#hoshi sandek

[linkspooky]

Choujin X, Chapter 34 Part 4 Thoughts.

A lot happened and not only was this chapter the climactic end of a major arc, it also seems to be a major turning point in the story especially in regards to Tokio's character and what is coming next for him. Thoughts and predictions underneath the cut.

1. The Other Brother

Perhaps the biggest reveal this chapter was the face behind the Noh Mask, and as usual for Ishida he actually foreshadowed this reveal long in advance. Now let's play everyone's favorite game of spot the foreshadowing. It started with Batista taking a special interest in Azama when he was previously targeting Tokio as the Beast Choujin.

A few chapters later Sendak mentions his reasons for taking an interest in Azama and even councilling him about his habit of losing control and his emotional outbursts is because he resembles his younger brother who fell away from him.

One more thing of note before moving on, while several key characters constantly note how much potential that Tokio has as the beast Choujin, and take an interest in him as someone who has the potential to change the world, it's mentioned over and over again that Azama's powers despite taking a long time to awaken and being hard for him to control aren't really anything special.

After being shown taken an interest in him a the end of Azama and Tokio's fight, Batista then goes out of his way once again to spare Azama and bring him along despite the fact he knows that his choujin ability doesn't really stand out in any way.

He even goes out of his way to ask for the power of the iron choujin and Ely, and is fine with only getting Azama. Whether he was going to just take Azama's powers from him with what his usual method seems to be (my guess is sewing other people's body parts onto himself considering his face and arm) or actually try to mentor Azama is unknown but he's expressed the same interest in him over and over again other characters have not.

We know nothing of Sendak and Batista's conflict as brothers, however, there is a ton of foreshadowing for the rift that's already begun to form between Azama and Tokio growing wider as the story progresses Just from the nature of the difference between Hosi and Sendak's powers, Sendak's choujin ability seems to be at the peak of strength a Choujin can have. Whereas, Batista as the "chimera" either doesn't have a choujin ability of his own and gains his powers by stealing the body parts of others and grafting them to him, or his power wasn't strong enough to ever face Sendak's which made him resort to alternative means. Or a third option his Choujin ability only works by gaining the powers from body parts of other people he grafts onto himself, he has no natural ability of his own just stolen ones.

This is also the center of the conflict between Azama and Tokio. Tokio is blessed with insane and unique power, and a potential that has everyone targetting him, and he doesn't want it, and doesn't want to decide how to use it either.

From the moment their powers awakened, Azama who was used to practically being the "hero" of their friendship got slotted into a secondary position. At first Azama didn't experience any change at all and thought he remained a normal person whereas Tokio gained powers and saved him.

Then, even after Azama's powers finally awaken, not only do people constantly comment on how his powers are no good if he loses control of them with emotional outbursts and hurts people which is directly against his self image and ideal of using his powers to help people, but he also despite finally awakening as a choujin is shown time and time again his potential is way less than Tokio's, and everyone is interested in Tokio as some kind of chosen one as he's passed aside.

If the relationship between Azama and Tokio is set to parallel Sandek and Batista then they probably suffered from a similiar fallout, Batista's older brother was one of the strongest choujin in a generation, whereas Batista's chosen method of getting strong was done most likely by stealing from others.

2. The Parting of Ways

The second biggest game-changer this chapter is Tokio's announcement that he is dropping out of school. Considering Azama, Ely and Tokio all attend school together this also probably means that Tokio's reason for quitting is to seperate himself from both of them so he can devote all of himself full time to being a Choujin.

Ishida has a tendency to reuse ideas from his previous works, and Tokio in many ways parallels Kaneki Ken, both of them being reluctant chosen ones, who were granted a great power mostly by mistake. This moment parallels Kaneki's decision at the end of the Aogiri arc in the original Tokyo Ghoul after being kidnapped and seeing Anteiku go to great lengths to try to bring him back, making the decision to not go home with them and instead go off on his own to try to get stronger. He even says it overlooking a body of water similiarly to Tokio.

There's not just the Tokyo Ghoul parallel however, Tokio's seperation from Azama and Ely is set up within the story itself. Number one, the whole island arc in general has the setup of a shonen training arc with a twist. In regular shonen manga the trio of Azama, Ely and Tokio would train together, get stronger and then have their friendship solidified. Not only does none of the training any of the characters do pay off (they all just get captured anyway), but the already rocky friendship of Azama and Tokio seems like it's heading towards a seperation rather than bringing them closer together the island arc has even further driven them apart.

Just when they were getting along and both training together as Choujin, Tokio's premonition that Azama would blame him for the destruction of Yamato, and their argument on whether or not Tokio should accept the divine mark only showed the issues of their friendship are still there despite their temporary truce.

Not only that, but Tokio's newfound resolve to be strong enough to stop Azama if he goes out of control again was incredibly shaky to begin with. Almost immediately, an outsider is able to point out the flaw in his logic. That if he ties himself to Azama like that his self esteem isn't going to get any better, and he should find his own reason to fight rather than using someone else as an excuse.

On top of that Tokio is referred to as being shackled to Azama, because of his habit of constantly comparing himself to others, and wanting to be more like others rather than developing himself. His big moment of character development in this arc however comes from choosing to fly. Something he cannot do if he is shackled as flight = freedom.

I did a previous meta on how Tokio's indecisiveness is a sign that unlike the two other members of his group, Ely and Azama who have pretty opposite ideals but have their motivations figured out, Tokio is someone who could go either way on Ely's path, or on Azama's.

In an interesting twist Tokio has taken a third option, rather than becoming closer to Ely or Azama he has made the decision to separate himself from both of them (or at least I'm guessing that is what's going to happen next). If you consider the traumatic series of events Tokio has just been through, this decision makes sense from his perspective. To begin with this training arc was a total loss for all of them, Ely, Azama and Tokio make significant breakthroughs in developing their abilities but it doesn't matter they still get their asses kicked hard.

Tokio is made helpless, kidnapped and dragged into an unsafe environment. Not only that he's reminded how because of his helplessness he couldn't do anything to help Azama or Ely who were kidnapped alongside him. He also learns right away that due to being the beast Choujin, he was the reason the entire island was targetted and Ely and Azama were put in danger. You know just to sprinkle some extra guilt and self-blame on top of the cake.

Tokio reaches a pretty major breakthrough where he realizes instead of worrying about everything, he has to just take a leap of faith and fly (This is a spiderverse reference btw) only to hear the prophecy of the Beast Choujin and to have all of this responsibility and destiny suddenly shunted onto his shoulders and his response is just to revert to his previous indecisiveness.

Not only does his indecision cause all of his friends to get attacked once more, but even going berserk and using his choujin power to the absolute limit of his abilities, Tokio is completely useless in the fight once more.

Tokio witnesses his friends being crushed to death, goes berserk, and it barely makes a difference in the fight. Yes, he is rescued by Sandek shortly afterwards, but Sandeks rescue reminds Tokio that despite being a chosen and being told by the people around him of his potential just how far he actually has to go in terms of mastering his power. He's shown strength on a completely different level from him.

When he is finally rescued too, he is told to sit on a beach and wait, while a bloody battle is fought right in front of him, and his rescue comes at the expense of several choujin offering their lives.

All the while Azama, Ely and Tokio are told to sit and wait because they'd be no help in the fight. Considering all of these circumstances, it's understandable that not only would Tokio blame himself for a lot of this by being so weak and indecisive of a person he needed to be rescued in the first place instead of being able to fight his way out of that situation, but he'd also think the only way to get stronger was to go off on his own and prove he could get stronger without relying on others. To become the kind of person who wouldn't need to be rescued so this kind of situation would never repeat itself again.

If you consider the survivor's guilt associated from surviving a long battle where you were mostly helpless, and even the cause of the battle needing to be fought in the first place, it would make sense Tokio would blame himself and think the only way to move forward is to be strong on his own. Which is why we see at the end of this arc, our three types of heroes, on three different paths, are probably going to drift even further away from each other rather than coming together.

[mugiwara-shuenobi]

[aviscranio]

Choujin X || Chapter 2: Uncrossed Paths! Two Choujin

[ara-mitama]

The title of Choujin X chapter 6 has me ranting again!

Ok, so this post is late in coming, because I took quite a lot of time to complete my review on chapter 6. But, there's something interesting wordplay (look at me go) in the title of chapter 6, which adds more depth to what transpired in it.

The translators used the word Apostasy (well Ishida, but okay) which is an interesting choice if you ask me.

Apostasy is the act of leaving behind or straying from your beliefs or principles. It could be religious, political, or anything that you hold close to.

On the surface level it refers to Tokio leaving behind his previous state of mind (wanting to be normal) and accepting that he is choujin (full beast transformation incoming and all that). Meaning, Tokio is straying from his beliefs and personality essentially. If you are interested, I have expanded on it a bit more in the review.

What I'd like to focus on here is the other subtlelty that it could be referring to. His relationship with Azuma (yes, I am on it again, yes, I might be obsessed with it).

True, Tokio did take his first steps into becoming a full-fledged superhuman, leaving behind his inhibitions. But, before he did that there was a brief moment where he again thought what Azuma would have done if the latter was in his place.

In the past chapters, along with trying to go back to normal, making a conscious effort to not simply be Azuma’s copy has been driving Tokio’s character development. But, this determination to break out of his influential friend’s shadow has given rise to a totally different persona in him. It is subtle but very visible.

It resulted in Tokio basing his actions on what Azuma would have done. I agree, for someone who has been in the shadows, oppressed, if not by others then by their own lack of confidence, even being able to muster the courage to break out of this cycle is huge. And like in any realistic scenario, Tokio was not able to make a clean break.

However, choujin x chapter 6 presented us with a spectacle. In his moment of confusion, the vulture which seemed to pay no mind to Tokio, made a grandiose flight (the partial color panel depicting how important this scene is) triggering something in Tokio.

It helped him break away, if only for a brief moment, from his subconscious obsession with Azuma. He saw what was there in front of him and decided to act on his instincts. And that could be what the title of this chapter could be referring to, on a thematic level atleast.

I am not saying the straying away from Azuma is permanent. Because the title says FIRST apostasy, signifying first of many changes that are yet to come. Tokio might revert back to his old whiny self. But, this crazed call for a power-up is what most of us have been waiting for I believe.

This is the first major step in Tokio being independent and it has been done so well. I simply can't stop admiring how Ishida portrayed it! Amazing, simply amazing.

[evor20]

[since-it-must-be-so]

A Wild Sheep Chase: Chapter 2 of Choujin X!

It's here! I've gushed about the chapter over at my Twitter, but like I said in my previous post, I want to see how the story progresses and keep a log about it. So here it goes!

Background info on Ely Otsuta

So before we delve into Chapter 2 which almost exclusively featured Ely... Let's take note of the new things we learned about Ely:

She's from a rural prefecture. I think she lives in the mountainside specifically since that's where she grows her tomatoes.

She's a greenthumb (we already kinda knew this from the previous chapter but we learn more about her life pre-Choujin X). I understand that even if the soil is infertile, she's able to grow tomatoes so nutritious and plump. So plump, they resemble butts, hence, "bumbums!" It appears she uses advanced equipment for her farming stuff. So yeah, based on these, it's established Ely has a green thumb!

Oh, and it appears that it's clarified that her "Grandpapi" whom she talks about in the 1st chapter is an adoptive grandfather (not biological, hence, maybe in the future we'd know her parents and learn why Ely is special).

It's just me but I get the impression that Ely is being introduced as some sort of "fertility" choujin, since she also dreams of having 9 kids. Haha!

It's kinda weird though why the burning tomato has a face. Was it just from her dream, since after plucking a bumbum - she woke up? Hmm, after some thought, I think the burning tomato with a face is just from her dream.

Ely Wakes Up from Reality

When Ely woke up, she finds herself in the South Yamato prefecture. Okay, so I think this leaning tower of some sort has a significance to the story.

It's featured in every spread with the title "Choujin X" and also in the last chapter. Can you see it? Maybe it has something to do with how the powers are made, like pollution-related or a botched experiment. Dunno. Just my wild speculation.

A Wild Sheep Chase

This is the exciting part. So when Ely wakes up, Chandra Hume offers to "escort" her, but really it appears he wants to kidnap her. And from, *checks the manga* page 10 to 40, we have Ely running away from Chandra until she fell in what looks like a similar area where Tokio and Azuma fought Johnny Kiyoshi Takeyama.

The chase sequence consisting of 30 pages were so fun and I was smiling all the while I was reading! Ely is so cute trying to parkour her way through the buildings (kinda reminds me of Touka?? I miss Touka!). Chandra looks really cool, he seemed to be flying too, using his powers (more on that later)!

But not to be outdone, Ely borrows a "Roller Boy Yay-Yay" which basically is a scooter with something that resembles a driver's wheel. Its literal translation of ローラーBOYイェイ・イェイ -- which, checking Twitter and in Ishida's latest live stream, I think the locals found it hilarious too. Ishida is just unleashing his crazy here, I love it!

After that sequence, we get the tractor and sheep chase. Ah! I love it.. So what happened is that, Chandra and Ely fall off from their Roller Boy Yay-Yay. Ely who just claimed she can outrun Chandra if she were riding a tractor, suddenly found one right in front of her! Then Chandra lands near a gang... or should I say, a flock of sheep-bikers. They're all wearing these Kanji-printed tracksuits and basically look like they're a bunch of delinquents? They even describe themselves as "cryptid bikers"... Cryptid supposedly means mysterious? Idk why the weird choice of words for the translation though.

Funnily, I was just reading Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase (羊をめぐる冒険 --- Hitsuji o meguru bōken or literally An Adventure Surrounding Sheep). I wonder if this scene something to do with this book?

Anyway, Chandra entices the sheep to help hip capture Ely by bribing them with a Docomo flip phone. I don't know why a flip phone - could mean the following: (a) the sheep are so poor, a flip phone is cool; (b) maybe flip phones are a status symbol in that universe; (c) maybe the setting is in the 2000s when the flip phones really were all the rage.

So they all chase Ely, but Chandra suddenly has a car too. Someone on Twitter said it's a Porsche? But I can't tell, though Chandra said his car is a four-wheel drive... Heh? Idk what to do with this info.

As for Ely, she is really good with the tractor as she said. The hilarity of outrunning motorcycles and what could be a Porsche. That tractor prowess! Later on, Chandra and the other sheep figure into an accident with a "safety-loving" truck (oh the irony, lol). Chandra flew off the car and so did his fancy shoes...

Ely didn't exactly come out unscathed. Ishida allocated 4 double spreads for this epic fall. Some of the sheep definitely should have died from that spectacular accident.

At first, Ely was smug about escaping the sheep. But then, I think she was moved by compassion and I think she hurt herself in order to revive the sheep. I just wonder though, how she learned to do that?

Then we get another awesome double spread of her transformation, similar to Tokio's. Augh Ishida-sensei. These are soooo good!!!!

Because of her transformation, the whole area was engulfed with smoked and I think the sheep were effectively revived. It appears Chandra saw all this (while he was regenerating... so we now know choujins or at least smoke choujins like Chandra has regenerative powers), hence he marveled at Ely's newfound power. It was kinda confirmed that Ely was responsible for keeping the casualties to a minimum. Specifically he said Ely possesses: quick judgment, though resolve, persistence... making her a human with the makings of a choujin... while also kinda noting Ely's silliness.

Here we go again with Chandra's "fancy gentleman" facade... Even the way he talks is fancy ("I am well-acquainted with the roads here") but more than that... he's self-important. I talked about my other views on his character on Reddit. I get the impression he's something of a "Choujin supremacist", you know what I mean? So, he wants to kinda recruit Ely into his organization or whatever.

Ely is righteous

So we see that Ely is further introduced as a good character, standing up against Chandra and rejecting his offer to be his pupil or something. Ely was clearly upset about the grandma getting hurt (did she die? I hope she didn't) and made it clear she would never join him. Chandra takes offense at this rejection, especially when Ely said Chandra is worse than a turd.

As Chandra tries to inflict pain on Ely (something about marking her on the face), she recalls her resolve from Chapter 1: drones for farming, a greenhouse, her grandpappy, a mansion, the big dog, paying back the kid for his roller boy yay-yay, the Goldilocks hubbie, nine kids... But just before we can see if she can fight Chandra off...

The most handsome man of all Sui Ishida's works (haha!)

This buff mysterious man with a bandana reminiscent of the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles seemed to have blown Chandra and Ely (also the cars and motorcycles) away by a mere clap of his hands. It appears even Chandra is afraid of this guy and recognizes him... he leaves the scene using his smoke powers before the guy can do serious damage. I think his power has something to do with wind since there was like a little hint with all the ventilation stuff in the setting.

The guy manages to create a circle of protection around Ely. He tells Ely that Chandra's modus is to target "people with aptitude like Ely". He helpfully mends Ely's punctured hand with his bandana.... And when Ely looks up at his face, what do you know? Haha!

Our girl Ely has a love interest! Haha.

Tokio's Gregor Samsa moment

I've observed from the manga I've read that characters with transformation abilities always, always go through this adjustment period with the power. Gregor Samsa, Peter Parker, our boy Kaneki... Anyway, it seems Tokio doesn't know or can't turn back into a normal-looking person. But the last panel sure is interesting because we have them experiencing this transformation at the same time. Also, since it reminds me of Touka and Ayato's volume cover. I hope they find each other soon though!

Types of Choujins and initial premises on the Power of Choujins

So there are 3 confirmed types so far: Flexi (Johnny), Bestial (our boy Tokio), and Smoke. It seems that pretty boy Hoshi doesn't have a category yet, but like I said I think his has something to do with air or ventilation lol.

We learned that Chandra is a Smoke Choujin, and Ely is now one too and she was may have been somehow infected by Chandra's smoke/fumes. It appears now that there are 2 ways to become a choujin: injection and inhalation. Chandra wonders if Ely was infected with his power... But I'm thinking the infection theory might not be that accurate. After all, it seems Ely has a green thumb.

But, I think as Chandra said, only some people have an aptitude for this. So, Ely and Tokio are examples. I wonder if Azuma also has choujin powers or did it not manifest yet? Is the aptitude inherent or something you can acquire? If so, what does Tokio have that Azuma doesn't, especially since everyone thinks Azuma is "better" than Tokio in all aspects?

We'll find out in Chapter 3 more or less!! I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes! I'd like to hear your thoughts or comments if any :)

[youhearbiggirls]

YHBG ~ Choujin X Chapter 8 Readthrough

MP3 Download: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/el7sj6/cx8.mp3

Tokio and Ely settle in at Yamato Mori, where Our Supreme Leader™ Hoshi Sandek wants to know their answers to life's most important questions. Spoiler alert: it's not 42

Timestamps: 4:18 Chapter 8 reaction 16:36 Reddit discussion

Links this episode

Read Choujin-X for free (US)

Read Choujin-X for free (EU)

Choujin X chapter 8 subreddit discussion

Episode Feedback

[holycow99]

石田お寿司 12/9/21 stream translation Part 12

This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.

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(t/n: ** means translation may not be accurate.)

C: From your perspective, are editors someone who nurture (mangakas)? Are they gonna continue to be a presence who shape a part of you?

I: Nurturing? I don’t even aware of it at all. I think that applies to each other. I think both shape a part of each other as the relationship deepens. The editor gives feedback and the writer fixes the story based on the feedback. That’s how a work is created. I think both are shaping a part of one another. The writer and the editor becomes that kind of existence to each other and that’s how they both grow and change on their own accord. I don’t think they help writers grow though. To me, helping a human to grow is presumptuous/stupid.

(t/n: The word ‘okagamashii’ means both presumptuous and stupid. I’m not sure which one of them was he referring to in this context. You can interpret it as you like.)

I: Is the next Choujin X gonna be release soon?

I: Yeah. I forgot how to draw it in the middle of drawing the draft, so it took me some time.

*Ishida mentioned that he’s finding time to do both choujin x and animal rap, as well as drawing JJ’s illustrations.

C: I’m happy there’s a lot of streaming videos lately.

I: There’s not a lot lately, since I went away for a while. Maybe the duration was actually shorter than I thought it was.

C: Let’s stream until noon.

I: Well…it depends on the situation. I do think of that. I can’t help but do my work during streaming. Just like what I’m doing currently. If I play games, I’ll just play and then when it’s over, I can just end the stream. But when I’m doing my work, I don’t know when I should end it. I’ve no choice but to finish my work. In other words, I’ll be streaming until I’m done with my manuscript. For me, doing that is good because my work can progress. It’s like I’m being monitored. For a period of time, OPM’s artist, Murata sensei did that before but he quit for few reasons. I think it’s good to feel like you’re being monitored. Hamada Yoshikasu sensei did that as well. He pretty much streamed him working everyday. I’m not sure whether he’s still doing it.

C: Do stream every night.

I: That’s a bit…This is also difficult for me to do. I like making plans on what I should do. For example, “what I should do for this and that day?” or “what if I do this with this pace?”, but to actually follow the plan is hard. You’d feel lazy on the very day you had a plan. People who thoroughly follow their plans are admirable, aren’t they? It’s not like I have the need to follow it. But then, I wish to be able to do that.

C: If you get bored drawing the background, I want you to stream while you’re working on it even if it’s on irregular basis.

I: For the background, I must finish doing them all at once, if not it’ll take a few days. There’s a limit to what kind of work I can stream. I don’t want really wanna show me working on the latest chapter. It’s the latest chapter, after all. I’ll show the chapter after I’ve drawn it properly. This one is basically me fixing the chapter 2, so it’s fine.

C: It’ll be nice if there’s a notice before the stream on the day itself.

I: I see. It’ll be easier to watch if there’s a notice. You can arrange your time. But then, it depends on my mood. I‘d feel sorry if I suddenly don’t wanna stream, but you guys are already excitedly waiting for it. So, I’ll just do it randomly.

C: I can prepare some sweets if there’s a notice beforehand.

I: Well…Maybe I’ll at least give notice on that very day. If I really wanna stream, then I might let you guys know beforehand.

I: The 30,000 commemoration. I might not do anything for it. But I’ll keep that as a memory. Even someone like me can have that amount of subscribers with this kind of content. I’m thankful for that.

C: I turn on my notification, so it doesn’t matter if you tell us beforehand or not.

I: Oh, really? Then, I’ll do it as I like. It’s better If there’s a notice. Well, I’ll do it if I feel like it.

C: This is random, but I only turned on your tweet notification.  

I: Sometimes, I forgot to update on my twitter though. I update it when I’m streaming.

C: 30,000 subscribers is amazing! It’s more than the number of people in my home town.

I: That’s true. If you think about it that way, then 30,000 is amazing.

*Someone wanted Ishida to stream the drawing of the Choujin X’s volume’s cover, but he said it’ll be hard to do that.

C: For me, I like for the cover to be a surprise.

I: Hm…I probably think so too.

I: For me, regarding choujin x, I want everything about it, such as the drafts, to be a secret. If I got to do another manga, then I might…ah, but that probably wouldn’t be possible due to my personality. I do kinda want to be monitored when I’m drawing difficult stuffs. It seems to be efficient for me that way. It could make me feel motivated if you guys watching me draw them.

*The adult comment came back.

I: Can I do something about it? It’s probably just random comments. Report or timeout? What’s timeout for? Should I try time it out this time? Did it time out?

*The comment finally gone. It’s troublesome though. I have to do something about the comment every single time. I should leave it to the dark moderator.

I: It did!

*Ishida mentioned that he’d timeout this one fan if they commented something unpleasant.

C: That could be a reward itself.

I: What? Me banning that person? That’s already a stalker attitude. You mean it’s because I noticed them, right? There must be such people. But what a pitiful person if that’s the only way for them to be noticed by others. Doing what the other party dislikes, then seeing their unpleasant reaction. Being happy just by the fact that the other party reacted to them is already a lost cause. Don’t wanna be that kind of person, right?

C: It’s amazing how you can have a phone call with someone everyday.

I: It depends on the occasion. Like when you really feel the need to talk or when you’re having a tough time. I too had times when I randomly just called someone because I couldn’t concentrate working. When I thought it’d be good for me to work while conversing, then I’d call someone. But the other person also has their own life, if this happens continuously, even if they say okay, they must be actually enduring it. I mostly speak to my work-related friend.

C: Being a mangaka is a lonely job, isn’t it?

I: Yeah, you’re right. This is also another difficult issue. It might get harder to confront my work if I spend more time with others. So, especially, recently, I tried to get myself more motivated. I’ve isolated myself around until the end of summer, but as I thought, working with people is easier for me, mentally speaking. I have somebody to listen to me and I feel less pressured, that is, they give me some kind of advice and I can apply them.

C: Do you consult with the editor in charge when you’re at loss?

I: I think I do. I did consult with Mr. Matsuo at the beginning. But then, I think it’s important to resolve your problems on your own. I do think I have a lot of people I can consult with, and that’s totally fine, but I don’t want to do that. I want to find the answers that I’m completely satisfied with by myself. So, I hold myself back from seeking others’ advice. I did ask Ms. Towada about stuffs on JJ when I had some questions since she gave good answers.

I: Well, I wanna work on this manga randomly. And by ‘random’, I don’t mean sloppily. I wanna work on this manga in a way that’s appropriate for both the work and I. So, I thought it’d be better for me to seek less advice or opinions from others. I’ll do differently if this way isn’t working.

C: You’re a wise person.

I: Obviously. Hahaha. Of course. It’s because I keep thinking about things like this. I hope you find my words useful.

*He then mentioned that he preferred the way of doing things randomly, but it might not be suitable for certain people. However, it’s okay to seek advice.

*Ishida recalling the conversation he had with Ms. Towada regarding Hoshi Sandek.

I: “Hoshi and Arima look similar, right?”.

T: “Have you seen how Arima Kishou looks like?”.

I: “Yes, I have… They look similar, right?”

T: “You mean their characters’ overlapped?”

I: “Not that.”

T: “Hmm….”

I: Hahaha. What do you guys think? Do Sandek and Arima look similar?

C: Are you a TG bandwagon fan?

I: Hahaha. I might’ve never read it properly. But I legit did read TG recently. I’m not kidding. I took a look at it again. I’m thinking of accepting TG. It’s not that I don’t. I wanna accept it more. All said and done, I’m really glad I wrote TG. It’s good that I have something to leave behind. It’s definitely a good thing.

C: Have you ever played Red Dead Redemption 2? (comment in eng.)

I: Like I said, short time. Short time? Little time. (Speaking in eng) I wanna play it though. I wanna play more, but I’ve no time. Too busy.

C: I think Hoshi is actually what Sui looks like. (comment in eng.)

I: She’s saying Hoshi looks similar to me. Are you kidding me?

*Ishida looking for another page to draw.

I: Please take a look at this version of the chapter in the magazine. This will be in the comic as well, probably. They’re both the same.

C: Sensei, are you gonna sleep after this?

I: Nope. I’ll probably check whether Hitman’s already downloaded after I end the stream. After that, I’ll eat and then finish up my upcoming work. I need to add colour for the pages. And I kinda wanna draw an illustration. Have you guys seen Itaewon Class on Netflix? It’s from a Korean webtoon. It’s been made into a drama and I was super addicted to it.

C: Park Saeroyi? (The name of the drama’s mc)

I: Yes. That one. He’s really cool. That hairstyle. I wanna draw Park Saeroyi, if can. There’s this sassy kinda girl in the story, right? That girl is a total beauty. Yi Seo. (t/n: Yi Seo is the FL’s name.)

I: I wanna draw real humans. I’ve been drawing them lately, not that it’s a problem, since I’ve been drawing manga only.

C: She is pretty!!

I: I know right. She’s gorgeous.

I: I read a little bit of the original work, and it pretty much the same as the drama, so I thought the original work was amazing. But then, the Japanese version changed it into Roppongi Class. It’s a different vibe… Does it really matter if it’s in Itaewon? They changed it to suit Japanese readers. Was it the Line Manga or was it not? I don’t remember, but they did that. Just let it be in Itaewon or Korea. I was like “Don’t f*** with me!”.

C: Marunouchi Class.

I: Haha. I’m drawing that. Marunouchi Class. (t/n: Marunouchi is a commercial district in Tokyo.)

I: Itaewon is better. There’s no such place in Roppongi. I’m not familiar with Roppongi though. It may have places like this, but it’s better to showcase the vibes of Korea. Itaewon is a place packed with foreigner. It’s a miscellaneous street. It’s close to Roppongi now that I’ve put it that way. But still…Those who subscribe to Netflix, I recommend you to watch Itaewon Class. They only shot scenes that were important, so it’s really easy to follow the story. Such a beautiful drama. There were quite a lot of cliché moments, but there were also some unexpected twists in those moments, so it pulled you in. Korean entertainment is far ahead.

*The assistant guy finally went to sleep.

I: Oh, you’re gonna sleep now? You definitely can’t oversleep. Don’t mention my name as well. Haha. Do your best as an assistant. Okay, after he left, everyone takes a screenshot. I’m gonna send it to his boss.

C: Sensei, do you read the manga “This is Good”?

I: I don’t. Is it an ecchi manga? Is it the one in Tonari Young Jump? Is it the one with beautiful drawing probably? I wanna try reading it. I need to cultivate (?) and boost the popularity of Tonari Young Jump. I’d like to take on that mission.

I: Has Mr. assistant slept already?

C: I won’t sleep then.

I: It’s okay 2x. Please sleep. Don’t worry 2x. Nothing’s gonna happen. If you’re worried, you can watch it later.

I: I just thought of the number 1 prank he shouldn’t do. I wanted to ask him to draw shit on the manuscript. I wanted him to leave my mark on the background. But that’s definitely a no-no. It’ll be a problem. However, that kind of assistants do exist. Not a lot, but there are assistants that play around.

Part 13

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