Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

After walking for about ten minutes, he arrived at a two-story apartment building.

He lived in a room on the second floor. The room wasn't big, about six tatami mats.

Fujimoto Itsuki climbed the stairs, took out his key, and opened the door.

The room was a bit messy, with drawing paper and pencils piled on the desk.

Several of his own cartoon sketches were pasted on the wall.

The bookshelf in the corner was filled with manga volumes and drawing tutorials.

He put his schoolbag on the ground and the plastic bag on the table.

Then he sat down and took out the copy of Weekly Shonen Jump from his bag.

He opened the magazine, but first looked at... the serialized comics he liked.

After all, the works that win the Tezuka Award are mostly manga by new manga artists, and they don't have many fans.

Not many people are really looking forward to the Tezuka Award... well, except for the new manga artists who submit their work to the Tezuka Award and eventually win it.

Others, of course, didn't care much.

Fujimoto Itsuki started reading other popular manga, but his tastes differed from others.

Compared to popular titles like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach, he prefers dark fantasy or more realistic dark-themed manga like Claymore and Baki.

"Siguni! That's right, that's it!"

He was also very excited when he saw the latest chapter of "Claymore".

The plot progressed well this week, and there were several parts that made him nod in approval.

After reading these serials, he then read other serialized comics... and slowly turned to the later parts.

This is the content of this supplement, which is the winning work of the 73rd Tezuka Prize.

A line of large text was printed at the top of the magazine page.

The winners of the 73rd Tezuka Prize have been announced.

Below is a brief introductory text.

The vine continued to tumble downwards.

And his first work was also the one that won the highest prize at the Tsukasa Award this year...

It's called... Attack on Titan.

You can't tell anything from the title of the comic.

However, the first page of the work contains several paragraphs of text and the cartoonist's portrait.

Those are the comments from the judges of this year's Tezuka Award.

At the very top of the screen... is a commentary by Akira Toriyama, the author of *Dragon Ball*, who commented:

The artwork is outstanding, the panel layout is perfect, the setting is novel and self-consistent, the pacing is tight, and the action scenes are handled perfectly. This is the strongest newcomer's work I've seen in recent years, and it should undoubtedly be a nominee for this year's Tezuka Award!

Chapter Thirteen: A Teenage Beauty Can't Be an Introverted Cartoonist

That's quite a comment...

It was, after all, Akira Toriyama's evaluation, but it only caught Fujimoto Itsuki's attention a little.

After all... the Tezuka Award has been held for so many years, and Akira Toriyama has often given many good comments as a judge.

Moreover, isn't it normal for judges to give good reviews to the winning entries in such competitions?

In addition, reviews from other well-known comic artists are also included.

For example, comments by Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece.

I was drawn in from the very first page. The oppressive feeling of being trapped in a cage, and the sense of a hymn to human courage, were conveyed directly to the reader through the visuals.

The world-building, the Titans, and the 3D Maneuver Gear are all ingeniously designed, and the battle scenes are thrilling.

I'm really looking forward to the future development of this work, if "If You Don't Eat Pears" continues to serialize it.

Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto

The world-building is very solid; the giants and the walls are all interconnected, and none of them are superfluous.

The character development is also very good. Eren's courage, Mikasa's calmness, and Armin's wisdom are all well-developed. Each of the three has their own characteristics and complements the others.

This is a work that I really like and am looking forward to.

Death Note is also... Kenjiro, the "Kami" of the new world.

That's amazing!

His drawing skills and panel layout have reached a professional level, even surpassing some active comic artists.

The handling of action scenes, in particular, demonstrates excellent pacing.

For a newcomer's work, this is already beyond expectations; there's no reason it shouldn't be a finalist for this year's Tezuka Award!

Looking at these comments, Fujimoto Itsuki could tell that this work was quite good.

Because... none of the judges mentioned any flaws in Attack on Titan, and they all seemed to be hoping that Attack on Titan would not only be a short story, but a long-running manga series.

This explains the situation somewhat.

However, no matter what others say, I still don't really feel anything.

Fujimoto Itsuki didn't think too much about it after that... and decided to find out for himself!

He eagerly turned to the first page of the work.

The first page is a huge overhead view.

A city surrounded by towering walls.

The height of the city wall is so exaggerated that it's suffocating.

Beyond the city walls lay endless wilderness, devoid of any human presence.

The opening composition is very impactful.

The vine tree immediately caught my eye.

He continued reading.

The plot unfolds layer by layer, showcasing the world view and basic settings of this comic.

At some point in time, humanity's natural enemy appeared.

giant.

The surviving humans built massive city walls to survive.

They hid within the city walls, which brought them over a hundred years of peace.

When Fujimoto saw this, he immediately found the concept very interesting.

The oppressive feeling of being trapped in a cage seemed to travel directly to him through the comic book illustrations.

He continued reading.

The main character is Eren, and his two childhood friends are Mikasa and Armin.

The three men underwent soldier training and became soldiers in the training corps.

The conversation revealed their aspirations and past.

Fujimoto nodded as he looked at the panel layout in the manga.

The composition of the picture has a great sense of depth.

Sunlight streamed down from above the city walls, symbolizing hope and the unknown.

This technique of conveying emotions through visuals has already surpassed the level of novice cartoonists.

Fujimoto Tree continued turning the page.

This is where a scene from Eren's memories is inserted.

This is the story of Wall Maria being destroyed by the Colossal Titan three years ago. However, due to the limited space of the Tezuka Award, Eri Aragaki could only shorten this part of the story as much as possible.

The dialogue between Eren and Mikasa was cut, as were the dialogues between Eren and the lazy soldiers like Hennessy.

It quickly describes the worldview of humans, Titans, and the three walls, as well as the interactions between Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, before the Colossal Titan makes its appearance.

Nevertheless, this part of the story is still quite captivating.

The composition of that page, in particular, is very striking.

The face of the colossal giant peered out from above the city wall, its body even taller than the wall itself.

Muscle tissue without skin allows heat to escape from the body.

The sense of oppression almost overflowed from the paper.

It looked down at Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, who were looking up at it.

The narration next to it reads:

"On that day, humanity finally remembered the fear of being dominated by giants."

Seeing this, Fujimoto Itsuki couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Sugoichi!"

That's truly impressive; the immersive storyboarding creates a powerful sense of immersion for the viewer, while simultaneously conveying a similarly compelling and oppressive atmosphere...

It also makes people want to know how humanity will fight against such powerful giants, which naturally creates a sense of anticipation.

He continued reading.

The plot is very fast-paced.

From the establishment of the world view to the outbreak of the crisis, and then to the tragedy of the protagonist.

Every page propels the plot forward.