
The Yuri Times had the opportunity to interview the author of the manga I Don’t Know Which Is Love (Yen Press), Tamamushi Oku-sensei. This work, which has become a hot topic among yuri fans, is a high-speed yuri comedy where “falling in love too much!” happens. Its English version has been released and it’s gaining attention overseas as well. In the first part of the interview, we cover the inspiration behind the project and the characters.

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— Congratulations on the English version release of I Don’t Know Which Is Love (hereinafter referred to as DoreKoi)! I’m very happy to have the opportunity for this interview.
Thank you. I’ve taken various notes in preparation for the interview!
— Really?! Thank you so much! Well then, could you please tell us the inspiration behind the creation of DoreKoi?
That’s because my editor told me to! (laughs) Before DoreKoi, I was wrapping up my previous series, Cheerful Amnesia. Then the idea for the next series came up: “How about a yuri story where the girl is popular?” I got really interested in it. My debut work in “Manga Time Kirara Miracle” was a yuri harem, so when my editor mentioned it, I immediately said, “Absolutely, I’ll do a yuri harem!” They never mentioned a yuri harem; I was the only one saying it (laughs).
Saying it was good, but actually creating it was tough…, and realized that no wonder everyone else isn’t doing it. There aren’t many yuri harem works, are there?
— Now that you mention it, surprisingly there are not so many yuri harem stories. It was also quite impactful to read in the afterword that it was really tough.
In Manga Time Kirara, there are plenty of stories where a lot of female characters appear, forming something like a yuri harem. However, there are hardly any officially romantic ones. I absolutely wanted to depict girls falling in love with other girls romantically, but when I tried to do it in a romantic context, it became incredibly difficult. When I tried drawing DoreKoi, I realized that handling a yuri harem was quite a hassle (laughs).
In my debut work, there was a unique setup where “everyone falls for the protagonist when they touch her,” so I thought I could draw it if I had some kind of unique setting. I asked my editor, and they said, “No”, which was different from their usual response of “Sure, go ahead”. My previous work, Cheerful Amnesia, was also supervised by the same editor, and they always used to say, “That’s fine”, to everything. But this time, they said, “Oh, it’s better without that,” and I felt a sense of despair, thinking, “But I was sure they’d say it’s fine!” (laughs) So, creating the story became significantly more challenging. I ended up with the current style by thinking about how the protagonist could naturally be popular without any special settings.


Translation by YURI HUB
— When it comes to DoreKoi, there is nothing but attractive characters. How were the characters created?
There are works that depict love triangles or quadrangles, so I thought of having more characters than that. I found a Buddhist term, “Rokkon”, which means the six senses representing eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—the sources of human suffering. I decided to base the characters and their names on the traditional five senses, excluding “mind”.
Maria Todomeki represents “eyes”, Minato represents “ears”, Kaoru Kunimasa represents “nose”, Karin Ajima represents “tongue”, and Riri Shirosawa was named “Sawa”, which means “to touch”. I chose to put all their first names in katakana because it’s easier for me to remember (laughs). Mei-chan’s name comes from the kanji for “lost” (“迷” in Japanese). As for her last name, I took inspiration from “Soreike!” (a Japanese anime series) and named “Soraike” or related Buddhist terms associated with “emptiness” (“空” in Japanese). It’s like they are lost but are trying their best to move forward!

I incorporated elements of people I like into the characters around Mei. Each of them represents someone I find appealing, encompassing not only the conventional traits but also dream-like aspects such as handsome features or tall stature. It felt like the characters took shape once I added the elements of people I fancy. However, because each character has their own voice, taste, and quirks, they all turned out to be peculiar individuals.
Karin, for instance, falls for people based on taste, which is quite extraordinary (laughs). I wanted to create a setup where her attraction was linked to taste, like a “kissing bandit”, but then I realized I had to include the tongue… However, I thought if she was involved in theater, she might be inclined to do such things. As for Kaoru, it might be problematic to have her undress entirely in the first episode, but considering the clothes must have smelled bad, there was no choice but to undress her.
Maria-sensei is incredibly ordinary. Most people fall for someone based on sight. I wanted to convey that she could sense Mei’s affection for her through her gestures but couldn’t act on it just by looking. Initially, I was thinking of making Maria to be a CEO or a wealthy person, but somehow she turned into a psychology professor. With a psychology professor, thought she could discern people’s hearts based on their appearance, then also Mei could be enrolled in the psychology department. Mei is struggling in her mind.

— Indeed, you’ve created a very intricate setting for your manga! I couldn’t stop turning the pages of the story that unfolds at such a high speed!
Because in manga, things start happening that normally wouldn’t, that’s what makes it fun. That’s why I draw manga! The updates are only once a month, so I have to keep things moving fast, or I might get bored (laughs). While there are yuri stories that progress slowly, I, personality-wise, can’t do that. It’s high-speed, but I make sure it’s easy to read.
The difficult part was establishing the relationships between the characters from the very beginning. It was fine up to the point of creating the girls I liked, but making characters that needed to be popular was challenging. Handsome or beautiful people are popular, but they’re distant, and of course, they’re popular. It was really difficult to find that ordinary, not extremely handsome or beautiful, yet appealing quality… truly challenging.
The interview with Tamamushi Oku-sensei will continue in the next one. In the upcoming part, we’ll learn more about Tamamushi Oku-sensei, hear a message from her, and also have a special giveaway event! Please look forward to it!
After overcoming a challenging preparation period, Tamamushi Oku-sensei’s I Don’t Know Which Is Love is receiving rave reviews from the first to the third volume, all available now!

There are as many likes as there are people.
In her final days of high school, Mei Soraike tried to confess her love to her best friend only to have her hopes crushed.
Determined to ”definitely get a girlfriend in college!”, she enters university with high spirits.
However, inexplicably, one girl after another starts coming into Mei’s life…!?
Profile – Tamamushi Oku
Debuted with Miyamori ♡ Typhoon in 2014. Notable works include Cheerful Amnesia (Yen Press) and participation in anthologies, as well as projects like Yuri-Drill. An acclaimed author active in various fields. Currently serializing I Don’t Know Which Is Love (Yen Press), with the first three volumes receiving rave reviews!
This interview was conducted in September 2023 at Yuri Cafe Anchor. Many thanks to Yuri Cafe Anchor for their cooperation.
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