Shuukan Shounen Hachi (from the author of Jitsu wa)

Yeah, it feels like he definitely has a plan to go by this time. Still might take a bit to strike a balance though. In general I think it's hard to compare because he's introduced so many characters right off the bat.

Speaking of introducing new characters, little preview◊ for chapter 9.◊

That's a character I was hoping to see more of ever since chapter 1. Looks like we're back to a lighter mood.

Panda Girl is clearly Alice from the future.

…Or Mikeya from the past?

So we're finally introduced to not!Youko. She might already be my favorite character, though I'm guessing her liveliness hides something. It seems like she's almost trying too hard to look happy. Not sure what's up with the guy at the end… is he a 2nd year who came to spy on the E ranks? Why would he do that, though?

By the way, I already praised the way Masuda drew boobs, but I have to do it again. Holy damn Ran's rack is gorgeous.

edited 29th Mar '18 2:00:11 PM by Lyendith

Oh wow it's like a fusion of Youko and Shiho. And yeah, not gonna lie, he did a good job drawing her... assets.

That said... Hachi I'm not even an artist and I know you have to start with the general head shape before drawing the features.

I wonder if we'll actually get to see any of the portraits after the fact. There could actually be some good characterization buried in there. I'm also curious which of these characters are actually going to survive the culling. It would be a shame to have to burn the interesting ones.

edited 29th Mar '18 1:46:29 PM by JapaneseTeeth

…Wait, you're right, her front hair does look like Shiho's. How did I not notice that.

Now an interesting twist on Developing Doomed Characters… would be to have everyone introduced in E rank end up in the bottom 12, including Hachi. I have no idea how things would develop after that but that would be unexpected at least.

PS: I somehow forgot to mention that page 15 asbolutely destroyed me. That had to be said.

edited 29th Mar '18 2:00:26 PM by Lyendith

I actually didn't notice that either. I was referring more to her personality. The whole "why don't we be nude models?" thing is totally something Shiho would do in an art class.

And yeah, page 15 is a great "it makes sense in context I swear" image.

Uh yeah, this Inohara girl is like a fusion between Youko and Shiho. She even has Youko's braids and bat wings.

No stomach growl, though, that's a pity.

Chapie out. Well that's… not the development I expected. A hot-blooded hack, a happy-go-lucky airhead, a mute girl with a panda head and a guy who's most definitely not planning anything fishy. They're up against the fucking Internet. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

But seriously, this looks like the worst method imaginable to rate a homework. What are they thinking.

Other than that though, I like how Hachi has found a way to manipulate Alice.

edited 5th Apr '18 5:44:26 PM by Lyendith

Oh wow. This is going to be... very weird.

I wonder if Panda's gonna talk or if she's gonna be a "body language" type of character…

Maybe a "talks with her drawings" type of thing.

Anyway, now that I'm not sleep deprived: I'm really curious about how this is going to go. It's hard to tell if it's supposed to be taken at face value, or if it's going to be subverted somehow. I mean, the obvious way to gain the most likes to to appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator, which I really can't see Hachi wanting to do, so maybe they're being tested to see if they're willing to sacrifice their artistic integrity for popularity.

Also whichever team does the best lewds is obviously going to win the contest. He didn't make a rule against it, so I wouldn't be surprised if at least one team decides that sex appeal would be the best method to insure popularity.

…Well if that's the case, they probably have the ace of the class with Ran. Though I don't know if she can draw lewd stuff… Actually I'm not sure E rank lewdness would be such a good idea…

edited 6th Apr '18 10:41:54 AM by Lyendith

Well, I mean, it's only up against other E rank art, so it's not like the bar is super high.

But more likely if that does come up I'm expecting it to backfire.

EDIT: Also I need to reread it and start filling out the trope page some more.

edited 6th Apr '18 11:21:46 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Lil'◊ preview.◊

Seems like everything's going smoothly… more or less.

So Panda girl can clone herself and also has a bondage fetish, apparently.

It Makes Sense in Context… kinda. Let's just say that Inohara had it coming a little.

Still, it feels a bit weird to have a whole new main cast◊ now, at least temporarily. Like the chapters before were just a prologue.

By the way, if there's no problem there might be a double release (chapter 11 and 12) this weekend. The former's raw came out unusually late, and the latter's unusually early, so we had two raw chapters in the span of 3 days…

edited 12th Apr '18 4:07:48 PM by Lyendith

Yeah, it kinda felt like we had a bit of a revolving cast up to this point, so maybe now it'll be a little more stable for a while.

…Welp, so much for the "double release this weekend". >.> Anyway, chap 11 is out!

Today's lesson: Pandas aren't as cute as they look. Still, exquisite corpse in manga form can actually be a pretty neat idea if done well…

The operative words being "if done well." Really should've set some guidelines or had some sort of set premise first.

They really suck at coming up with names for their team.

Also, Handa tying Inohara to the chair looks to be a Running Gag.

Why do you think it'll become a running gag? …Although, yeah, with Ran's personality she might need to be tied often.

As usual, little◊ preview◊ of chapter 12◊ (and chapter 13's color page◊ while we're at it).

I have a feeling Masuda is pretty fond of Panda.

Wasn't this the second time she's been tied to the chair because of something like this? Or did I get my wires crossed and am thinking of something else?

Also, Handa is adorable, although I'm surprised we're already getting to see her face.

edited 19th Apr '18 1:19:17 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Nope, first time… Maybe it's because I had posted a preview image of the scene before the chap was out.

Either that or I got it confused with something. That said, it would make a good Running Gag for Inohara to do something dumb and get tied up for it.