Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

He closed the book, thought for a moment, then pulled out two more from below, tucking all three under his arm.

As a second-generation rich kid, Lin Beimiao could confidently say, "I have quite a bit of family wealth," so a mere two thousand yen was nothing to him.

He also quite likes the comic artist who doesn't eat pears.

The main reason is because of "Wu Song" and her love for Chinese culture shown in her written interview last week, even though it seems she prefers Chinese food more.

But it's enough to just show it.

He hopes that one day, when Bu Chi Li Zi and her work "Attack on Titan" become a huge hit, he might even be able to hold a signing event and meet her in person.

He bought three volumes of Attack on Titan, Weekly Shonen Jump, and several other well-known publications that needed to be translated into Chinese. After paying, he went back to his apartment.

……

A week seems to have flown by, and the deadline for this week has arrived.

Eri Aragaki, however, was preparing to go out for the first time in a long time. Or rather, she was preparing to go out alone, instead of going out with her usual "best friends" like Akane Natsume, Ayane Takeda, and Erina to have fun and enjoy delicious food.

This is naturally because I made an appointment with Masaya Sakurai last week to discuss the short manga at the end of the month if I had time over the weekend.

However, Masaya Sakurai later said that it was not good to take up personal rest time on the weekend.

Then let's just... meet at the café downstairs from Shueisha on the afternoon of the deadline and talk in detail.

Eri Aragaki didn't think much of it either. She didn't really care about weekends anyway, since her work and rest time were never separate. So she agreed.

She also brought the artwork for this week's Attack on Titan and the storyboard artwork for the new short manga.

She had a general idea of ​​copying comics, short comics or something, and she didn't need to consider popularity or whether it would make money.

As long as she likes it, that's fine, just like the painting "Wu Song" she did before.

She was the only one in the apartment at this time, as Erina was still in class.

Eri Aragaki went straight out the door; Tokyo in November was already getting colder.

Although it's not quite at the point of heavy snowfall, there was a thunderstorm a few days ago, and the damp and cold conditions mean the perceived temperature is only around six to ten degrees Celsius.

Most of the ginkgo leaves on the street have fallen, and the road surface, which has just been swept by sanitation workers, is covered with a new layer of golden yellow, which crunches softly underfoot.

She was wearing a thick cotton coat and thick trousers.

With this outfit, only his height is noticeable; all his other advantages are completely hidden.

She arrived at the agreed-upon coffee shop, pushed open the door, and was greeted by the warmth and aroma of coffee.

This time, she immediately spotted Masaya Sakurai and another man who looked relatively younger already waiting for her in the coffee shop.

The two sat in a booth by the window, with two steaming cups of coffee on the table.

Masaya Sakurai quickly waved his hand and called out, "Riko-sensei."

Eri Aragaki wasn't worried that Masaya Sakurai calling her by that title would reveal her identity.

She now has a clearer understanding of herself.

That is, she is far from becoming a famous manga artist like Kishimoto, Oda, or Yoshihiro Togashi, so what is she afraid of being recognized?

"Mr. Sakurai."

She quickly returned the greeting and then went over.

"This is my colleague, Lin Shiping."

Masaya Sakurai quickly introduced Hayashi Shipei to Eri Aragaki.

"Lin Shiping."

Eri Aragaki was slightly surprised. Of course, she had heard of this name; the editor later became very famous.

Lin Shiping has served as the editor for comics such as "Blue Exorcist", "Spy Kids", "Fire Fist" and "Chainsaw Man".

Previously, Eri Aragaki might not have taken editors seriously.

However, after experiencing the guidance given by Masaya Sakurai, she realized that editors were not so simple.

Indeed, this is true. Lin Shiping is also a very capable editor who gives a lot of advice to his cartoonists and participates in the creation of comics.

For example, in "Spy House," because Tatsuya Endo originally didn't like drawing so-called purely handsome male protagonists.

So Lin Shiping suggested that he simply draw a heartwarming, family-friendly comic. "Spy House" would no longer be just a comic about the male protagonist Lloyd showing off his coolness, but would become a somewhat funny family comic about raising children.

In addition, Fujimoto Itsuki was also discovered by this editor.

After Fujimoto Tatsuki's first submission of "There Were Two Chickens in the Yard" was ultimately rejected.

However, with his unique vision, he signed Fujimoto Tsuki as his exclusive editor.

He also suggested that Fujimoto Itsuki apply to an art college to improve his drawing skills.

Given that the "Fire Fist" theme is not suitable for JUMP, it was suggested that he serialize it in "Weekly Shonen Jump+".

Fujimoto Tsuki even claimed that he would have stopped drawing long ago if it weren't for Hayashi Shiping being his editor.

Eri Aragaki looked at Shi Ping with great curiosity, while Shi Ping's eyes lit up when he looked at Eri Aragaki.

He had seen Eri Aragaki's appearance in photos sent by Masaya Sakurai before, but the feeling of her standing in front of him was still quite different from the photos.

The photo was staged; the lighting and angles were carefully adjusted. The real person looked more natural under the warm yellow lights of the coffee shop, and the facial features revealed after the scarf was removed were indeed very photogenic.

He quickly stood up and said, "Hello, Mr. No Pears, I am Lin Shiping."

Chapter 82 A New Short Story, A Tribute to Myself? (First Update! Please Subscribe!!)

Eri Aragaki quickly replied, "Hello, Mr. Hayashi."

Lin Shiping and she then sat down.

Masaya Sakurai moved the coffee cup on the table aside to make room for Eri Aragaki's backpack, and then asked, "Teacher, what kind of coffee would you like? I'll order it for you."

"Then I'll have a mocha."

Eri Aragaki thought for a moment and ordered a mocha.

Although she doesn't like coffee, this is a coffee shop after all.

Let's order a mocha coffee, which is more like a dessert.

"Hello, would you like a mocha?"

Masaya Sakurai waved to the waiter and ordered another mocha.

"OK……"

The waiter nodded and left.

After ordering coffee, Eri Aragaki took out this week's Attack on Titan manuscript from her backpack, neatly sealing the kraft paper document bag with thread, and pushed it onto the table to Masaya Sakurai.

"Mr. Sakurai, this is this week's manuscript."

Eri Aragaki immediately gestured.

Although the main purpose of this meeting was to discuss short comics with Lin Shiping, the Attack on Titan manuscript was obviously not forgotten either.

The deadline is the deadline; it won't be postponed just because you have other things to discuss.

Sakurai Masaya took the file folder containing the manuscript, untied the clasp, and pulled out a stack of drawings.

He flipped through the pages quickly, glancing at each one to confirm that the page numbers were in the correct order and that the pages had no obvious defects or stains.

After checking, he put the drawing back into the file bag and then into his briefcase.

The main reason is that he trusts Eri Aragaki a lot; at least so far, Eri Aragaki is an excellent student in his eyes.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, teacher. Now, let's talk about short comics."

Masaya Sakurai immediately said.

Lin Shiping had been waiting for a long time and was already impatient.

He pushed the coffee cup in front of him to the side, leaned forward slightly, and placed his hands on the table with his arms crossed.

"Pear-sensei, let's talk about the short comic strip at the end of the month..."

He said with great anticipation, "I heard you already have an idea?"

"Ah."

Eri Aragaki nodded, then took another file folder out of her backpack.

This file folder is different from the previous one; it's made of transparent plastic, so you can see directly that it contains several pages of drawings.

She opened the file folder, took out the storyboard, handed it over, and said, "Well, this is one of my ideas. I recently drew the storyboard. Mr. Lin, please take a look."

Lin Shiping was somewhat excited. As he reached out to take it, he asked, "What is the name of this short comic? Have you decided on one yet, teacher?"

Eri Aragaki nodded and said, "It's already been named... Goodbye Eri."

Yes, she copied one of Fujimoto Itsuki's two most famous short manga, "Goodbye Eri".

After finishing "Fire Fist", Fujimoto Tatsuki published two short stories in "Weekly Shonen Jump+" in his previous life. One was "Looking Back" and the other was "Goodbye Eri".

Both are recognized as masterpieces in the world of short comics, especially "Goodbye Eri," which is considered by many readers and critics to be a short masterpiece that can be compared with long-form masterpieces.

This is one of the easier short comics to start with.

She probably thought that by copying Attack on Titan, she was destined to be well-off and pay off her debts sooner or later. She also thought that once Attack on Titan was adapted into an anime, she could appease the Republic market and make her stance clear.

Financial freedom is only a matter of time, so she doesn't want to cut off the path to wealth for those who come after her.

However, many famous short comics were actually the precursors to many long comic series...

As mentioned before, Shueisha often encourages manga artists to expand their short manga series into long-running manga if the response is positive.

For example, Rurouni Kenshin and Death Note both started as short stories as a trial run.

Many famous works followed this pattern, such as Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Mob Psycho 100, and Spy Family. They were all short stories that received good feedback and were then turned into long stories.

If Eri Aragaki plagiarized those short stories, it would be the same as plagiarizing their future novels, which is not the outcome she wants.

She then chose from the few short manga works that were not later serialized as long-running manga, and after much thought, she chose "Goodbye Eri".