Sekaiichi Hatsukoi explains how shoujo editing works
I know what you're thinking: is this a post about yaoi? (a Japanese fictional genre that focuses in romance between boys) well, certainly this anime is about that. However, I want to talk to you about a very interesting topic that is recurrently addressed in this story: the edition of shoujo manga.
The main character, Ritsu Onodera, is a literature editor who dreams of being recognized. However, his father is an influential figure in the publishing world and, after discovering that his co-workers were talking behind his back because of this, decides to work on his own, and not depend on his father's company. This leads him to a manga shoujo editorial (Emerald Editing), to discover that there works a man he loved in his teenage years: Masamune Takano (even worse; Takano would be his boss).
Onodera must learn that the world of shoujo publishing is not all sunshine and rainbows (even if their office looks like this).
He discovers that it is a complex work that can only be achieved as a team, between the mangaka (the artist), the writer (who may be the mangaka himself/herself), the design team, the editors, the printers, the sales people and even the bookstores.
This work usually takes a lot of time and effort, so by the deadline for delivery to the printer, the entire Emeral Editing team is usually exhausted.
And Onodera not only learns to work as a team and to perform in this area of the publishing world, but he begins to love what he does. He begins to read the books they publish with pleasure and emotion: he finally understands what his work is about and what it appeals to... emotions.
Now, one of the most interesting parts of this anime is to observe the learning process of Onodera. Manga readers know what the panels look like when they represent a certain emotion or mood in the story.
In this scene, Onodera is confused when he sees a "diffuse" panel that "seems half done", because it shows a text and some soft colors, only to receive the reprimand of Takano, who clarifies that these panels are specially made to show a suspense in the scene and it builds up, to focus the faces of the characters closer and closer until, in the decisive moment, the simple panel is released, in which the feeling is expressed, and all the tension is released. At first, our protagonist doesn't get it, but we will witness how he fells in love with his work (and with Takano).
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Thank you!