I just want to quietly draw manga Chapter 334

After Haruki had left her house, Kotone sat in her room, staring at the Clannad draft and reflecting on his suggestions for improvement.

After re-reading Haruki’s notes, she stopped at the part where he mentioned that the first arc had too many long segments focusing on different girls. She thought it was essential emotional buildup if she wanted to move toward a magical, hopeful ending, but still, it could be trimmed down since it lingered too long on a single arc. Yet that wasn’t her main concern.

Her real worry was what to do with the second part and the magical system. If she wanted to keep the magic and maintain a hopeful tone, she could cut down on the first season, just like Haruki suggested. But if she removed the magical elements, it would require rebalancing the whole story.

Kotone murmured quietly, “What to do… what to do…” as her eyes stayed fixed on the draft.

She kept thinking about it for hours, the story replaying in her head based on Haruki’s idea. In her mind, it reached the emotional climax, Ushio dying while Tomoya held her hand, wishing he could redo everything. But in this version, that scene never happened. In this story, Tomoya was left with his losses. Imagining that, her eyes grew watery, even more than when she first came up with the idea herself. Then she imagined an alternate world where he dreamed of that life and believed he had lived it, cherishing his family more, and they all lived happily after. Just imagining it was too much for her to handle.

“Damn you… Haruki,” Kotone muttered under her breath, her voice trembling. “How can you twist something so hopeful into something so tragic?”

When she first came up with the idea for Clannad, she’d written it happily, even during the emotional arcs. It was bittersweet but not devastating. Tomoya hadn’t truly lost everything. But this version Haruki suggested was haunting.

“He says, ‘write the epilogue so it feels closer,’ but that only makes it more tragic,” she said softly, almost to herself. “Now it shows what he had and what he lost. You’ve turned something hopeful and romantic into something emotionally wrecking.”

Still, she couldn’t deny it. Haruki’s proposed changes elevated the story. With only small adjustments, it could devastate readers in a way she’d never managed before. She knew it.

For the next two days, Kotone didn’t write anything. She wasn’t in the right state of mind. When Haruki messaged her later, she gave him an earful for making her rewrite something this heavy. But deep down, she also knew she couldn’t ignore his version anymore. To her, it felt wrong not to write it that way.

She sighed. “You’ve done it again, Haruki… now I have to make people cry for real.”

August. Present Day.

Haruki was sitting at his desk, drawing manga panels, though lately he had slowed down. He still drew, but mostly the basic outlines; the rest of the work he had given to his assistants. Today, however, he was drawing a chapter that made him realize how much he had been neglecting his drawing side.

He planned that once Code Geass finished production, he would dive back into manga full-time. The studio animators would have a deep learning curve with Wes’s new technique, so it would take time before full production began.

As for today, the reason he stayed at his apartment drawing instead of going to the studio was because Haruka had said she would be arriving. He hadn’t met her for over a month. Most of the time, when she came to pick up drafts, his assistant would hand them over since he was busy at the studio. So when she said she had work to discuss with him, he decided to take a half-day leave and go to the studio later.

A short while later, Haruka arrived at the apartment.

As she walked in, she saw Haruki drawing manga pages with incredible speed and precision, not making a single mistake. It had been a long time since she’d seen him working on manga like this. Usually, the drafts were already ready, and Haruki would be doing something else. Ever since he started working on Code Geass, she had seen him draw less and less. She had told him at the start, when she became his editor, that he was free to do anything he wanted as long as it didn’t affect his manga, and she never brought it up again.

“Haruka,” Haruki called out, pulling her from her thoughts.

She blinked. “Oh, sorry. I was just watching you work. It’s been a while since you drew a manga chapter yourself since you started working on Code Geass.”

Haruki nodded. “Yeah, I noticed that too. I’ve been thinking of getting back into drawing once the anime wraps up. Which brings me to the topic, how’s the Fullmetal Alchemist production going? Sorry I couldn’t be the creative supervisor; you know how much I’ve been doing.”

Haruka waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I know how much you’ve got on your plate. We just sent the invite as courtesy even if we knew you’d probably reject it. As for Fullmetal, I went last week to see some of the episodes. It’s a strong anime overall. Not comparable to Code Geass, but strong compared to the top anime released each year. They’ve poured in more money after seeing the success of Code Geass.”

“That’s good,” Haruki said. “At least it won’t suffer from bad animation. I wish I could’ve gone, but you know how busy I am. It’s my responsibility as a mangaka to see how the animation of my manga is doing. Some people would kill for a creative supervisor role in anime, and here I am barely doing it.”

Haruka smiled slightly. “Don’t worry about it. If you’re that worried, you can go after Code Geass ends. They’ll still have a lot left to animate.”

Haruki nodded. “Alright, I’ll do that. After Code Geass ends, I’ll go. So, what brings you here today? You said it was work-related.”

Haruka handed him a copy of Tokyo Magazine. “I figured you haven’t had time to read anything lately. Turn to page twenty-two.”

Haruki flipped through the pages. On the glossy spread, the headline read: “Echo Shroud officially ranked No. 3 Publishing House in Japan.”

Below it was a detailed description of the company’s history and rise.

“Congratulations,” Haruki said. “Tell the editor-in-chief Amane congratulations on behalf of me.”

Haruka shook her head. “I didn’t come here just to tell you that. The board and Amane have decided to hold a big event in October to celebrate. We knew you wouldn’t be free until after Code Geass finishes, so we planned it for then.”

Haruki sighed quietly. “You know I don’t like those kinds of parties. After Geass ends, I’ll already have to deal with publicity, and I don’t think that much socializing is good for my health.”

Haruka crossed her arms lightly. “We’re holding it late because of you. You’re a big part of why Echo Shroud reached number three. The shareholders and staff want to meet you. Plus, you haven’t really socialized for six months. Consider it a way to make up for that.”

Haruki leaned back slightly, giving a small nod. “Okay. Just tell me the exact date once it’s set.”

After some small talk, Haruka left. Haruki cleaned up his desk, handed the remaining pages to Noya to draw, and headed out to the studio shortly after.