After finishing that passage, Rita began drawing the character design sheet for the manga's female host, Jigoku Shoujo—Enma Ai!
She had long black hair with blunt bangs and crimson eyes. Since she had died at thirteen, she retained the appearance of a thirteen-year-old.
She was undeniably a loli, still underage...
The illustration Rita was drawing showed Enma Ai dressed in a kimono, with a Buddhist bell bracelet on her right hand.
The background was a place forever bathed in sunset, filled with blooming Higanbana and surrounded by mountains.
After drawing Enma Ai's character sheet, Rita also drew the main characters from the first season. She did not intend to draw the other characters; Shiina Mashiro could decide those herself, since they were not very important anyway.
Next came the storyboards, dialogue, backgrounds...
Rita taught Shiina Mashiro as she drew. By the next day, they had only barely completed part of it, but it was enough for Shiina Mashiro to start drawing and refining.
The rest could be taken slowly. They would draw a few chapters first, then submit them!
Editorial Department
At one of Weekly Shonen Sunday's editorial departments under Shogakukan, nearly all the editors, including the department's editor-in-chief, had been extremely busy these past few days. In just a few days, Weekly Shonen would hold its meeting to decide on new serializations.
Every department was obligated to select its best manga and submit them, though the final decision on which manga to submit rested with the editor-in-chief. Before that, however, the other editors would first filter out the qualified works.
The editor-in-chief placed great importance on this submission. As long as a manga he submitted made it into Weekly Shonen Jump serialization, it would be a success. And if that manga became hugely popular and brought the