Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

There are no unnecessary words or images.

Fujimoto became more and more engrossed in his reading, completely forgetting about the time.

He didn't even notice that the popsicles on the table had melted into water.

After reading it, he immediately had an idea.

"Those judges' comments were simply...too conservative!"

He said with a mixture of dissatisfaction and excitement, "This Attack on Titan is more than just good; if it were a long-running manga... it would absolutely! It would definitely become a work second only to Claymore and Baki!"

In his opinion, manga like "Claymore" and "Baki" are true masterpieces!

Attack on Titan was quite to his liking, although it's still not as good as Claymore or Baki.

But the silver-eating Titans and the realistic and cruel reality show that even with the 3D Maneuver Gear, which seems to give humanity the power to resist, humanity is still so powerless in the face of the Titans.

The key point is that he genuinely thought the plot was fantastic.

In Allen's class, those characters who were initially developed and thought to be major characters later on suddenly faced plot twists and heartbreaking events. That kind of plot is more realistic!

"I really hope that the work this 'Pear-Not-Eating-Pear' author chooses to serialize is the sequel to 'Attack on Titan'!!"

"Fujimoto Itsuki said expectantly."

……

On the other side...

But it was four hours earlier, at noon.

"You're... the teacher who doesn't eat pears?"

Looking at the radiant, tall girl in front of him, whose beauty resembled that of a Tokyo girl walking the runway, Masaya Sakurai asked uncertainly.

Because of preconceived notions about cartoonists... especially relatively introverted and withdrawn cartoonists.

He had assumed that Eri Aragaki would be a relatively ordinary-looking girl, and in his imagination, she would even wear black-rimmed glasses and have a rather dull appearance.

But what I didn't expect was...

It turned out to be a girl in front of him who was about the same height as him, with a graceful figure and an idol-like, exquisite appearance.

No... would a girl like that really be withdrawn and introverted?

A girl this beautiful with such a supermodel figure should have been discovered by a talent scout at the age of fourteen or fifteen and then debuted as a model, idol, or actress, right?

How did you end up becoming a cartoonist?

This is completely unreasonable!

"Uh, it's me..."

Eri Aragaki didn't quite understand what was wrong with Masaya Sakurai, but she still tried her best to prove herself by taking out her personal identification card and other documents that could prove her identity, and said, "My name is Eri Aragaki, pen name I don't eat pears."

Chapter Fourteen: Contractual Matters

Upon seeing Eri Aragaki's personal number card, Masaya Sakurai immediately felt embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I'm rude."

He quickly apologized and said, "Please come with me to the reception room."

He led Eri Aragaki through the editorial department to the Shueisha Club guest room at the end of the corridor.

Masaya Sakurai gestured for Eri Aragaki to sit down, then asked, "Aragaki-sensei, do you prefer coffee or tea?"

Eri Aragaki chose tea without hesitation. "Tea, thank you."

She doesn't really like coffee because it reminds her of the sleep-deprived days she spent as a beast of burden in her past life.

As someone who would die if she didn't sleep, she absolutely hated this kind of life.

Masaya Sakurai walked to the tea station in the corner, made a cup of tea, and brought it over.

He placed the teacup in front of Eri Aragaki, then sat down in the chair opposite her.

Masaya Sakurai opened the folder he had brought and took out a document from it.

He immediately got into the swing of things and said in a businesslike manner, "Mr. Aragaki, today I mainly want to explain to you the rewards for being selected for the Tezuka Award and the subsequent serialization matters."

Eri Aragaki nodded.

"First of all, the prize money for being selected is two million yen."

Masaya Sakurai said, "The prize money will be deposited into your bank account within two weeks after you sign the prize confirmation form. There will also be a certain amount of tax deducted. Please make sure to confirm this at that time."

Eri Aragaki, however, paid no attention to what followed and simply nodded perfunctorily, saying, "Okay."

"Secondly, and most importantly, selected authors will have the opportunity to have a work serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump."

Masaya Sakurai continued, "The specific serialization time, length, and content need to be determined through negotiation between both parties."

He took out a document containing the standard terms of a serialization contract.

"Let me first tell you about the basic requirements for serialization."

Masaya Sakurai pointed to each item in the document and said...

"First, weekly serialization requires a draft of about nineteen pages per week, which is a lot of work. Many newcomers cannot adapt to it at first, so we require that at least three to five chapters be prepared before starting serialization."

"Secondly, the standard fee starts at 12,000 yen per page. The fee will be gradually increased based on reader feedback and popularity ranking after serialization. The higher the ranking, the higher the fee."

"Third, the royalty rate for standalone books is 10%, which means that for every standalone book sold, you can receive 10% of the book price as royalty income."

"Fourth, the copyright of the work belongs to you personally, but Shueisha has the exclusive right to publish it and the right to publish it as a standalone book. The adaptation right belongs to you, but Shueisha will participate in the revenue sharing, with the author receiving 60% and the publisher receiving 40%..."

"fifth……"

Eri Aragaki listened and nodded, having already done her research before coming.

The treatment she learned from researching at the internet cafe was no different from what Masaya Sakurai had described, which put her at ease a little.

After Masaya Sakurai finished speaking, he asked, "Is there anything you don't understand?"

Eri Aragaki thought for a moment and said, "Not for now, I can accept these conditions."

"That's good……"

Masaya Sakurai nodded and said, "Also, let me explain your editing arrangements to you."

He sat up straight, his expression becoming more formal.

"At Shueisha, a main serialized manga artist is usually paired with a dedicated editor who is responsible for the entire process from storyboarding and plot to deadlines."

Sakurai Masaya spoke slowly, making sure Aragaki Eri heard him clearly.

Eri Aragaki nodded; she was already familiar with this.

Shueisha's popular manga series generally follow this setup, which is a one-to-one responsibility mechanism.

However, there are exceptions. For example, some of the flagship works, such as "One Piece" and "Naruto," have a whole, long-term, and stable team of editors.

A globally popular work like One Piece will have a collaborative team consisting of the original editor and editors responsible for media and merchandise, to ensure that the main storyline and derivative developments proceed in tandem.

However, this applies to popular manga works and popular manga artists; newcomers... are far from meeting such standards.

Eri Aragaki listened attentively.

"And currently, you've joined as a new comic artist."

Masaya Sakurai continued, "Therefore, the editorial department will assign a main editor, plus other editors to assist in connecting with new authors in batches, providing submission feedback and debut guidance. We will contact multiple potential authors at the same time, and then match them with a dedicated editor after the incubation period ends."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Currently, the editor-in-chief's arrangement is that I will be your primary editor, along with four other editors who are not individually responsible for popular comic works, forming a team to support you and other new comic artists."

Eri Aragaki said, "I understand. Please take care of me from now on."

Sakurai Masaya quickly returned the greeting, saying, "Nice to meet you, I'll do my best to help you."

He picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and then put it down.

"Next, I'd like to know your plans for your upcoming serialized works."

Masaya Sakurai looked at Eri Aragaki and said, "It seems like the story of the Attack on Titan chapter you submitted isn't over yet."

"Yes, I've been working on the Attack on Titan manga for a long time."

Eri Aragaki nodded and said, "Moreover, there's not only more to the story, but I haven't even finished drawing the earlier parts of the story yet."

"The first part?"

Sakurai Masaya immediately became curious and asked, "Your submission already explains the Colossal Titan's destruction of Wall Maria three years ago, right? What's the plot before that?"

"The chapter I submitted started three years after the destruction of Wall Maria."

Eri Aragaki immediately said, "But there are still many scenes that haven't been drawn on the day the Maria Wall was destroyed."

"On that day, a colossal giant suddenly appeared and kicked down the gate of the Maria Wall."

She gathered her thoughts and began to speak, "Titans poured into the walls, causing the deaths of many civilians. The protagonist Eren's mother was trapped under a collapsed house and unable to move."

Eren and Mikasa tried to save her, but ultimately, they were too weak and were forcibly taken away by Hannes. Eren watched helplessly as his mother was eaten by a Titan.

Masaya Sakurai's expression turned serious, and he remained silent.

Upon hearing this, he suddenly realized, "That makes sense now."

Why is Eren so determined to drive out the Titans?

While you could argue that this is simply the character's design, and that's just how Allen is, it's not a flawed personality trait.

However, it still gives people the feeling that the character is not three-dimensional enough or logically complete.

It turns out that the plot was missing a part that helped develop the characters' personalities.

Indeed, if there were such a plot point earlier, fans would be able to better empathize with Eren's feelings and understand why he was willing to risk his life to join the Survey Corps to drive out the Titans.

"After that, Allen's father injected a drug in front of Allen and then disappeared."

Eri Aragaki continued, "He left Eren a key to the basement and told him to go there because the truth was there."

"So Eren's goal all along has not only been to kill all the Titans, but also to find out the truth left behind by his father in the basement."