It turns out that Kintetsu Yamada, the author of Sweat and Soap, published her personal highlights from each chapter on Twitter and explained her thought process behind them, back when the manga was still being published. I have compiled some of the most insightful ones.
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 2 is the armpit. Please accept it.
Chapter 3 of Sweat and Soap doesn’t have many sexy scenes, but the thing I devoted my passion to this time is Asako’s card holder.To be honest, ever since the one-shot, that card holder has existed solely to emphasize the line of Asako’s breasts.That’s all from the scene report.
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 4 of Sweat and Soap is sweaty underwear-clad Asako.Since Asako doesn’t like sweating, she doesn’t really exercise much, so I put all my effort into depicting a body that looks like “not sloppy, but clearly doesn’t exercise.”I’ve also prepared a version with the pile of clothes removed. Please enjoy it.
The highlight Chapter 5 is the blush.In that famous line “I was looking for to ...” scene, I tried to make her blush look alluring and steamy, and to make that stand out, I drew the blush just before it to look a bit more innocent.You can never have too many blushes.
>>283370929>>283371025Who is this and why is she so peak
The highlights of Chapter 6 are:Her slightly messy bedhead right after waking up — cute.Her freshly washed, silky-smooth hair — cute.Her hair tied up a little higher than usual — cute.In summary: “Girls are cute.”
No one cares
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 7 is, of course, the scene where Asako puts on her stockings.When she’s not wearing black tights, it can easily look like she’s bare-legged, so I felt it was absolutely necessary to firmly establish that Asako always wears stockings. That’s why I drew this scene.I also believed it was essential to include the depiction of tucking her underwear into the stockings, so I’m very satisfied that I got to draw that.From now on, please note: whenever there’s no screentone on her legs, she’s wearing stockings; if she’s truly bare-legged, I’ll make sure it’s depicted appropriately.
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 9 is the love hotel invitation scene.Or rather, you could say the entire ten pages leading up to it.The scenario of a shy girl mustering the courage to invite someone herself—that’s personally peak emotional bliss for me.Thinking about what emotional flow would lead her to take that step was an incredibly fun process.Of course I poured every bit of my heart and soul into it—one or two portions at least!
The long-awaited Chapter 10 highlight is definitely the scene where the bra and stockings come off at the same time!Out of that, I especially focused hard on the stockings, staring at my tablet screen the entire time!!These kinds of scenes are the only chance to make it clear that Asako normally wears stockings…!It was insanely fun to draw!!!!!!!
>>283370888You're going God's work, anon
Good shit, OP.
The highlight of Chapter 13 is Asako asking for a head pat, and Natori looking momentarily dumbfounded, like his IQ dropped for a second from the shock.Normally I think stuff like “handsome guys giving head pats” is cheesy and pretentious,but when it’s a shy girl—and she’s already in a relationship where they’ve done things way beyond a head pat—yet she still deliberately asks for one here… that’s just super awesome, actually!?Once I realized that, my pen just wouldn’t stop moving.I did my best to make Asako’s side look like a shoujo manga, while keeping Natori’s side monochrome and high-contrast—if that gap helps convey even a bit of that emotional impact, I’ll be happy.
I care.
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 14 is the scene where Asako, back home for the holidays, wears plain, practical underwear covered in cat hair while changing clothes.I was torn between that and the toothbrushing scene, but I thought the latter might be a bit too niche, so I self-censored.
>>283370888I'm waiting to see what she says about chapter 55. If you know you know.
>>283371410Also, it’s not exactly a “highlight,” but personally, I really loved the little idea that Asako can actually play mahjong—not that she’s good at it or remembers all the rules perfectly, but she can play.I poured that fondness into the manuscript…but my editor, who’s never played mahjong before, didn’t get it at all, and I was like, “Tch…”A girl who normally seems totally disconnected from things like mahjong or horse racing joins in, even if she doesn’t know much, and little by little starts having fun — then she wins her first hand with a tsumo and excitedly goes, “Yay! I did it! It lined up!” — that kind of pure joy just makes me so happy…I didn’t get to draw a scene like that, but I wanted to put those feelings into this chapter’s family mahjong game.As for me, honestly, I only really started playing mahjong properly last year — I’m still a total beginner. When I was a kid, my grandpa had a mahjong table at his house, but I just used the tiles to build mazes and play around with them.
I can’t narrow down the highlights for Chapter 15, so I’ll just list them all.1. Asako carrying heavy bags while drenched in sweat!I’ve never really had the chance to show it before, but I’ve always loved “girls carrying heavy things” ever since my school days… Like a girl in the brass band carrying her own instrument, or a club manager hauling the team’s drink cooler—There’s something deeply moving about how their balance shifts slightly under the weight, and how it shows their dedication to something they love. For me, it’s no longer a fetish; it’s something pure and precious.Asako’s scene here isn’t really that kind of youthful moment, but I wanted it to feel grounded and realistic, so I actually put on a backpack myself to study how it would look…
>>2833715322. Asako turning sideways to sit on Natori’s thigh.I wanted to draw the moment when, even during a casual chat, she shifts so she can face him properly while bringing up something important—like asking if they could invite her younger brother to the restaurant.It was a tricky panel because I had to balance readability and the surrounding compositions, and I agonized over the camera angle…
I also carebut>herare we 100% sure this is the case?
>>2833715543. The scene where she ties her hair with a scrunchie.Whenever I draw the nape of her neck, I swear to myself to pour my entire soul into it.
>>2833715814. The scene where she holds up her clothes to her body.…To be blunt—it’s about the armpit.Honestly, I think an armpit peeking out from a sleeve is hundreds of times sexier than just showing breasts outright.I’ll stop talking before I creep people out, but I trust my fellow believers understand exactly what I mean…
>>283371581sasuga nihonjin
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 18 is… well, skinship.Since it’s set at the office, they obviously can’t go too far, and I couldn’t exactly have them undressing, so I had Natori do as much as possible within acceptable limits.As always, scenes like this make me so nervous my palms get three times sweatier than usual…I was also saved by the return of our old friend, the card holder senpai!
>>283371173bullyable OL
>>283371608I don't think I'll ever understand what's so erotic about armpits.
The highlight of Cahpter 23 is the scene where Asako shyly shows him her outfit after trying it on.If a single panel has a blush, cleavage, and armpit all together, I’m usually satisfied—but this time, the fitting room setting itself was what mattered to me.Looking back, I wish I’d made it feel a little more closed-in and intimate.Also, I worked hard on drawing her bra and armpit while she’s taking care of her sweat, so please check that out too if you’d like.
>>283371728As a bonus, I’ll include the earlier panel where she’s getting ready—in the rough sketch, I’d drawn her armpit there as well.Sorry it’s all armpits this time. I’m still happily making manga today.
>>283371719manko stand in that you don't have to pixelate
The highlight of Chapter 31 is the scene where Asako grabs a tissue to wipe her nose.Up until now, she’s shed quiet tears before, but this was her first time crying hard enough to almost sob—and when I thought about how to portray that, I realized I couldn’t imagine her crying beautifully like in a TV drama.But if I went full-on messy, with snot running everywhere, it’d be too distracting…So I settled on a restrained kind of crying—the kind where she’s fighting to hold it in.Tears keep her nose running, yet she refuses to collapse into sobs because she wants to express herself properly.That double layer of restraint felt so right.Once I decided that, no matter how tough the page layout got, I knew I had to include this scene.I even searched for reference images online and told the staff, “Please make the tissue box look like this cute kind,” giving very specific directions—then finally felt at ease.That’s how much care I put into this episode—and really, into this whole three-episode arc dealing with the cohabitation issue.Every line of dialogue took so much thought. I kept asking myself,“Why am I writing something this serious…? What happened to all the blushing scenes…?”Honestly, the only reason I wanted to draw Sweat and Soap in the first place was because I wanted to show a plain glasses-wearing office lady blushing like crazy.To think it’s grown into a story that asks questions like “What is life?”—it’s kind of overwhelming.Next week’s chapter, though, is a soft, easygoing, affectionate one—like the author’s tension has completely snapped—so I hope you’ll read it while relaxing in bed.
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 34 is Asako’s scene that got crammed too tightly into the panel and partially covered by the dialogue boxes because I overdid it.You have to believe me—my mind just wasn’t in the right place.I was fascinated by Asako doing her sweat care routine while deep in thought about something else entirely, and it felt so fresh that I got way too excited.Plus, since it had been a while since I drew a sweat-care scene, I really wanted to go big.And then… I completely forgot about the existence of the dialogue bubbles. Ugh…I’ll be more careful next time.Since it’s a shame to waste it, I’ll post the version without the dialogue here as a kind of memorial offering…
>>283371778But it's just a sweaty cavity THO
>>283371778This might be just me, but I feel like the recent popularity of using it as a stand in is selling it way short. You can enjoy a nape or a tummy for what they are; you can do the same with pits.
>>283371878On another note, for this chapter my personal theme was “let’s draw lots of different expressions of Asako.”I think I pulled that off, and it was so much fun.A girl in love struggling and giving her all is always adorable—no matter the era.Now I want a homemade bento…
>>283371719The same i ask about feet
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 37 is the tummy.More precisely, the moment she lifts her pajamas herself to show her belly.I’ve kept this a secret until now, but I absolutely love clothes-lifting scenes.And getting to do it under the noble pretext of “testing the scent of the soap”?That was an instant victory pose and shoryuken moment for me.I even made both of their pajamas darker in color just to make her belly stand out more.From start to finish, all I could think about was the belly.When I told my editor during the draft stage,“The highlight this time is the belly. Once I draw it, I’ll ascend to heaven.”he just said,“Ah… uh-huh… (Well, do whatever you want…)”But I stayed true to what I wanted to draw.
The highlight I poured my heart into for Chapter 44 is bra fitting!!!I know, writing that so enthusiastically makes me sound like a total idiot—but it’s the truth, so there’s no helping it…Back in February, I drew a doodle of Asako wearing lingerie, and ever since then I thought, “If I’m going to do this properly, I need to start from the fitting scene…”It’s been five months since that resolution—and I finally made it happen!When I actually started drawing it, I realized that bras are incredibly difficult—not just because of their patterns, but because capturing that sense of tightness and support when being worn is so tricky.I ended up posing myself in the middle of the night until my arms almost cramped, and after staring at so many bra photos, I was on the verge of total bra Gestalt collapse.In particular, for the panel where Asako is saying “Hmm…”—I put my whole life into drawing that feeling of “snug fullness.”If you ever reread it, please take a closer look at that part.Also, ever since working on this chapter, all the ads on my phone have become nothing but bras.Just a little while ago, they were all real estate listings…
>>283371532>so I actually put on a backpack myself to study how it would lookI guess that strongly implies a woman author, since it's never been officially confirmed
There are many things I poured my heart and soul into for Chapter 45, but ultimately, it’s all about the tights, the armpits, and the untying of the strings... I just really wanted her to wear string underwear, and this whole chapter, that’s pretty much all I thought about.
>>283370888Today OP wasn't a faggotNice trips by the way.
>>283372098And the combo of “a normally plain, reserved girl putting on daring underwear” plus “she wants to make sure it’s seen, so she uses alcohol for courage” — that already hits a huge emotional score for me. Then, after I finished drawing everything and happened to look back at the elevator scene, I realized, “Ah... she was already wearing that underwear here...” and that hit me with a deep, quiet wave of emotion. Moments like that make me really glad I became a manga artist.
>>283370888>>283370929>>283370975I think this is my favorite thing about manga authors that normalfags wont''t understand. All manga authors are either horny or complete weirdos and that whats makes them amazing. Being horny is a big motivator for artists to draw appealing looking characters. Btw is the Sweat and Soap author making a new manga anytime soon?
The points I put the most heart into for Chapter 53 were Asako’s bare feet and morning chaos!At the office she always wears stockings, and even at Natori’s place she’s often shown wearing slippers — so I decided that when we reached the cohabitation arc, where I could draw more of their everyday life, I had to draw Asako’s bare feet. I’m still not satisfied, so I’ll keep drawing them more and more.And as for the morning chaos — there’s something really charming about seeing a normally composed girl being a bit messy. Plus, since the scene right before this one was super sweet, I wanted to cut that mood short with a “Alright, sweetness dismissed!!” moment. Having her flustered and running around also lets me handle nudity in a more natural, healthy way, which honestly helps me as the author.By the way, I often get asked, “Will you ever draw Asako’s nipples?” but the answer is no — not now, not ever. Because that’s where the dream lies. It’s a place that shouldn’t be answered so easily. I want readers to imagine the chest area they like best.As for Natori’s nipples, it’s just like, “eh, there’s not much value in showing them anyway,” so I simply don’t bother. No deeper meaning there.
Women are so based
The highlight of Chapter 55 is the crotch gri—wait, no, it's the leg circulation massage for Asako-san!! Massage!! Yes! Right!! After all, sitting work causes leg swelling and it's quite tough, right? I thought a slightly stronger massage with a man's hands would be nice once in a while. There are also angles of stimulation that you can't do by yourself...!? It's one of those little everyday habits you notice about your partner after you start living together... you know, that kind of casual thing. A very wholesome thing. Yes.
>>283372329Also, I was so happy to finally bring Tsubaki-san back this chapter! It’s been a while since I got to draw her, so I may have made her sparkle a bit too much out of sheer joy. The company-side characters tend to appear only in specific episodes, so it sometimes feels like they have to wait their turn, but I want to keep weaving them in whenever I can.
The highlight of Chapter 58 is Asako-san finally straddling him herself. Finally... we finally did it... it was worth drawing up to this point...Even though I drew a lot of important things in the scenes leading up to the straddling in the story, once I got to this scene, everything else flew out of my mind. I was only thinking about the straddling...For the "You don't understand...?" part, while working hard on the settled mass and shadow tones at the chest area, I had distant eyes thinking "I'd like to be made to understand..." And for the butt part, I was doing the inking while heckling like "Oi! Wait! For your first time, the position you're sitting in is pretty risky, Asako-san!!" My tension was like watching a pro wrestling match.For the bath scene with Yuzuka, I actually wanted to draw them getting in the tub together and having fun, but... I didn't have enough pages... not enough pages to draw all the way to the straddling scene!!! tears I'm scheming to draw a bit more at some timing, like in a flashback or in bonus content for the compiled volume...This is also the first time the sexy stuff has started and then continued across weeks, so I'm feeling restless somehow... Please be careful as the next chapter will require caution from page 1 onwards...
>>283370929>Please accept it.Oh I will
The key points for Chapter 84 are the continued joy of work outfits and the bra hook challenge! Seriously, I love drawing work clothes… Why are open-collar shirts and tight skirts so good!? Maybe because they highlight the waistline...?I put a lot of effort into showing the little gap between the short sleeves and the way her chest rests against her torso — but I still feel like I need to aim even higher. This kind of outfit is Asako’s origin point, and since relaxed or flirty moments while she’s still in her work clothes will keep happening, I have to make sure I can draw convincing short sleeves, the chest resting naturally, and the tightness of a pencil skirt whenever those scenes come up.As for the bra hook challenge — I’ve planned to draw that for ages. It’s a silly little challenge, sure, but also deeply romantic… And Asako being kind enough to quietly stay still so it’s easier for him to undo the bra? She’s just too sweet.Honestly, these kinds of playful, close-contact moments are much healthier for both body and soul than just immediately getting into bed and finishing things quickly.
>>283372527Someday, I would like to explore things that can’t be shown in a mainstream magazine (just saying).Also, a friend asked me, “Wait, why is it the bra he’s removing, not her glasses?” But like—hold on, why would it be her glasses?Sure, during the Hokkaido trip arc the mood called for taking them off early, but usually, she keeps the glasses on as long as possible, right? If things get heated, then she can take them off! What are we arguing here, a war!?
Those are basically the ones I found most funny, but there's more if you look at her Twitter. As a bonus, here you have some rare official porn:https://files.catbox.moe/1stfzv.jpghttps://files.catbox.moe/fxoars.jpeg
>>283371532This woman is a master
>>283371608>it’s about the armpit.YESYESYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS
>>283371719They look nice, it's hard to explain. Plus, I want to smell and taste them
>>283372669Canonically hairy. Nice.
>>283372759I feel stupid for not having realized before that the mangaka was an armpitfag. It was pretty obvious.>>283372949Did you miss the official doujinshi?
>>283372839I'd wager it has a lot to do with someone's affinity for smells and tastes.
>>283372329>I thought a slightly stronger massage with a man's hands would be nice once in a whileGirls want a man's big, strong, male hands to massage their small, delicate, sensitive, female feet. You heard it here from a woman herself.
>>283372669Canon/official nsfw art from the authors always hit different
>>283373111Women CLAIM to want men to smell and lick them. Yet, when I try, I get arrested!
>>283370888Wonderful anon. Thank you for this.
>>283373183Are gamers still oppressed?
>>283372669Links are broken.
>>283374082Works on my machine
>>283374082Works for me. Some providers and countries block catbox.
>>283370888Talented people with niche interests throwing something out there that they understand won't be for everyone is always fun to look at. It may not be my thing, even if office ladies with glasses are, but I can at least appreciate the love and attention that went into it.See also OP showing up to spread the compilation of what he found because he just thought they were neat.
>>283371474This artist is cute.This art is cuteThis girl is cute.In short...
>>283374420I don't particulary care about all the armpits and sweat stuff, but this woman has so many fetishes that it's impossible not to resonate with some of them.
>>283372544Glasses stay on during sex, obviously.
>>283371656Death to that bitch>>283371757Lewd
>I didn't think anyone would care, so I didn't post most of the highlights. Here are a couple more.The highlight of Chapter 49 is "The kind of life where you want to feel happiness while getting moderately tired from assembling furniture and thinking about object placement together with your lover..." Furniture that's too heavy for one person to lift and drags on the floor can be carried by two people... everything finishes quickly when two people do it... I've become the type to be moved by such things...Before serialization, I thought the appeal of romcom was things like going out on dates! Or unexpectedly being alone together and heart-pounding! Or blushing!!!! Boobs!! But there's an emotional appeal you notice as you draw... There are times you want gentle noodle soup instead of rich ramen... That was the state of mind for this chapter.But after eating noodle soup and being healed, you eventually want rich ramen after all, so I want to recharge properly during the break and go with hearty ramen for the cohabitation arc!!!
The highlight of Episode 65 is the part where she tugs at her stockings and her inner conflict about going braless! I debated whether to make Asako-san's underwear the kind with a fair amount of lace, but when I draw lace it suddenly gives off a lavish atmosphere and somehow didn't feel right, so I ultimately settled on the plainest-looking seamless underwear...The plainer it is, the more I go "Umu... (satisfied)," so I think I've burdened myself with a troublesome karma. Also, this time because of the "Did I gain weight...!?" flow, while this panel is fanservice, I was conscious of making her butt look slightly defeated by gravity. A little sloppiness is good...And whether or not to sleep braless. This is a very important factor. It's been just about a month and a half since they started living together, and while things have settled down, Asako still can't sleep braless when sleeping with Natori. Even though when she lived alone, braless was fine.How much should she expose herself in front of her boyfriend... It's fine in that kind of atmosphere, but Asako still can't quite gauge the distance and balance when it's not that kind of moment, hence the maiden's inner conflict... It's not like the author desperately wants to draw a moment of braless cuddling or anything. It's not! What's with that look in your eyes!
The highlight of Chapter 66 is healthy sweat! Sweating from being flustered or blushing is good too, but this time I wanted to have Asako-san actively sweat with a goal in mind! So I drew it that way. When I do that, the usual sniffing and "activities" aren't possible, so I had no choice but to fully concentrate and activate the erotic breathing technique on her sportswear outfit.
>>283375669Also, while this was JK Asako-san's first appearance in the main story, the content ended up swinging completely toward the wholesome side, so I couldn't do anything lewd... At this time she hadn't even met Natori-san yet, and personally I'll find it more moe if present-day Asako wears high school-style clothes and gets embarrassed thinking “What am I even doing…?” rather than back in her actual JK days, so I want to work hard in that direction.
>>283375712...And then, a long-held dream since I started aiming to be a manga artist... a full page spread across the fold...!! I did it...!! I finally did it...!!! This is my first page spread ever!!!! Honestly, I thought with a romcom, given my skill level, I'd never have an opportunity to do a spread... I'm truly deeply moved. Thank you, Natori-san!!!My editor said even the text in those quotation marks was so huge it wasn't on the font size chart, and they struggled with the typesetting. Apparently it was their first time with such a size. I'm glad so many readers laughed at it... It became a memorable chapter.
The highlight of Episode 83 is bare legs in a pecil skirt!!! I'm sorry that despite the preview at the end of last week teasing a "fan service episode," it continued to the next week... I got too excited about bare legs in a tight skirt and couldn't fit it all in the pages at all...After all, pecil skirts are the origin point... Since they started living together, there have been many scenes with her in loungewear, and while that's part of cohabitation life, it was incredibly fun to properly draw a tight skirt again after so long... And bare legs with a tight skirt was personally the best for me, so I thought I'd draw to my heart's content!Then before I knew it, I ran out of pages... my planning ability that never develops... I actually wanted to draw the sequence where Asako-san comes home, takes off her stockings and takes off her skirt too, but wants to eat before bathing and it feels wasteful to change into other clothes before the bath so she puts the skirt back on...But if I drew all that, even 30 pages wouldn't be enough, so I tearfully cut it... This is where I experienced the hardship of commercial serialization...It's been a while since a fan service chapter and I kind of forgot the balance, plus I'm originally the type who finds more appeal in the excitement scenes leading up to it rather than the actual scenes themselves, so there's nothing I can do about it... Also, I'll eternally love "compositions that look like they're doing it even though they're not." (Nobody asked)
I love this manga so muchI love this mangaka so muchI love armpits so much
>>283370888What is this manga about?
Geez if this is really a woman mangaka she's even more of a horny otaku than peak kaoru mori
>>283376279The mangaka dumping her fetishes into the pages. Also about a ridiculously good love story between a sweaty office lady and a chad. No, really, it shouldn't have the right to be this good.
>>283376109Why? It's fucking garbage. Yet another anti-family "fake relationship" slop manga.
>>283376467It's not a secret that she's a womanhttps://x.com/KintetsuYMD/status/1724584810365272458
>>283375731post the spread!
>>283376467>horny mangaka :/>horny mangaka (female):O UOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MY GOD SIRS SHE IS LITERALL GODDESS!!!!!11!
