The chapter was published online in English by Viz Media and Shueisha's Manga Plus platform. [5] In February 2022, Viz Media announced that they had licensed the manga and the volume was published on September 20, 2022. [6] [7] Friendship, art, and the inherent repercussion we have on other people's lives sound like totally random themes to group together, that is until Fujimoto strings them into a compelling one shot that, as much of his work, cuts right to the tenderest parts of one's heart.

Jump J-Books (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021 . Retrieved February 10, 2021. Loners Are Freaks: A significant part of the one-shot centers on how lonely making art can be. Fujino as a child is shown to be a relatively normal and outgoing, but starts to be ostracized by her friends and has a more distant relationship with her family as she becomes fixated on being a good artist. Even when she becomes friends with Kyomoto, their lives revolve around making art, and Fujino questions if sacrificing so much for it mattered at all after Kyomoto's death. one can do the utmost effort to explain it to others without ever making them feel half the way one does. Unless, of course, you're a genius like Fujimoto. We know him for his weird scenes, crazy humour, great storytelling and his often depressing stories... so this feels, at least for me, new. Personal. Surprisingly Sudden Death: Kyomoto and 11 others at her art school are killed by a random act of violence by a delusional man halfway through the one shot. The remainder of the story is centered on Fujino dealing with the grief of losing Kyomoto. The second half of the book is a condensed retelling of the first. Exploring the earlier symbolism, this half focuses on Kyomoto. For the price of their childhood collaborations, Kyomoto’s life is saved by a Fujino who, having given up manga, focused on karate and uses those skills to prevent the massacre.a b 藤本タツキ×沙村広明奇跡の対談 [5][Tatsuki Fujimoto x Hiroaki Samura Miraculous Dialogue [5]]. shonenjump.com (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on December 20, 2020 . Retrieved January 9, 2021. Sands, Rich (October 8, 2021). " 'WandaVision', 'The Magic Fish', &, Chainsaw Man' Win Big at Harvey Awards at NYCC". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021 . Retrieved October 9, 2021.

Fujimoto strikes me as someone who is very in touch with himself and his emotions, and it shows in the way he expresses what he feels on paper. Then there's also the obvious KyoAni reference, which makes me wonder if he did this for himself or for them. Maybe for both, but we'll probably never know. That just makes this story all the more affecting.Mateo, Alex (February 14, 2022). "Viz Announces Fall 2022 Book Releases Including Mission: Yozakura Family, Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe Manga, Jujutsu Kaisen Novels". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022 . Retrieved February 19, 2022. After many hints throughout the one-shot, Fujino fully admits near the end that she actually dislikes drawing manga. The inciting incident that led to her focusing much of her childhood on her art was her anger that Kyomoto upstaged her in the school paper after enjoying success as their school's best artist. But the ending makes it clear that while she ultimately has zero passion for it, the happiness it brought Kyomoto and possibly others was what kept her going, which she does after coming to terms with Kyomoto's death. Perhaps you will, like me, feel like this is as close as perfection as a one shot (or manga in general) can be. But also a story of friendship sketched out, between two teenagers, one arrogant, mischievous and falsely sure of herself, the second, shy (even hikkimori) but careful and diligent; their complementarity being symbolized by these mangas that they will draw with four hands, one for the scenarios/characters, the second for the extremely neat decorations. Only, rather than clinging to these sensitive little details, Fujimoto, himself perhaps still a teenager in his approach, cannot help slipping slightly down two slippery slopes: on the one hand, the one who thinks that t is absolutely necessary that a drama occur (as such, he probably went beyond the medium and its prerogatives less than he thinks), then, that of a pathos sometimes slightly too strong. Despite everything, a recommendable one shot, revealing the sentimental aspect of an author ostensibly more busy rolling mechanics.