Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

"That's amazing!!"

In Akita Prefecture, Fujimoto Itsuki, who was lying on the floor of his room reading a manga, was expressing his amazement.

When he got to a certain page, he suddenly flipped back, stared at the image for several seconds, then flipped back again, and then flipped back again.

His eyes gleamed as he stared at the images that were nothing short of violent aesthetics: flesh and blood churning, heads falling to the ground... pure violence and gore!

"That's right! That's what makes it look good! And the storyboarding is absolutely amazing!"

Fujimoto Itsuki shouted excitedly, "Especially this scene, it's really powerful! It's a bit like the storyboard of Gin Ichimaru in 'Bleach'!"

He was referring to the panel where Gin Ichimaru suddenly pierced Rangiku on the hill of Sogyoku. Kubo Tite used an entire page of vertical composition to depict the speed and penetrating power of that strike as the long sword extended.

Of course, it only looks somewhat similar.

However, Fujimoto Tatsuki still thinks that the version of "Wu Song" is better... When the sword is slashing down, the scene not only shows speed, but also a sense of weight as it hits down.

Just looking at it, you can feel the force of that slash could split the entire picture frame in two.

This further highlights Wu Song's strength and decisiveness, especially... the series of killing scenes that followed, which suited Fujimoto Itsuki's taste even better.

Yes, he loves the aesthetics of violence!

He loved the beauty of this killing, which seemed so real.

It's not the kind of fancy fighting where you shout out the name of a move and strike a pose, but rather the raw violence of knives cutting into flesh, bones breaking, and blood gushing out.

After seeing "Wu Song", he realized even more that this... is the true violent aesthetics of comics!

A single, decisive blow; blood and flesh churning; heads falling to the ground; blood surging – this is the scene that would occur in a real battle.

This book is first published on 111k.com, providing you with a reading experience without errors or disordered chapters.

Instead of a turn-based system where you take turns attacking, the enemy won't give you a chance to breathe.

And you... cannot give the enemy any chance either; a true life-or-death struggle can be decided in an instant!

"I've got it! This is the path I want to take as a cartoonist!"

Fujimoto suddenly shouted as if he were acting erratically.

He sprang to his feet, stood barefoot on the tatami mat, holding up the open magazine, and loudly proclaimed to the fluorescent light tube on the ceiling—

"Teacher Buchiriko! Thank you so much! You'll definitely become a great manga artist! And so will I! I want to become a manga artist like that too!"

His eyes were filled with fervor, as if he had regarded Eri Aragaki, whom he had never met before, as his manga mentor.

He flipped the magazine back to the color page at the beginning of the "Wu Song" chapter, stared at the image of Wu Song wielding his knife for a long time, and suddenly felt an itch to write.

Then he carefully placed the magazine on the table, sat down at his desk, and took out a new sheet of drawing paper.

He held the pencil in his hand, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them, the pencil tip landing on the paper, and began to draw the storyboard draft that had just popped into his mind.

……

Online discussions about the short comic strip "Wu Song" have also begun to gain momentum.

"This week's short comic strip, 'Wu Song,' is absolutely fantastic! Have you all read it?"

"Wu Song? Isn't that the character from 'Water Margin'?"

"Yes, that's amazing. Was Wu Song really such a loyal and righteous person, and such a powerful one?"

"I had never read any of the Water Margin works before, so this is the first time I've read about the story of Wu Song. It's so exciting!"

"The story of Wu Song avenging his elder brother is so inspiring; a true man is nothing more than this."

"When I saw Ying'er ask, 'Will Father come back after we avenge him?', my feelings were remarkably similar to Wu Song's."

"Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing are truly scoundrels!"

"What are you guys talking about? Where was the short comic strip 'Wu Song' published?"

"It's a short story serialized in the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump this week, and it's really good! I highly recommend reading it! Although it's just a short story, the story is very exciting, and the artwork is amazing."

"The painting skills and style are really good; it has a feel of ancient Chinese paintings."

……

Then someone even took a picture of the color page at the beginning of "Wu Song" and uploaded it to the forum.

"[Image] This color brochure is absolutely amazing!"

In the picture, Wu Song stands in the snow, his blade slashing in an arc. The varying shades of ink and the use of white space create an oriental charm rarely seen in Japanese comics.

However, others soon raised the same question—

"It's a bit like that famous scene of Gin Ichimaru."

"They're not very similar, are they? That one shows a thrusting motion with the Zanpakuto extended, while this one clearly shows Wu Song slashing. If you ask me, they're about the same!"

"This Wu Song picture is more compelling; I don't even know how I would have dodged that blow!"

"Probably only Shadow Clone Technique or Flying Thunder God Technique could dodge it."

"Wu Song is really too strong and loyal. He is the epitome of beauty, strength and tragedy. No wonder so many people like him."

"To be honest, I watched the NHK version of 'Water Margin.' Actually, I preferred Lin Chong at first, but after watching 'Wu Song,' I actually prefer Wu Song."

"Lin Chong is such a coward! Wu Song is so much more capable; he didn't hesitate at all to avenge his brother!"

"Not eating pears is really impressive; the control over the plot is truly remarkable."

"His drawing skills are visibly improving. I had this feeling when I watched Attack on Titan, but I didn't expect that 'Not Eating Pears' still held back. This short story is probably where his true level is shown!"

……

It can be said that the comments from readers online so far are all positive, praising Eri Aragaki and her short comic strip "Wu Song".

While online comments were praising Eri Aragaki...

In fact, Eri Aragaki had already seen these praises online at that moment.

She sat cross-legged in the computer chair, holding the mouse in one hand.

The discussion thread on the screen kept refreshing. She clicked on a post and scrolled down, highlighting the comments praising her with her mouse and reading them repeatedly before scrolling down again.

She couldn't help but smile, and even let out silly giggles without caring about her image.

"hey-hey."

It doesn't matter, since she's the only one in the apartment right now.

Erina still had to attend classes, and Natsume Akane and Takeda Ayane didn't come to Aragaki Eri's apartment every day. They only came when they wanted to go out or when they needed help with drawing.

After watching it, Eri Aragaki put down the mouse, leaned back in her chair, and covered her face with her hands.

His silly grin showed again.

"Click—"

Just then, the sound of a lock being opened came from outside the door.

The key turned twice in the lock, the doorknob was pressed down, and then the door opened.

The sound of plastic bags rubbing together and a schoolbag being placed on the floor came from the entryway.

"Sister, I'm back."

Erina came in carrying the groceries and schoolbag she had just bought on her way home from school.

She put her schoolbag next to the shoe cabinet in the entryway, changed into slippers and went into the living room. Then, seeing Eri Aragaki grinning foolishly in front of the computer, she knew that her sister was surfing the internet and reading comments again.

She placed the ingredients on the kitchen counter, wiped her hands with a towel, then walked behind Eri Aragaki, rested her hands on the back of the chair, and craned her neck to look at the content on the screen.