Manga
Conception
According to Miman, Yuri Is My Job! started with the idea of combining a classic school setting with a concept café, a type of restaurant themed around cosplay and performance. She felt that the disparity between a character's actual and outward personality as they worked in the café would make for an interesting story, particularly in how each character shows both sides of their persona as they experience difficult times.
After serialization was decided, Miman began working on creating characters that would fit the setting and theme. She tried to keep the character designs simple, yet also capable of clearly conveying each character's dual personalities. She described Hime's style as like a "beloved princess". For the overall environment of Liebe Girls Academy, she aimed to create a classic and refined atmosphere.
Development
Throughout the series' development, Miman focused on how characters often hide their true selves, resulting in constant misunderstandings that progress the story. However, she realized that if the reader was unable to discern when a character was lying, the story would become difficult to follow. As such, she emphasized the unique traits of each character's contrasting personas to make it clear when a character is merely acting, such as having Hime's dialogue be exaggerated and comical when she is not being sincere. By doing so, Miman hoped to make each character's inner self stand out more clearly.
Miman had to adjust the series' pacing over time, since she initially overestimated the number of story elements she would be able to include. For example, she planned to reveal Mitsuki's backstory in the first chapter, but this was rejected by her editor due to the amount of exposition that would be necessary; Miman ended up delaying the scene until the first volume's final chapter. For subsequent volumes, she often had to overcome tight pacing to be able to fully develop the story's characters. Miman also opined that it was important for an author to be emotionally immersed in the work while creating it; she said that her favorite scene was Hime and Mitsuki's reconciliation in the 10th chapter, which she cried over while storyboarding.
Publication
Yuri Is My Job! was Miman's first serialized work. She had begun drawing yuri manga with a one-shot story that she published at Comitia in 2005; after creating additional doujinshi works, she were approached by an editor from Yuri Shoujo [ja], which led to being commercially published for the first time. Following that, she began contributing yuri short stories to Shinshokan's Hirari magazine, and were eventually offered serialization by Comic Yuri Hime.
Miman described creating a serialized work as a difficult experience, since she had to meet monthly deadlines despite never having drawn a chapter in that timespan before. Initially, she were unable to meet the deadlines, so she had to use prepared material to make up the difference. Over time, Miman was able to better adapt to the workflow, such as by relying on her editor for support, and appreciated more the experience of creating a continuous story.
Anime
Adaptation
Hijiri Sanpei, the anime's director, felt that while the first volume of the manga series resembled a comedy, it soon transitioned into drama as the characters and their relationships were further explored. As he adapted it into an anime, he aimed to avoid over-the-top portrayals, instead focusing on each character's emotional nuances. In addition, he tried to ensure that the characters remained likable even during serious and confrontational scenes.
Sanpei consulted extensively with Miman during production. In particular, he would often ask Miman about parts of the story that were planned but had not yet been serialized, which allowed the production staff to more accurately portraying character emotions. Miman also provided reference materials for the setting that were eventually incorporated into the background scenery.
The story is set in a concept café, which many of those involved in the production were not familiar with. As such, production staff visited concept cafés throughout the recording process to better understand what they were.
Animation
Takayuki Nagatani, one of the anime's producers, noted that one important part of the animation was clearly conveying the distinction between each character's performed and real personalities, as well as comedic and serious moments. He observed that while the story emphasizes the difference between one's public and private self, every part of an animation is public-facing, which meant that the staff took great care in making it.
The animation features vibrant colors, a style which the animators finalized after significant trial and error. The tone of the voice acting was adapted to match this visual atmosphere, with Yui Ogura freely expressing Hime's emotions rather than holding them back. Ogura also noted that due to the need to synchronize her lines with the visuals, she often had to vary her tone and pacing.
Voice acting
As a voice actress herself, Ogura said that she related to Hime's ability to put on an act for others. She sought to portray Hime as cute, calling her character someone naturally likable. To avoid Hime coming across as manipulative, Ogura aimed to show Hime's cuteness regardless of which persona she was putting on. She also felt that Hime has a large gap between her outward appearance and her feelings, which she found to be charming and was careful to not portray in an unpleasant way. Because Hime's actions drive much of the story, Ogura initially felt a lot of pressure, but she settled into her role over time.
Sumire Uesaka, who played Mitsuki, described her character as the opposite of Hime; while Mitsuki seems composed and beautiful on the outside, Uesaka felt that Mitsuki struggles to put on an act and often acts awkwardly when trying to connect to others. Uesaka sought to convey this in a way that would keep Mitsuki endearing, especially since she enjoyed her character's sincerity and straightforwardness.
Minami Tanaka, who played Kanoko, felt that one of her character's most important traits is her strong romantic feelings for Hime. She paid particular attention to the contrast between Kanoko's interactions with Hime, which tend to be warm, versus her interactions with other people, which tend to involve Kanoko being extremely shy, but never deliberately cold.
Makoto Koichi, who played Sumika, aimed to balance between her character's aspects of natural beauty and deliberate charisma, which she found to be difficult but enjoyable to perform. For example, when her character is outside of the café, Koichi would try to incorporate gyaru elements into her acting. She described her character as someone who is considerate and observant, but sometimes acts slightly pushy to Kanoko.
