The comic’s handsome men might not have such slender, athletic builds if they actually ate all those sweets.
While some guys in Japan have to employ clever strategies to get chocolate from girls on Valentine’s Day, others can simply rely on their good looks or fame as they sit back and wait for the sweets to come rolling in. As a matter of fact, if you’re handsome or famous enough, you don’t even have to be a real person.
Manga creator Takeshi Konomi’s The Prince of Tennis has been one of Japan’s most popular comics among female readers for over a decade now. Such longevity means the series now has a cast of hundreds of young men with slim, toned bodies, and finely featured faces who get sweaty on the courts week after week for the enjoyment of fans. Come Valentine’s Day, many of Prince of Tennis’ readers want to express their admiration for their favorite characters, but since they don’t have real-world addresses, all of that Valentine’s Day chocolate ends up getting shipped to the manga team’s office instead.
Boxes of gifts start coming in from early February, as we took a look at two years ago. In 2014, the Prince of Tennis cast received more than 180,000 Valentine’s Day gifts, according to a tweet sent by Konomi at the time.
The official count for 2016 hasn’t been announced yet, but it looks to be an even higher than that, judging from Konomi’s excited tweet this year on February 11.
▼ “The first shipment of Prince of Tennis Valentine gifts have arrived ☆ ヾ(´▽｀＊)ゝ Thank you! I’ll put on my back support belt to carry them in.
Given the around-the-clock schedule under which many hit manga are produced, we’re sure Konomi and his assistants are grateful for the massive supply of workplace snacks. But while it’s hard to work on an empty stomach, it takes more than calories to turn in top-quality artwork. You also need some elbow room, something which looks to have been in precious short supply on February 15.
▼ “We’re currently in the process of receiving all of the love everyone is showing for The Prince of Tennis’ characters
Here’s hoping Konomi remembers to lift with his legs, not with his back.
Source: Hachima Kiko
Top image: Twitter/@konomi_takeshi