Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

He lived not far from the venue, just a few tram stops away. He could already see many people in cosplay outfits or carrying merchandise bags in the tram, clearly fellow enthusiasts heading to the same destination.

He arrived at the agreed location, which was in front of a convenience store near the entrance of the venue.

He could see from afar that someone was already standing there, holding a can of coffee, hunched over in the cold wind, his nose a little red from the cold.

He greeted the somewhat round-faced man who was already waiting there, quickened his pace, and called out, "Haoxuan, why are you here so early..."

Wang Haoxuan is also a student from the People's Republic of China studying in Japan, but he and Lin Beimiao are not in the same school.

The two met at an offline gathering of international students. They discovered they both liked watching JUMP and exchanged contact information.

When traveling, especially in Tokyo, the girls tend to stick together as much as possible. They often arrange meals, exhibitions, and karaoke in their group chat, and they can always manage to get a few people together.

Moreover, Wang Haoxuan also likes to read comics, so he, Lin Beimiao, and another girl named Liuzi would occasionally hang out together, forming a fairly fixed "comic-loving trio" in the Tokyo study abroad circle.

"After all, I finally got tickets to Jump Festa, so of course I'm excited!"

Wang Haoxuan immediately finished the last sip of his coffee and threw the empty can into the trash can at the entrance of the convenience store.

"You're here so early."

Just then, Xu Shaoze, the other person who had made an appointment with Liu Zi, also arrived.

He was wearing a long black down jacket and a gray scarf around his neck, and looked like he had just gotten off the tram.

Xu Shaoze is a year younger than both of them. He just came to Japan this year and is still studying Japanese at a language school. Everything about Japan is still new to him.

"Let's head straight there then. By the way, have you had breakfast? If not, there are rice balls for sale up ahead."

Lin Beimiao patted his backpack, which contained a camera, a few rice balls he had bought at the convenience store yesterday, and two bottles of water.

"Okay..."

"It's so cold today..."

……

The three of them chatted as they set off, following the direction of the surging crowds towards the venue where Jump Festa was being held.

Upon arrival, the venue for Jump Festa was already packed with people.

Huge posters of popular JUMP characters are hung on the exterior walls of the massive venue, and giant standees of Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo Kurosaki stand on both sides of the entrance. Fans dressed as various characters stroll around the square.

This event attracted approximately 100,000 participants, and under the winter sun, the entire venue and its surroundings resembled a small city overrun by anime and manga.

So from this perspective, there are indeed a lot of people.

Several long queues formed at the entrance, with security guards maintaining order and staff members weaving through the crowd with signs.

"Let's go straight in."

Lin Beimiao also spoke directly, took out the tickets from his backpack, and the three of them walked towards the entrance together.

Once inside, the three of them initially strolled around together.

Entering from the entrance, you'll find a wide main passageway lined with huge booths on both sides. Some are playing unreleased animation PVs, some are displaying original artwork, and some are selling limited-edition merchandise.

However, it was later suggested that they not visit the exhibition separately, since it was obvious that the three of them liked different works and wanted to visit different places and exhibition platforms.

Wang Haoxuan is a die-hard Naruto fan, while Xu Shaoze is currently obsessed with Bleach.

Lin Beimiao wanted to see the exhibition area mainly featuring giants and some short stories. If the three of them had to stick together, none of them would have had a good time.

"Okay... let's split up and explore."

After agreeing to meet again near the main stage in the afternoon, the three parted ways and disappeared into the crowd.

Then Lin Beimiao started wandering around. First, he went to the demo areas of several game companies and queued up to play a demo of a newly announced game.

Once inside, he discovered that the venue was really big and had a lot of things he had never seen before. Each exhibition area was designed with its own style, unlike the small fan conventions he had been to before, where the booths were just a table and a piece of cloth.

This was quite different from the comic conventions he had attended before; there were not only many tourists, but also many cosplayers.

In just a few minutes of walking down the main passage, he saw five or six different versions of Naruto, four or five Luffys, and several Kurosaki Ichigos dressed in Shinigami uniforms.

It can only be said that Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece are still very popular in this era.

There are also various booths showcasing trailers for various anime TV shows, anime movies, or new popular manga, with new PVs playing on a loop on a large screen.

There were even demos of new games being released, and the queues in front of some booths stretched for several turns.

There were also various merchandise items for sale, including limited edition badges, limited edition figurines, and event-exclusive volumes; every store was packed with people.

What's most captivating are the cosplayers; they're all incredibly professional.

There were very few professional cosplayers back then, unlike later when many people could cosplay very professionally as long as they put their heart into it, and you could find detailed prop-making tutorials and costume customization shops online.

In this day and age, cosplay is still a hobby with a relatively high barrier to entry, so anyone who can cosplay accurately has basically put in a lot of hard work.

Just then, Lin Beimiao spotted a somewhat unexpected cosplay character...

As he scanned the crowd, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a deep green.

A girl with short black hair was seen wearing a green cloak. The pattern on the back of the cloak was two overlapping feathers that resembled a heart. The Wings of Freedom logo was clear and three-dimensional under the venue lights.

Two huge silver boxes were hanging on either side of the girl's thighs. The metallic texture of the 3D Maneuver Gear was very well done, and even the stitching and buckles of the belts were reproduced exactly as in the manga.

She stood next to the Titans display area, tilting her head slightly to look at the Eren Titan model. Her posture and the curve of her profile made Lin Beimiao feel as if Mikasa had really stepped out of the manga.

Without a doubt, this is the Wings of Freedom, the 3D Maneuver Gear, and the character this girl is cosplaying is Mikasa, the female protagonist of Attack on Titan.

He was very excited and quickly stepped forward, politely greeting, "Hello... Teacher, are you cosplaying Mikasa from Attack on Titan?"

Ayano Kawa turned around and saw Lin Beimiao approaching, but she didn't seem to think anything of it.

She even enjoys it when fans recognize her cosplay and like the characters she cosplays.

She immediately smiled and said, "Yes, you're a fan of Attack on Titan too?"

"Yes, I really like Attack on Titan!"

Lin Beimiao excitedly asked, "...May I ask if I can take a few photos and then we can take a picture together for stamp collecting?"

"of course can!"

Ayano Kawakami agreed.

Then Lin Beimiao took a few photos of Kawa Ayano, and then came to the camera to take a group photo with Kawa Ayano.

"Okay, thank you very much, teacher."

Lin Beimiao then took his leave, satisfied.

"You're welcome……"

Ayano Kawakami also bid farewell to Beimiao Lin in a friendly manner.

Lin Beimiao then turned around and continued his stroll.

Ayano Kawakita was then asked by some Attack on Titan fans to collect her photos. Several people came over one after another, all of whom were attracted by her cosplay.

However, it is clear that there are very few fans of Attack on Titan.

Compared to the friends next to me who were cosplaying popular characters from Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, and who had a large group of people collecting their stamps.

She strolled around quite leisurely. A few stamp collectors came by, took photos, and left, giving her plenty of free time to continue browsing.

But this is good too, as Ayano Kawakami can also visit the venue while collecting photos of other characters she likes in cosplay.

She went to the Naruto exhibit and took a photo with someone cosplaying Kakashi, then went to the Bleach exhibit and took a photo in front of a Zanpakuto model wearing a Captain's Haori.

Chapter 116 Offline Appearance

Lin Beimiao then continued to collect photos, taking a whole row of different versions of Gintama cosplay, and also took photos of several cosplays of Boa Hancock and Nami.

Then I went to the new game launch event to watch the PV for a while, and also tried out a new version of a JUMP-style fighting game.

In short, you can never see it all!

He then met with Wang Haoxuan and Xu Shaoze. The three of them bought some food in the food court and chatted about the highlights they had seen while eating hamburgers.

When it was almost time, he checked his watch and saw that it was already afternoon. The event on the main stage should be starting soon.

"I'm planning to go to the main stage next..."

He then shared his thoughts, saying, "I heard a popular cartoonist will be appearing later, and I'd like to get their autograph. What about you guys?"

"I'm planning to go too, after all, isn't it said that Pear Girl will be making an appearance today?"

Wang Haoxuan immediately said, "I brought the first volume of the Attack on Titan book with me, to see if I can get an autograph."

Xu Shaoze clearly didn't know much about this. He was still holding a half-finished glass of cola and asked curiously, "Pear Girl? Who's that?"

Not many people are surfing the internet intensively right now, and Eri Aragaki is currently considered a niche manga artist in China, only relatively well-known within the Chinese translation community.

Unlike Lin Beimiao, Xu Shaoze doesn't read Weekly Shonen Jump every week. Attack on Titan is still too niche for him.

"The author of Attack on Titan is said to be a beautiful girl manga artist, so we call her Pear Girl in China."

As Lin Beimiao walked, he said, "I saw her picture in a magazine before, she's really pretty, she's like a beautiful girl from a manga!"

Xu Shaoze suddenly realized what was going on, threw the Coke cup into the trash can next to him, and said, "Then I'll go take a look too. Let's go together."

"Okay, let's go."

So the three of them went together, through the still slowly surging crowd, to the main stage.

Meanwhile, the main stage was preparing to begin the author meet-and-greet session.

The stage lights were all in place, and a row of chairs were placed on the stage, each with a small nameplate in front of it.

The audience area below the stage was full of people, and some people were standing on both sides of the aisle. Everyone was craning their necks to look at the stage. Some were holding up support signs, and some were holding autographed boards.

Everyone is waiting.

People in the crowd occasionally stood on tiptoe to peek towards the backstage entrance, while staff members walked back and forth on both sides of the stage to confirm the procedures.

When the time came, the main stage lit up, and the lights shone from the front of the stage to the center, illuminating the entire stage.

Then the male and female hosts came on stage.

The male host, dressed in a black suit, and the female host, dressed in a white evening gown, walked together to the microphone in the center of the stage and said in unison, "Welcome everyone to our guest meet-and-greet!"