Even professional manga artists are in awe of the legendary Rumiko Takahashi.

Yuki Suetsugu is a 40-year-old manga artist whose current series, Chihayafuru, has already spawned 32 volumes and counting, two seasons of a TV anime, a novel series, and two theatrical live-action adaptations. Yet even a manga artist with a series as popular as hers can be intimidated in the presence of a veritable manga god.

Suetsugu recently experienced a situation of being surrounded by such manga giants such as Slam Dunk‘s Takehiko Inoue and Great Teacher Onizuka‘s Tooru Fujisawa, but one artist in particular made her break out into a cold sweat. Check out her posts describing the experience on her official Twitter account below:

▼ “Today eleven of us got together for a dinner party. We always gather on the birthday eve of the person who hosts and jointly illustrate a card for him or her. I’m trembling…to think that the day would come when I could sign the same board as all of these manga artists…I almost cried at being able to see Rumiko Takahashi draw a picture of Lum.”

▼ “Who wouldn’t be staring intently? Lum is materializing right before my very eyes…but you know what’s scary? After Rumiko Takahashi finished drawing, it was my turn, and I could feel her watching me from behind, too. So much pressure. I drew my picture with my pupils dilated…”

Suetsugu certainly isn’t the only one who holds the legendary Rumiko Takahashi in high regard. Takahashi, who is almost 20 years Suetsugu’s senior, has a professional manga career spanning nearly 40 years and is quite probably the most successful female manga artist in history. Her major works of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, InuYasha, and the currently serialized Rin-ne have enjoyed recognition on an international scale, and it would be difficult to find a Japanese person who was unaware of her contribution to the world of manga.

And you can probably guess that we’re also huge fans of Takahashi around RocketNews24. Suetsugu, if you happen to get cold feet at your next manga artist gathering, never fear–give us a call, and we’d be more than happy to take your place (with our meager art skills to boot)!

Source: Twitter/@yuyu2000_0908
Featured image: Twitter/@yuyu2000_0908