Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Fujimoto Tsuki's short stories are independent and complete; once they're finished, they're done, and there are no sequels or expansions into longer stories.

It was because she loved the work "Sayonara Erii" in her previous life. The narrative style that intertwined reality and illusion, the blurred boundaries between film and memory, and the final twist all left a deep impression on her.

It's also a way of paying homage to her own name in this life, which shows a bit of her own quirky sense of humor.

Lin Shiping and Sakurai Masaya were both taken aback when they heard the name.

Goodbye... Eri?

Could it be that Eri Aragaki is drawing her own story?

Are there any manga adaptations similar to "Bakuman" about pursuing one's dreams?

It's not unprecedented in JUMP to adapt one's own real-life experiences into manga; Bakuman itself was adapted by Tsugumi Ohba and Kenjiro based on their own experiences drawing manga.

But the title "Goodbye Erii" doesn't sound like a painting of pursuing dreams, but rather like a painting of saying goodbye.

"Wait a moment, teacher, let me take a look."

Lin Shiping became serious at this moment. He put away his previous excited expression, held the storyboard in his hands, and began to read the first page.

He just felt something was off at first, though he didn't know why.

The story seems to begin with a boy named Yuta filming his terminally ill mother's final days with a camera or something similar.

The opening was so bland and almost devoid of tension that it was the complete opposite of the double-page spread of "Wu Song," which featured Wu Song fighting a tiger on the very first page.

But he didn't care and continued to immerse himself in the story of the comic storyboard.

Although storyboard drafts may be very rudimentary, professional comic editors don't care about that.

Moreover, in Lin Shiping's opinion, Aragaki Eri's storyboard was not actually that rudimentary.

This is because Eri Aragaki's drawing skills have improved so quickly that even when she's not drawing seriously, just sketching a storyboard, it looks quite good.

It's like how top students can just casually write something in an exam and still get better scores than average students.

However, the opening of "Goodbye Eri" was so bland that Lin Shiping found it somewhat inexplicable, but he still continued watching.

As we watched the movie, in the middle of the film, when Yuta was about to see his mother one last time, he ran away, seemingly because he didn't want to face the reality of his mother's passing.

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That's understandable, but the preceding story is rather mediocre.

Until... what happened next was that after Yuta ran out of the hospital, the hospital suddenly exploded!

Lin Shiping was completely bewildered at this point, but as he watched the rest of the story unfold, he realized that it was all just a movie.

What I just described was part of the movie's plot.

The film, titled "My Mother Died," is a personal film shot and edited by Yuta. It was even shown at the school's cultural festival and watched by the entire school.

Then the other classmates, not understanding, began to laugh at him. Only a short-haired beauty named Eri stopped him when he was about to jump off the roof of the hospital where his mother had passed away, and even thought his movie was very interesting.

She also explained that she herself suffers from a terminal illness and requested that Yuta make a film about her so that she can be remembered.

Yuta agreed...

The story then takes one twist after another: Eri, who is not a beautiful girl; her real mother; Yuta, who becomes ordinary after growing up; life changes; and Eri's reappearance...

Various metaphors also emerged, including those related to film and memory, life and death, reconciliation with oneself, and insights into life...

This made Lin Shiping, who initially didn't quite understand, become increasingly silent as he read on.

From initial confusion, to feeling bewildered, and then to thoughtful silence.

until……

He looked up and said from the bottom of his heart, "Riko-sensei, this 'Goodbye Eri' is really a very good manga."

His sentiments were absolutely genuine.

When he finished reading the storyboard for "Goodbye Eri", he was completely overwhelmed with the thought, "How could there be such a genius in the world?"

This control over narrative structure, this technique of breaking down and then piecing together reality and fiction, is something that ordinary cartoonists cannot achieve.

He hadn't expected the final twist at all.

This is not his fault, because there was absolutely no foreshadowing before the vampire girl's reversal!

Apart from the "explosion" that echoes the beginning and end.

In his opinion, anyone who could come up with such a plot must be either mentally ill or a genius!

After all, there's only a fine line between a madman and a genius.

Of course, he didn't think that Eri Aragaki was crazy or mentally ill. Looking at Eri Aragaki, she didn't seem like a mental patient like Fujimoto Itsuki.

That means he must be a genius!

The story and the message of this comic are so good, and it suits his taste perfectly, so he praised it from the bottom of his heart without hesitation.

Eri Aragaki smiled slightly; just as she had expected.

After all, this is an excellent short comic that many readers in my previous life recognized.

Although Fujimoto Itsuki was mentally ill, his short stories were indeed good, so good that even she, the copyist, felt a bit guilty.

After all, she had always felt that now that she had copied Attack on Titan, success and fame were her destiny, so she shouldn't steal the "opportunity" from the younger generation.

That's why she thought of copying those short comics that didn't become long-form comics.

Fujimoto Tatsuki's short manga seems to have brought him more success than his long manga. "Fire Fist" is a niche and unpopular series, while "Chainsaw Man" was a huge hit in its first season, but the later parts had a disappointing ending.

So it was mainly "Looking Back" and "Goodbye Erii" that made him more famous.

Eri Aragaki felt she had no further questions, so she simply said, "Well... I'll draw according to the storyboard from now on, and I'll submit it to Mr. Hayashi by the end of the month deadline... How about that?"

But upon hearing this, Lin Shiping's expression changed from one of deep contemplation and admiration to one of regret and disappointment.

He put the storyboard back into the folder, placed it on the table, folded his hands together on the folder, and then looked up at Eri Aragaki.

"But teacher... the work 'Goodbye Eri' cannot be published in the short manga section of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine."

He suddenly shook his head and said with great regret.

"Huh? Why?"

Eri Aragaki was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and then subconsciously asked, "Mr. Hayashi, didn't you think 'Goodbye Eri' was pretty good?"

She doesn't understand.

Lin Shiping's reaction just now was clearly genuine appreciation. He remained silent for a long time after reading the last page; it wasn't feigned.

The excitement an editor feels when they see a good piece of work is completely different from the polite formality when they see an average, passable piece of work. Eri Aragaki can now tell the difference.

Lin Shiping's expression just now clearly indicated the former.

"No...it's not just good."

Lin Shiping immediately added, "In my opinion, the manga 'Goodbye Eri' far surpasses other short manga in terms of depth and storytelling. If 'Goodbye Eri' could be released this year..."

In this year's "This Manga is Amazing!" poll, I will vote for "Goodbye Eri," and it will be number one!

"This Manga is Amazing!" is an annual manga ranking publication launched by Takarajimasha in Japan since 2006. The top 50 manga for both boys and girls are selected by votes from industry professionals such as bookstore staff, manga artists, editors, and critics.

It gradually became a trendsetter in the comics industry, even to the point of predicting which comics would become wildly popular.

For example, later works such as "Chainsaw Man," "Curse Returns," "Assassination Classroom," and "Attack on Titan" were all listed on "This Manga is Amazing!" even before their anime adaptations were released.

Then, sure enough, his popularity exploded in the following year or two.

This list is widely recognized for its prestige in the industry because it is based on votes from industry professionals, not readers.

Those who voted are people who have worked in this industry for many years, and their insight is much sharper than that of the average reader.

The voting mechanism for "This Comic Is Amazing!" is similar to a reader survey popularity poll.

Whether you're a bookstore clerk, editor, or cartoonist, you're eligible to vote for six of your favorite works, and then the weighted scores are allocated in order of first and second place.

The first place gets six points, the second place gets five points, and so on. The fifty comics with the highest scores will be awarded prizes according to their rankings.

The fact that Lin Shiping said he would definitely vote for "Goodbye Eri" if it were published this year is enough to prove that he really thinks highly of "Goodbye Eri".

This isn't just polite talk; it's the highest praise a professional editor can give to a comic book.

This only confused Aragaki Eri even more. She frowned and looked at Lin Shiping, asking, "Then why is that?"

Lin Shiping shook his head helplessly and explained the reason, saying...

"Because it's too long."

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Too long?

This surprised Eri Aragaki.

She originally thought that as long as the quality of her work was good and the editor approved it, it would be published. However, she did not expect that there was a strict length limit that was blocking her out.

"Judging from the current storyboard, this short comic by the teacher is not short at all, and the completion level is probably around two hundred pages."

Lin Shiping then explained, "We have regulations on the length of short comics, which is a maximum of 55 pages...and 'Goodbye Eri' seriously exceeds the limit."

He flipped to the last page of the storyboard and continued, "And my advice after reading 'Goodbye Eri' is that the storyboard has a great narrative rhythm. If the plot is cut or modified due to length limitations, it will ruin the excellent story of this manga."

I really don't want such a wonderful story to be ruined, so I've made it clear that "Goodbye Eri" cannot be published in any Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.

Upon hearing this, Eri Aragaki suddenly realized, "So there's this restriction?"

The main issue is that she hadn't really noticed this point; she just thought that "Goodbye Eri" belonged to the short manga category, so it was suitable for publication in "Weekly Shonen Jump".

In her previous life, most of the short comics she read were published on online platforms, with few restrictions on length; as long as the story was finished, that was enough.

Moreover, since "Sayonara Eri" and Fujimoto Itsuki were originally under Shueisha's umbrella in her previous life, she subconsciously felt that "Sayonara Eri" should naturally be able to be published in JUMP.