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I learnt from this answer that 担当さん is a common Japanese expression to address someone working with/for you. Does the presence of My and 氏 add a more specific meaning? The context is a letter from a mangaka to her fans:

My担当氏とお誕生日が近いという事で、２人でバースデイパーティーを開きました✨

Considering they are having a party alone and that she later says she received a heart-shaped cake as a present, it could be his boyfriend, but I don't think that's the meaning of My担当氏. Since the letter was handwritten, here's the original to check if I read the characters right. Thank you for your help!

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氏 is generally more formal (and thus less friendly) than さん, but in this case I don't feel she chose 氏 to show her respect or psychological distance. 氏 is just another common name suffix in this situation. This may or may not be related, but stereotyped hardcore otaku address everyone using 氏 and it actually is a friendly yet respectful suffix like くん/さん to them.

The use of My is hard to explain since it's not standard nor common at all. Maybe she just wanted to decorate 担当さん with My to make it a bit more eccentric, cute, or whatever. It does not alter the basic meaning of the sentence.

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  • So, without more context it is not possible to know who My担当氏 refers to (her boss, a colleague, etc.), right?
    – Marco
    Jan 7, 2017 at 7:28
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    Ah, when a manga-ka calls someone 担当, It's almost certainly a corresponding editorial staff at the publisher. Manga-ka usually work at their home, and 担当者 collect and check manuscripts, and often even give advices to them.
    – naruto
    Jan 7, 2017 at 7:41
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    A typical 担当者 is this. A 担当者 is assigned to each manga-ka and they usually work as a pair thereafter. They usually call each other with their names, but 担当者's names are often hidden in books.
    – naruto
    Jan 7, 2017 at 7:50
  • Oh, so it's an editor in this case! Thank you for the information!
    – Marco
    Jan 7, 2017 at 20:03

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