Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 96 The Impact of "Fog Hill" (4K)

If this were another cartoonist's name, Lin Beimiao might find it strange.

But when he saw the name "Don't Eat Pears," he immediately understood.

Even in "Wu Song," one can see that the author has a deep understanding of traditional Chinese painting, as evidenced by the use of line drawing for figures and the texturing techniques for rocks.

That short story already incorporated traditional Chinese painting techniques into the comic, though it hadn't reached that level of sophistication at the time.

"Pear Girl really loves the culture of our Republic."

Lin Beimiao said happily, as most of the resentment he felt from being tortured by the giant had dissipated.

After all—this era is quite different from the era before Aragaki Eri traveled through time.

In Aragaki Eri's previous life, the Chinese people already possessed ample national and ethnic self-confidence, especially in terms of culture.

Chinese people firmly believe that their country's culture is the best in the world, and that they possess the excellent culture inherited from the world's oldest civilization.

In fact, by that time they no longer needed other people's approval or disapproval to prove their point.

But things were different in this era. The republic, which had not yet fully risen, lacked sufficient cultural confidence, and was filled with comments such as "What's wrong with this country?" and "Damaged culture."

Some people even believe that the culture of the Republic is excellent only if people from other countries or ethnic groups like it, thus basing their cultural confidence on external recognition.

This led to the emergence of foreign bloggers like "Laf," who used their love for the culture of the Republic to make money. They could earn millions of views and income by simply making a video and saying "I love the Republic."

Eri Aragaki did this ahead of time.

However, she didn't just talk about it; she actually used her paintbrush to depict elements of the Republic, and in a groundbreaking style of traditional Chinese painting.

Lin Beimiao and the readers of the Republic naturally felt very happy.

It's not just that someone likes our culture, but that someone truly understands our culture and then presents it to the world in their own way.

Lin Beimiao was also eager to start reading this brand-new Chinese-style comic by "Not Eating Pears".

He looked at the title of the comic and slowly read it aloud, "Fog Hill—Five Elements? Five Elements!"

As he spoke, he started reading the rest of the comic, and then he got completely absorbed in it.

Mainly————

Wow! This traditional Chinese style is absolutely amazing!

Lin Beimiao's eyes lit up. "It's just like those traditional Chinese paintings in the Palace Museum. No, this is a comic drawn using ancient painting techniques. Li Mei's drawing skills from 'Wu Song' last time were still on hold. This is Li Mei's real drawing skill."

He continued watching, and the battle between Wenren Yixuan and Qilin began, which he found somewhat inexplicable.

However, the painting skills, which were like those of traditional Chinese painting, smoothed out the shortcomings at the beginning. Then, the other Five Elements practitioners arrived and also displayed their own mysterious and unique Five Elements powers.

Then the little Qilin went missing, and the Qilin ordered Wenren Yixuan to find it. It then took Wenren Yixuan's mother and his water-elemental sister with it.

The names of Wenren, Qilin, Shentu, Wuxing, Su Xiaoan, the demon beast, the angry beast, and even the supporting characters all borrow from the names of the eight steeds of King Mu of Zhou.

Without a doubt, they all feature elements of the Republic!

The plot and setting are nothing new; a teenager gets into trouble and then embarks on a path of redemption.

The plot of a village being attacked and a hero coming to the rescue has been used countless times in shonen manga.

However, the art style and the setting full of Republic cultural elements are just too attractive. You don't need a novel story; you just need to use top-notch art to express these elements, and that's enough to make people unable to look away.

Lin Beimiao hadn't even reacted when Wenren Yixuan defeated the invading beast forces and the story ended there, and then he decided to continue watching.

result----

"Huh? That's all?"

Lin Beimiao then realized that there were no more illustrations for "Fog Hill of Five Elements" on the next page, and that the page ended with the word "Complete".

This is the sign that a short comic has ended.

"No, how could it be gone?!"

Lin Beimiao was dumbfounded. He held the magazine in his hand and flipped through it twice to make sure he hadn't missed a single page.

Then he put the magazine on the table, leaned back in his chair, and said with a wail, "What happened next? What happened next? Wenren Yixuan hasn't rescued his mother yet, the monster's conspiracy hasn't come out yet, and the little Qilin hasn't been found yet. How could he be gone?"

This was completely unbearable for him.

The main reason is that it's rare to see a Japanese anime that suits his taste so well and is full of elements of the Republic's culture. The ink painting style, the five elements setting, and the mythical creatures from the Classic of Mountains and Seas make it a work that perfectly matches his aesthetic.

He was eager to know what happened next: Had the little Qilin been found? Had Wenren Yixuan's mother been rescued? Would the Five Envoys fight again?

However, short comics are generally limited in length, and can only contain about two chapters of content equivalent to a long comic, so the plot they can tell is naturally limited.

Eri Aragaki only drew one episode of the original storyline from "Fog Hill of Five Elements".

It's impossible to draw a storyline after successfully finding the little Qilin; that would completely exceed the length of a short comic.

But this made Lin Beimiao feel quite uncomfortable. It was as if he had just taken a bite of a Manchu Han Imperial Feast, had just begun to taste the flavors, and hadn't even finished eating when the plate was taken away.

"Pear Sister, please, please draw another sequel to 'Fog Hill of Five Elements' for me to see."

Lin Beimiao was even at his wit's end and started to make empty plea to Aragaki Eri. He put his hands together and bowed to the magazine spread out on the table, not caring how silly the action looked.

Then he couldn't help but read "Fog Hill of Five Elements" again, starting from the beginning. The more he read it, the more he felt that the art style and drawing skills of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" were amazing!

The plot and setting are quite good, and most importantly, what's rare is that this Japanese manga is filled with cultural elements of the Republic.

After finishing reading it, he was still not satisfied. He closed the magazine and opened it again, then turned to the page of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" and stared at the word "The End" for a long time.

So he immediately flipped to the reader survey page at the back of the magazine, took a pen from the drawer, and laid the survey flat on the table.

"No, I have to think of something. I'll write a letter to Pear Sister and ask if she can draw another short comic of 'Fog Hill of Five Elements'."

He muttered to himself, "Shueisha says that reader feedback influences the editorial department's decisions, so filling out the questionnaire should at least do something, right?"

Before this, he usually bought magazines but was too lazy to fill out these reader questionnaires, since it was somewhat of a waste of time.

Tearing the postcard out of the magazine, filling in a few options, affixing the stamp, and mailing it back—this whole process takes at least ten minutes.

As a child, he already had little spare time due to the exploitation of his labor, and there was no special reward for doing this.

Weekly Shonen Jump holds raffles for readers who send in letters, usually offering autographed or photocopied items from the manga artist, as well as other manga merchandise. You can even "make a wish" on the reader questionnaire.

Write your favorite comic artist's autograph or merchandise in the prize section, and if you are selected, you have a chance to win the prize you want.

Most importantly, even if he received the reward as a reader, it would be a drop in the ocean for a rich guy like him.

Why would he waste his time filling out all this stuff?

But at this moment, he really wanted Eri Aragaki to draw a sequel to "Fog Hill of Five Elements" manga, so he didn't find it troublesome and started filling out this kind of reader questionnaire for the first time in his life.

Moreover, when asked to select his three favorite works, he directly chose "Fog Hill of Five Elements" as his number one favorite.

My second favorite is Attack on Titan. Although I was completely humiliated just now, I still have to cast my vote.

He chose "One Piece" as his third favorite.

In the reader comments section, he wrote densely packed text in very small characters—

"I really love the work 'Fog Hill of Five Elements', but it seems that there is a sequel to the comic's story."

So I'd like to ask Ms. Buchilizi, will the storyline continue to be drawn into a manga?

I really hope to see what happens next in Wenren Yixuan's story. I want to know if he found the little Qilin and rescued his mother. The teacher's traditional Chinese painting style is truly amazing. I really want to see what happens next.

After he finished writing the questionnaire, he carefully tore it off the magazine along the perforations, folded it, put it in an envelope, and wrote the address of the Shueisha editorial department on it.

He decided to go to the post office tomorrow morning to mail the letter—no, the first thing he'd do tomorrow morning is mail it.

And it wasn't just him; the rest of the week was spent with pears.

Other students studying or working in Japan are more or less influenced by their love of Japanese anime and manga, which led them to study or work there.

This group already numbered quite a bit in 07, with over 6 people working or studying in Japan, distributed across major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.

Some of them bought a copy of JUMP while working at a convenience store, some flipped through it after seeing a familiar cover in a bookstore, and some went to find it after seeing discussions about the new short story about not eating pears on a forum.

Those readers who like Japanese manga and bought this issue of Weekly Shonen Jump also filled out reader questionnaires and left messages asking if they could draw a sequel to Fog Hill of Five Elements.

Their reasons were all similar: the art style was amazing, the setting was just right, and they begged for a sequel.

At the same time, it is not only the readers of the Republic.

The comic style of "Fog Hill of Five Elements," which is even more artistic than "Wu Song" and is full of Chinese style, has also attracted the attention of other Japanese readers.

When they flipped through the short story section of the magazine and saw the first page of "Fog Hill of Five Elements," the visual impact of the splashed ink landscape and flames transcended national boundaries.

After all, compared to the Republic's neighbors, the Japanese are considered one of the more honest ones.

They acknowledge that the Republic is the birthplace of Japanese culture, and that Japanese culture is largely derived from the Republic, having always learned from its various cultural and institutional systems.

It's rare to find people like the Japanese who engage in theft, stealing this and that and claiming it as their own, unrelated to the Republic.

The Japanese are quite frank; what belongs to the Republic belongs to the Republic, and even cultural practices learned from the Republic will be acknowledged as such.

It's just that those right-wingers have a lot of problems, and they love to play the game of rewriting history.

Most importantly, the Japanese people generally admire the strong and appreciate art. They have a heartfelt reverence and admiration for true strong people and works of art.

The antiques and artworks from the Republic are the kind that the Japanese really like and appreciate.

When they saw Eri Aragaki's episode of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" this week, they all exclaimed, "This is the best!"

"What kind of drawing skills are these?!"

"This is amazing! It's exactly the style of those ancient paintings from the People's Republic of China in museums."

"Not eating pears is amazing! This painting skill is truly like a work of art!"

"The story of Fog Hill of Five Elements is also very classic. A young man gets into trouble to save his relatives and friends and then embarks on a journey. It's very JUMP."

"6

"I even think it's better than the story of 'Attack on Titan'."

"If you don't want to eat pears, stop serializing 'Attack on Titan' and start serializing this long-form comic, 'Fog Hill of Five Elements' instead!"

"Wenren, Shentu—Are there even surnames like that in Japan? That's so rare."

"These characters are all from the Republic, right? And the surname Su is a surname from the Republic, isn't it?"

"Is the drawing skill of this artwork really just that of a comic book? I think this page could be printed out and framed on the wall."

"The drawing skills are amazing! I also like this story, so I'll put it in third place."

Readers were also amazed by this groundbreaking style and skill of traditional Chinese painting, just like when they first saw Eri Aragaki's "Fog Hill of Five Elements" in their previous lives.

It's hard to describe that feeling in specific words. It's like the moment you see the picture, you know it's something you've never seen in a comic book before.

Many people then chose to vote for their top three favorite works in "Fog Hill of Five Elements," just like they had voted for "Wu Song" previously.

Same as when it was published.

People's feelings about beauty and good stories are mostly the same.

There may be occasional disagreements due to individual differences in taste, but if something like a comic is truly good enough, it will resonate with everyone.

After Lin Beimiao finished filling out the reader questionnaire and sent it to Shueisha, he was still not satisfied. He flipped to the pages of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" in the magazine and read them again. The more he read, the more he felt that he should not keep it to himself.

He logged onto his computer, opened the QQ group chat, and as he typed, the expression on his face slowly turned into a mischievous "we'll share the hardship" grin.

"Oh, right! Let Xiyang and everyone in the group have a taste."

He said with a wicked grin, "I can't be the only one suffering. Also, 'Fog Hill of Five Elements' is really good. Pear Girl is really amazing. The three works, Giants, Wu Song and Fog Hill of Five Elements, have three completely different art styles and themes. She really doesn't want to limit herself."

>