A popular trend among contemporary professional mangaka is including a small personally written message within each volume of their work, with some such as Hiromu Arakawa of Fullmetal Alchemist fame drawing humorous self-portraits to accompany the messages. Jun Mochizuki is no exception, as every manga volume of each of her works, Crimson-Shell, Pandora Hearts, and The Case Study of Vanitas, features a short message along with a fictionalized drawing of herself. This self depiction within her works is named Jun-Cat (
The following is a collection of every Jun-Cat drawing and accompanying message within Mochizuki's works.
Crimson-Shell[]
As Crimson-Shell is only a one-shot manga, it only has one volume and subsequently one Jun-Cat drawing to its name. Because of this rather than being given a designated name, Crimson-Shell's Jun-Cat drawing is simply signed off with Jun Mochizuki's name.
| Volume | Jun-Cat | Text | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-Shot Volume | 
|
I like the sound of grinding coffee. [grind] |
I started to feel a little impatient with myself when I remember how excited I still get every time I submit a manuscript and think "look, look! Doesn't this look like a manga!?". I would be in trouble if I was making something that wasn't a manga, wouldn't I? Well, I guess that sounds interesting (laugh). |
Pandora Hearts[]
In Pandora Hearts, the Jun-Cat drawings and accompanying messages are dubbed "Mochizuki's Musings." For Pandora Hearts exclusively, the drawings feature not only Jun-Cat but also one of her characters, usually in the act of humorous physical (sometimes mental) violence against Jun-Cat.
| Volume | Jun-Cat | Text | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 (ft. Emily & Xerxes Break) |
|
[CHOMP!] Heh heh heh! |
I thought that youth was reserved for teenagers, but when I looked it up in a dictionary, "youth" was defined as extending all the way up until about the age of twenty-five. It's longer than I'd thought!!
|
| Volume 2 (ft. B-Rabbit) |
|
YOU CALLIN' ME STUPID!? HUUH? YA BUM! [staaab] | I started going to the convenience store a lot after I became a mangaka. And before I knew it, I'd become friends with a middle-aged woman working part-time there. Now when I buy oden, she gives me an extra one for free!!!! Sh.........She's so niiiiiiice!! (tears) |
| Volume 3 (ft. Alice) |
|
MEEE~AAT! ♪ MEE~AAT! ♪ EEEEK!! Huh? |
I'm scared about my new cell phone vibrating on its own when it shouldn't be. And I feel it's been happening more often lately......(*shake shake shake*) Is it the grudge of my previous phone, which lost its life after I dropped it into my coffee...!? |
| Volume 4 (ft. Vincent Nightray) |
|
Fu fu fu fu fu fu...❤ A THIRST FOR BLOOD...!!! EEK! |
I'm not comfortable using a computer, but I finally bought something online. It's easy... too easy...! And I can get crazy amounts of books easily too. And so, my room is about to be taken over by reference texts I bought when I got carried away. Well, next I guess I need to buy a bookshelf online... |
| Volume 5 (ft. Cheshire) |
|
EEEK! I'm sorry for making you suffer so much in the manga!!!!!!!!!! HISSSSSS! |
One day, while I was working, I suddenly had the realization that my being able to draw manga for a living was an amazing miracle. My heart filled with gratitude for the many people who support that miracle. So I told my assistants, "Thanks for always helping me," but they brushed it off saying, "Eh, you're being creepy!" Ha-ha, what a shock!!!! |
| Volume 6 (ft. Fang & Dug) |
|
Why...are we not on the cover? [gloom] [pout] I can't help it. If you're on the cover, EEEK!? |
Because there were so few girls in the previous volume, Volume 6 contains the most girls ever. Many characters are jumbled together in Volume 6, but the main character is still Oz. Do you best, hero!! |
| Volume 7 (ft. Rufus Barma) |
|
I KNOW. I KNOW!! THE GREAT FOOL who hath mistaken "Nichola* Cage" for a TV drama in which a detective named Nichola* is the hero and thou art one and the same, is that not so!!? Hee hee hee hee hee hee! EEK! How do you know about that!? (Life without coffee is unthinkable.) |
Nowadays, the neighbor ladies on either side of my place bring me meals. My heart gets all warm and fuzzy then because in modern Japan, you don't associate much with your neighbors. The tofu pulp, konjac jelly, oden, and hashed beef rice were all delicious...! Woo. I draw my manga with the support of all these people! |
| Volume 8 (ft. Jyanta) |
|
Fu-fu-fu... I'm Jyanta-san. I'm right behind you now... EEP!? |
This year I would really love to go to Great Britain. I'd also like to go all over Europe to Italy, France, Germany and immerse myself in fantasy worlds!! Just imagining it makes me very happy. Hyahhoo! |
| Guidebook 8.5: Mine of Mine | 
|
EEEEEP!? NOOOOOOO! GYAAAAAAH! |
This is a fun and embarrassing fanbook! I thoroughly checked the previous volumes to confirm...... ◯±§ξ@≠X!!!!!? (It's not corrupted text) ......Yeah. I think I'm improving a little. Please let me be!! Cough cough |
| Volume 9 (ft. Elliot Nightray) |
|
You have all those people checking, but you still have typesetting errors... HAVE YOU NO SHAME!!!!? [stomp] [hssssss] EEEEP!? |
I check each and every volume multiple times with my assistants, but we can never get rid of typesetting errors. They're formidable enemies that we tend to ignore the more serious they are. How terrifying!! |
| Volume 10 (ft. Sharon Rainsworth) |
|
And when! Am! I! Going! To! Appear! Hmm....? Ufufufufufufufufu! [steam] EEEEP! |
This summer, I took a long vacation and finally went to Great Britain! Edinburgh in the summertime... was simply wonderful! ------------------- I recently got married and thanks to my spouse's work, I'll be moving to London next year. Of course I do have my concerns, but my heart's full of hope right now! ------------------- ...Both are my friends' stories. Any complaints? |
| Volume 11 (ft. Leo) |
|
This is my first time seeing a cat with a pink mustache. I wonder what your insides look like! I am sooo curious! | I received e-mails from people who were seriously fooled for a moment by my comments here in Volume 10. I'm sorry, it looks like I won't be able to leave Japan for quite some time.
|
| Volume 12 (ft. Marie) |
|
How dare you do such a thing... to Rytas-sama...!!!? EEEEEP! |
I feel like I drew with the greatest sense of calm I've ever had up till now, like I never got the urge to really break down in tears, like I've reached a juncture in the story—that's how Volume 12 is. Thanks for reading. |
| Volume 13 (ft. Lily & Bandersnatch) |
|
Heyyyy...... Plaaay with meeeee... [loom] Sorry..... I'm working on my manuscripts... so I can't...... [gnaw] |
I finally stepped on foreign soil. I managed to defy that weak-hearted comment in Volume 11. Things were so comfortable abroad that I still say "I want to go back to Paris" and "I want to live in Chatsworth." But now I can tell because I've gone abroad...miso soup truly is the soul food of all Japanese people! |
| Volume 14 (ft. Humpty Dumpty) |
|
AAAUGH... AAAARGH...❤ [float] |
I like clocks. I definitely prefer analog to digital. I love the antique ones even more. My heart flutters at the sight of a windup clock. I love the selfishness of it, the clock being a capable child that automatically stops and pouts when I don't pay attention to it (at least that's how it looks to me). And the winding sound really is lovely, don't you agree? |
| Volume 15 (ft. Isla Yura) |
|
Oooh, I saaaay! I got to meet Jack-samaaaaaaaa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Yaaaahoooo!!! I've got suuuuch chiiiills!! EEEEEEEP!? |
The studio I've been renting since about Volume 6 is finally getting cramped.
|
| Volume 16 (ft. Jack Vessalius) |
|
Glen, Glennnn!❤ Look, look! I've discovered a very rare cat with pink whiskers!! Oh! Gilbert and Vincent are with you tooooo~? Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! EEEEEEP!? [snip] |
I used to take only showers because I thought, "It's a waste of time to be in the bathtub since I can't do anything in there!" But after I started reading in the tub, I've come to feel at ease (?) with taking long baths.
|
| Volume 17 (ft. Levi) |
|
We match!❤ We match!❤❤ | I can finally eat eggplants, which I hated without ever trying them!
|
| Volume 18 (ft. Miranda Barma) |
|
A cat... may work just as well......! C-COME AGAIN!? |
Volume 18 falls as deep into the depths as possible. I hope you enjoy it. |
| Guidebook 18.5: Evidence | 
|
I want to be healthy. | Age: When I exceeded the age set for the adult male Reim-san, I was truly depressed. Height: 163 cm Likes: Girls (not just younger ones), coffee, and antiques Dislikes: Bugs Strengths: Making up death flags all on my own. Weaknesses: Though it depends, the sound of rice cakes and munchies when I bite into them shocks me. (It is fine if they are soggy.)[1] |
| Volume 19 (ft. Reim Lunettes) |
|
Glasses, glasses... [whabam] Ah! Forgive me. |
I'm becoming more and more of an expert on various energy drinks these days. They only work for a limited time, though! |
| Volume 20 (ft. Ada Vessalius) |
|
Hmm, let's see... Next it says to stew the kitty until its whiskers are all white. EEEP!? [boil] [bubble] |
At long last, PandoraHearts has reached Volume 20. I really don't know what to write in this space anymore. Eep! |
| Volume 21 (ft. Oswald) |
|
———. Pheew... |
I've begun taking English conversation lessons as a breather, as well as for future use. Someday, the me who has become perfectly fluent in English will be stylishly flying outside Japan here and there for my manga research. That's the me I'm dreaming of. All right, then let us begin by attending lessons every month. (I'm already somewhat defeated.) |
| Volume 22 (ft. Gilbert Nightray) |
|
GYAAAAH! IT'S A CAAAAAAT! EEEEP!? Oh yeah! He's never shown up here before!! |
I twisted Chiduru Kobayashi-san's arm and got her to participate in this volume's under-jacket extra. She was in charge of character designs for the PandoraHearts anime. Kobayashi-san, XEBEC-san—Thank you so much for your time when I know you're busy!
|
| Volume 23 (ft. The Intention of the Abyss) |
|
Wasn't this s'posed to be the final voluuume...!? [gnaw] SORRYYYY! |
I said that the next volume would be the last at the end of Volume 22, but the series turned out to be twenty-four volumes long! I'm sorry. I hope you'll stick with it until the end. |
| Volume 24 (ft. Oz Vessalius) |
|
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! | This is the final volume at last. These nine years passed by in the blink of an eye.
|
| Guidebook 24 + 1: Last Dance | 
|
← Tried to dance [crack] |
I never imagined that I would be publishing a third fanbook! I'm happy. Now, everyone, let's all enjoy the ending party together! |
| Guidebook 24 + 1: Last Dance | 
|
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! |
The Case Study of Vanitas[]
In The Case Study of Vanitas, the Jun-Cat drawings and accompanying messages are dubbed simply "Author's Note." Following the completion of Pandora Hearts and the start of The Case Study of Vanitas, the Jun-Cat drawings become less comedy-oriented, the titular self-insert no longer being continually attacked by her own characters, and more subdued in nature.
| Volume | Jun-Cat | Text | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | 
|
I want to go to Paris... | Paris was the first overseas destination I ever visited. This story is made with a base of the emotion and elation I felt back then, packed with all sorts of things I like, then simmered well. I hope it suits your palate. |
| Volume 2 | 
|
If I go to France, the first thing I'll do is eat a croissant. [munch] Yummm! |
People often ask me whether Vanitas or Noé is the main character, but this is meant to be a story with a double protagonist. I'll be glad if you'll join me in watching the inscrutable human Vanitas from the perspective of Noé the Vampire. |
| Volume 3 | 
|
I want to go... overseas... If you get your work done in advance, you can go for as long as you like! Editor x2 Uu... Paris... |
I like traveling overseas. Trying to communicate with my broken English and gestures and having to use all my energy just to get through the day makes me feel like I'm really alive. It's loads of fun. ...And when I tell people that, I generally get strange looks. |
| Volume 4 | 
|
I want to learn how to draw in color digitally... But what interests me now are transparent watercolors... | Once they included everything I wanted to draw, they book ended up being really thick again... The diet failed. Starting with the next one, the volumes may gradually slim down, but please think of them as having become the average thickness. |
| Volume 5 | 
|
It was fun and... educational... but boy, was it ever cold! | For the arc that starts in Volume 5, I visited a village called Saugues in France for research. However, there was heavy snow on the very day I planned to visit. The transportation network was paralyzed, and I wasn't sure whether to go on or turn back... or—assuming I managed to reach the village safely—I'd be able to leave again. Let's just say... it was an eventful trip and lots of fun! |
| Volume 6 | 
|
I'm beginning to long for the streets of Paris again. | I was planning to make the material on the inside covers more laidback this time, but my editor said, 'Huh? There's absolutely no need to tone it down' and gave me the 'Go' sign—which is why it ended up like this. |
| Volume 7 | 
|
I want a hobby of some sort... | I've been looking for a hobby (or another good way to mentally shift gears) besides manga and drawing for ages now, but so far nothing's really clicked for me... Are there any good hobbies lying around somewhere? |
| Volume 8 | 
|
I enjoy reading essays about overseas travels. [roll] |
I'd like to grab a backpack and dash off on an overseas trip. |
| Volume 9 | 
|
None. | Although the Volume 9 is thinner than usual, it is still a little thicker than an average volume. Please don't be fooled by the previous thicknesses. The diet was a success!*
|
| Volume 10 | 
|
[slim] | Mochizuki: "Doesn't Volume 10 seem a little thin?" Editor: "It's your imagination. Your perceptions are skewed. The previous volumes were too thick; this one has the average number of pages."
|
Trivia[]
- In the third volume of Pandora Hearts, Jun-Cat is missing her signature mustache.
- In the nineth volume of The Case Study of Vanitas, the official English release did not feature a translation for the author's note, therefore it was freely translated for this Wiki.
References[]
[]
| v - e - t | Crimson-Shell |
|---|---|
| Characters | Main: Claudia • Shion Liddell • Xeno Crimson-Shell Division: Baines • Gerhardt Bathler • Les • Melissa • Robin Wingfield • Ruskin • Victoria • Wilhelm |
| Terminology | Objects: Crimson-Shell • Death Scythe Species & Factions: Black Roses • Crimson Rose • Crimson-Shell Division • Premier Rose • Roses • Thorns |
| Manga | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • Volume • Author's Note |
| Author | Jun Mochizuki |