Manga creator Shoki Nagoya, the original story writer of Prisoners of Twilight Town (JP: 黄昏町プリズナーズ), explains why he continues working as a long haul truck driver while writing manga, describing the industry as a gamble too risky to bet his family’s life on.

In an era where diverse work styles are becoming more accepted and companies are increasingly open to side jobs, it is not uncommon to hear about people juggling two careers. Professions such as musicians or comedians are often admired, yet difficult to pursue full time. Shoki Nagoya, the original creator of Prisoners of Twilight Town, currently serialized on Magapoke (K MANGA), is one such example.

While writing the original story for a weekly serialized manga, Nagoya also works as a long haul truck driver. He is a father of two, and his work was released as Volume 2 of the manga on January 8. Remarkably, the volume went back to print on the very day of its release. For a newcomer with only two volumes published, an immediate reprint at such an early stage is considered extremely rare.

Balancing Truck Driving and Manga Creation

Nagoya first started drawing illustrations when he was in the upper grades of elementary school. Before he realized it, he was staying up late drawing illustrations of NARUTO and Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku, then showing them to his friends at school the next day. He clearly remembers the exact date he began drawing manga: January 14 of his second year in junior high school. After reading the Harry Potter novels he bought with New Year gift money, he decided, “From today on, I will start a life of drawing manga.”

“At one point, I gave up on becoming a manga artist. It sounds dramatic, but that is what happened,” Nagoya said. He then began working as a truck driver, helping with the family business run by his grandfather. For a while, he focused entirely on driving. However, his desire to create manga eventually returned.
Around that time, he discovered DAYS NEO, an online platform operated by Kodansha where creators can submit manga digitally. He uploaded a draft storyboard that would later become the foundation of Prisoners of Twilight Town. The platform allows editors from various magazines to read submitted works, and if an editor is interested, they can reach out directly.

“One of the editors who contacted me was my current editor, Mr. Sugita. I am truly grateful that several editors showed interest, but the feedback from my current editor made me think, ‘That makes perfect sense.’”

Although Nagoya originally aspired to become a manga artist, he serves as the original story writer for Prisoners of Twilight Town, while the artwork is handled by Fuji Morohoshi. When asked about this division of roles, he answered honestly, “I would like to sound cool about it, but the truth is my drawings were not very good. That was the biggest reason.”

“I Could Not Bet My Family’s Life on a Gamble”

“Another reason is that I could not gamble my family’s life on it,” Nagoya explained. “I had heard that being a manga artist is one of the busiest jobs in the world. To make it as a manga creator, I would have had to quit driving trucks and focus entirely on manga. With a family to protect, the gamble was simply too big for me to take.”

He also emphasized that he genuinely loves his job as a truck driver.

“This might sound like sour grapes, and honestly, I could not say this out loud until my book was published, but I truly enjoy working alone while driving. I like the time spent behind the wheel. I did not start drawing manga because I wanted to quit driving trucks. I just could not stop drawing manga.”

Nagoya expressed deep gratitude for working with Morohoshi, stating that the artist’s exceptional drawing skills made the story many times more compelling.

“Thanks to Morohoshi sensei’s incredible artwork, the original story became far more interesting than I ever imagined. I am especially fond of the character Hika, who became unbelievably cool through his illustrations.”

Ideas Born on the Midnight Highway

Nagoya says many of his story ideas come to him while driving. As he repeatedly transports cargo and sells it at his destination, he began to think about how money is determined solely by weight, a cold and systematic process with no room for emotion.

“That idea made me wonder if such a system could work as the foundation of a story.”

In Prisoners of Twilight Town, Japan has abolished the death penalty. Instead, prisoners convicted of serious crimes are sent to a place called Twilight Town. There, inmates can earn money based on the weight of a corpse they transport to a designated location.

“In Twilight Town, not only prisoners but people with various abilities are gathered,” Nagoya explained. “No matter how intelligent or physically strong someone is, once they die, their body holds no value beyond its weight. You may feel sadness when an ally dies, or even relief if a truly evil person is gone. But the system does not care. It only converts weight into currency.”

He draws a direct parallel between this fictional system and his own work.

“It mirrors my world, where the weight of scrap materials collected by a truck is converted into money. In that sense, the system of Twilight Town is just as cold as the real world I work in. I found myself thinking about these things late at night on the highway, and before I knew it, I was drawing manga again.”

Although he once gave up on manga, ideas continued to flow while he was driving, ultimately bringing him back to a life of creation. Nagoya maintains a gold level driving license and repeatedly emphasized safety.

“If I focus too much, it can be dangerous, so I am always careful,” he said.

As for his future goals, Nagoya shared a simple but sincere aspiration: “I want to grow stronger and create stories that more people will find interesting.”

Synopsis of Prisoners of Twilight Town

Five years have passed since Japan abolished the death penalty. In its place, those convicted of serious crimes are imprisoned in a town known as Twilight Town. Yuma Chikashira, who insists on his innocence despite receiving a death sentence, is also sent there.

Inside the town, murder and rape are no longer considered crimes. It is a lawless zone where death row inmates are forced to kill one another. In this hellish environment known as Twilight Town, can Yuma survive?

A brutal survival battle, where every participant is a death row inmate, begins.

Source : ORICON NEWS