The Yuri Times had an interview with Namaniku-sensei who is the creator of Love Only the Body, and we talked so much about its backgrounds.
The Yuri Times: Gokigenyou, Namaniku-sensei! Thank you very much for this opportunity. Your doujin yuri manga, Love Only the Body is very popular among yuri fans. Can we ask you why you started to create this?
Namaniku: I had been drawing fan fiction, and I was just a fan of yuri to enjoy reading. However, I wanted to try drawing a little bit of ecchi yuri, so I decided to create my original story.
I see. How did you plan to create Love Only the Body ?
I originally wanted to draw yuri in which characters are not in a good “relationship.” But if the characters are not so close, they will not sleep together… That would be A BIG PROBLEM!!! Therefore, I planned to make a story about “benefit” friends so that no matter how their relationship is going, they will end up sleeping (lol). When I titled this story “A Yuri story with my junior colleague I didn’t like” and posted on Twitter, I received a lot of good responses which I was not expecting. That made me want to draw more stories about Tohgoh and Sayama, and I created “I Want You to Only Love My Body” based on the original story.
It is amazing that we all can read the original story of Love Only the Body in English too! What made you change the title?
I think “Love” and “Body” are kind of a conflict, which can indicate the “benefit” relationship and emphasize the meaning of “Body” too. I reconsidered the title and changed it to Aishite Iinoha Karada Dake (I Want You to Only Love My Body).
That’s awesome! Do you have any scenes you like?
I really like this scene in which Sayama finally revealed her real character! This is THE BEGINNING OF THE REAL SAYAMA!(LOL)
Agree, we were also shocked and excited when we were reading this part! (lol)
This scene was also drawn in A Yuri Story with My Junior Colleague I Didn’t Like but I wanted to highlight her real character—she looks cute and pure, but she actually has strong desire—, so I even removed some frames to add more impact. It was very enjoyable for me to draw!
How about Tohgoh? Do you have any favorite scenes?
I really like Tohgoh at the Lesbian bar, when she shows her smug face. She pretends to be calm and relaxed, but she is actually very desperate (lol).
Tohgoh looks cool but she is actually very cute!
Yes, it’s interesting to see that Tohgo thinks Sayama is the ideal girl. Nobody thinks Sayama is that aggressive.
Love Only the Body Vol.2 has been released in Japan. Are you planning to release this in English, too?
Yes, I would love to release the English edition.
How about other works? Are you planning to issue some in English? For instance, Can’t Say No to My Best Friend on your FANBOX is already translated into English.
I would LOVE to but I have too many things to do right now… but I do hope so.
Read Part 2
The part 2 contains a message to overseas fans from Namaniku-sensei, so don’t forget to check that out!