If I don't immerse myself in a world that's different from my own,
I feel like I'm suffocating.
The ride may be bumpy, so please hold on tight.
Take my seat.
Hm? Oh, no, I couldn't.
I'm about to get off.
Sorry for troubling you.
Thank you, dearie.
You're welcome.
I can't breathe.
Strange Tales from Shokai (1)
Otherworldly Records
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All right!
Here we go!
Episode 3 Kokoro's Heart Draw This, Then Die!
Yasumi-san.
I cannot accept this club application form.
What's the meaning of this?
Club Members
*A minimum of three members are required to start a club
Yasumi Ai (1st year)
Akafuku Sachi (1st year)
Pokota
Also, you left the club's designated location blank.
Uh, I wasn't sure what to put there.
There are no available clubrooms at present,
so you'll have to share with another club, or find an unoccupied classroom.
I can consult with the other teachers,
but see what your fellow students say as well.
No way.
You also need a minimum of three club members.
No way—
Teshima-sensei! Let me borrow the copy machine!
What a hassle.
Yasumin, what's that?
Nekota & Nyanta
I figured my manga might help us find a new member.
After all, it managed to convince Teshima-sensei.
It's a shoo-in for best manga in Kono Manga ga Sugoi!
You think so?
All right!
Time to storm the club building!
Club Building
Flower Arrangement Club
Pardon me, but how very unique.
Physics Club
I think...
this might be beyond our understanding.
Rakugo Research Club
Ya gotta be kidding me!
Improv
Corner
Huh? You think it's funny?
Unintentionally hilarious.
The club building was a total bust.
Oh, I need to go help out at the shop.
Miss Top Author in Kono Manga, I leave it in your capable hands.
Then, why was I a laughingstock?
Guess I should try the main building.
Art Room
Excuse me.
You're the girl who dropped that canvas.
Sorry! My bad!
I'm so sorry!
We're looking for members and a clubroom to start a manga club!
Maybe you'd be interested? As if.
"I'll join you!"
I suck at drawing, don't I?
You wouldn't believe how many people laughed at my art.
That's...
That's not true.
Yasumi-san, your manga is wonderful.
Nyanta's so cute.
I really love this manga!
Fujimori-san, as a member of the art club, your drawings are great.
Oh, I can call you "Fujimori-san," can't I?
Yeah. After all, we're classmates.
I see you running up the hill every morning.
I'm sorry about my canvas that rolled down the hill!
Aw, man. I wish you could draw my manga for me.
You'd be okay with me?
The truth is, I love reading manga.
And the art club has no members, so it's being disbanded next year.
Oh, hey.
Your hair clips are really cute.
Th-Th-Thank—
Sorry for barging in.
I'll try asking the other clubs.
Nekota & Nyanta
That was a total bust.
Stop your moping.
At times like these...
You're right.
Teramura Book Rentals
Hello there.
Teshima-sensei?
What are you doing here?
Yasumi-san.
A student shouldn't be wandering around so late...
I see. No luck at all?
Everyone laughed as soon as they read my manga.
Since my manga was so crappy.
That's not true at all.
I may be scared, but I still want to do what I want!
I feel the same way, Nyanta.
Manga is a form of self-expression.
Laying bare your sincere feelings to express who you are as a person.
It's not about who's better or worse.
Manga has the power to move others, provided they share your feelings.
So even if the art and structure is unpolished,
pour your feelings into your manga,
and you can surpass your skill level and move people.
Teshima-sensei!
That said...
There's a limit to how much one's feelings can surpass one's skill.
At the level you're at, you might not move anyone.
Huh? Weren't you trying to cheer me up?
Rei-chan sure can be socially inept at times.
Nana-chan, are you and Teshima-sensei pretty close?
We sure are.
We're not close at all.
I'm just here today to ask a favor.
A favor?
Oh, you found a clubroom?
Yeah.
Teshima-sensei asked the principal for permission
{\fnArial Black\bord2.5\shad0\blur0.3\an8\fs18\t(\fs17)\fscx90\3c&HE0EAF0&\c&H4C565F&\move(265,145,268,147)}Teramura Book Rentals
to use the second floor of the book rental shop.
Does that mean tons of manga?
You betcha!
{\fad(450,0)\fnComic Sans MS\shad0\bord2.5\fs44\b1\blur0.3\c&H000201&\3c&HFBFBFB&\pos(449,41)\clip(275.5,2,627,41.5)\t(30,490,\clip(275.5,2,625,342))}Akafuku's Dream
{\fad(450,0)\fnComic Sans MS\shad0\bord2.5\fs30\b1\blur0.3\c&H000201&\3c&HFBFBFB&\pos(450,106.5)\clip(275.5,2,627,41.5)\t(30,490,\clip(275.5,2,625,342))}A manga café on the island!
{\fad(450,0)\fnComic Sans MS\shad0\bord2.5\fs30\b1\blur0.3\c&H000201&\3c&HFBFBFB&\pos(442,164.5)\clip(275.5,2,627,41.5)\t(30,490,\clip(275.5,2,625,342))}Lots of manga
{\1a&HFF&\3a&H50&\fscy30\fscx150\bord3\shad0\p1\frz7\pos(441,168.5)\3c&H1806D1&\clip(364.5,125,372.5,180.5)\t(830,1280,\clip(364.5,125,511,181))}m 50 0 b 100 0 100 100 50 100 b 0 100 0 0 50 0
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{\fad(450,0)\fnComic Sans MS\shad0\bord2.5\fs30\b1\blur0.3\c&H000201&\3c&HFBFBFB&\pos(438,269.5)\clip(275.5,2,627,41.5)\t(30,490,\clip(275.5,2,625,342))}Soft cushions
{\fad(450,0)\fnComic Sans MS\shad0\bord2.5\fs30\b1\blur0.3\c&H000201&\3c&HFBFBFB&\pos(437,317)\clip(275.5,2,627,41.5)\t(30,490,\clip(275.5,2,625,342))}Soda machine
One step closer to my dream coming true.
Now we just need another member.
I was going to tell her I'd be fine with her using the art club's room.
I even tried drawing manga for the first time.
I'll join you!
Ya...
Yasumi-san.
I'll join you!
Wow!
Wow! Wow!
You really drew my manga?
Remember how I said your manga could be number one in Kono Manga?
Huh? Yeah.
I take it back! Your manga is trash!
So mean.
These are just pencil roughs I drew in a hurry.
I still need to clean them up.
This isn't the final version?
That's really amazing!
Thanks, Fujimori-san!
Young and naïve. Just the way I like 'em.
It's a rat's nest in here.
What about A/C?
It's a little beat-up, but yes.
Akafuku's Dream
A manga café on the island!
Lots of manga
m 50 0 b 100 0 100 100 50 100 b 0 100 0 0 50 0
Air-conditioned
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Soft cushions
Soda machine
A little beat-up
I can compromise.
Oh? Rei-chan.
Club Application Form
Manga Research Club
Yasumi Ai
Club Name:
Club Representative:
Current Year/Class:
Contact Info:
Club Members
*A minimum of three members are required to start a club
Yasumi Ai (1st year)
Akafuku Sachi (1st year)
Fujimori Kokoro (1st year)
Club Objective:
Draw interesting manga!!!!!
Teramura Book Rentals Storage Room
Please and thank you!!
Teacher Signature
Looks good to me.
Fujimori-san, you'll be in the art club and this one until the next school year?
Yes.
Okay, then.
The manga club starts next week.
Yes!
Yay!
We did it!
Our hard work paid off!
Before you begin, there are a few things I'd like you to promise me.
You will always put your schoolwork first.
You won't aim to go professional.
You'll treat this as nothing more than a hobby.
Don't stake your life on manga by saying, "I'll draw this, then die."
That's the first time I've heard Tessie tell a joke.
Who would ever think like that?
"Stake your life on manga"?
Teramura Book Rentals
By the time I'd drawn ten storyboards and completed four manuscripts,
one year had passed, with nary a fossil to show for it.
I see it's sci-fi this time.
Teshima-san, what exactly is the theme of your manga?
Teshima-san?
But how?
That should've killed you.
Don't kill me off!
I use the word "theme," but it doesn't have to be anything lofty.
In a few brief words, what would you say the purpose of your manga is?
Giving that a bit of thought might...
Adios.
"I don't have a theme."
"I just want people to read it."
"Wouldn't a doujinshi suffice for that?"
And so, I took part in Comitia, but...
New Release
yen
Thank you.
The table next to me is so popular.
I'm a huge fan!
So pretty.
Why am I not like that?
I almost turned into Hakumen no Mono there.
I can't believe they gave you an inline table, Hebichika-sensei.
It's my first time tabling.
Hebichika-sensei?!
I've been a fan of yours since grade school!
Sweet Snake Strawberries is basically sacred to me...
No, it's straight up my bible!
You're a living god to me, Sensei!
So bright! Cut it out already!
Oh, uh, I didn't mean you, Sensei.
My vision just freaked out and went haywire.
Excuse me, floor staff here.
I-I can't talk anymore.
You're obstructing foot traffic, so we've made room for you against the wall.
Could we ask you to relocate there?
Sure thing.
Thank you very much.
She's going to leave?
Hebichika-sensei!
I-I-I'm a big fan.
B-Book. This is my book.
Thank you.
H-How can I draw amazing manga like you?
Well, let me think...
I stuttered and jabbered like crazy, then threw in a weighty question!
Drop dead! I should just drop dead!
More bloodlust, maybe?
Well, best of luck.
Bloodlust?
And with that...
I graduated college without so much as even looking for a job.
Where do I need to dig?
Congrats on the job offer...
Hajime-chan.
And Rei-chan's big break is just around the corner.
A famous author in the making. Gimme your autograph before it's too late.
Her kindness stings like an arrow.
This is the one.
The perfect storyboard.
I looked like Tamiya Ryoko rolling up that spoon for a second.
The pain.
Life is pain.
I want a cat.
Since my family are the only ones who support me...
Honey.
Can you please talk to her?
I know I should.
How did Rei end up this way?
I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
I feel better after having a good cry like Esidisi-sama.
Even now, all I can think of is manga?
Do I give up on manga and get a job?
Or should I just die?
More bloodlust, maybe?
If I'm gonna die anyway, I'll do one last manga.
A manga bearing all of the resentment pent up inside me.
Let's decide on a theme.
A twisted teen manga didn't work.
There's no point if no one reads it.
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Cheerful and wholesome.
Don't show any hint of my current misery.
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Don't try to elicit any pity.
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
Fun Go comedic! Lay off the angst! Don't elicit pity! Extend a kind, friendly hand! No navel-gazing, you idiot! Absolutely no being preachy! Be sincere! Be honest! Draw like you mean it instead of half-assing it, moron! Draw with your blood! Draw this, then die!
I think that should do it.
Draw this, then die!
I'll
kill
all
of
you!
I'll kill all of you!
Draw like you're gonna drop dead!
Draw like you're gonna kill someone!
Make her cuter and more delicate!
More!
I'll murder you all!
Murder by entertainment!
Laugh!
Fall head over heels!
I'll murder everyone!
Murder but in a good way!
I'll bring happiness to all of you!
The eye level goes here.
Get down some quick roughs.
I guess the vanishing point should go here.
Pencils, pencils.
Inking.
Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Award Ceremony
Apply solid blacks, white ink, and then screen tones.
Scrape away tones with the light source in mind.
Teshima-san? Teshima-san?
And finally, white ink one more time.
Are you listening, Teshima-san?
Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Award
Seinen Category Honorable Mention
Hoshino Rei [Heartbeat Love Romance]
Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Award Ceremony
Woohoo! This place is a treasure trove.
Stop reading and start cleaning or we won't have a clubroom.
Roger.
I put my heart and soul into it, and only got an "honorable mention."
Shogakukan Newcomer Comic Award
Seinen Category Honorable Mention
Hoshino Rei [Heartbeat Love Romance]
Don't say that.
Did everyone else dig deeper?
Are their buried fossils different to begin with?
No.
Somewhere in a deeper part of me, there must be...
What's that?
This?
My favorite manga.
I'd love to read it.
Really?
Okay, I'll lend it to you.
Wait, this is Nana-chan's manga.
Teshima-san.
I...
want to draw the manga you come up with.
I found your manga interesting.
It was at that moment...
that I suddenly remembered my best friend as a child.
Then, I'll come up with some interesting manga.
Okay.
I can't wait to work together.
Same.
Miss Editor, please tell me your name.
I've told you it countless times.
Translation: John K. Timing: Andy Ellis Editing: SMR Quality Control: Ashley Barboza Final Check: Michelle Tymon