Peppe's long journey to becoming a published mangaka (and how Terrace House changed his life) episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 30, 2026 · 1H 38M

Peppe's long journey to becoming a published mangaka (and how Terrace House changed his life)

from Unpacking Japan · host Produced by ZenStudio

Meet Peppe, an Italian mangaka who gained international attention after his appearance on the reality show Terrace House. He sits down to talk with us about his journey to Japan and struggle to get published while studying Japanese and working as a fashion model, to his time on Terrace House just as he was making his debut as a serialized mangaka.--0:00 Intro0:46 Meet Peppe6:20 Deciding to move to Japan10:55 First time in Japan13:40 Studying other manga artists17:33 Missing his big chance with a publisher26:55 Second chance meeting32:24 One-way ticket back to Japan35:45 Working as a model39:21 Getting a work visa41:41 Entering his first manga contest45:15 Big break48:18 Writing Mingo and getting serialized55:01 Working with a Japanese editor57:19 How Terrace House affected his career1:01:05 Terrace House audition1:05:17 What was Terrace House like?1:12:55 Writing Endo (and who was Maraini?)1:21:47 Challenges of writing a biographical manga1:26:48 Reception from Japanese people1:33:44 What's next for Peppe?--Follow Peppe: https://www.instagram.com/peppedesuhttps://x.com/peppedesuFollow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

Meet Peppe, an Italian mangaka who gained international attention after his appearance on the reality show Terrace House. He sits down to talk with us about his journey to Japan and struggle to get published while studying Japanese and working as a fashion model, to his time on Terrace House just as he was making his debut as a serialized mangaka.--0:00 Intro0:46 Meet Peppe6:20 Deciding to move to Japan10:55 First time in Japan13:40 Studying other manga artists17:33 Missing his big chance with a publisher26:55 Second chance meeting32:24 One-way ticket back to Japan35:45 Working as a model39:21 Getting a work visa41:41 Entering his first manga contest45:15 Big break48:18 Writing Mingo and getting serialized55:01 Working with a Japanese editor57:19 How Terrace House affected his career1:01:05 Terrace House audition1:05:17 What was Terrace House like?1:12:55 Writing Endo (and who was Maraini?)1:21:47 Challenges of writing a biographical manga1:26:48 Reception from Japanese people1:33:44 What's next for Peppe?--Follow Peppe: https://www.instagram.com/peppedesuhttps://x.com/peppedesuFollow us:https://unpacking.jp/https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapanhttps://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapanhttps://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshortshttps://www.x.com/unpacking_japanhttps://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapanSubscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan! Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/

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Peppe's long journey to becoming a published mangaka (and how Terrace House changed his life)

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This episode is 1 hour and 38 minutes long.

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This episode was published on January 30, 2026.

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Meet Peppe, an Italian mangaka who gained international attention after his appearance on the reality show Terrace House. He sits down to talk with us about his journey to Japan and struggle to get published while studying Japanese and working as a...

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