Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 113 Signature (4K)

"Toriyama Akira-senpai, Oda-senpai, and Ibaraki-chan editor-in-chief ————"

Hideaki Sorachi immediately asked formally, "Are you looking for Riko-sensei?"

Akira Toriyama is undoubtedly a super senior figure in the Japanese manga industry. Apart from Tetsuo Hara, Hirohiko Araki, Tsukasa Hojo, and others who can be considered his peers, everyone else is a junior in his eyes.

In fact, Tetsuo Hara and Hirohiko Araki are both a few years younger than Akira Toriyama, and can be considered his juniors.

Akira Toriyama debuted several years earlier than them, and he also achieved more in terms of success.

Oda is actually Sorachi Hideaki's senior. Although they are only 4 years apart, Oda debuted about 10 years earlier than Sorachi Hideaki.

Given Oda's current high status, with One Piece being a pillar of JUMP and consistently number one in sales, it's reasonable for Hideaki Sorachi to address him as a senior.

However, this is of course in formal occasions. In private, when you have a good personal relationship, you generally don't need to call someone a senior.

Hideaki Sorachi and Oda have a pretty good relationship, which can be seen from the way Oda addresses Hideaki Sorachi.

Hideaki Sorachi also heard what Oda had just said, and it was clear that he had come to find Eri Aragaki.

Akira Toriyama and Oda walked from one side of the venue through most of the banquet hall to the buffet area, their goal clear: to see Eri Aragaki.

"Yes, I'd like to get to know 'Not Eating Pears'."

Akira Toriyama immediately smiled kindly and said, "Did I interrupt your conversation? Why don't you continue chatting, and I'll come back later?"

"Teacher Akira Toriyama, you can just call me Aragaki. My real name is Aragaki Eri."

Eri Aragaki quickly said.

"Ah, no, actually I just wanted to come and get to know Teacher Bu Chi Li Zi."

Hideaki Sorachi, now behaving himself, scratched the back of his head and said, "I'm going to go chat with Amano first."

He nodded to Eri Aragaki, then gave a slight bow to Akira Toriyama and Oda, before heading towards Akira Amano, his pace quickening considerably from when he arrived.

Yes, Akira Amano and Hideaki Sorachi are good friends. In several interviews, Sorachi mentioned his friends in the industry and repeatedly referred to Akira Amano as "one of the few manga artist friends with whom he can speak the truth."

"The last time we met was at the Tezuka Award half a year ago, but I didn't expect you to be so cute, Aragaki."

Akira Toriyama then looked at Eri Aragaki, sized her up, and praised her with a smile.

"It's only been six months since we last met, but you're still the same as you were six months ago."

Eri Aragaki quickly said, placing the plate of steak she was holding on the empty table next to her to free her hands for speaking, "And Oda-senpai, nice to meet you, please take care of me."

Please give me your guidance.

Oda, still wearing that fish-head mask, spoke in a deep voice.

At this moment, seeing the situation, Ibaraki Masahiko, who was standing to the side, tactfully said, "Then I'll go and chat with a few friends first. The teachers can continue their conversation."

As the editor-in-chief, he has many people to greet today. He hasn't even spoken to Hojo Tsukasa and Araki Hirohiko yet, and Toriyama Akira just told him that he wanted to have a private chat with Buchiriko, so his presence here would only be in the way.

"Okay, Ibaraki, you don't need to worry about me."

Akira Toriyama smiled and waved to Masahiko Ibaraki, "I just came here to chat with people. It's been several years since I've been here, and many people want to see me."

Ibaraki Masahiko nodded, then turned and took his leave.

"Oda, it's come to this, just take off your mask."

At this moment, Akira Toriyama looked at Oda wearing a mask and said helplessly.

He reached out and gently patted Oda's fish head mask. "We're not taking pictures in the venue, isn't it stuffy wearing this?"

Akira Toriyama and Oda have a very good relationship and a deep personal friendship.

Like Eri Aragaki, Oda was a loyal reader of Akira Toriyama since childhood, and even after becoming a popular manga artist, he still greatly admires Toriyama.

Akira Toriyama also thought highly of Oda, and the two became kindred spirits, often drinking and eating together.

The relationship between the two is less that of senior and junior, and more that of teacher and friend.

"Teacher, please don't make things difficult for me."

However, Oda persisted, saying helplessly.

He raised his gloved hand and pressed it against the chin of the mask to prevent it from tilting.

"Aragaki-san, Oda actually has his own concerns about doing this, please don't mind him."

Akira Toriyama seemed worried that Eri Aragaki would feel that Oda wearing a mask was disrespectful to her, so he explained, "It's because he recently received some bad news, so he's worried that continuing to appear in public will affect his and his family's lives and safety, which is why he's wearing this mask."

"I understand completely."

Eri Aragaki quickly said.

Anyway, she really doesn't mind this or anything.

"That's good."

Akira Toriyama smiled kindly, then suddenly seemed to remember something important, "Oh, right, I've come here to make a request."

Then he suddenly walked away and quickly went to the table with his name on it.

On the chair next to his table was a leather shoulder bag that looked quite old.

Then he opened his bag and took out a notebook and a pen.

"Actually, I'm also a reader of your comics, especially those two short stories, 'Wu Song' and 'Fog Hill of Five Elements,' which I really like."

Then he went back to Eri Aragaki, handed her the notebook and pen, turned to a blank page, and said with a smile, "Could you sign this for me?"

"Huh? An autograph? For me?"

Eri Aragaki's eyes widened immediately. She pointed to herself, looking exactly like Benbo'erba from "Journey to the West" when he heard the Nine-Headed Insect order him to get rid of Tang Sanzang and his disciples.

Akira Toriyama asking her for an autograph is as absurd as a pianist being approached by Mozart and asked, "I've heard your music, can I get your autograph?"

It's one thing for others, but this is Akira Toriyama, and she's asking him for an autograph.

"Yes, and could you also draw a simple portrait of Wenren Yixuan for me?"

Akira Toriyama rubbed his hands together, looking every bit like a reader eagerly anticipating a manga artist's autograph. "I really love your manga."

.

However, Oda, who was standing to the side, seemed unfazed by this. He crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of an empty table next to him, probably smiling behind his mask.

Akira Toriyama's habit of collecting autographs from famous manga artists is quite an interesting topic in the industry, and it's not a recent development; it's a habit he's had for many years.

Akira Toriyama had absolutely no airs of a senior artist. If he liked someone's manga or a famous manga, he would go and ask for their autograph, and he did so with the seriousness of a young reader.

Oda, Kishimoto, and Kubo Tite have all signed autographs for Akira Toriyama, and even Hideaki Sorachi just now signed autographs for him.

When Hideaki Sorachi first got his hands on the serialization of "Gintama," Akira Toriyama approached him at a year-end party with the book for an autograph. Sorachi almost held the pen upside down at the time.

"Alright then————"

Faced with Akira Toriyama's demands, what could Eri Aragaki say?

She couldn't possibly refuse; after all, this was Akira Toriyama, and she had grown up reading his manga.

Moreover, the other party was so humble, rubbing their hands and looking at her expectantly. It would be unreasonable for her not to sign.

All I could do was put down my plate, carefully place the plate still containing the steak on the table next to me, and then pick up the pen.

Then she took the notebook and placed it aside in a convenient spot for drawing. She found an empty round table, laid the notebook flat on the white tablecloth, and bent down.

She then proceeded to draw a half-length portrait of Wenren Yixuan, starting with the facial contours, then moving on to his signature hair, and finally to the flame patterns on his shoulders and collar.

Although she drew with a ballpoint pen, it is clear that Eri Aragaki's drawing skills are extremely profound.

Even with a pen, she could distinguish the varying pressure and speed of the lines. Wenren Yixuan's half-body portrait leaped onto the paper, and the boy's eyes and fiery temperament were sketched out with just a few strokes.

She then signed her pen name next to it.

Akira Toriyama, standing to the side, smiled as he watched Eri Aragaki's drawing skills.

He leaned closer to look at the half-length portrait of Wenren Yixuan in the notebook, his eyes lingering on the ink stains for a long time.

Oda, with a look of emotion in his eyes, stood behind Akira Toriyama, tilting his head to look at the drawing in the notebook from the side.

Eri Aragaki's drawing skills are quite remarkable; he made a comparison in his mind.

He felt that he was no worse than him, Takeshi Obata, Tite Kubo, and Murata. This kind of control, which allows him to draw the expressions and tension of characters with just a pen, is not something every manga artist possesses.

To be honest, Oda's drawing skills are seriously underestimated.

The unique art style of One Piece, coupled with the need to keep the plot exciting, sometimes leads Oda to create simpler and more casual designs when rushing to meet deadlines. The lines are not as refined, and the backgrounds are often replaced with a lot of speed lines.

Many people who haven't studied it carefully think that Oda's drawing skills are just average.

In fact, Oda's drawing skills are excellent, and he can definitely be compared with Takeshi Obata and Murata.

His perspective and dynamic expression are top-notch in the field of shonen manga, but he chose the drawing style that best suits the lively and adventurous style of "One Piece".

But now, seeing Eri Aragaki's casual sketches with a pen, he genuinely admired her skill.

First of all, Eri Aragaki's drawing skills have really improved by leaps and bounds thanks to the learning ability boost provided by the cheat code.

From being praised as "very good among newcomers" when submitting to the Tekkonkinkreet (Tekkonkinkreet) to now being "able to sit at the head table of popular manga artists," the speed of progress is almost inhuman.

But it hasn't actually reached the top level yet. It's just that sometimes it's hard to judge the difference between the top and the first-class, unlike the difference between the top and the second-class.

Even the difference between first-rate and second-rate drawing skills is obvious; you can tell at a glance whether someone has mastered the basics of composition, perspective, and human proportions.

However, the higher the level of painting skills, the harder it is to distinguish the differences, because at that level, it is no longer about basic skills but about personal style and aesthetic preferences.

Secondly, the art style has an impact. Oda's unique art style in "One Piece" makes people underestimate his drawing skills.

The traditional Chinese art style of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" made Oda and Akira Toriyama overestimate Eri Aragaki's drawing skills at this point.

That kind of ink-splashing landscape painting style is so rare in the Japanese manga industry that the visual impact itself makes them unconsciously give it a higher score.

At this point, Eri Aragaki's drawing skills were definitely not at a very high level. She hadn't reached the level where she could compare with Hirohiko Araki in composition or with Takeshi Koyama in precision.

Eri Aragaki finished drawing according to Akira Toriyama's requirements, signed it, closed the notebook, and handed it to Akira.

However, she looked at Akira Toriyama and Oda, accepted her autographed book with both hands, and said, "Could I have an autograph from Akira Toriyama and Oda?"

"Of course."

Akira Toriyama readily agreed, smiling as he took the pen from Eri Aragaki and turned to another page in the notebook.

"OK----"

Oda nodded, showing no sign of refusal, and took the pen from Toriyama Akira to prepare for taking turns signing.

Eri Aragaki became quite excited and said, "Akira Toriyama, I've always been a loyal reader of Dragon Ball. I really love Dragon Ball."

Then she seemed to feel that she had neglected Oda, that Toriyama Akira's aura was too dazzling, and that her words just now were entirely directed at Toriyama Akira.

So she quickly turned to Oda and added, "And Oda-senpai, I also really like One Piece."

Oda's face, hidden behind the mask, suddenly stiffened, and his hand holding the pen paused for a moment.

He felt as if he had only been comforted.

Eri Aragaki clearly said her true feelings to Akira Toriyama first, and then remembered that he was standing next to her.

That's normal, after all, he's standing next to Akira Toriyama, who is at the very top of the Japanese manga industry.

Oda is used to this; he's a fan of Akira Toriyama himself, so he understands Eri Aragaki's reaction.

"That's great."

Akira Toriyama said with a hint of happiness in his heart, his smile deepening.

It's wonderful to have your favorite cartoonist also be a reader who likes your work; that's more meaningful than any polite compliment.

The two quickly signed their names. Oda signed his name next to Akira Toriyama, and his signature was exactly the same as the one printed on the cover of JUMP.

Akira Toriyama even returned the favor by drawing a portrait of Super Saiyan Son Goku for Eri Aragaki, capturing the iconic hairstyle and sharp eyes in just a few strokes.

Although it was drawn casually, the essence of Sun Wukong is there; that's the skill of Akira Toriyama.

After they each carefully put away their autographs, Eri Aragaki gently closed her notebook and hugged it to her chest, while Akira Toriyama put his sketchbook back in his bag. Both Akira Toriyama and Eri Aragaki were in very good spirits.

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