with scripts supervised and written by Deko Akao and character designs by Hiromi Nakagawa. The main cast includes Ayumu Murase as Yuuki Uehara and Sayumi Suzushiro as Niina Miyamoto.
The work of Kyu Takahata, particularly through Now That We Draw, centers on the theme of young creators navigating the challenges of the manga industry. The narrative uses the premise of a fake romantic relationship as a mechanism for its protagonists to overcome their creative shortcomings, blending a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic process with a high school romantic comedy. The series explores the gap between two-dimensional fictional ideals and three-dimensional reality, as the protagonists learn that authentic experience is necessary for creating believable art. This focus on the struggles and aspirations of becoming a professional manga artist gives the work a meta-fictional quality, as it depicts characters striving for the same career that its creator is actively pursuing.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview