Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

"Okay, no problem."

Eri Aragaki immediately said.

Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. She might need to reconsider whether it was unethical to steal someone else's work for a long novel.

But for short comics... it should be alright.

So an idea came to her mind, and whenever she thought of this comic, a strange smile appeared on her face.

"Excuse me, Ms. Pear."

Masaya Sakurai then hung up the phone.

"Ok."

Eri Aragaki also put down her phone.

……

The rest of the week passed quickly, as always.

Eri Aragaki, with the help of Akane Natsume, Ayane Takeda, and Erina, calmly completed this week's Attack on Titan manuscript.

Friday arrived, the deadline...

"Teacher Pear, I'm sorry to bother you."

When Masaya Sakurai came to collect the manuscript, he was still very polite.

He glanced around the apartment; it was the same group of girls again. Erina and Natsume Akane were watching a variety show on TV.

Meanwhile, Ayane Takeda has been using Eri Aragaki's computer to complete her major coursework this month.

This was related to Ayane Takeda's GPA, and she was quite engrossed in it, occasionally typing a few lines of code, then typing and deleting.

"Mr. Sakurai...have some tea."

As before, Eri Aragaki first poured tea for Masaya Sakurai, then turned to get the manuscript, cover, color pages, and... a photograph of herself.

"The manuscript and everything are here, Mr. Sakurai... Here you go."

Then she handed everything over.

Masaya Sakurai looked at the manuscript again, and after finding no problems, he looked at the cover of the collected volume, the color page at the beginning, the author's afterword, and the written interview form.

There are basically no problems. These things are just normal and won't be too amazing or have any flaws.

Masaya Sakurai's last look was at the photograph that Eri Aragaki had given him...

A close-up photo, but not an ID photo. It shows Eri Aragaki wearing a brown jacket, striking a pose reminiscent of the "offering her heart" pose from the manga Attack on Titan.

The modeling monster's stats are undeniable, and even in this pose, you can tell that Eri Aragaki is an absolute beauty.

Moreover, because there were no strange gestures or accessories to cover it, Aragaki Eri's entire face was revealed, allowing her character model to be displayed to its fullest extent.

"Hmm, there are no problems."

Masaya Sakurai immediately stood up and said, "I won't bother you any longer, teacher. I'll go back and prepare for this week's magazine work."

"Okay, Mr. Sakurai, take care."

Eri Aragaki also got up again to see Masaya Sakurai off.

Masaya Sakurai left Eri Aragaki's apartment, but he stared at her photograph for a long time, pondering it intently...

He felt that there was something strange about Eri Aragaki, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

She seemed no different from the Eri Aragaki he usually saw...

"never mind……"

Masaya Sakurai went downstairs and went straight back to Shueisha.

After all... this week's work isn't finished yet.

Chapter 75: Preview of the Single Volume

It's a brand new week.

Ueno Taku spent another ordinary weekend before going to school.

He spent most of the weekend at home, rereading the JUMP magazine he bought last week, and he could practically recite the pages about Attack on Titan.

The arrival of winter was nothing special for him; it doesn't snow much in Kagawa Prefecture, and the temperature is a bit warmer than in Tokyo.

But the cold wind still hurt my face when I rode my bike in the morning.

That's how it is for ordinary people; they don't think winter is anything special, like something out of an anime like Winter Sonata.

In those stories, transfer students would appear every winter, or there would be some fateful encounters on snowy days.

But in reality, winter means not being able to get out of bed in the morning, feeling stuffy in the classroom with the heating on, and it's already completely dark by the time club training ends.

Occasionally, a girl would hand a scarf to the soccer team's star striker by the field. Ueno Taku saw this but didn't feel envious; he just thought the scarf's color scheme was quite nice.

Even clubs, although clubs still need to train in winter, since the summer national tournaments that sports clubs in sports anime value highly have already ended.

Their school's soccer team was eliminated in the second round of the summer tournament. Ueno Taku, as an ordinary member, didn't even get a seat on the bench. He was on the sidelines wearing his team uniform, helping to hand out water and towels, watching the starters get dominated by the opposing team for the entire game.

But the winter convention in January next year is also very important, perhaps not much less so than the summer convention.

After all, there are only two national competitions for high school clubs in Japan: the summer tournament and the winter tournament, and at most one or two other national cup competitions.

After participating in club activities, Ueno Taku went to the clubroom to change back into his school uniform, stuffing his mud-splattered uniform into his sports bag.

Several key players from the soccer team were still practicing free kicks on the field, while the others gradually headed towards the school gate.

He and several classmates rode their bicycles home, their wheels rolling over the gravel road in front of the school gate before turning onto the shopping street.

A few classmates were chatting in front about whether they should go to the arcade together this weekend, while Ueno Taku in the back was responding half-heartedly, thinking to himself that Attack on Titan should be releasing a new game this week.

On my way home, I stopped at a convenience store and bought this week's issue of Weekly Shonen Jump.

"You're here again~"

The old man at the bookstore greeted him when he saw him come in, still wearing his reading glasses that had slipped down to the tip of his nose.

When Ueno Taku walked to the magazine shelf and reached for the top JUMP magazine...

Then he discovered that the cover of this week's magazine featured... Attack on Titan.

Eren stands in the center of the cover, wearing the Survey Corps uniform, his right fist pressed against his left chest, striking the iconic pose of offering his heart.

This is quite rare, since the cover is usually reserved for the magazine's mainstays, meaning it's typically the most popular or second most popular person to grace the cover.

Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo Kurosaki take turns being the host, and it's always big news when someone else takes the stage.

Then there are various special cases, such as when a new manga is serialized for the first time, it will be given the same treatment as a new series and featured on the cover. The last time Attack on Titan was featured on the cover was when the first chapter started serialization.

Another example is special collaborations, which are promotions for animation, movies, games, and other similar products. These are like advertising, where business partners pay for advertising space.

This week, Attack on Titan made the cover, and even occupied the center position on the cover.

Ellen, as the main character, is in the center of the cover, striking her signature pose of offering her heart, her eyes fixed straight ahead.

Other popular characters, such as Luffy and Ichigo Kurosaki, have been relegated to the sidelines this week.

He glanced at it, and saw large print that read "Pre-sale of Volume 1 of the manga" and "Real person revealed: Super rookie manga artist 'Don't Eat Pears'!"

So that's why... the collected volume is about to be released.

"how much is it?"

Ueno Taku suddenly realized what was going on, then took a magazine and other things and headed to the cashier.

He had been looking forward to it for a long time; normally, news of a collected volume should have come around chapter nine or ten of the manga.

As a result, Attack on Titan has only been published as a single volume now, even though the manga has already reached chapter 20.

He paid, tucked the magazine under his arm, and rode his bike home.

After arriving home, I parked the car downstairs, climbed the stairs, shouted "I'm home," and went into my room.

Then he bought the magazine and went home. He went to his room and started reading the current issue.

Since it's Monday, he usually reads a few of his favorite serials first before looking at others.

However, because the Titans were listed first and there was a cover promotion, he didn't follow his usual routine and instead flipped directly to the Titans page in the magazine.

This is because this week is the pre-release period for the Attack on Titan manga, and the manga has consistently ranked high in the top ten.

The editorial department clearly allocated all resources to Attack on Titan this week, giving it the highest level of treatment.

Not only is the cover the main focus, but it also gets the treatment of a color page at the beginning of the article.

When Ueno Taku turned to the pages about Attack on Titan, the first double-page color illustration showed the entire Survey Corps riding horses across the wilderness outside the walls, their green cloaks billowing in the wind, their wings of freedom forming a continuous expanse.

And occupying the first position at the beginning of the magazine is an implicit convention in JUMP's section arrangement; the serialization at the very beginning of this issue is often the main feature of that issue.

These are the treatment that a top ten most popular comics should receive when it gets a standalone volume.

Ueno Taku turned to the main text of this chapter, and the main story began.

This installment of the Attack on Titan series focuses on the operation to capture the Female Titan.

The Female Titan directly caused the deaths of a large number of Survey Corps soldiers. Those soldiers were completely powerless against the Female Titan and were mercilessly slaughtered.

Even the elite members of the Survey Corps are like this.

However, Erwin, as the leader, remained unmoved.

This caused Alan, who witnessed the deaths of his companions, great distress.

He desperately hoped that Levi would order him to transform into a Titan to stop the Female Titan and prevent the Survey Corps soldiers from sacrificing themselves in vain.

Allen's expression is distorted in several frames, and the anxiety of having power but being unable to do anything is depicted very realistically.

His hands gripping the reins trembled, his teeth clenched tightly. Ueno Taku tried to empathize with the feeling of watching his teammates die one by one while he was ordered to stay put. He felt that he was probably even more unable to bear it than Allen.

However, Levi simply let him choose for himself.

Levi, mounted on his horse, had the same calm expression as Erwin, but there was something different in his eyes when he looked at Eren.