Comita Circle Interview FrontView
- Name (Circle): 紫のあ murasakino (Shinoa)
- Occupation: Self-employed
- Hobbies: Watching variety TV shows
- Comitia History: Since Comitia 126
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sinoa_ster
"I want to keep drawing stories where the heroine arrives at the happy ending she manages to find."

▲ From "Make a Mark." A scene where a university junior is captivated by her playgirl senior. Her expressions, which make the viewer's heart skip a beat, are memorable. Shinoa comments, "I think girls' cuteness is important, so I repeatedly scrap my own drafts and make revisions until I can draw a picture I'm satisfied with."
◀ From "Watashi no Angela" (My Angela). Depicts an encounter between a human and a girl who looks like an angel. A dazzling scene of her spreading her wings on a bed. Fantastical characters are one of the charms that color Shinoa's works.
Shinoa's first doujinshi, "Raishuu, Ame ga Futtara" (If It Rains Next Week), published in 2018, was a memorable work that richly and emotionally portrayed a woman, engaged to her boyfriend, whose heart is swayed by an encounter with another woman possessing an impish charm. Operating under the circle name "murasakino," she has released a total of seven independent works over approximately four years. Five of these have been featured in Tears Magazine's "P&R" section, making her an indispensable presence in Comitia's yuri genre in recent years. She continues to captivate many readers by depicting the love stories that unfold between her characters with a delicate touch and detailed portrayal of their inner worlds.
As early as 2018, she had already established a remarkably distinctive style in both her illustrations and manga—all the more surprising given she is entirely self-taught. "I started drawing as a break from my studies and posted my work on an online illustration board. The praise I received from people who saw it gave me confidence," she says. After starting Twitter in March 2018, her hybrid illustration and manga piece "Ohi-sama to Ningyo-hime" (The Queen and the Mermaid Princess) garnered a huge response just two months later. "I had absolutely no experience drawing manga before that," Shinoa recalls, "but when I drew an illustration, a story came to mind. I got a bit carried away, thinking, 'Hey, maybe I could draw something like this too!?' I was pretty fearless back then (laughs)." Riding that momentum, she began her doujin activities with Comitia 126 in November of that year. By 2019, an interview with her was published in "Quarterly S" (Kikan Esu), and she had contributed to other circles and web manga magazines. Her work shared on Twitter served as a catalyst, broadening the scope of her activities.
Shinoa, who states her preference for "pairings of the same age or with only a few years' difference," consistently focuses her stories on two women. This choice, she reveals, stems from two members of a group she deeply admired during her student days. "They were so cute, and I loved them so much; I was incredibly shocked when they disbanded," she explains. "Although I can no longer see them perform or in new activities, I now draw stories featuring 'the ideal pair I long to see'—characters modeled after those two group members."
Her latest work released at Comitia 140, "Make a Mark," features a university senior who frequently changes partners and an unassuming junior who is captivated by her but struggles with not being seen as a romantic interest. The evolution of their relationship is a key highlight. "The protagonists in my works are often devoted or very patient," Shinoa states, "and I want to keep drawing stories where they overcome difficult positions and trying circumstances to arrive at the happy ending the heroine manages to find."
Shinoa, who has been active mainly at Comitia for over four years, is scheduled to begin her first commercial serialization, "There is No Love Wishing Upon a Star," with "COMIC it" (KADOKAWA) starting February 10th. "When I was in my teens, I never imagined I'd become a manga artist," she says. "When I started my doujin activities, I was satisfied just having people see my work. But now, I want to identify areas for improvement in my manga, and I also want to try yuri in genres and with pairings I've never drawn before." It will be very exciting to see what kind of brilliance she will showcase on this new stage of commercial manga.
TEXT / KENJI NAKAYAMA (Published in Tears Magazine 143)