Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Especially the top ten graduates of the training corps, as the best soldiers, are qualified to choose which corps they go to.

Generally speaking, most outstanding soldiers choose to join the military police.

The military police were stationed on the innermost layer of the wall, farthest from the front line, where they lived a comfortable life and did not have to face the Titans.

In particular, Jean made it clear from the beginning that he would definitely join the military police.

He didn't want to die, he was afraid of giants, and he wanted to live a peaceful life in the mainland—he openly stated all of these things.

But Marco died.

This brought him to a period of reminiscence, and he thought of Marco.

The scene flashes back to the last time Marco and he had a conversation, and finally... during a conversation with his friend reminiscing...

Surprisingly, he chose to join the Survey Corps, which he had previously said he least wanted to join.

Reiner, Sasha, Connie, Mikasa, and others all chose the Survey Corps without exception.

Then comes the scene of the new recruits attending their first official Survey Corps assembly.

Commander Erwin stood at the front of the formation.

He was dressed in a crisp uniform, draped in the Survey Corps' iconic green cloak, the Wings of Liberty emblem on his back fluttering slightly in the wind.

He stood there, saying nothing, and the entire square fell silent.

“I am Erwin Smith, commander of the Survey Corps.”

In the comic, he says to the soldiers in front of him, "First, I want to tell you a fact... When the Survey Corps carries out survey operations outside the walls, the casualty rate exceeds 30 percent."

Nearly a third of you will not live to see the end of your term.

The air in the square seemed to freeze.

No one speaks.

Erwin's gaze swept across the face of each new recruit.

"If any of you want to quit now, you can stand up. No one will laugh at you, because the fear of death is a human instinct."

He paused for a few seconds.

No one stepped forward.

Then Erwin placed his right hand on his left chest, fingers together, palm against his heart.

All the Survey Corps veterans behind him made the same gesture at the same time.

"Then... offer up your hearts!"

Taku Ueno stared at this page for a long time.

The recruits in the video follow Irwin in making a heart-off salute.

Rang placed his hand on his chest, his expression still showing fear, but his eyes had changed.

Mikasa's posture and expression both seemed to be making a vow.

Each of those new recruits had their own reasons: some for revenge, some for their beliefs, some to follow someone, and some simply to avoid being looked down upon by themselves.

But their hands were all placed in the same spot.

heart.

"This heart-offering ceremony was so touching."

Ueno Taku put down the magazine, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh, his chuunibyou spirit burning brightly once again.

He picked up the cola and took a sip. The icy liquid slid down his throat, but the feeling in his chest remained.

Marco is dead.

This led the person who had initially said he wanted to escape to the Military Police to choose the Survey Corps instead.

Reiner and his two companions harbor a secret.

Commander Erwin's words weren't meant to boost morale; they were to tell them the harsh truth and then let them choose for themselves.

Everyone chose to stay and to "donate" their hearts to humanity.

"It's really exciting! The plot of Attack on Titan is inexplicably exciting!"

He repeated it again, but this time he didn't seem to be complaining.

He reopened the magazine, turned to the double-page spread of Commander Erwin offering his heart, and stared at the Wings of Liberty symbol for a long time.

"Give me...your heart!!"

Ueno Taku once again unleashed his inner chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), and whispered.

But just then...

"Xiao Tuo...get ready to come down for dinner!"

Just then, her mother's voice came through.

"Okay! I'm coming right now!"

Ueno Taku quickly put the magazine away and stood up to respond.

……

Meanwhile.

Shueisha.

They will be facing another popular survey this week.

In the large office, the editors had already finished compiling the reader survey postcards sent back from all over the country.

As before, the postcards were categorized, counted, and compiled by artwork before being sent to the editor-in-chief's desk.

In the conference room, the editors sat around a long table. The previous rankings had been erased from the whiteboard, and they were waiting to write the new ones.

Ibaraki Masahiko stood in front of the whiteboard, holding a statistics sheet in his hand.

But ahead is still...

"Number one: One Piece."

"Second place, Naruto."

"Third place, Bleach."

……

The status of Dead Fire Sea is undoubtedly unshakable, and the editors are already used to it.

You'll feel the same way if you hear the same name at these kinds of meetings for several years in a row.

Anyway, the top three are already locked in, it would be strange if a challenger suddenly appeared.

Ibaraki Masahiko continued reading. The works ranked fourth to eighth were not much different from before, with only one or two swapping positions, but they were still the familiar faces in the top ten.

When he read out the eighth place, he paused and turned to the next page of the statistics table.

"Ninth place..."

His gaze fell on the statistics table.

"...Attack on Titan".

Chapter Forty-Seven: She's a true genius!

The conference room fell silent for half a second.

Then several editors simultaneously turned to look at Masaya Sakurai.

Masaya Sakurai sat in a chair, holding a pen, and wrote the number "9" next to "Attack on Titan" in his notebook.

He appeared calm, but in reality, he hesitated somewhat when he put pen to paper.

Ninth place...

Attack on Titan squeezed out To Love-Ru, and with Hunter x Hunter going on a long hiatus again, a spot in the top ten became vacant.

In fact, the popularity of the giants has been increasing rapidly.

In the first episode, it was only thirteenth, but by the fourth episode, it had risen to eleventh in the popularity poll, and by the fifth episode, which was released this week, it had squeezed into ninth place.

Its potential is clearly visible.

Compared to the other two new serializations released at the same time, "Hitomi no Katobelas" and "Belmonde Le Visiter", Attack on Titan is worlds apart.

Those two manga have been at the bottom of the popularity charts for three consecutive weeks. If it weren't for the fact that they were new series, according to JUMP's rules, they would have already been decided whether to cancel them.

However, because it is a new work, Shueisha gave it a minimum deadline of "guaranteeing that the first ten chapters will not be canceled", which can be regarded as giving the new manga artist a buffer opportunity.

But it will happen soon... If they remain in the same rankings this week, they will really face elimination.

Unlike these two unfortunate companions, Attack on Titan's popularity has never declined; on the contrary, it has been steadily rising.

From thirteenth place, to twelfth place, then to eleventh place, and now to ninth place.

Every week we're moving upwards, and every step we take is very steady.

Especially considering its popularity has already squeezed into the top ten, entering the top ten in the first five chapters of Weekly Shonen Jump is enough to prove a lot.

It's even a bit... outrageous.

Because the top ten of Weekly Shonen Jump are all such works, each one built up its popularity year after year.

How can a new work like Attack on Titan, which hasn't even had a single volume yet, squeeze into the top ten?

But thinking about it carefully... from the perspective of the plot and Eri Aragaki, Attack on Titan is known for its explosive early plot, with one bombshell after another and one twist after another, making the early plot of Attack on Titan feel like a whirlwind.

Therefore, it's understandable that Attack on Titan was able to squeeze into the top ten based on just the first five chapters.

However, it was somewhat due to luck, as this entry into the top ten was just a slow climb. The key factor was that the plot of "To Love-Ru" had recently started, and "Hunter x Hunter" had gone on hiatus again.

Regardless, making it into the top ten of Weekly Shonen Jump's popularity rankings already proves its immense potential.