Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Because of this, "This Comic is Amazing!" has actually faced a lot of criticism.

Some people think it's too technical and overly belittles the three major shonen manga, while others think it's just industry self-entertainment, and what's so interesting about a group of editors voting behind closed doors?

However, this list is still quite valuable overall. The works on the list are not so niche that they have no popularity. Even the most niche works are the mainstays and popular works of their respective magazines.

The huge success of the Death Note anime can be seen as proof that The Manga Is Amazing! is not just something the industry is having for fun; they genuinely have the ability to predict which works have the potential to become hits.

Furthermore, Eri Aragaki's previous work, "Attack on Titan," topped the 2011 "This Manga is Amazing!" ranking before its anime adaptation, which also proves the value of this list.

However, at this time, it seems that most comic book fans are not very interested, and only a few people will specifically buy it to read.

Most readers are more concerned with the weekly JUMP serializations and the release dates of the collected volumes; they might as well just flip through a magazine full of rankings and reviews.

Only professional editors like Masaya Sakurai and manga artists would pay attention, and the Taiwanese society even sent a "sample" to those who participated in the vote.

Shueisha, needless to say, had almost everyone involved in the voting, except for the new editors, with each editor having six votes to allocate.

Early that morning, a sample of Takarajimasha's 2019 "This Manga Is Amazing!" magazine was delivered to Shueisha.

"Sakurai, this is this year's issue of 'This Manga is Amazing!' sent by Takarajimasha. Here you go."

Lin Shiping went up and got his copy and Sakurai Masaya's copy. He walked over from the front desk, holding two magazines in his hands, and handed one of them to Sakurai Masaya.

"Okay, thank you, Shiping."

As soon as Masaya Sakurai arrived at his workstation, he put down his briefcase and took the magazine, placing it on the table.

He pulled out a chair, sat down, picked up a magazine, and began flipping through it.

At this moment, many people couldn't wait to open the magazine, and they were all somewhat curious.

Last year, the results of this list sparked a lot of discussion in the editorial department, with everyone wanting to know where their votes would rank.

Everyone started discussing it.

"I think the first one should be '81diver'."

"Judging from last year, everyone prefers works that are intellectually stimulating and have good drawing skills, and even more niche works."

"We're at a disadvantage here. Death Note has already ended, so it's not within the scope of the selection."

"Then we can only be optimistic about 81diver."

"It really is true!"

……

Everyone had already seen the information about the first comic book on the first page.

The left-hand page features a double-page color illustration and a large black-and-white image, with close-ups of the chessboard and characters dominating the main layout. The title is "81diver".

This is a shogi-themed manga serialized in Weekly Young Jump.

Because shogi is quite popular in Japan, and the manga's plot combines competition with a touch of absurdity and humor.

The "duel" scenes in particular sparked heated discussions, making it a fairly popular comic this year.

Moreover, the author, Shibata Yushin, is also a very good artist. He is best known for drawing physique-based fighting manga, and his works include the famous fighting manga featuring girls, "Airmaster".

Given that last year's votes mostly went to comics featuring intellectual battles and niche genres, it's worth noting that...

Therefore, everyone is guessing that it will compete with Kodansha's "Sengoku Kigen Den" for the number one spot, which also ranked very high last year and has generated a lot of discussion this year.

It's not entirely speculation, after all, one of the main forces in the voting is the industry editors, and Shueisha's editors also gave their first and second votes to these two manga without any personal bias.

Sakurai Masashi cast his vote for "81diver" because he really likes shogi, and "81diver" is indeed very well-made and has a great storyline.

The intellectual game of shogi blends perfectly with the passion and excitement of shonen manga.

In addition to including color pages and iconic scenes from the comic in the list, "This Comic Is Amazing!" also includes a series of information.

For example, it will include information such as which magazine it came from, who the author is, the points it received, as well as an overall rating, short comments from some well-known judges, and various data about the comic.

In the overall review of "81diver", Takarajimasha also gave it a very high rating.

[A story interwoven with shogi games and gambling contests, this is truly a pinnacle of the new generation of youth comics!]

"It's '81diver'..."

Lin Shiping, who was standing to the side, seemed a little surprised. He spread his magazine on the table, flipped to the same page, and said in astonishment.

"This isn't surprising, is it? I saw quite a few people voted for '81diver'."

Masaya Sakurai replied immediately, his tone calm, "I also voted for '81diver'. Before the vote, I thought it had a high probability of winning first place."

Aren't you going to vote for the Giants?

Lin Shiping immediately asked curiously.

"I cast my vote, but it was the second-place vote."

Masaya Sakurai said calmly, flipping through the rankings at the back of the magazine, "Because Attack on Titan can only be second for now, its completion rate is not high enough."

"A work with only twenty chapters, its world-building just beginning, and the main characters' arcs less than halfway complete, is at a disadvantage in terms of maturity compared to works that have been serialized for several years."

"I personally think that Riko-sensei's Attack on Titan is very good, so I voted for first place."

Lin Shiping said, "Pear Teacher's drawing skills are too good, and the story of the giants is not vulgar at all. The sense of despair and the passion of mankind fighting back in the face of adversity are feelings that other works cannot give me."

But it seems... nobody thinks the Titans are a good candidate for the list; it looks like no one voted for them.

"Lets see."

Masaya Sakurai remained calm as he flipped through the magazine pages.

At this point, everyone quickly flipped through the approximate rankings.

The second place goes to Kodansha's "Sengoku Genshin Impact," another well-known intellectual battle manga this year. Furuta Oribe's unique aesthetic sense and obsession with the tea ceremony are depicted vividly.

Next up are Yotsuba no Mikoto, Shiroi Shoujo, and Ace of Diamond, all of which are relatively niche popular manga works, leaning towards literary and youth-oriented themes, with relatively few action and competitive genres.

Moreover, none of them are works from the JUMP series; they come from various different publishers and magazines.

As everyone watched, they chatted amongst themselves. Some read out the names of the works they had voted for, some were surprised that a certain work ranked higher than expected, and some felt sorry for the top ten works chosen by a certain tribe.

I flipped through the top twenty, but I still didn't see the name "Attack on Titan".

Lin Shiping flipped through the pages faster and faster, quietly counting the ranking numbers.

Until they were almost at the thirtieth place, someone suddenly exclaimed "Hey!"

"Huh, number 27... Attack on Titan?"

One editor exclaimed incredulously, "Attack on Titan is on the list!"

Everyone is naturally familiar with Attack on Titan, after all, it is a manga serialized in their flagship magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, and its popularity has consistently ranked in the top ten since October.

That name appears at the very end of the top ten every week, as consistently as if it were welded there.

It would be a lie to say that no one pays attention to a work by a new author that can soar into the top ten.

The fact that a newly launched serialization could surpass a bunch of established works in popularity rankings has led editors to privately discuss the potential of this comic.

But Attack on Titan has only been serialized for a short time.

It only started serialization at the end of July this year, and the current storyline is only up to chapter 20.

A comic book's 20 chapters usually don't even finish the first arc, and the depth of the characters and the full picture of the world haven't been fully developed yet.

In terms of completeness, it's simply not enough.

A comic with only twenty chapters has virtually no chance of winning against comics that have been serialized for several years.

With dozens or even hundreds of chapters already built up, their world-building is already quite extensive, and the emotional arcs of their characters have been developed multiple times. It's hard for judges to ignore this difference in scale when voting.

However, while many manga that have been serialized for several years have failed to make it into the top 30, Attack on Titan did.

Not only did it make it, it ranked twenty-seventh.

The 27th place...

Lin Shiping saw this too and excitedly said, "Ya-yes, the Giants are really on the list!"

It has 25 points, and the rating isn't bad either...

Humanity was imprisoned within triple walls, facing the threat of their natural enemy, the giants.

With its superb drawing skills and overwhelming sense of despair and tension, this work constructs a dark epic of youth rarely seen in the 21st century.

With a grand world view and dense foreshadowing, the combat depiction of the 3D Maneuver Gear is extremely impactful. Although there are only 20 episodes so far, it is an undisputed new monster, and its future development is highly anticipated.

Listen to that! Its development is attracting a lot of attention; that's setting very high expectations!

"Is it number 27?"

Masaya Sakurai looked at the color page of "Attack on Titan" and the famous scene "The day when humanity finally remembered the fear of being dominated by Titans," with the image of the Colossal Titan peeking out from above the city wall being enlarged and displayed separately on the list page.

He immediately smiled, the curve of his lips much wider than usual, and then reached out and folded a corner of that page.

On the other hand, Koike Hitoshi's expression was only slightly stiff as he watched "Attack on Titan" make the list.

Is Chapter 104 being animated?

Eri Aragaki remained completely unaware of this; she knew very little about "This Manga is Amazing!"

In her past life, although she was an ACG enthusiast, she only paid attention to anime and manga, and didn't care about rankings or anything like that.

After all, as long as the comic is good, what's the point of paying attention to the rankings? The number one comic may not be to your liking, and the number one comic may be a hidden gem.

But she still found out about it.

because……

"Thump thump thump thump~"

The familiar ringtone, the familiar ceiling.

The phone vibrated on the bedside table, and the light from the screen shone through the edge of the pillow onto the ceiling.

Eri Aragaki stretched out a hand from under the covers, fumbled around on the bedside table several times before finally finding her phone, and then answered the call.

"Hey……"