🍷 [Manga Sommelier Hitsujigaoka] 'Haikyu!!', 'The Apothecary Diaries', 'Blue Lock'. An appraisal of Kinu-sama, 'a person who gives shape to their favorite worlds through trial and error'

As the curtain of night falls, everyone seeks a story to read next within their heart.

Tonight, the one who knocked on the door of this appraisal room is Kinu-sama, who challenges various forms of expression such as illustration, design, manga, and music while using generative AI.

Turning the vague images in one's mind into words, converting them into prompts, and gradually bringing them closer to the world one loves.

However, what Kinu-sama values is not just creating works.

Thinking through everything from note header images and social media posts to titles, text, and the flow for readers, they don't just 'finish after creating,' but refine things into a form that reaches someone.

Trying new tools, reflecting on the results, and moving on to the next expression.

They do not keep that trial and error to themselves, but share it with those who are just starting to create, using gentle words.

Hitsujigaoka will appraise the stories that will light a new fire for future creation, based on the three titles chosen by Kinu-sama.

*This article contains Amazon Associates links.

🍷 Tonight's guest's 'preferences'

Hitsujigaoka: Good evening, Kinu-sama.

You use AI as a creative partner to give shape to various expressions such as illustrations, designs, manga, and music.

Could you tell me the three books that have shaped your heart today?

Kinu-sama: If I were to list my three favorite manga, they would be 'Haikyu!!' by Haruichi Furudate, 'The Apothecary Diaries' based on the original work by Natsu Hyuga and illustrated by Nekokurage, and 'Blue Lock' based on the original work by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura.

I really love the relationships between the characters and the process of their growth in 'Haikyu!!'.

I am drawn to the world-building, the mystery-solving elements, and the charm of the protagonist in 'The Apothecary Diaries'.

I like 'Blue Lock' for its intense developments and the distinct personality of each character.

Hitsujigaoka: ...My, what a vivid selection of three books.

Volleyball, inner palace mystery, and soccer.

Although the settings are different, these three books share one common point.

It is,

a story where people with distinct personalities think, clash, and discover their own unique strength through their relationships with others.

that is what it is.

"Haikyu!!" contains the joy of expanding one's potential by engaging with teammates.

"The Apothecary Diaries" contains the fascination of observing phenomena before one's eyes and deciphering the mechanisms hidden beneath them.

"Blue Lock" contains the passion of seeking one's own unique weapon rather than settling for being the same as everyone else.

Kinu-sama, you surely value the same things in your own creative work.

To try.
To think.
To be inspired by someone else's expression.

And, to gradually draw closer to a world that only you can create.

So, for this evening, I will serve you three books that will accompany your future creative work and output.

🍷 First Glass: "Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!"

Author: Sumito Oowara

Catchphrase:
Give blueprints to your imagination and set a world that does not yet exist into motion.

Hitsujigaoka's Perspective:
"Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!" is a story about three high school girls who turn the fantasies in their heads into animation.

Midori Asakusa, who overflows with passion for settings and world-building.

Tsubame Mizusaki, who is obsessed with drawing human movement.

And Sayaka Kanamori, who turns their talents into realistic plans and leads their work to completion.

The three of them have completely different personalities and areas of expertise.

That is precisely why a world that would have ended as mere imagination if they were alone begins to move, little by little.

In the relationship between these three, there is the teamwork of "Haikyu!!".

Asakusa and Mizusaki's intense dedication contains a "unique weapon" just like in "Blue Lock".

And the fun of thinking through settings down to the smallest detail and building the mechanics of a world also resonates with "The Apothecary Diaries".

Kinu-sama also takes the vague images in their head, puts them into words, turns them into prompts, and approaches their ideal world while looking at the generated images.

If it doesn't go as planned, change the expression and try again.

Combine different worldviews and nurture them into a new work.

"Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!" is the one title that most vividly stimulates the heart of the "world-builder" within Kinu-sama.

🍷 Second Glass: "Left Hand Layla"

Original Story: Kappy / Manga: nifuni

Catchphrase:
A creator ensemble drama that pours effort and obsession into the strong liquor called talent.

Hitsujigaoka's Perspective:
"Left Hand Layla" is a story that depicts people facing their own talents in the worlds of advertising, design, and art.

Koichi Asakura, who works hard as an advertising designer.

Ellen Yamagishi, who possesses overwhelming expressive power and walks a solitary path.

Koichi, who builds things up through effort, and Ellen, who possesses talent that cannot be measured by common sense.

Centered on these two contrasting figures, the question of "what can I do?" is depicted.

It is a work that feels like the heat of clashing personalities that Kinu-sama feels in "Blue Lock" has been transferred to the world of creators.

It is not just people who express themselves who appear.

People who find talent in others.
People who make projects happen.
People who deliver works to the world.

Each of them is searching for a role that only they can fulfill.

Kinu-sama, too, has been expanding their activities into illustrations, music, videos, manga, and design, while nurturing the axis of AI illustration at the center of it all.

What kind of person am I?
What kind of worldview do I want to deliver?

The way you find those contours through trial and error overlaps with the journey of Koichi and the others.

A slightly sharp-tongued book that depicts the longing for talent and the impatience without hiding anything.

However, for Kinu-sama, who is trying to connect creative work to a career, it should resonate deeply.

※Available to read for free until 7/17

🍷 Third Cup: "Juhan Shuttai! (Re-print Out!)"

Author: Naoko Matsuda

Catchphrase:
A relay of nameless passion that carries a single work to the reader.

Hitsujigaoka's Perspective:
"Juhan Shuttai!" is a story centered on rookie manga editor Kokoro Kurosawa, depicting the people involved in getting manga to readers.

Bright and proactive, Kokoro believes in the talent of manga artists and keeps thinking of ways to get their work to more people.

Supporting her is the experienced senior editor, Iokibe.

Kokoro, who pushes forward with passion alone, and Iokibe, who looks at works and artists calmly.

Starting with these two, people in various positions—manga artists, sales, marketing, bookstore staff—all work to carry a single manga to the reader.

There is a joy of teamwork there, just like in "Haikyu!!".

It is not just those standing on the main stage, but also those who support them who have roles that only they can fulfill.

Kinu-sama, you do not just create illustrations.

You think of thumbnails, refine titles, write easy-to-read text, and create a flow from social media to your articles.

You are a "creator" of works, and at the same time, a "deliverer".

Just because a work is good does not mean it will be found naturally.

Only when someone believes in its charm, puts it into words, and carries it to those who need it, does the work finally reach someone's heart.

"Sleepeeer Hit!" is a work that warmly affirms both "creating" and "delivering," two things that Kinu has always held dear.

🧭 The path to the "book of destiny"

Hitsujigaoka:Now, Kinu.

"Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!", where you work with companions to give shape to a world that does not yet exist?

"Left Hand Layup!", where you continue to pursue your own unique expression amidst the harsh realities of talent, effort, and evaluation?

"Sleepeeer Hit!", where you support a single work with the passion of many people and deliver it to the readers who need it?

Which of these works is the most fitting for you, Kinu, as you nurture your own favorite worldview while utilizing AI?

Kinu:Thank you, Hitsujigaoka-san.

I was interested in all of them, but this time I choose "Left Hand Layup!".

There are two reasons.

The first is that it is a work I have wanted to read for a long time.

The second is that I learned the author, Kappy, is currently involved in the management of note, which piqued my interest.

I chose it this time because I thought I could encounter not only the work itself but also the author's way of thinking and approach to expression as a creator.

Hitsujigaoka:

..."Left Hand Layup!", is it.

I think it is a choice truly characteristic of you, Kinu, wanting to receive not just the work, but also the creator's way of thinking and their stance toward expression that lies beyond it.

Over this past year, you have kept AI illustration at the center of your output without wavering from the start.

Building on the sensibilities you cultivated with Stable Diffusion, you challenged yourself with Midjourney, constructed prompts with ChatGPT, and explored new worldviews with nijijourney.

Even as the range of tools and expressions you handle has expanded, at the center of it all has always been "giving shape to your favorite world as an illustration."

Koichi Asakura, who appears in "Left Hand Layup!" (Left-handed Ellen), is also a person who continues to ask what they are capable of while immersing themselves in the world of expression.

Even while feeling lost in the face of overwhelming talent, he does not leave the world of creation and continues to face his work in the ways he can.

That figure overlaps with the path Kinu-sama has walked, holding onto a single core while repeating trial and error.

And what is particularly impressive about Kinu-sama's activities is that you generously share the prompts and production techniques you have accumulated with your readers.

Instead of keeping them as your own exclusive techniques, you
"Please try imitating and creating it first"
and hand them over to those who are just starting.

"Left Hand Layup!" features not only those with talent, but also those who find talent, those who support it, and those who deliver works to the world.

Creation is not something that is completed by one person alone.

Someone passes on what they have gained to the next person, and that person then gives birth to a new expression.

The prompts that Kinu-sama releases for free are likely not just a convenient string of words, but an entrance for someone else to begin their own creation.

You share not only the finished work, but also the things that didn't go as planned and the insights gained through experimentation.

I believe that attitude becomes a small signpost that makes readers think,
"Maybe I can do it too."

"Left Hand Layup!" is not a work that gives you the answer to what talent is.

However, it is a book that tells those who believe in a single expression and continue to create,
"It is okay to keep moving forward in your own way."

Therefore,

tonight's fated glass shall be "Left Hand Layup!".

Kinu-sama, thank you very much for this appraisal.

May this encounter with this book make the core of expression that Kinu-sama has nurtured over the past year even stronger and more vivid.

🌙 At the end of a quiet night

Well then, I shall conclude tonight's appraisal here.

What I felt from Kinu-sama's story was that you are someone who nurtures a single "love" without wavering, while passing on what you have gained in that process to the next person.

A published prompt gives birth to someone's very first image.

And that one image connects to yet another world.

Kinu-sama's posts don't just showcase their work; they likely spread the very joy of creation itself.

May Kinu-sama's cute, beautiful, and slightly mysterious world continue to reach those who need it.

The next person to sit at this counter might be you—

Or perhaps someone else who is searching for their own unique form of expression.

📚 Three books from our guest

This time's guest

Next time's guest

The final video for this work will be submitted to the Chibi Creative Awards hosted by Kawamura-san.

I heard there are few entries for the video category, so everyone, please feel free to enter! 🙌

You get 300 Pollo credits just for entering, so it's a great deal!

Thank you for reading until the end.
Likes, follows, and comments of any kind are very encouraging. 🙂‍↕️

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