Yuri light novel series Buying A Classmate Once A Week, which depicts a complicated relationship between two people with deep wounds from their respective family environments, made its official English debut earlier this week. Prior to the English launch, Anime Trending was able to ask author Usa Haneda, who describes their creation as a “codependence yuri” involving two “pain-in-the-neck” girls, about the addictive series (known as Shuu ni Ichido Classmate o Kau Hanashi, or Shuukura, in Japanese) and Haneda themself via email.
While the light novel-related questions are not completely restricted to Volume 1, there are no detailed or specific spoilers from any particular volume. KADOKAWA provided the translations for Haneda’s responses.
Anime Trending: What inspired you to write yuri fiction?
Usa Haneda: What got me started writing was the thought, “There’s no yuri of the kind I want to read, so I’ll write it myself!” I live by the spirit of “If it doesn’t exist, make it yourself.”
How were you introduced to reading and the yuri genre?
Usa Haneda: I’ve loved books since I was a child. I’d get so absorbed in reading that I couldn’t hear my parents when they called out to me. If I went to a bookstore, I’d be gone for hours, and my parents even came to pick me up because they were worried. As for yuri, I started reading it naturally without realizing it, so I don’t think there was any particular moment that got me into it.
Buying A Classmate Once A Week finally has an official English translation. How would you describe the concept to those discovering the light novels for the first time?
Usa Haneda: Buying A Classmate Once A Week is a light novel in a genre commonly known as yuri. The first volume is built around the theme of “orders,” depicting the relationship between two girls, Miyagi and Sendai, through these “orders” and the five thousand yen associated with them. I began writing the story with the aim of creating something that could be enjoyed not only by people who regularly read yuri, but also by those who have no particular interest in the genre.
Image source: Amazon
Miyagi and Sendai’s complicated and unorthodox relationship is the core of the series. What inspired you to tackle a story about two broken people whose wounds and loneliness, caused by their respective family circumstances, draw them to each other while also impeding their relationship’s progress?
Usa Haneda: For Buying A Classmate Once A Week, elements such as the title, giving orders, and buying a classmate’s time with money were established from the outset. I then considered why one girl would buy her classmate’s time and give her orders, and why the other would continue to have her time bought and given orders. This led to a story about two girls who are each missing something and gradually change through their influence on each other. The idea that what they were missing was “family” was influenced by my interest in the relationship between family, home environment, and personality.
In the past, you mentioned that you initially thought of writing a “light” yuri story that would interest even people who usually don’t read yuri before Buying A Classmate Once A Week got its current form. Could you elaborate on this early evolution of the story?
Usa Haneda: I wanted Buying A Classmate Once A Week to appeal not only to people who regularly read yuri, but also to those who don’t, so my initial plan was to write a light, easy-to-read story about the relationship between two girls, with orders at its center.
However, after considering the personalities and family backgrounds of the protagonists, Miyagi and Sendai, I concluded that it would be difficult to keep the story within the bounds of light yuri.
Even so, I still wanted people who weren’t interested in yuri to read it, so I reconsidered the structure. In the early part of the story, rather than focusing on the yuri aspect, I chose to focus on the idea of someone at the bottom of the school hierarchy giving orders to someone at the top, as well as the content of those orders. I wanted to see whether readers would accept the dynamic between Miyagi and Sendai in this early part of the story. If they did, I planned to gradually delve deeper into their relationship as it evolved. That’s how the story gradually developed into its current form.
The idea that what they were missing was “family” was influenced by my interest in the relationship between family, home environment, and personality. – Usa Haneda
How did you settle on Miyagi and Sendai’s characters, especially with Miyagi being a bit of a violent tsundere whose fears and distrust influence Sendai’s approach to getting closer?
Usa Haneda: I conceived Miyagi and Sendai as two characters who seem to have nothing in common at first glance, but share certain points of connection. I originally planned to make Miyagi more talkative and arrogant, and Sendai more of a gyaru than she is now, but when I actually wrote them, those versions didn’t feel quite right, so I changed them.
Miyagi’s personality is strongly shaped by her past with her family, and I’ve brought her more timid and distrustful sides to the forefront. Rather than a typical tsundere, I imagine her as a character under a curse that prevents her from being honest about her feelings, making it difficult for her to reveal her true thoughts.
Sendai’s personality, on the other hand, is strongly shaped by her current family circumstances. As a counterpart to Miyagi, I envision her as more straightforward and proactive in comparison.
That said, these traits don’t define everything about them. They both have bright and dark sides, and which aspects come to the fore depends on the people they interact with and the situations they find themselves in.
Do you think Sendai has unlimited tolerance for Miyagi?
Usa Haneda: I’ll leave that for readers to discover in the novel.
Things between Miyagi and Sendai are still complicated, but there’s a lot more wholesomeness today while things were rather messier at the start. What were the challenges of depicting their relationship then and now?
Usa Haneda: In Volume 10, which will be released in Japan in October [on the 20th], the relationship between the two has certainly changed considerably compared to Volume 1, but I had very little difficulty writing that development. I see it as the two arriving at the relationship they were meant to have at the right time.
As part of our introduction to the characters and their relationship, we get the foot-licking order. How did you get the idea to use this specific act at the start of the story?
Usa Haneda: Since the idea of buying a classmate’s time for five thousand yen and giving them orders was already established, I considered what kind of order would be something that most high school students wouldn’t do, but some might, in exchange for five thousand yen, which is a considerable amount of money for a high school student. That led to the order to lick someone’s feet.
The amount of money used as payment for an order is five thousand yen because it can be handed over in a single banknote, is an amount a high school student would hesitate to accept from a classmate, but isn’t so much that they would be willing to do absolutely anything in return.
Although, the value of money is changing quite rapidly these days…
The series has quite a few other erotic moments. Did they become a part of the story as a natural result of the initial “obeying orders” concept, or were they needed as a means of showing the characters’ developing mutual attraction because they can’t simply express their feelings in words at the moment? Or is there another reason behind their presence?
Usa Haneda: I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well, but I think it was simply a matter of depicting the right scenes at the right time.
Buying A Classmate Once A Week is quite a slow-burn experience. How did you settle on this pacing? What are the greatest challenges you face from it?
Usa Haneda: I initially planned to write the story at a slightly faster pace, but it eventually settled into a pace that I personally prefer.
Since I’ve kept other characters to a minimum, I paid close attention to how to portray changes in Miyagi and Sendai’s relationship through their everyday interactions, with just the two of them.
When it came to U35-san’s illustrations, did you have any specific requests regarding Miyagi and Sendai’s depictions?
Usa Haneda: When deciding on the character designs, I requested that Sendai leave the top button of her blouse undone at school and the top two buttons undone at Miyagi’s house, as well as specifying the length of both girls’ skirts. For their uniforms and hairstyles, I chose from several rough sketches by U35-sensei that matched the setting of the story, and asked for some fine adjustments. U35-sensei also drew some uniforms that differed from the setting, and they were so cute that I had a hard time deciding.
Buying A Classmate Once A Week has inspired several batches of merchandise. These bookends, featuring specially drawn illustrations of Miyagi and Sendai by U35, were among a wave of goods released this year to commemorate the story’s first arc and the series passing 200 thousand copies in circulation.
What was the initial reception to Buying A Classmate Once A Week like when it debuted on Kakuyomu [as a web novel]? How did it influence the story’s development?
Usa Haneda: I was worried about whether readers would accept the premise of giving orders and licking feet, but when it was published as a short story, the response was stronger than I expected, which led to the ongoing series in its current form. Although I had ideas for where the story would go, if there had been no response at all, Buying A Classmate Once A Week as it exists today might never have happened.
You’ve written other web yuri fiction aside from Buying A Classmate Once A Week. What are you interested in exploring as a storyteller?
Usa Haneda: I love stories about romance and family like Buying A Classmate Once A Week of course, but I also love sci-fi and fantasy, so I’d like to write those kinds of novels too. From complicated girls to cheerful ones, there are so many things I want to write, and I hope to turn everything in my head into books someday.
What’s your favorite book? Both in general and for yuri specifically.
Usa Haneda: I have many favorite novels, or rather, novels I love, but if I had to choose just one, it would be Flowers for Algernon. I find its structure, or rather the way the writing style shifts over the course of the story, fascinating, and I’d like to study English someday so I can read it in the original.
As for my favorite yuri works, they’re manga rather than novels: Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers), Yagate Kimi ni Naru (Bloom Into You), Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto Desu! (Yuri Is My Job!), and Kitanai Kimi ga Ichiban Kawaii (Filthy you is the cutest). I especially love yuri stories with complicated girls in them.
What stories — either yuri or non-yuri, and not necessarily print media — have you been consuming lately?
Usa Haneda: It’s an anime from last year, but Apocalypse Hotel left a strong impression on me. It’s set in a world where humanity has disappeared and follows everyday life at a hotel, and I was drawn to its world and to how it portrays its androids. My favorite character is the fiendish alien, Harmage. I also enjoyed the short anime Ginga Tokkyu: Miruki Sabuwei (Galaxy Express Milky Subway), and Danjon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon), which I binge-watched earlier this year.
Lately, it feels like the number of yuri light novels is increasing. Would you say this is the case? What are your thoughts on the current environment for yuri light novels, and what do you hope to see in the future?
Usa Haneda: These days, yuri light novels are being released almost every month, so I think there are definitely more titles now than when Volume 1 of Buying A Classmate Once A Week came out in Japan. Readers can now search through many works to find the ones that suit their tastes.
I hope even more yuri light novels will be published in the future. At the same time, I often feel that the number of people who love yuri light novels isn’t growing as fast as the number of titles, so I’d like to see the appeal of yuri light novels spread to readers who only enjoy yuri in anime or manga, and to those who haven’t yet found their way to yuri. I also want to keep writing stories that can bring more people to yuri light novels.
I especially love yuri stories with complicated girls in them. – Usa Haneda
Buying A Classmate Once A Week has also been translated into Korean, Thai, and Chinese. How has the reception been?
Usa Haneda: Many readers openly express their love for Miyagi, Sendai, and the story. Some share their passionate thoughts in long messages, and reading their feedback has become something I look forward to every day. A few have said that this story saved them, and I’ve been saved by all the kind messages I’ve received, too.
What has been the most fulfilling part of getting to write and publish this story?
Usa Haneda: There have been many moments that made me happy as I wrote and published the story, but the happiest was the moment it was decided that it would be published as a book. I had been writing with the goal of getting it published as a book for a long time, so I was moved when I finally saw the actual book. I was also very happy that readers were pleased to see it published as a book. I was equally moved when Miyagi and Sendai first became merchandise.
The feedback and fan art I receive from readers give me motivation to keep writing the story. Seeing photos of readers taking acrylic stands and other merchandise out with them has also become one of the things I look forward to.
What message would you like to share in light of the series’ English debut?
Usa Haneda: Thank you to everyone who has always supported Buying A Classmate Once A Week. Many of you have asked me over the years whether an English edition was planned, and at long last, it’s finally being released. I hope you’ll enjoy the world of Buying A Classmate Once A Week through this translated edition.
And to everyone discovering Buying A Classmate Once A Week for the first time:
This novel follows Miyagi and Sendai, two classmates who would normally have barely spoken a word to each other and gone their separate ways. Once their paths cross, we see the emotions and changes in their relationship that begin to develop between them. Though theirs is a relationship of [the] one step forward, two steps back, then three steps forward [kind], I hope you’ll enjoy their story.
The English version of Buying A Classmate Once A Week is published by Yen Press under its Yen On imprint, with translations by Jennifer Ward. Volume 2 is set for a January 12, 2027 release.
In Japan, the series is published under KADOKAWA’s (one of Yen Press’ main shareholders) Fantasia Bunko imprint and is also part of the publisher’s GirlsLine Girls Love project. It has a manga adaptation by Migihara.
The original web novel, which began in 2020, is still ongoing and updated regularly.
