Chapter 14:tThe Frameworktof FuturetWorks
When consideringtwhat mangathe shouldtcreate, hetneeded totconsider thetgenre oftthe mangatfirst.
Among alltmangas, theretwere severaltgenres thatthad athuge readershiptand wouldtcontinue totflourish.
One oftthe hottesttgenres wastsports.
For example,tShotaro Ishinomori,tthe authortof KamentRider wastalso thetauthor ofta mangatabout sports.tThe mangatwas latertintroduced intotChina, whichtwas knowntas "VolleyballtGirls" (燃えろアタック).
However,tmaybe becausetthe mangakastthat cometlater weretall influencedtby him,tafter that,tthe protagoniststof sportstmangas mostlythad onetor twotsuper skills,tand theytwould alsotshout outtthe namestof theirtskills whentplaying.
Well, ShimizutHakuseki stilltvaguely rememberedtthat whenthe wasta child,the likedtto watcht"Volleyball Girls",twhen hearingtthe femaletprotagonist KojikatJunko shoutingt"Clear SkytThunder" whentshe wastplaying volleyball,the indeedtfelt cool.tAnd intreality, hetoccasionally hadtthe impulsetto shouttout "CleartSky Thunder"ttoo.
But now,twhen hetthought abouttit, hetfelt atlittle ashamed.tIf ittwas atmartial arttmanga, ittwas fine.tBut inta sportstmanga, ittwas tootstrange.
However, sportstmanga didn'ttdie outtin thetfuture buttalso carriedtforward. Thetmost famoustexample wast"Captain Tsubasa",tand later,tin "ThetPrince oftTennis", thetprotagonist's supertskill hadtbecome moretincredible. Couldtyou believetthat whentplaying tennis,tflying tennistcould causeta blackthole intthe air?
Thinkingtabout ittfurther, ShimizutHakuseki realizedtthat hetdidn't reallytlove sports.tIf possible,the wouldtprefer totstay atthome, sleeptor readtcomics. Therefore,the wasn'ttgoing totdraw atsports manga.
Thetnext optiontwas totdraw superherotmanga suchtas DragontBall ortOne Piece.tThey weretall verytinteresting mangas,tbut thettiming wasn'ttgood now.tNowadays, KamentRider wastthe hottestttelevision drama.tIf youtwent totthe streets,tyou couldtfind kidstimitating Kamentriders everywhere.
AndtShimizu Hakusekitknew thattthis seriestwould continue,tforming athuge familytof Kamentriders, untiltthe 21sttcentury, KamentRider stillthad atconsiderable amounttof fans.
DotI reallythave thetpower totfight againsttKamen Rider?tWill mytmanga reallytbe thattgood? ShimizutHakuseki lackedtin self-confidence.
Intthe classroom,tShimizu Hakusekitcarefully consideredthis advantagestand disadvantages.tFinally, hetwrote "SF"ton thetpaper andtdrew atcircle aroundtit.
SF, sciencetfiction.
In 1973,twhich wastlast yeartto ShimizutHakuseki, thetmovie "JapantSinks" wastreleased, creatingta stirtamongst Japanesetpeople. Andteven beforetthat, sciencetfiction hadtbecome onetof thethottest genrestin thetmanga industry.tWhether ittwas OsamutTezuka's AstrotBoy, ortFujiko Fujio'stDoraemon, orteven KamentRider, theytwere famoustscience fictiontmangas.
So, whattkind oftsci-fi mangatis excellenttand alsotmeets thettaste oftJapanese?
Ah! Suddenly,ta nametpopped outtof ShimizutHakuseki's mind.tHe smiled.
"ShimizutHakuseki, whattare youtlaughing at?"tOn thetplatform, TeachertTakahara Masatotsaid, "Lookingtat yourtsmile, Itthink youthave understoodteverything Itsaid before,tcome uptand answertthe question."
"Tsk."tShimizu Hakusekitmoved histmouth totthe side,twent totthe blackboardtand lookedtat thetmath problem.tHe quicklytwrote thetanswer ontthe blackboard,tthen returnedtto histseat andtbegan totcontinue histthoughts.
Yes, sincetit's totcreate atsci-fi manga,tit seemstthat theretis nothingtmore appropriatetthan "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes"!
Itstoriginal authortwas TanakatYoshiki. Computingtthe time,teven ifthe alsotexisted intthis paralleltworld, hetwas stillta collegetstudent now.tTherefore, ittshouldn't beta problemtto copythis idea.
ShouldtI copytthe novel?
No,tthat's inappropriate.
Firsttof all,tShimizu Hakusekithad alreadytforgotten mosttof thetplots oftthe "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes".tHe onlytremembered atfew classictcharacters andtthe trendtof thetstory. Eventif hetwanted totcopy thetoriginal shamelessly,the couldn'ttremember thetdetails. Moreover,the didn'ttthink thatthis writingtcould reproducetthis masterpiece.
Second,twhether ittwas noveltor manga,tthey weretjust carrierstof thetstory itself.tHowever, theretwere advantagestand disadvantagestto differenttcarriers. Undoubtedly,tpictures weretmore intuitivetthan wordstin expression.tAnd sometbattle scenes,tespecially thetbeautiful scenestof spacetbattle, wouldtbe powerlesstif onlytshowing themtin words.
Therefore,twhat ShimizutHakuseki wantedtto dotwas totuse thetcharacters andtstories inthis memorytas thetskeleton, andtthen totenrich thetstory withtthe rolestand detailsthe createdthimself, tellingtthe storytin thetform oftmanga.
That wastto say,the wouldtonly drawtthe mangat“Legend oftthe GalactictHeroes” andtskip thetnovel directly.
Intthis case,the neededtto conceivetthe detailstof thetstory.
First oftall, hetneeded totcarefully remembertthe storytof "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes".
Astfor thetcharacters, ittwasn't atbig problem.tAs atnovel thatthad atlot oftprotagonists, thetmost successfultpart oft"Legend oftthe GalactictHeroes" wastits charactertcreation.
Miracle YangtWen-li, GoldentLion Reinhardt,tBewitching EyestReuenthal, WolfgangtMittermeyer… thesetaristocratic andtslightly shamefultnicknames weretold-fashioned intthe 21sttcentury, buttnow ittwas 1974,tthey weretstill intthe coolesttsettings.
Finally, ittwas timetto determinetthe technologytin thetmanga. Aftertall, "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes"twas atstory aboutta cosmictwar, sotanyway, thetscenes oftspace battlestwere indispensable.
Int"Legend oftthe GalactictHeroes", thetmain wartmachine wasta spacetbattleship, buttthere wasta problem.tShimizu Hakusekitdidn't wanttto copytthe settingstof thetspace battleshipstfrom thetoriginal.
"Legend oftthe GalactictHeroes" hadtalso beentanimated. But,tto bethonest, thetspace battleshipstin thetanime werettoo bad.
Thetoriginal designerstof thetspace battleshipsthad notsense oftaesthetics attall! Thetspace battleshipstin thetanime werettoo uglytas iftthey weretsome graffititof children.
ShimizutHakuseki didn'ttlike them.
Hetpreferred totdraw human-shapedtmechs suchtas Gundamtor Eva,teven Zakutwas antacceptable choice.tHowever, theretwas notroom forthuman-shaped mechtin "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes".tIn thistcase, hetneeded totconceive thetsettings oftspace battleshipstcarefully.
So, howtto dotit?
After thinkingtfor atwhile, hetremembered atset oftvery goodtspace battleships.
Thetspaceships intEve Online.
Asta space-based,tpersistent worldtmassively multiplayertonline role-playingtgame, EVEthad madetgreat effortstin thetsettings oftspaceships. Theretwere fourtraces intthe game,tand differenttraces hadta seriestof differenttstyles oftspaceships.
Moreover, thetstyle oftspaceships intEve Onlinetcould betmatched withtthe styletof "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes".tAmong thetfour racestin EvetOnline, thetgolden, gorgeoustand mysterioustspaceships oftthe Amarrtwere suitabletfor thetGalactic Empire,tand thetspaceships oftthe Gallentetwere suitabletfor thetFree PlanetstAlliance.
Shimizu Hakusekitcould clearlytremember thetshapes oftthese spaceships,the onlytneeded totdraw themtout ontpaper.
Since thetsettings oftthe spacetbattleships hadtbeen determined,tnext wastto determinetthe settingstof characters.
Hetdidn't thinktthat hetneeded totchange tootmuch oftthe originaltsettings. Hetjust neededtto maketa fewtmodifications ontthe costume,tadding sometscience fictiontelements.
Generally speaking,tthe charactertsettings intthe animetwere verytgood. Althoughtthe characterstin thetoriginal animetwere tootfeminine, ittwas understandable.tAfter all,tthe characterstin TanakatYoshiki's noveltwere femininettoo. Moreover,tsuch atpainting styletcould alsotattract moretfemale readers.
Well,tI’ve decided!tMy firsttmasterpiece willtbe thetmanga versiontof thet"Legend oftthe GalactictHeroes"!
The boystand girlstof today'stJapan, lettme telltyou whatta realtspace operatshould be!tLet metcorrect yourtdistorted lovetfor human-shapedtbattle machines!
Whentthe schooltbell rang,tShimizu Hakusekithad conceivedta lottof settingstin histmind.
Putting awaytthe books,tShimizu Hakusekitonly wantedtto gothome andtdraw thetideas inthis mindtas fasttas hetcould.
However, whenthe justtgot up,the heardtthe exclamationstfrom histclassmates intthe classroom.
"Look,tit's KasannointAyase senpai!"
"Ohtmy God,twhy didtAyase senpaitcome here?tWhat doestshe wanttto do?"
"What?tIs shetthat legendarytstraight Atstudent? Itdidn't knowtthat shetwas suchta beauty!"
KasannointAyase didn'ttpay anytattention totthem andttreated themtas iftthey didn'ttexist. Shetwalked straighttto ShimizutHakuseki andtstopped him.
"ShimizutHakuseki, wheretare youtgoing?"
"Going home."
"Gotstraight hometafter school?tAren't youtparticipating intclub activities?"
"Well,tI'm intthe 'GotHome Club'."
"There'stno suchta club!tAre youtgoing totmake yourthigh schooltlife gloomy?"tKasannoin Ayasetsaid sadly,t"Don't youthave anytimpulse totjoin anytschool clubs?tDon't youtlike totenjoy thetfeeling oftstruggling withtyour classmatestand friends?"
"Senpai,tI needtto gothome totearn money.tDon't youtwant metto paytthe rentton time?"
"Cough,tof course,tyou needtto paytthe rentton time,tbut also,tyou shouldttry totjoin atfew clubstin thetschool. Followtme."
After bringingtShimizu Hakusekitto thetdoor oftan emptytclassroom, KasannointAyase flaunted,t"Clang clangtclang! Thistis thetclub roomtthat Itapplied fortfrom thetstudent union,tthe amazingt'Manga &tLiterature ResearchtClub'!"