Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 106: Attack on Titan (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 was not yet on the scale of the widespread internet access that would later become. There were only a few active users on forums, but these people were discussing things very enthusiastically 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, Formosa Publishing House's annual magazine was only published 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 discuss this issue both in real life and online.

"What the hell 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 ranked in the top ten for two consecutive years, and even second this year."

"I feel that 'Genius' is too low in popularity; it far surpasses 'Yotsuba' in terms of popularity."

"This is supposed to be a list compiled by industry professionals? 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 contestants 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 in production, 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 causes a lot of controversy every year.

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

Yes, even though Attack on Titan is currently a top-ranked manga in Weekly Shonen Jump's popularity polls 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. Occasionally, someone might mention in a discussion thread about the list, "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! was on the list this year, and there was some discussion in their small circles: "Attack on Titan is 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 really good."

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

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

"This is still a bit unexpected, considering that Attack on Titan is only twenty chapters in. 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.

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 with such popularity.

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, but Attack on Titan has only been serialized for a short time, and it's already on the list."

""

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

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

"A manga 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 way—have you guys read Attack on Titan? Although it's only been serialized for twenty chapters, the plot is really good, and the setting is great too."

"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 unreliable."

"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 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.

It just so happens that "This Manga Is Amazing!" was only recently released and has been quite controversial due to the conflict between Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. Therefore, Attack on Titan has become a typical example for fans of Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece to use as a "model".

It's hard to attack other works, but you can always find a target when it comes to 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 or Peking University; they're mostly adults, except for one who's clearly 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 prove 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 truly indignant at those guys who questioned whether the Titans were good-looking or not. As a Titan himself, and as a die-hard fan of the "Don't Eat Pears" theory,

As a devout believer, he felt it necessary to argue his case.

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.

The.

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 seemed to have a revelation, 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, Banpetra, and their elite troops 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 is so short, what can you possibly learn from it?

They completely ignore any discussion about the work itself and just keep harping on the point that "what depth can there be 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, in that case, "Golgotha" and "Kochikame" should be even better than "Naruto," "Bleach," and "One Piece."

(PS: These two manga are the longest-running manga on record. *Golgotha ​​13* has been serialized since 68 and is still ongoing. After the author's passing 21 years ago, the studio continued the series, and it currently has over 216 volumes.)

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

Fujimoto Tatsuya also knows what "to each their own" means, and 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 an attempt to question the legitimacy of the "This Manga is Amazing" poll, which has then extended 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.

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