The pictures he’d been drawing since he was a boy, and the comedy stage he stumbled onto in his student days without knowing his left from his right. The moment when those two paths crossed. And when a secret ingredient was added to the mix ___.
In this two-part interview, we unravel the creative background and trace the journey of Oho Shintaro—a multi-talented artist active as a comedian, manga artist, and illustrator—to understand how he arrived at his current style.
When Comedy and Illustration Mix
You mentioned that in college your comedy consisted of orthodox sketches. When did you start incorporating illustrations and single-panel manga into your act?
Oho – That was after I joined my agency. After I officially became a “comedian.” I had posted some manga on Twitter (now X), and it got a pretty good reaction. That made me think, “Maybe this is what I should be doing,” and I started performing with flip charts.
Since you were already drawing anyway.
Oho – Right. Of course, I knew about the existence of “flip-chart comedy,” but for some reason, the idea of doing it myself never occurred to me.
That’s a little strange, isn’t it?
Oho – I know! You’d think the obvious reaction would be, “Why don’t you just do that?” But it’s the kind of thing you can’t see objectively. It’s funny how the person themselves often doesn’t realize it.
That’s definitely true!
The Secret Ingredient: Not Over-Drawing
What’s your creative process like when you’re making a single-panel manga?
Oho – I imagine it as preparing both the prompt and the answer for an oogiri session all by myself. It’s a self-contained oogiri, where I use an illustration and text to answer my own prompt. I think of the prompt first, and then draw the illustration as the answer, so if I come up with a good prompt, the drawing process goes quite smoothly.
In a previous interview, you mentioned that you often come up with ideas when you’re in a state of being “half zoning out and half thinking.” Is that still the case?
Oho – Nowadays, I basically start by telling myself, “Okay, time to draw!” and then I start thinking. Sometimes an idea will pop into my head when I’m spacing out, but that’s just a lucky bonus. If I don’t make a conscious effort to “think,” ideas don’t come easily. There are plenty of times when I draw a few things, then just think, “Hmm, nothing funny is coming to mind.” But sometimes, after drawing a few, I get into a groove.
Is there anything you’re particularly conscious of?
Oho – Wada Radio, an artist I admire, once said, “If you draw too much, your art gets too good.” Especially with that kind of gag manga, if the art is too polished, something feels off. I think there’s a perfect balance. But for example, if I want to draw someone with perfectly dead-looking eyes, my drawing inevitably starts to look like Wada Radio’s work. That’s not what I want either, so I try to adjust things to somehow create my own unique style.
“I Do Comedy and Manga and Stuff, How Are You?”
Is there anyone else you admire?
Oho – In terms of people who do both comedy and art, I’d say Cookie! and Kawahara from Tenjiku Nezumi. Their comedy is hilarious, and I love their art, too. I think they’re amazing. I also like Hikaru Tanaka, the creator of the manga Salaryman Yamazaki Shigeru. He’s another artist who is both a comedian and a manga creator.
Do you ever worry about your material overlapping with the people you just mentioned?
Oho – The first criterion is always whether I find it funny. After that, it’s just a matter of judging, “Has this been done before? Is this something people haven’t seen much of?” I always make a judgment call on whether it overlaps with someone else’s work after I’ve already come up with the idea.
You’re involved in so many different activities. What do you consider your official title to be?
Oho – Well, when I’m on TV, for example, I rarely get what you’d call a “pure comedy” job. In my case, it’s things like reading the entertainment news on an early morning show, or doing the weather on a local program in my hometown of Saga. I mean, I’ll crack a few small jokes here and there, but it’s not a job that’s fundamentally “comedy.” So, I feel a bit like, “Am I really allowed to say this?” when it comes to calling myself a “comedian.” I usually keep it vague, saying something like, “I do comedy and manga and stuff.” Even saying “I’m a manga artist” feels like a bit of an overstatement. I live my life with the feeling of, “I do comedy and manga and stuff, how are you?” (laughs).
Your single-panel manga on Instagram has become very popular. As your fame grows, do you ever feel constrained, or does the audience’s reaction ever influence your work? For example, thinking, “This one will probably be a hit.”
Oho – Ah, no. I really have no idea until I put it out there.
Is that how it is?
Oho – There are many times when I think, “Oh, this is a good one,” but when I actually post it, it doesn’t get any traction at all. I have a vague sense that more straightforward gags get a better reaction, but I still have absolutely no idea which ones will be popular. Every time I post something, my reaction is, “Huh, really?!”
Do you pay close attention to the reactions?
Oho – I do. It’s always great to get a lot of “likes.” But if you were to ask if that excitement aligns with my own creative satisfaction, I’d say it doesn’t at all.
There are significant constraints in a single-panel format. Do you have any tricks or things you focus on to land a punchline in just one frame?
Oho – Let’s see… The thing is, I also like the ones that don’t really have a punchline, so that’s what makes it complicated. Of course, a solid punchline is great, but ever since my Famitsu days, I’ve always loved the kind of stuff that makes you go, “What… is this?” So, I don’t know if I have any tricks for landing a punchline, but I do think it’s okay if it doesn’t always have one.
I see. So it’s more about the atmosphere, leaving a little empty space.
Oho – Right. It’s like leaving just enough room for the audience to provide their own retort. But I have to admit, the ones with a clear punchline are always more popular (laughs).
Ah, so that’s still the case.
Oho – Yes, it is. They have a proper punchline, after all. It’s like, “Well, yeah, of course they are.”
