This is a slightly longer short-pull show, in that the episodes are about 15 minutes each. “The Comic Artist and Assistants” (“Mangaka-san to Ashisutanto-san to”) tells the tale of Yūki Aito, who is a manga writer and artist. But he has problems, in that he is always pushing deadlines for his currently serialized “Hajiratte Cafe Latte” story, and so he is given help with assistants, who at least do the inking to speed things along.

His ‘staff’, as it were, consists of (left to right):
Mihari Otosuna, Yūki’s editor, often scolding and beating him for his shortcomings. She and Yūki were once classmates.
Sahoto Ashisu, 19 year old assistant. Serious on her own work ethic yet very down-to-earth. She is often the target of Yūki’s mischief.
Sena Kuroi, also 19. Due to her small, childish stature, Sena is usually mistaken as a child and, at times, acts like one, especially when she is drunk.
Rinna Fuwa, again 19. Despite being an assistant, Rinna knows nothing about drawing manga, as she was hired by Mihari due to Yūki wanting someone who is cute.

Well, there are other problems as well, as he is a bit of a pervert. He has a panty fetish and is always trying ways to work it into the show and his stories. Needless to say, this bothers all the women in his life. You could say this is a harem comedy, but not in the full sense of the word, as we rarely have all four on the scene at the same time, but he does have these four ladies.

Yuki is always peppering his staff with requests like “Should I have more panties in this chapter?” and “Let’s go to a hot springs!” He has a tremendous pile of ecchi, but that is strictly for ‘reference’, as he needs a specific angle or what-not. OK, let’s be cruel: anywhere else this would be sexual harassment, but, for us here, it’s just guy trying to get his pervert on and failing miserably at it. He could be one of the greatest in the industry and for all time, but he gets easily distracted (by panties) and is always pushing his deadline envelope.

I liked this series, even though it is filled with the traps and tropes that bedevil most anime. It’s just that it is handled with a great deal of aplomb and Yuki is always going to get what is coming to him, the pervert. I just wished Mihari was a bit less violent with him, but, as an editor, you sometimes have to do a lot to get your artist back on track

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 8 (A good job of it)
Plot 7 (Silly, silly, silly)
Pacing 7 (A lot of jumping, yelling, screaming, crying)
Effectiveness 9 (Play the stories quite well)
Conclusion 7 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but doesn’t hasn’t ended)
Fan Service 3 (A similar show would be “Wedding Peach”)

Overall 8 (Nice, but goofy)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. I don’t mean that in a dirty way.