Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Eri Aragaki remained as polite as ever.

Lin Shiping was led into the apartment, where he took off his shoes and put on spare slippers.

The heating in the living room was on full blast.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Lin?"

"Yes, thank you, teacher."

Lin Shiping sat down on the sofa, and after Aragaki Eri poured him some tea, he picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Then Eri Aragaki took out two brown paper file folders from the studio, one of which read "Attack on Titan this week's draft" and the other read "Fog Hill of Five Elements short story completed".

"Mr. Lin, this is Giant's manuscript for this week, and this is the manuscript for 'Fog Hill of Five Elements'."

"Ok."

Lin Shiping quickly reached out and took it, first placing the giant's copy on the coffee table, and then opening the manuscript of "Fog Hill of Five Elements".

The first page of the cover features a color illustration, which Eri Aragaki couldn't resist drawing herself.

On the drawing, the protagonist, Wenren Yixuan, is engulfed in flames against a backdrop of misty mountains and seas of clouds. The red of the flames and the gray of the clouds collide in shades of ink, creating a powerful visual impact.

Lin Shiping stared at the colored illustration for several seconds before turning to the next page.

The story opens with a battle between the protagonist, Wenren Yixuan, and the awakened Qilin.

In the stone forest, the scene opens with a high-intensity battle.

Wenren Yixuan initially engaged in close-quarters combat with the Qilin, his dark-colored fists and feet crisscrossing among the stone forest, but he was no match for the Qilin at all.

Later, Wenren Yixuan used his companion fire spirit, Huo Huan, and flames exploded on the drawing paper, starting a new round of battle with the Qilin.

The design of the Qilin is quite special. The scales and mane on its semi-human body are all outlined with ink lines, stroke by stroke. The variations in ink density give the feeling that the creature is moving on the paper.

Lin Shiping was also captivated by this ink painting style.

This style of drawing is almost unique in the Japanese manga industry. The freehand brushwork of the brushstrokes and the hard lines commonly used in Japanese manga represent two completely different aesthetic systems.

With such skillful drawing and a unique art style, even though the opening battle of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" is somewhat inexplicable and nonsensical, it can still captivate people.

A boy and a qilin fought fiercely in a stone forest. The story was not explained at all, but it still made people want to keep watching.

However, it was clear that Wenren Yixuan was no match for Qilin.

The Qilin's strength far exceeded his expectations. Huo Huan was shattered by the Qilin's claw, and Wenren Yixuan was sent flying, crashing into several stone pillars.

Later, the other five envoys arrived and each displayed their abilities, blocking Wenren Yixuan and Qilin.

However, at this moment, Qilin's son, Little Qilin, ran away and slipped out of the Giant Shield in the chaos.

This enraged the Qilin, which then kidnapped Wenren Yixuan's mother and Shentu Yuanshu, the Water Executor's sister, and imprisoned them inside the Giant Shield, vowing that Wenren Yixuan must find the little Qilin.

Then the style changes, and here Eri Aragaki demonstrates what traditional Chinese painting looks like.

The transition scene, reminiscent of the painting "A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains," features endless black and white landscapes with clouds swirling among the mountains, stretching from the depths of the misty mountains all the way to the villages in the human world. The entire double-page spread is like an ancient painting being directly transplanted into a comic strip.

Looking at the black and white landscape painting, Lin Shiping couldn't help but exclaim how amazing it was.

The story then shifts to a mountain village called Dizhan Village in the human world.

The village chief's daughter, Su Xiaoan, unexpectedly encounters Wenren Yixuan, who has been expelled from the family and stripped of his title as the Fire Executioner, on a mountain road outside the village...

Meanwhile, a demonic beast force led by the Angry Beast Peacock launches a surprise attack on Dizhan Village in order to seize the little Qilin imprisoned there...

Wenren Yixuan arrived with Su Xiaoan and immediately took action to eliminate the Wraith Beast's forces...

The story is as classic as it gets: a boy falls into misfortune, his village is attacked, he steps forward, and the hero returns.

Most importantly, the art style and drawing skills are truly unparalleled, even surpassing the previous "Wu Song".

"Wu Song" uses line drawing and texturing techniques, and you can still see the style of Japanese manga, and only occasionally uses the splashed ink style.

"Fog Hill of Five Elements" takes it a step further, combining bold, freehand ink painting with meticulous brushwork. It uses bold ink painting for battle scenes and meticulous brushwork for everyday transitions, switching between the two techniques with ease.

Lin Shiping felt that these original drawings in his hands were works of art. He deliberately turned the pages with a light touch, afraid of leaving creases on the paper.

He looked at it again, flipping back to the cover of the fiery Wenren Yixuan, then to the transition page of the black and white landscape, and then to the double-page spread where the demonic peacock appeared.

I looked at it over and over again; I absolutely loved it.

Only when it was almost time to put the drawing back neatly into the file bag did he do so.

Then he took a deep breath and began to check the manuscript for this week's Attack on Titan.

When he opened the file bag, his expression was still one of excitement from reading "Fog Hill of Five Elements," but reason told him that he had to finish checking the manuscript of "Giants" before he could go back and hand it in.

Compared to when he was reading the manuscript of "Fog Hill of Five Elements," this seemed much more perfunctory.

I just flipped through it briefly to make sure the page numbers matched, the pages weren't obviously damaged or stained, and each page was in its proper place, and then I put it directly into the file folder.

He carefully placed the two file folders down before standing up from the sofa and saying goodbye to Eri Aragaki.

"Teacher Pear, both manuscripts are fine, so I'll head back now."

He said with immediate satisfaction.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Lin. Please drive carefully."

Eri Aragaki escorted him to the door. Lin Shiping changed his shoes, bowed slightly, and then quickly walked towards the elevator.

It was already afternoon when he returned to Shueisha.

He handed the manuscript of Attack on Titan to Masaya Sakurai, who took it, checked it to make sure it was correct, and then began the layout work for the week.

Lin Shiping returned to his workstation, put the manuscript of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" into the drawer and locked it. After sitting for a while, he opened the drawer again, took out the manuscript, and flipped through the black and white landscape transition page again.

"That's really... amazing!"

He couldn't help but say it now.

……

And soon, a new week arrived.

Lin Beimiao finally had some rare free time.

Although the university hasn't started its summer break yet, his advisor's research project is almost finished. The final batch of data analysis reports was submitted last weekend, and his advisor replied in an email with "Thank you for your hard work."

Graduate students at the bottom of the project team like him no longer need to be exploited for their labor. They no longer need to be on standby in the lab at eight o'clock every morning, and they no longer need to work non-stop between petri dishes and centrifuges.

Over the weekend, he met up with a few other students in Tokyo. They ate Chinese food in Ikebukuro, chatted about their quirky lab advisors and other interesting things, and then went their separate ways.

On Monday morning, he went to the research lab to check in. His supervisor was drinking tea and reading papers in his office. He looked up at him and said, "There's nothing much to do these days, so you can manage your time yourself." Then he left the research lab.

He had nothing to do for the rest of the time, a rare period of slacking off during his graduate studies, so he thought... why not read some comics from this period?

It just so happens that today is also Monday. Weekly Shonen Jump is released every Monday, so he can buy the latest issue and scan it to send back to his friends in China for them to translate as soon as possible.

So on his way back, he went to a bookstore on the street and picked up the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump from the magazine shelf.

This issue's cover features Luffy and the entire Straw Hat crew in full color on the deck, with the sails of the Thousand Sunny in the background.

He tucked the magazine under his arm, grabbed a bottle of oolong tea, and paid at the cashier.

Back in his apartment, he put the magazines on the table and started reading the comics in order.

The magazine's front page still features One Piece, the highest mountain and longest river in the world of Japanese manga.

Yes, children, it's still him.

The popularity rankings in Weekly Shonen Jump are not just for fun; they determine a manga's treatment, income, and status.

If a comic has never even made it into the top ten most popular comics, then even if it's about to be released as a standalone volume, the magazine won't give it much pre-release hype.

At most, it'll just be placed in a color page in the middle of the magazine for some promotion.

The kind of treatment that Attack on Titan received before its release, where even Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece had to give way to its cover and opening color pages, is something only top ten most popular manga can enjoy.

This is realistic, but there's nothing wrong with it.

On days when there are no special circumstances such as pre-release promotions for individual volumes or collaborative promotions, the covers and opening color pages are basically dominated by Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, with One Piece undoubtedly taking the most appearances.

As of 2007, One Piece had appeared on the cover approximately 80 times, Naruto approximately 27 or 28 times, and Bleach less than 20 times.

This week's One Piece storyline is equally exciting and captivating.

The foreshadowing of the Shadow Revolution begins to unfold in this chapter, and the pacing of the entire Thriller Bark arc is just right.

After finishing One Piece, Lin Beimiao flipped through Naruto and Bleach, then watched Gintama and Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, following his usual reading order.

And so it wasn't until around the eighth volume of the manga that we saw Attack on Titan.

The plot of Attack on Titan over the past two weeks has been extremely brutal.

After Eren realized that trusting his comrades was the right thing to do, he chose to trust his Survey Corps comrades, his seniors in Levi's squad, and Commander Erwin's judgment.

However, the female giant managed to escape using a clever escape technique. At the critical moment, her body, which was bound by ropes, summoned a large number of giants who devoured her body completely.

Her true form, however, disappeared into the shadows of the trees under the cover of the forest and the chaos created by the giants.

Then, according to the later speculation of Commander Erwin, the Female Titan's true identity should be a spy hidden in the Survey Corps.

The image of a figure dressed in Survey Corps uniform that Eri Aragaki drew later confirmed this, but then that figure approached Levi's squad where Eren was located.

Gunda, a member of Levi's squad, spotted a figure dressed in Survey Corps uniform. The figure was partially visible in the shadows of the trees, and Gunda, without much suspicion, assumed it was one of his comrades.

He was then ambushed and killed. The scene of Gundar falling seemed to happen silently, but Allen was furious when he saw it.

However, this gave Levi's squad time to prepare. Petra was the first to react, shouting for Eren to step back.

Seeing that there was no other way, the female giant transformed again, her huge body standing up from the shadows of the trees, and Levi's squad's formation was completely broken at this moment.

Afterwards, the other members of Levi's squad—Petra, Oro, and Elder—enabling Eren to continue to trust them and his Survey Corps comrades.

Allen had no choice but to believe again...

However, the price of this belief was that Petra, Oro, and Eld were successively brutally killed by the Female Titan.

Every frame of the battle scene is drawn with great impact, and Eri Aragaki's drawing skills have added a touch of animation dynamism to this part compared to the original work.

Witnessing the annihilation of his comrades, Eren's beliefs crumbled, and he chose to transform into a Titan and fight the Female Titan.

His giant rose from the forest and collided with the female giant.

However, Eren's overwhelming superior fighting skills led to his defeat. He was completely immobilized and eventually captured by the Female Titan.

Just last week, during the crisis when Eren was about to be captured by the Female Titan...