Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Erina Aragaki continued reading, becoming increasingly engrossed.

Then came the relentless onslaught of attacks; Eren's class, his comrades, were killed and devoured by Titans one by one...

"Nai-san... this is too cruel..."

She couldn't help but say it.

Eri Aragaki said, "I told you I might not be the type of girl girls like."

Erina Aragaki shook her head and said, "No, it's very good. Although it's cruel, I can't stop watching."

She continued flipping through the pages.

She held her breath as she read the pages about the Battle of Trost.

She let out a long sigh of relief when she turned the last page.

Then she looked up at Eri Aragaki, her eyes filled with adoration.

"Nai-san, you're amazing! This manga is so good!"

Eri Aragaki smiled and said, "Thank you."

"But... I want to know what happens next..."

Erina Aragaki asked, "Um, will you be drawing this series again, Nami-san?"

"Don't worry, this is the next work I'll be serializing."

Eri Aragaki said with a smile, "I'm still drawing the rest of the story. You'll find out when the serialization starts."

"That's great."

Holding the magazine, Erina Aragaki excitedly said, "I'll read it every week. I want to be your first fan, Erina-san. You have to work hard to draw it then!"

Eri Aragaki said, "Don't worry."

She raised the Coke can and said, "Come on, cheers, to celebrate your sister becoming a cartoonist."

Erina Aragaki also picked up her own Coke can and bumped it against the glass.

"cheers."

The two sisters raised their glasses and enjoyed a hearty drink while also enjoying their sumptuous dinner.

……

Meanwhile, a new issue of Weekly Shonen Jump was released, and naturally many manga fans bought it and read it on the same day.

However, most manga fans don't really care about the winners of the new Tezuka Award.

The main reason is that the Tezuka Prize is an annual competition, sometimes even held twice a year.

Secondly, the works for the Tezuka Award were all by unknown new manga artists.

For ordinary comic book fans, they are more concerned about popular serialized comics.

Therefore, they don't care too much about what the winning work of the Tezuka Award is.

I will only read the Tezuka Award-winning work in the supplementary section after I have finished reading the other serialized works.

After all, it's free to watch it.

Therefore, after reading the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, manga fans...

The plots of this issue of popular manga series are being hotly debated on major Japanese ACG online platforms such as 2ch and the Weekly Shonen Jump forum.

"This week's Naruto was so exciting! Jiraiya finally made his move. Just who is Pain?"

"Jiraiya might not come back after this trip; it feels like a flag being raised."

"In this week's One Piece episode, Moria got punched away by Luffy, that was so satisfying! But what if there's an even bigger boss coming up?"

"Gecko Moria is just an appetizer. The real boss should be Kaido. It's too early for Luffy to fight Kaido now."

"This week's Claymore match is finally Clare facing Priscilla. We've been waiting for this battle for so long."

"Priscilla is too strong, can Gunia really win?"

"Tsuna has finally awakened! The Dying Will Flame is so cool..."

"The plot of 'The Tutor' has been pacing well lately, and it's getting more and more exciting."

"Where's the Bleach this week? Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow was so intense, his Hollowfication power was too strong."

“Grimmjow is the sixth Espada, and there are even stronger Espadas to come. Ichigo still needs to level up.”

"Ryoma Echizen's new move is too outrageous! Is this still tennis???"

"You're only just finding out? Prince of Tennis has been a superpower manga for a long time."

"The republic over there calls it 'murderous tennis,' and I have to admit they're quite right."

"Saint Seiya: Next Dimension has been updated this week. Kurumada-sensei is still amazing. Pegasus will always be the strongest."

"The art style of the ND version is a bit different from the original, but the story is still very exciting."

"D.Gray-man had very little screen time this week, mostly focusing on Kanda, but Kanda's past was quite tragic."

"The plot of D.Gray-man has been a bit slow lately, I hope it will speed up."

"The race for Lightspeed Runner #21 this week is too intense. Hiruma's tactics are always unpredictable."

"Lightspeed Runner is my most anticipated sports comic of the week, bar none."

……

In these discussion threads, everyone is happily chatting about their favorite serialized works.

And that's perfectly normal.

These popular serialized manga have always been the mainstay of Weekly Shonen Jump.

The winning works of the Tezuka Award are not discussed by many people.

After all... these are just short works submitted by new comic artists.

However, the Tezuka Award still attracts attention.

For example, some comic fans who prefer to support promising new comic artists, as well as other comic artists in the industry and comic enthusiasts who aspire to become comic artists.

They gradually started discussing the winning works of this year's Tezuka Award online.

"After reading this year's Tezuka Award winner, Attack on Titan is amazing. It's the strongest new work I've seen in recent years."

"Really? Is it that exaggerated? I haven't seen it yet."

"It's no exaggeration to say that the drawing skills, paneling, and design are all top-notch. You can tell just by looking at the judges' comments."

"XD You can't really take the judges' comments seriously, right? Don't all the winning entries in the Tezuka Award get praise from the judges?"

"I still think the comments this time were indeed fair, and Toriyama-sensei, Oda and others highly praised Attack on Titan and said they looked forward to continuing the series."

"I also watched Attack on Titan, and it is indeed amazing. The overhead view and the page where the Colossal Titan appears are so impactful."

"Those giants didn't look that scary, but for some reason, I found them much more terrifying than the grotesque monsters in many comics..."

"That's because of the uncanny valley effect, that feeling of something that's clearly a monster but looks so much like a human... it's unsettling."

Chapter Eighteen: High-Intensity Internet Surfers

"I also submitted my work to the Tezuka Award this time, but unsurprisingly I was not selected. Seeing a work of the caliber of Attack on Titan really makes me realize how big the gap is between myself and a real manga artist."

"I've been reading JUMP for twenty years and have seen quite a few Tezuka Award-winning works. To be honest, Attack on Titan is probably the strongest work of the last ten years."

"That's an exaggeration. You don't actually not eat pears, do you? The best Tezuka Award-winning work of the decade? I don't think it's that good."

"That's right, it's just average. Apart from the interesting concept, the 3D Maneuver Gear is a bit special."

"Is the 3D Maneuver Gear concept good? I just find it hilarious. It doesn't fit the physics engine at all. It's just a illogical concept."

"What era are we living in that we're still trying to find realistic logic in comics? Wow!"

"I think the drawing skills and paneling are very good, but the setting... does feel a bit unsound. If it were a magical fantasy world, it would be fine, but the worldview feels closer to medieval reality."

……

It is clear that most of the current discussion surrounding Attack on Titan comes from manga enthusiasts aspiring to become manga artists, contributors to this year's Tezuka Award, and seasoned industry professionals.

Many people are actually quite self-aware; they praise "Attack on Titan," a work that received high scores from judges and won the Tezuka Award, the highest honor, and feel inferior to it.

However, it is obvious that...

There is no shortage of steel bars, envious people, and truth-seeking scholars anywhere in this world.

Just like how some people dislike RMB, there are also people who look down on US dollars.

So often, you don't necessarily need to pay attention to other people's negative reviews or criticisms, as long as the positive reviews far outweigh those critical ones.

Of course, this is on the premise that negative reviews and criticisms are not a large proportion.

If negative reviews outnumber positive reviews, then the problem probably lies with yourself.

Currently, Attack on Titan is mostly well-received because normal people are more common in this era's world.

The past life that Eri Aragaki met was quite different from the later era, a time of chaos, deities, and constant change of characters.

Of course, this doesn't mean that in this era of the rise of the internet, it's as pure and pristine as some legendary utopia or paradise.

There were also insults and accusations, as well as abstract, self-proclaimed geniuses, some of whom were even more extraordinary. This is an era that is the root of all evil.

But... as I said before, the main reason is that there are still quite a few normal people in this era.

"I still think Attack on Titan truly deserves its reputation. A manga that Toriyama Akira, Oda, and Kishimoto all praised and looked forward to serialization can't be bad."

"Yes, I think it's even better than Ken's. His drawing skills are really good, and the plot of Attack on Titan is no worse than Death Note."

"Death Note is based on the original work by Tsugumi Ohba, and illustrated by Kenjiro. You can't compare them like that, can you? Besides, Kenjiro was already a manga artist before that."

"That's not what I meant. I meant the impact of the work on people."

"The concept of Attack on Titan is really amazing. The walls, Titans, and 3D Maneuver Gear are all interconnected."