Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Unlike industry professionals like Masaya Sakurai.

They just felt that Attack on Titan had been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump for almost half a year and was quite popular.

The weekly popularity rankings show that it's around ninth or tenth place, so there's not much to say about "This Comic Is Amazing" being on the list.

In their view, being in the top ten of JUMP is equivalent to a quality certification, and it is only natural for them to be on the professional list.

Unlike what surprised industry professionals, industry editors like professional manga artists and Hitoshi Koike initially did not think that anyone would vote for "Attack on Titan" given its current level of completion.

As a result, someone still voted, and it made it into the top 30.

However... Attack on Titan was unexpectedly affected by this incident.

because……

Soon, some die-hard fans who were dissatisfied that Naruto, Bleach and One Piece had not made it into the top ten of this "professional list" for two consecutive years noticed the existence of Attack on Titan in order to question it.

They searched through the list and picked out a few works that seemed most vulnerable to attack. Among them, Attack on Titan became the most conspicuous target because of its short length and short serialization period.

So, in order to demonstrate that "the 'This Manga is Amazing!' list is just a random ranking," they used "Attack on Titan" as an example.

"They even claim it's a professionally recognized list. Attack on Titan has only been serialized for a short time, yet it's already on the list."

"Yes, Attack on Titan made the list? What is this if not a completely unofficial list?"

"I also checked Attack on Titan, and the latest chapter is only chapter 20. The voting was probably held a month or two ago."

"A comic book with only a dozen or so chapters has made it into the top 30? Seriously?"

"So the so-called professional voting is just a niche phenomenon, right? They just vote randomly to show off their expertise, and it has no credibility."

……

With the emergence of such comments dragging Titans into the discussion, some Titans readers couldn't stand it anymore and directly spoke out in support of Titans.

"No... have you guys read Attack on Titan? Although Attack on Titan has only been serialized for twenty chapters, the plot is really good, and the setting is also very good."

"It's not like I haven't watched it before, but it's not as good as One Piece."

"So manga that's not as good as One Piece isn't good, huh? Then how many manga in this world can be considered good, since most manga can't compare to One Piece!"

"Exactly, and it's not like we're comparing Attack on Titan to One Piece. One Piece is ranked fifteenth, while Attack on Titan is ranked twenty-seventh. Doesn't that just prove that this list still has some merit?"

"When did I say I was comparing One Piece to Attack on Titan? I just said it's absurd that less than twenty chapters of Attack on Titan made the list, proving that those voting professionals are completely unworthy of their reputation."

"But Attack on Titan is really good. Why keep talking about the length of a manga? A short manga doesn't mean it's not good."

"But with only twenty chapters, how good can it be?"

"Go and see for yourselves, you'll understand once you've seen it."

"Stop shouting. I've seen Attack on Titan, and to be honest, it's not that great."

"Then what do you know? The setting and plot of Attack on Titan are just great!"

……

This controversy quickly attracted the attention of others, entirely because Attack on Titan was far too short compared to other manga on the list.

Most of the other works on the list have been serialized for dozens or even hundreds of chapters, making Attack on Titan seem like an elementary school student sitting in a high school exam room.

Coincidentally, "This Manga Is Amazing!" had only been released recently, and it had been quite controversial due to the conflict between Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. Therefore, Attack on Titan became the perfect example for fans of Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece to use as a "typical example".

It's hard to attack other works, but you can easily find fault with Attack on Titan.

The reason is simple: it's only twenty episodes, so why should it be?

It's like a group of people who got into Tsinghua and Peking University; they're mostly adults, except for one who looks like a primary school student...

This situation would be highly suspicious if it were in Eri Aragaki's previous life.

Later on, the online discussions even got a bit heated.

A loyal fan of Attack on Titan, known online as "Nagato is me," got emotional after arguing with a critic in a post and started verbally abusing a One Piece fan with very strong language.

Then things spiraled out of control, with One Piece fans flooding the post to hurl insults back.

What started as a discussion about the rankings turned into a fierce battle between two major fan groups, with both sides spamming the chat. The moderator had to come out and lock several posts.

Fortunately, the internet in this era hasn't developed to the level it did in Eri Aragaki's previous life, the social media transmission chain isn't that long, and the speed of information explosion isn't that fast.

Otherwise, Eri Aragaki's ancestors for three generations would probably have been dug up and posted online by now.

Then Lao Feng is probably already flying in the sky.

……

But on the other side of reality.

"What a short-sighted guy, and what does it mean that he doesn't like giants?"

Fujimoto Tatsuki is currently engaged in a heated online argument with several readers who said Attack on Titan was no good. Yes, he was the one who started the flame war.

He was really indignant that those guys questioned whether the giants were good-looking or not. As a giant himself, as a die-hard fan and believer of the "Don't Eat Pears" (a derogatory term for a pear-eating person), he felt he had to argue his point.

He's been following Attack on Titan since the very first episode, and he thinks the plot, story direction, and art style are all fantastic.

He even felt that the teacher who didn't eat pears was his life's comic book mentor.

In particular, the recent chapters of the Female Titan manga, with their twists and turns, and the unexpected twists that always seemed to lead to another twist, caught his eye.

He suddenly realized something and shouted, "I understand!"

That's the kind of drama that comics need—from the initial clues to a sudden twist, and then another twist, emphasizing something unexpected. That's what makes a good story.

It was like when he watched the scene in Attack on Titan where they captured the Female Titan.

Everyone thought Levi's words were meant to make Eren trust his comrades, but in reality, Levi's words were meant to make Eren trust himself and his own judgment.

If Eren had trusted his own judgment, he should have transformed into a Titan and fought the Female Titan from the very beginning.

Then, just when everyone thought that Levi, Ban Petra, and their elite soldiers really couldn't capture the Female Titan, they ended up being wiped out...

Then, when everyone thought that Eren couldn't defeat the Female Titan, the refusal to eat the pear would turn the tide again, allowing Eren to defeat the Female Titan.

Allen really failed!

This is the true essence of dramatic storytelling in comics!

Add to that the outrageously amazing drawing skills displayed by "Don't Eat Pears," and Fujimoto Itsuki truly believes that "Attack on Titan" and "Don't Eat Pears" are... invincible!

So he started arguing with those guys right from the start.

But those guys were really being unreasonable. When you tried to discuss with them whether the plot of Attack on Titan was good or not, or whether the paneling and animation were good or not, they would say that Attack on Titan was so short that you couldn't possibly understand it.

They completely ignore any discussion about the work itself and just keep harping on the point that "there can't be any depth in just twenty episodes."

He couldn't understand why comics shouldn't be about plot, setting, and drawing skills, but rather about length.

Does that mean a long-form comic is necessarily better than a short comic?

So, does that mean "Golgo 13" and "Kochikame" should be even better than "Naruto, Bleach" and "One Piece"?

(PS: These two manga are the longest-running manga on record. "Golgo 13" has been serialized since 68 and is still ongoing. After the author passed away 21 years ago, the studio continued the work, and the number of collected volumes has now exceeded 216...)

The manga series *Kochikame* continued until 2016, ending with a total of 1960 chapters.

Fujimoto Tatsuya also knows that "to each their own" means that you can't force others to like the works you like.

However, the fact that those guys are slandering their favorite comics without any reason or basis is clearly because they started by questioning the legitimacy of the "This Manga is Amazing" poll and then extended that criticism to "Attack on Titan".

They never really looked at the Titans properly; they just used them as a tool for attacking the leaderboard.

Then he couldn't stand it.

After seeing the other party reply in succession, he continued his "battle" online.

What he didn't know was that, precisely because of this, quite a few people had come to pay attention to the manga "Attack on Titan".

Those who were originally just bystanders watching the verbal battle, seeing how fiercely the two sides were arguing, actually went to see the giant out of curiosity...

Chapter 106 Akira Toriyama's Retirement Life

at the same time.

Starting this year, Takarajima Publishing has been collaborating with various television stations to produce special programs in response to questions from manga fans. These programs explain why the works on this year's "This Manga is Amazing!" list made the list and analyze the exciting parts of the plot and settings.

However, this has little to do with Attack on Titan, which has gained some online attention due to being affected by the incident.

Because these programs focused on the top ten manga when interpreting them, and even because of the controversies surrounding Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, they then went on to discuss the manga ranked eleventh to twentieth.

The host invited several well-known manga critics to analyze the shogi duel scene in "81diver", the tea ceremony and political intrigue in "Sengoku Genius Den", and the pitching posture and plot in "Genius Pitcher" in front of the camera.

Then they started praising it lavishly to demonstrate the excellence of these top-ranked comics and the prestige of the list.

Finally, to appear more objective and reasonable, they might point out some shortcomings in the comic and express concerns, etc.

As for the remaining thirty comics on the list, they were basically mentioned briefly and then nothing more.

Anyway, there isn't enough space to introduce "Attack on Titan".

Because the female section also needs to be introduced, and the program time is limited, it's impossible to discuss every single one of the hundred works in both the male and female sections.

Moreover, regardless of the industry, it's essentially a winner-takes-all situation.

Just like the weekly reader popularity survey in Weekly Shonen Jump, the top ten always receive better treatment, such as cover, opening color page, in-page color page promotion, and advertisements in subway stations and bookstores.

While works ranked lower won't be completely cut short, they won't receive any decent promotional resources, and readers might not even notice which page they're on when flipping through the magazine.

There weren't many parts about Attack on Titan mentioned.

During this period, the power of online public opinion was not yet that great; even if there was a lot of heated discussion online, its impact on reality was probably only average.

In 2007 Japan, social media was not yet very popular, video websites were just starting out, and most people still obtained information through television and print media.

Moreover, the controversy surrounding Attack on Titan isn't actually that big; it's limited to a few posts on a forum, and while it looks like a heated debate, not many readers are actually involved.

A post got two hundred replies, but it was just a few dozen people arguing over and over again. Compared to the total number of Japanese manga readers, it wasn't even a ripple.

……

But at the same time.