Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

"First of all, the first volume of Attack on Titan will include the contents of chapters one through eight, plus the short story I suggested before, which will be the beginning of the volume as chapter zero."

Masaya Sakurai then continued, "We need to check and revise the preceding content. Some storyboards may need minor adjustments, and we also need to prevent any drawing errors."

"what?"

Eri Aragaki stopped writing.

This was unexpected; it sounded like a lot of trouble.

Episodes one through eight, plus that short story, all need to be reviewed again.

She had already gone through those dozens of pages of manuscript in her mind. If she were to revise it page by page, the workload would be no joke.

Moreover, she also has new manuscripts to draw every week, and with these two things piled up, there's never enough time.

"Our editorial team will conduct an initial review of this issue."

Seemingly sensing Eri Aragaki's concerns, Masaya Sakurai added, "We only notify the teacher to make corrections and minor adjustments when there are obvious flaws or errors. Under normal circumstances, the teacher does not need to check it personally."

Eri Aragaki breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then I'll have to trouble Mr. Sakurai and the editors."

Sakurai Masaya nodded on the other end of the phone and said, "Secondly, for the single volume, you need to draw a cover, a color page at the beginning, and write an author's afterword. You can draw and write this yourself, teacher, and submit it to us for review along with the artwork."

Eri Aragaki also said, "Okay, no problem."

She probably already had an idea for the cover and the color brochure in front of her.

The cover should definitely feature Eren, the opening color page could depict a group portrait of the entire Survey Corps, and as for the author's afterword, a few words of thanks to the readers would suffice.

"Finally... we will conduct a formal written interview with the teacher in the magazine to promote the standalone book."

Masaya Sakurai added, "It's like a Q&A interview. How about this week? When I submit the manuscript this week, I'll bring the interview form to you, and you can answer the questions on it."

Eri Aragaki also felt there was no problem. She had seen many written interviews in magazines before, which were nothing more than answering questions such as "What is your creative inspiration?", "Who is your favorite character?", and "What would you like to say to your readers?"

She read a lot of author interviews when she was browsing forums in her previous life, so answering them shouldn't be difficult.

"alright."

She casually remarked, seemingly unconcerned.

Sakurai Masaya paused for a moment, then continued, "By the way, teacher, please also provide a photo of yourself; it will be published in this written interview."

"Hey???"

Eri Aragaki dropped her pen.

She let out a sound two pitches higher than before, startling Natsume Akane, who was applying halftone dots next to her, and she almost misjudged the scraper.

Ayane Takeda also looked up, and Erina's calligraphy brush stopped in mid-air. The three of them looked at Eri Aragaki at the same time, wondering what the person on the other end of the phone had said that made her react so strongly.

Eri Aragaki held her phone, her expression shifting from ecstasy to a complex stiffness.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Marketing Strategies, Fermentation in the Republic

"photo?"

Eri Aragaki said awkwardly, "Could you please not use my photo? For example, could you draw a portrait of me instead, Mr. Sakurai..."

She really doesn't want to appear on camera; she always feels it would be too much trouble.

Once the photo is printed in a magazine, it becomes public information. You might be recognized on the street, or when you go to a convenience store. You won't be able to quietly stay at home and draw comics anymore.

"I understand what you're thinking, Ms. Pear..."

However, Masaya Sakurai said, "But I still think... well, I suggest that you, teacher, should appear in the video with a real photo."

"Hey, why?"

Eri Aragaki immediately asked curiously.

She knew that Sakurai Miyabi wasn't the kind of editor who would force people to do things against their will. They could discuss so many things before, so why was she suddenly so insistent on this particular issue of photos?

"Because... Ms. Pear, you have very good looks..."

Masaya Sakurai bluntly stated, "Being a 'beautiful girl manga artist' is a good bonus these days. If the author's collected volumes are promoted with this, it should greatly help the sales performance."

He added, "Teacher, you must also hope that your manga volumes sell well, right?"

Upon hearing this, Eri Aragaki immediately felt that what he said was strange.

What is this... a comment from a Japanese netizen?!

A middle-aged editor was talking seriously on the phone about a beautiful girl manga artist. She thought such lines only appeared in Japanese dramas, but now they were actually coming out of her own editor's mouth.

Okay, Sakurai Masashi is Japanese, so it seems correct that he speaks this way.

Moreover, Masaya Sakurai's words seem to make sense.

After all, being a bishoujo manga artist seems to be a marketing tactic.

Don't say that this era doesn't understand marketing methods. There are plenty of similar marketing methods in this era. Idol voice actors, beautiful female writers, and handsome male directors—these concepts have been operating in the Japanese entertainment and publishing industries for many years.

It's just that the internet wasn't as widespread as it is now, so the general public didn't realize it was a marketing tactic, but the people at publishing houses and magazines knew it perfectly well.

It seems that the comic book industry doesn't care about gender, only whether the comic is good or not, and marketing seems to be of little use.

That would be a big mistake. When a comic is already good enough, marketing becomes useful in order to further improve its performance.

Comics are the foundation, and marketing is leveraging that foundation; the two are not substitutes but rather complementary.

For example, the web novel authors who wrote about beautiful girls, rich second-generation heirs, high-achieving officials, and handsome and rich men in their past lives...

It's a marketing strategy implemented after a certain level of success, which then makes readers talk about it and improves the work's performance.

Physical appearance and family background may seem average when academic performance is poor, but these advantages become more prominent and generate additional discussion and virality when academic performance is good.

The ideal of being both academically and morally excellent has always been a cherished quality in East Asian culture.

If a good-looking person is also talented, the word-of-mouth spreads exponentially. People are naturally more willing to talk about such a person and introduce them to their friends.

For example, with Eri Aragaki's "Attack on Titan," the manga itself is good enough, so proper marketing can help boost sales.

As is well known, this tactic ultimately worked on otaku and LSPs, who are among the groups most susceptible to the "beautiful girl manga artist" persona.

Eri Aragaki suddenly understood.

Anyway, it's not like she's going to be on TV for a live interview; it's just about printing a photo in a magazine. As long as it looks good, that's all that matters.

She could only say, "Alright then, I'll prepare a personal photo later."

"Thank you for your help, teacher."

Masaya Sakurai nodded, then added, "Remember to take good pictures, teacher."

Eri Aragaki had a slight headache, but she still said, "Okay, I understand."

Then he hung up the phone.

……

Just as Eri Aragaki was struggling with whether to have her real self appear on screen.

On the other side, on the Republic's internet.

Thanks to the dedication and tireless efforts of the Orange Cat Translation Group and other translation groups, the Chinese version of the short comic "Wu Song" has appeared on the People's Republic of China's internet.

After completing their translation of "Wu Song," the Orange Cat Translation Group posted it on their website, Anime House. Several other translation groups also released their own translations one after another.

This short story has been shared on several major anime forums and online communities. Although its spread is not as fast as that of popular works with animated versions, the reviews from those who have seen it are almost unanimously positive.

In a county town in Jingzhou.

Inside a residential building.

"I'm back!"

After returning home, Xiao Nanliang imitated the style of Japanese anime and shouted directly.

However, the next moment...

"Nanliang, quickly change your shoes, wash your hands, and then go do your homework!"

His mother's voice came from behind him, urging him on.

After all... his mother picks him up from school.

"Okay, okay, I'll go right away."

Xiao Nanliang shrank back and immediately spoke obediently.

Then Xiao's mother went straight to cook.

Xiao Nanliang went back to his room and obediently started doing his homework.

However, he was thinking about anime while doing his homework. Because of Xiao Nanliang's father, he had grown up watching anime and comics with his father since he was a child.

Xiao Nanliang's father was very tolerant in this regard.

"I wonder what kind of enemies Luffy and his crew will encounter this week..."

"And what is the background of the Female Titan that Eren and his team encountered during their investigation outside the walls...?"

"I want to see Naruto and Sasuke reunite. Will they fight?"

……

Because the animation was released slowly, and Xiao Nanliang's father was very lenient and allowed him to play on the computer at home.

So Xiao Nanliang learned to directly search online for pirated copies of the latest serialized comics, and he even joined the Orange Cat Translation Group's resource group.

He joined that group after seeing someone share resources on the forum. There were quite a few people in the group, and they talked about comics and anime every day.

He is usually quite active and is a very active member of the group. When someone posts resources, he clicks to download them and then thanks the translation team.

Even if no one shares resources, he will still liven up the atmosphere in the group.

Although Xiao Nanliang was recalling the plot of these comics, he only paused occasionally with his pen in hand.

Moreover, the Xiao family has a reasonable rule: if he finishes his homework early and it is checked without any problems, he can do what he likes earlier.