Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

She said weakly.

This wasn't because she stayed up all night playing games; as mentioned before, she went to draw.

Last night I worked on the storyboards for the next two weeks. Although the system boosted my drawing speed, the workload doubled, so it still took a lot of time.

"Um, teacher, are you still sleeping? Sorry to bother you."

Masaya Sakurai's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Mr. Sakurai, what's the matter? There are already things that need to be changed so quickly."

Eri Aragaki regained a little consciousness. She rubbed her eyes, brushed her hair away from her face, and then asked.

She thought it was related to the second volume of Attack on Titan.

"No, it's just that I wanted to inform the teacher about something."

Masaya Sakurai said, "Congratulations to the author of Attack on Titan for making it onto the 'This Manga Is Amazing!' list this year. It's ranked quite high, at number 27."

What is this list?

Eri Aragaki asked curiously.

"It's an annual manga ranking published by Takarajima Publishing, where one hundred works are selected by votes from industry professionals such as bookstore clerks, editors, and manga artists."

Masaya Sakurai gave a brief and straightforward introduction, knowing that Eri Aragaki didn't care much about things related to the industry. "In short, being on the list will bring a certain amount of exposure and prove that Attack on Titan has great potential among industry professionals."

"That's all? I thought there would be a bonus..."

Eri Aragaki said with some regret.

She thought that, just like the overall popularity ranking in Weekly Shonen Jump, a higher ranking would directly lead to an increase in royalties and bonuses.

"Although there is no prize money, being on the list still helps comics to some extent, such as increasing exposure, making it easier for readers to see them, and the industry will also be more optimistic about them."

Masaya Sakurai took a deep breath and quickly explained, "For example, it might be adapted into an anime or a live-action film earlier than planned."

"Huh? It's being animated? Really?"

Eri Aragaki's eyes lit up, and she immediately asked.

"It only increases the possibility, but it's not a certainty..."

Masaya Sakurai could only say, knowing that Eri Aragaki would definitely press the issue, "But given the current situation of the Titans, it's really hard to say."

After all, Attack on Titan currently enjoys both popularity and a good reputation.

The popularity of Weekly Shonen Jump's top ten rankings isn't low; it's not the kind of serialization that's struggling to survive on the margins of the charts.

It made it into the top 30 of "This Manga is Amazing! 2008" again. It's rare for a newcomer's work to squeeze into the top 30 of such a professional list in the history of JUMP.

There is indeed a possibility that it will be adapted ahead of schedule, but generally speaking, Shueisha will not start an anime adaptation plan if a manga serialized in JUMP has not reached 100 chapters.

"All right……"

Eri Aragaki also expressed her understanding.

Moreover, she was somewhat conflicted because the reason why the Attack on Titan anime was so popular in her previous life was partly because its animation production company, Hitman, was quite powerful in this area.

However, in the current timeline of 07 to 08, the birth of Hegemony Society was still a long way off.

What if Attack on Titan is actually animated and other animation studios mess it up? What if a small company takes it and messes it up, turning Eren into a hot-blooded idiot who only knows how to yell, and Levi into a poker-faced, cool guy? That would be truly heartbreaking.

Although there are also animation studios in this timeline that are suitable for dark themes, such as Madhouse, Pierrot, and Bones, many of their representative works have been successful works with a dark style.

Well... what's done is done. Eri Aragaki isn't planning to think that far ahead. The anime adaptation isn't even in the works yet, it's too early to start choosing a production company.

After informing Eri Aragaki about this, Masaya Sakurai said a few more words and then hung up the phone.

Eri Aragaki put her phone back on the bedside table, slid back into bed, and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin line of light on the ceiling.

Then she turned over and went back to bed to catch up on her sleep.

……

However, on the other hand...

Major animation studios have also seen the comics that made it onto the list in "This Comic Is Amazing! 2008".

This magazine was specially ordered by the planning departments of various companies, and it was delivered to the corresponding desks as soon as it arrived.

"The manga '81diver' looks really good. It's about shogi, so it could be adapted into an anime. The market response to competitive anime has been very stable lately."

"I think 'The Legend of the Warring States' is good. Furuta Oribe's unique aesthetic sense should be very expressive in animation."

“Sports manga like ‘Genius’ should be very popular after it’s adapted into an anime. Baseball has never lacked an audience in Japan.”

……

Many animation production team directors and managers have begun looking for comics suitable for animation adaptation.

They spread the list on the conference table, flipping through it and discussing it, while someone next to them took notes on the alternative items.

"This Comic is Amazing!" may not be very appealing to today's readers, but it is a great project guide for industry professionals, especially animation production companies.

The list of listed comics and their corresponding reviews provides animation studios with a number of projects suitable for animation adaptation.

Moreover, each film has been screened by professional judges, which means that someone has done a quality check for them first.

It's important to know that many animation production companies lack original scripts, and developing original projects from scratch is time-consuming and risky.

While it's common for publishers to actively seek out animation studios to collaborate on manga adaptations, Shueisha has its own copyright department specifically responsible for negotiating adaptation rights with animation studios.

However, in the absence of original scripts for new projects, many animation production companies will proactively contact comic book publishers to select popular comics that they have their eye on.

Soon after, people noticed that Attack on Titan was also on the list.

"Attack on Titan? That manga in JUMP hasn't been serialized for very long, how come it's on the list?"

"27th place, that's not low. Several works that were in the same position on this list last year were later adapted into anime."

"Although there are only twenty episodes so far, he is an undisputed new monster with a promising future... This is a very high evaluation. Takarajima Publishing's comments are usually very restrained, so the fact that they used such wording shows that the judges were really shocked."

"I'm also following this manga. It's really good, but it's too tragic. A lot of supporting characters who were well-developed died early on, especially the chapters where the entire Levi Squad was wiped out. I couldn't recover for several days after reading them."

"The artist, Bu Chi Li Zi, has amazing drawing skills. I especially like her work, 'Fog Hill of Five Elements.' If that ink painting style could be made into an animation, I wonder what kind of art style would be needed to recreate it."

……

Unbeknownst to Eri Aragaki, animation studios had already begun to take notice of Attack on Titan, a newcomer manga with only about 20 chapters.

Chapter 105: Attack on Titan Affected (4K)

Meanwhile, online, the release of "This Comic is Amazing! 2008" has attracted considerable attention and discussion.

It should be said that perhaps not many people were paying attention to it to begin with.

However, when these people speak out online, it creates the illusion that they have a lot of influence, but in reality, not many people pay attention.

In 07, the internet hadn't yet reached the scale of widespread internet access that would later become commonplace. The number of active users on forums was relatively small, but these individuals engaged in particularly lively discussions within their respective circles.

At least in 2007, the influence of "This Comic Is Amazing!" was still very limited, and it was confined to comments such as "a professional's self-entertainment" and "the value of the list still needs time to be verified".

After all, this annual magazine published by Takara-sha was only released for the first time last year, and this year's issue is the second. It has only published two issues in total, and has not yet accumulated enough time to prove its predictive ability.

However, people will still engage in discussions about this both in real life and online.

"What the heck is '81diver'? It still didn't make the top ten in Naruto, Bleach, or One Piece. What kind of ranking is this?"

"I feel that the manga 'The Legend of the Warring States Genius' is just so-so, yet it has been in the top ten for two consecutive years, and even ranked second this year."

"I feel that 'The Genius' is too low. It's far more popular than 'Yotsuba-chan'."

"This is supposed to be a list compiled by industry insiders? It's completely random."

"These were selected by cartoonists, editors, and booksellers, so they have a certain degree of credibility."

"What credibility? That's hilarious. Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece haven't even made it into the top 20 of the male rankings for two consecutive years. What credibility does that have?"

"Death Note ranked second last year, which was questioned by many people, but the anime's broadcast proved that the ranking does have some credibility."

"What about last year's number one, that 'Heavy Metal Double-Faced Man'? It's not popular anymore, is it?"

"Don't rush, I heard that the live-action version is already being filmed, starring Kenichi Matsuyama. Let's wait and see."

……

The discussion focused on the works that won first and second place in this year's "This Manga is Amazing!" ranking, as well as the controversy that arose last year about "why such amazing manga as Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece didn't even make the top ten."

The mismatch between the selection criteria for this list and the preferences of ordinary readers sparks heated debates every year.

As for Attack on Titan... to be honest, it didn't generate much discussion.

Yes, even though Attack on Titan is currently ranked in the top ten of Weekly Shonen Jump's popularity poll almost every week, it's just a small fry compared to Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece.

The readership of Naruto and Bleach is in the millions, while the readership of Attack on Titan, no matter how active, is only a fraction of theirs.

While it's not entirely undiscussed or ignored, it's very limited. In discussion threads about the list, someone might occasionally mention, "Giants seems to be on the list too," only to be quickly drowned out by other, more popular debates.

However, some loyal readers of Attack on Titan also noticed that "This Manga is Amazing!" made the list this year, and there was some discussion about it within their small circles.

"Giants are on the list too."

"That's normal. Most of the top ten manga in JUMP will be on the list. For example, 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn!' and 'The Prince of Tennis' are both in the top thirty."

"It's popular, and Attack on Titan is indeed very good."

"It's good to watch, but the overall plot is just like the comments from the judges at Takarajima Publishing House: it's too dark."

"Pear-sensei is really beautiful, a true beauty, but why does she draw such cruel storylines?"

"It's still a bit too unexpected for me. After all, Attack on Titan is only twenty chapters long. Didn't Takarajimasha say they wanted to see how complete the manga's storyline was?"

"I think Attack on Titan is very well completed so far, and it's very tightly paced. Even including the prequel short stories, it only has 21 chapters, but the plot has been basically explained."

Attack on Titan, currently one of the top ten most popular manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, naturally has a considerable number of die-hard fans.

After the weekly overall popularity rankings are released, these readers will post on the forum to celebrate.

They also started discussing the inclusion of Attack on Titan on the list, but they didn't find it surprising that Titan was on the list.