Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

On the first day of the release of the collected volumes, readers who love Attack on Titan also went to bookstores one after another to buy the collected volumes to show their support.

There was no such thing as selling out immediately upon release, or a massive hit that swept through the streets.

Ultimately, as the saying goes, without an anime adaptation, Attack on Titan's influence wouldn't be that great.

It's difficult to achieve the same level of popularity as One Piece back in the day, where everyone rushed to buy the newly released volumes, and bookstores in Tokyo even required reservations to purchase One Piece volumes.

This is not an exaggeration; One Piece was just that terrifying back then.

That's a terrifying product with an initial print run of 30 copies and 20 copies sold in its first week.

Attack on Titan is simply no match for it now.

However, even after Attack on Titan was released, people continued to come and buy it.

Some people walk into the bookstore with their backpacks after school, go straight to the new books section, pick up a book, flip through it, and then go to pay. Others stop by the bookstore on their way home from get off work, browse the JUMP section, and then take their volumes to the cashier to queue up.

On his way home from work that day, Masaya Sakurai made a special detour to the largest bookstore in Jimbocho.

He stood in casual clothes next to the comic book shelf, pretending to browse other books, while glancing at the Attack on Titan volumes out of the corner of his eye.

In about ten minutes, four or five people picked up the Attack on Titan manga. One of the older men flipped through a few pages, grabbed two copies, and then went to pay.

Then several other students watched and discussed with great curiosity...

"That's the manga by that shoujo manga artist, right?"

"Should we buy it?"

"Let's buy it, and then we can take turns looking at them together."

"So, who will look at it first after we buy it?"

……

After chatting with several students for a long time, they finally bought a single volume out of strong curiosity.

Masaya Sakurai's suggestion that Eri Aragaki's strategy of marketing herself as a beautiful girl manga artist by releasing real photos actually worked.

He personally witnessed someone in the bookstore buying a book out of curiosity after seeing a picture of someone who didn't eat pears on a forum.

Placing real photos next to interviews allows readers to suddenly realize while flipping through magazines that "the person who draws this kind of brutal battle comic is actually a beautiful young girl." This contrast itself is a form of virality.

These online discussions have drawn more attention to the manga "Attack on Titan" among manga fans.

After all, people are naturally curious. Some people are genuinely curious about how well Eri Aragaki, this beautiful girl manga artist, draws her manga and what stories she tells, so they buy the collected volumes to read on.

Some people saw Eri Aragaki, a beautiful girl, striking a chuunibyou (delusional) pose on a forum, found the author interesting, and placed an order.

Someone in the discussion thread asked, "The photos look great, but what about the manga itself?" Several people immediately replied, "The manga itself is very good," and "You'll know once you read it."

It's not that everyone is that curious, but it's enough if just a few people are.

This proportion is not large, but it will become a considerable amount when the base number is large.

After all, the individual volumes aren't expensive; a single volume costs less than 500 yen.

At this time, Japan was able to catch its breath and its economy gradually recovered from the period after the last century.

At that time, the yen was still valuable, and prices in Japan are not as high as they were back then, but more importantly, salaries are higher.

The minimum wage in Tokyo is around 700 yen per hour.

You can earn that money in just one hour working at a convenience store. For most people, the price is so low that they won't hesitate to buy it.

So for many people, it's really not expensive. Except for students who have limited pocket money and need to live frugally, most office workers and young people just pick one up if they're really curious.

So the sales figures for Attack on Titan's first week are not yet available, but it's clear that the results are definitely in line with expectations.

Sakurai Masaya stood in the bookstore for a while before leaving, and then bought a book at the cashier.

Although the editorial department would give the responsible editor a sample copy, he still wanted to buy one himself as a way of supporting Eri Aragaki.

He put the single volume into his briefcase and walked out of the bookstore as the streetlights came on, and the streets of Jimbocho were filled with people who had just finished get off work.

In Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, Ueno Takuya went to his usual bookstore on the same day and received the pre-ordered Attack on Titan volume from the old man.

On the other side, in Akita Prefecture, Fujimoto Itsuki also went to a bookstore and bought three volumes in one go. He naturally called this "one for collection, one to read, and one for missionary work."

This is the kind of fanatical behavior only die-hard fans of this era would exhibit.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Ayane Takeda had just returned from university and then went to a bookstore to buy three volumes of Attack on Titan.

She looked at the three individual volumes without feeling any heartache.

After all... her senior had taken such good care of her during this time.

She plans to recommend Attack on Titan to her classmates or upperclassmen at school, since... it seems that many of the talented students and upperclassmen in her department actually enjoy anime and manga.

Similarly, Natsume Akane also contributed to the sales of the manga volumes, even buying ten copies of "Attack on Titan" in one go.

then……

"Boss, is this...a gift you gave us?"

Yosuke Murayama looked at the manga volume in his hand in disbelief, pointed to himself, and asked.

"Yes, it's very beautiful!"

Natsume Akane said helplessly, "Just accept the gifts I told you to, stop with the nonsense, and don't call me 'Big Sister'!"

"yes!"

……

As time went on, the sales of Attack on Titan manga volumes gradually increased.

Eri Aragaki also received a sample copy of the collected volume from Shueisha that day, along with a note that read, "Congratulations on the first volume of the collected volume."

When Eri Aragaki opened the package and saw the collected volume, she knew in her heart that this was only the first volume and there was still a long way to go.

But as she stood by the entrance, holding the book in her hand, looking at the image of Allen standing on the city wall on the cover, she couldn't help but laugh for a while.

She placed the manga on the coffee table in the living room, waiting for Erina to come home from school to read it.

After a while, I felt that simply placing the book on the coffee table wasn't conspicuous enough, so I propped it up and leaned it against the TV remote.

He took two more steps back to check the effect, and felt it wasn't enough, so he moved the sofa cushion where Erina usually sat and placed the manga directly in front of where she ate.

After doing all this, she felt like a primary school student who had just received an award for the first time, but who cares!

"But I can make a bookshelf then, at least to collect all the manga volumes I release later."

Eri Aragaki thought to herself, "This is a very meaningful thing."