Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Masaya Sakurai nodded. This was indeed an important plot point and could advance the entire manga's storyline.

"The chapter I submitted was about the recapture of Trost District."

Eri Aragaki then recounted the subsequent plot, saying, "But after humanity's victory, Eren, who was the key and hero of this battle, was suspected of being a threat to humanity because he was a monster capable of transforming into a Titan. He was brought to a military court for trial."

Chapter Fifteen: Alas, here we take off!

"The Survey Corps' Captain Levi and Commander Erwin chose to believe him. Levi beat Eren up in the courtroom to make him obey."

Erwin assured the higher-ups that if Eren lost control, Levi would kill him immediately, and ultimately Eren was handed over to the Survey Corps.

"Afterwards, the Survey Corps launched a new survey outside the walls, and they encountered a new type of intelligent Titan, the Female Titan."

This Titan is different from other Titans; she is intelligent, has goals, and knows hand-to-hand combat. The Survey Corps was almost completely wiped out. Eren transformed into a Titan to fight her, but was ultimately no match, and Levi's squad was also wiped out..."

Eri Aragaki paused here, then said, "Okay, that's all I can think of for the current plot."

Sakurai Masaya was silent for a few seconds, then said, "That's enough, that's enough."

Yes, that's enough.

For comic book editors, it's definitely not necessary for the comic book author to immediately come up with the entire plot of the comic. In fact, a sufficiently complete setting and the plot of the preceding parts are enough.

Otherwise, so many comic works wouldn't have such a long wait for a happy ending.

Moreover... if the ending has already been planned, but the manga is doing very well, and then it suddenly ends, how can it continue to make money?

Of course, this is mostly just a joke.

The bigger reason is that creators, regardless of their profession or industry, will have ever-changing ideas and concepts.

Great creators always believe one thing: I always believe that my ideas for tomorrow will be better than my ideas for today.

An unpredictable ending can give a work a better chance of tomorrow.

Eri Aragaki breathed a sigh of relief.

Masaya Sakurai then asked, "However, I have a few questions about the settings that I want to ask you. If you have already thought them through, just tell me. It's okay if you haven't."

Eri Aragaki said, "Go ahead and ask."

Masaya Sakurai immediately asked, "First question, where did the Titans come from? Have you thought about this setting?"

"Of course I've thought of that. The origin of the giants is an ancient girl named Ymir."

Eri Aragaki said, "She made a pact with the Earth Demon and gained the power of the Titans. After her death, her power was divided into nine Titans. The Eldian Empire used the power of the Titans to conquer the continent, but later weakened in the civil war."

The Marleyan Empire currently controls seven of the Titans, while Eren inherits the ninth, the Attack Titan.

Masaya Sakurai paused for a moment, then nodded.

He then asked, "My second question is, why is Eren able to transform into a Titan?"

"Because his father Grisha was also a Titan inheritor, the drug Grisha injected gave Eren the power of the Titans. Eren inherited the power of both the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan."

Masaya Sakurai nodded again, but then continued to ask questions about the manga's setting.

After all, you don't need to think too far ahead about the plot, but the more complete the manga setting is from the beginning, the better.

Eri Aragaki immediately answered all of Masaya Sakurai's questions.

"So what is the world outside the wall? Has humanity gone extinct?"

"The world outside the wall is not a world where humanity is extinct. There is the Marley Empire, other countries, technological development, airplanes, cannons, and warships outside the wall. The people inside the wall are the descendants of the exiled Eldians. They have been brainwashed into believing that humanity is only left with these people inside the wall."

"What kind of creature was that colossal giant that destroyed Wall Maria?"

"The Colossal Titan is a spy sent by Marley. His true identity is a Marleyan warrior named Bertholdt. Accompanying him is the Armored Titan, the one who broke down the city gate. His true identity is a Marleyan warrior named Reiner."

Yes, they are the trio from the comics, and their real goal is to find the royal bloodline that contains the Founding Titan, and then steal the Founding Titan..."

……

Eri Aragaki answered several questions about the manga's setting.

After listening, Masaya Sakurai remained silent for a long time.

It can be said that the comic's setting is already quite complete, and it also has a sufficiently good and long storyline.

Therefore, this comic is indeed a work that can begin serialization.

Eri Aragaki looked at him, wondering what he was thinking.

"Very good, the setting is complete enough."

Masaya Sakurai nodded and said, "Then let's do it this way."

Although he appeared calm on the surface, he still agreed with what Eri Aragaki said about the current setting and plot of Attack on Titan.

He is an experienced comic book editor. Anyone who has worked with editors knows that they don't just look at the so-called setting and plot summary of a work and exclaim "Awesome! 666!"

Most editors are outwardly quite calm most of the time.

This isn't because your premise isn't good or the plot isn't exciting; it's partly because that's the nature of an editor's job.

They've seen so many works that they inevitably become numb.

Even if the setting and plot summary are excellent, they are still shocked and feel that the setting is really too novel, too perfect and too outstanding.

On the surface, the editors would only casually say things like, "Hmm, not bad," "Pretty good," or "It's okay."

Then they'll let you prepare your serialized work like this, at most saying a few more auspicious phrases like "I have high hopes for you" and "Your work will be a hit," which everyone loves to hear.

On the one hand, it's too difficult to see the brilliance of this work just from its setting and plot summary. When it comes to comics, you have to look at not only the plot and setting, but also the artist's drawing skills, paneling, and pacing.

So, a great premise and an exciting plot summary don't necessarily mean that the comic will be well-drawn and visually appealing.

What if the manga author was like ONE, the creator of One-Punch Man?

Of course, there are also some editors who can't help but praise a great setting and plot, their emotional value is directly maximized, shouting things like "Sukkomi no Ichi", "This work is bound to be a masterpiece", "It's going to be a masterpiece".

However, such editors are as rare as Hakimi, who was obedient, never provoked, and never breathed on anyone.

"Not bad, it's pretty good."

Masaya Sakurai echoed this sentiment, saying, "Your setting is very well-developed, and the plot is very clear. I think this work has great potential."

Eri Aragaki said, "Thank you."

"So there are basically no problems."

Masaya Sakurai said, "Then let's prepare to sign the contract."

He took two forms out of the folder and handed them to Eri Aragaki, saying, "These are the award confirmation letter and the author information registration form. Please fill them out first."

Eri Aragaki took the form, took out a pen from her bag, and began to fill it out.

She filled in her name, pen name, contact information, and bank account information.

Then I filled in my address, emergency contact information, and other details.

After filling it out, she handed the form back to Masaya Sakurai.

Sakurai Masaya looked it over to make sure nothing was missing, then said, "Okay, wait here for a moment, I'll go print the contract."

He stood up and walked out of the meeting room.

Eri Aragaki sat alone in the reception room and took a sip of tea.

The tea had gone a little cold, but it still tasted good.

About ten minutes later, Masaya Sakurai returned with a stack of printed documents.

He placed the document on the table and turned to the last page.

"This is the serialization contract, six pages in total. I've filled in all the required fields. Please take a look at the terms and conditions. If there are no problems, please sign on the last page..."

Eri Aragaki picked up the contract and read it from beginning to end.

The terms in the contract are basically the same as what Masaya Sakurai just said.

The next step is the contract signing process, which doesn't need much explanation.

After Masaya Sakurai signed his name in the signature section of the editor.

He handed one of the contracts to Eri Aragaki and said, "This is your copy, teacher. Please keep it safe."

Eri Aragaki folded the contract and put it in her bag.

Masaya Sakurai then took out another business card from his pocket and handed it to Eri Aragaki.

His name, job title, and contact information were printed on his business card.

"This is my business card, which has my office phone number and mobile phone number on it."

He said, "Also, let's add some social networking services now. It seems like it's very popular to use these days, right? It will make it easier for us to stay in touch."

SNS is an online instant messaging software in Japan during this period, similar to QQ or WeChat. Of course, they are similar in function and current status, but their features and software settings are quite different from QQ.

"Ok."

Eri Aragaki took out her flip phone, opened the SNS app, and said...

The two added each other as friends.

Masaya Sakurai said, "You can contact me anytime if you have any questions. You can also send me the storyboards as soon as they are finished, without having to wait until we meet."

Eri Aragaki repeated, "Okay."

"Oh, right, there's one more important thing."

Masaya Sakurai glanced at his watch and said, "The Tezuka Award ceremony is scheduled for 2 PM on June 20th at the Shueisha auditorium. There will be media present. As previously arranged, we will provide mascot headgear. You can choose one you like then, teacher."

Eri Aragaki was somewhat afraid, but upon hearing Masaya Sakurai's arrangements, her fear lessened, and she said, "Okay, I'll be there on time."

Masaya Sakurai said, "That's all for today. I look forward to your next work, teacher."

Eri Aragaki took her leave and then departed from Shueisha.

……

night.