Yoriko Kichijouji

"I know how upsetting it feels to watch other people mess with your work I sympathize with Abiko. I'm not good at being critical... When it comes to adaptations I tend to leave everything to others... But in my heart, I'm the same as her."

Kichijouji Yoriko is the mangaka behind the popular manga series "Today Will Be Sweet" and was the mentor of Samejima Abiko, the mangaka of "Tokyo Blade."

Appearance
Yoriko sports a bob-cut hairstyle with a light blonde appearance and circle glasses. In Chapter 43, she is seen wearing a white and black striped shirt and a black jacket on her meeting with Samejima Abiko.

Personality
Yoriko appears to be carefree, outgoing, and lax. Part of this could be due to her manga's monthly serialization, not needing to worry about immediate deadlines and the like: juxtaposed by Samejima Abiko's polar-opposite personality and serialization schedule. Yoriko is considerate of others and their circumstances, though this could be seen as her not being good at being critical.

Due to her skills as a mangaka, she has the talent of telling what kind of person another mangaka is by reading their work. And is well versed in the ins and outs of the manga industry, be it the editing side and the hurdles mangaka have to go through to create their work.

Story
Kichijouji Yoriko is mangaka behind Sweet Today. Because of this, she has had editors and assistants helping her. One assistant, in particular, was Samejima Abiko, who rarely conversed and had an in-the-works manga. Yoriko wanted to know her better so she approached her, finding out she's very affectionate and passionate about manga. After Abiko's manga, Tokyo Blade, started serialization, they parted ways: Yoriko witnessing that it outperformed Sweet Today in popularity and sales.

They met again when Abiko sought advice for dealing with anime and drama adaptations. After this, they both went to the studio where the stage play took place: Yoriko being cautious of Abiko's attitude towards the play. Her intuition was right and disappointed with the outcome. She tried to reason things through with Abiko but was quickly rebutted by Abiko's reasoning.

Not long after this, Yoriko had a get-together with some of the actors of the stageplay: Aquamarine Hoshino, Melt Narushima, Kana Arima, and Akane Kurokawa. She explained her process of making manga and the hurdles mangaka go through within the industry. When Abiko came to the conversation, Yoriko decided to make things right with her.

After witnessing the mess that was Abiko's studio, behavior, and declining health, she lectured her about it: Turning into arguments about which manga is better, who's in the right, and the like. They became exhausted by the time they finished, Abiko stating that she just doesn't want her work to be messed with, Yoriko sympathizing with this thought.

Relationships

 * Samejima Abiko: Her former assistant and now fellow mangaka. Yoriko approached her about herself and the work she's been doing: Quickly realizing that she has a passion for manga. They parted ways after Tokyo Blade started serialization. Yoriko became concerned with Abiko, using excuses and blaming others to avoid communication: Most apparent with her editors and assistants. Further escalating with calling media and others who mess with other mangaka's third-rate hacks. Despite this, she knew the underlying meaning behind her reasoning and sympathized with her. And with this, talked things through with her and made amends.

Trivia

 * Sweet Today has also appeared in Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Aka-Akasaka's other manga.