Anime Expo (AX) is North America’s largest annual convention celebrating Japanese pop culture, with a focus on anime and manga. The event was in full swing at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 3 to 6. Random House Graphic/Ink Pop joined the celebration of manga series, such as “My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999” and “I Wanna Be Your Girl.”

Temple of Geek spoke with Whitney Leopard, Executive Editor and Translator from Random House Graphic, about the new, queer series “I Wanna Be Your Girl.” Whitney also explained the editing and translating process.

“I Wanna Be Your Girl” by Umi Takase is an Authentic and Special Story of Friendship and Identity

Whitney Leopard has been a long-time manga reader and fan. Getting to work in this space and celebrate queer manga at Anime Expo was a dream come true for her. When she first read “I Wanna Be Your Girl,” she knew how special it was. Whitney says:

It feels like something we haven’t seen before in the manga space. So, whenever we had a chance to make this our debut manga series, we were like, ‘We have to have this happen.’ And so, we’re just very excited that it is real and that we are able to, then, bring it out to people.

“I Wanna Be Your Girl” follows Hime, a high schooler, and her best friend and crush, Akira. Akira confided in Hime about identifying as a girl, and Hime will do whatever it takes to support her. However, Hime is worried that there is such a thing as too much protection. What if that jeopardizes their cherished friendship?

Not only does this series touch on orientation and gender identity, but it also tells the story of what it’s like to find your community. Making friends who accept you and work on understanding you is incredibly important, especially when on a personal journey of self-discovery.

Whitney tells us that the lesson from “I Wanna Be Your Girl” is, “Good intentions don’t necessarily mean good results.” Hime, along with her friends, tries to figure out what is best for herself and Akira. Unfortunately, this leads to unintentional hurt and arguments. The best they can do is to communicate openly and honestly, which will lead to deeper friendships in the long run.

Friendship is about vulnerability and being there for each other. And don’t make assumptions. Like, make sure that you are being true to yourself, but then also make sure that you are communicating with those around you if they hurt you or they’re doing something that you are uncomfortable with.

The Editing and Translation Process for This Series Was Smooth

Editing and translating “I Wanna Be Your Girl” was a smooth process thanks to the collaboration between Mangamo and Ink Pop. Mangamo is the original app that brought the series to English-speaking users. Whitney worked with another editor who was fluent in Japanese, making things much easier.

We basically did a read of it. And we decided to take a different approach for some things and tweaked some content to make sure that, while looking at the Japanese and looking at English, we wanted to keep Takase-Sensei’s vision true to the story while also making sure it fits with what our own standards are when it comes to the graphic novels we published.

Working on editing manga is different from her work on graphic novels and single-issue comics. As an editor, Whitney’s job is to make sure the author’s story comes to life “in a way that’s true to their vision for it.” This remains true no matter what needs to be edited and published.

“I Wanna Be Your Girl” Receives Positive Reactions

While the first volume has been available online for some time, the physical copy is on sale now! Anime Expo was a birthday of sorts for Takase-Sensei’s manga, and manga fans flocked to the Ink Pop booth to get their hands on a copy.

Whitney recalls a moment at the convention when an attendee found the copy among a variety of other series being offered at the booth.

I don’t want to presume age, but around high school, like late teen age was walking by. And they were looking at other…amazing books that Ink Lore is doing, and they pause because we had copies on sale, and they’re just like, ‘I’ve read this, but I didn’t know that this was going to exist in person.’ And they almost burst into tears. It was so touching. But it just shows how much these books are needed in these spaces.

It is so important, especially for young readers, to find themselves in these stories. Ink Pop plans to use their space to explore more genres and tropes that resonate with people.

“I Wanna Be Your Girl” volume 1 is available on the Random House website. Volume 2 is coming soon!