What was your reaction when reading through a manga and suddenly came to an abrupt end? Consumed by rage? Filled with confusion? Drown in disbelief and denial? Perhaps, plagued with uncontrollable laughter at the absurdity.Nevertheless, come. Relive, share with others, or experience for yourself the first time some of these short lived (maybe justifiably so) creations.Make valuable lessons be learnt. And never forget, the true ending was the friends we read questionably sourced Japanese cartoon drawings on a handicraft forum with along the way.Being the biggest girl at school doesn't just come down to size.>"I came here because I wanted to be friends with everyone!" The girl who transferred to an ordinary junior high school was a Kaiju!?>The manga was drawn as a graduation project. A boy meets girl story of the slightly bittersweet adolescence of a kind-hearted boy and a kaiju girl.Chapter 5 >>274924204
Special Chapter: On the Morning of the Kaiju
>Konomi-chan>Have you decided on what you'd like to ask from Santa?>Yes!>I've decided!>What is it?>Tell me, tell me~>Hmmm...>Can you keep a secret, Kameda-san?>Of course!>I'll keep it a secret!
>Konomi won't even tell her mother, you know?*Shh shh>Must be Konomi-chan>She's very excited to find her present, huh?
>Konomiii!>Good morning!>Did your present arrive?*NodNodNod>See, see...>When I woke up...>It was placed next to my pillow...>That's nice, isn't it?>I'm glad!
>So Konomi wasn't a bad girl...
>Konomi-chan>Good morning, Kameda-san!>You have school today, right?>Yeah!>Don't forget your bento, okay?>Ah!>Okay!>Tighten them good...
>Konomi!>Mom>You're not forgetting anything?>Have you got a handkerchief and tissues?>I got them already~>You worry too much, mom>Then...>It'll be fine! I'll definitely get along with everyone
>Smiling face!*Smile>Alright...>Take care!>O-kay!>I'm off!>Do you need to worry so much?>I'm sure they'll like someone like Konomi-chan>She's a good and honest girl
>You're right>But, even so...>I want Konomi to live more freely...>Well...>It's true that not being such a good kid can often make life easier...
>There's the school!!>Wow!>So big...>Hidaka-san!
>>274952944Konomi is a GOOD girl
>This floor is for the 2nd year>Could you wait in front?>Come in and introduce yourself when I call, okay?>Ye-Yes!
>It'll be fine. It'll be fine!>I practiced a whole lot!>She's half kaiju and half human*Jolt*Chatter
>Ah...>My throat feels tight...>My heart won't stop pounding...>It must be>That I'm feeling nervous...>All right,>Come in*Smile!
>Here I am!
>>274953244Nice page
>Afterword>Kaiju-kun is a work I created for my university graduation in 2021. Making a graduation project was like a rite of passage for me, even more so than my coming of age ceremony.>The theme for the graduation project was "Children and School", which I was took interest in at the time. I had a very long childhood since I tried to remain a child until the very end of my 3rd year in university. That's probably why I wanted to graduated from being a child through my graduation project.>I hated school. But I liked the people there. That's why when I thought that they disliked me, I tried my hardest to hate them back. Although, in reality, what they disliked was perhaps not me but the school... I'm not sure what the truth us, but regardless, that place was full of contradictions.>That unique atmosphere has the power to draw you in regardless of age, to strike up a conversation with the kid next to you, to form a group, and eventually get the feeling of "This is where we belong". I think that's the kind of power it has. When you have a one-on-one meeting after school out of uniform, you come to realize "So this is what this kid is like". And somehow, not being in uniforms feels embarrassing. That's the kind of place it was.>I persisted with creating the story until I felt "This is definitely the one I want to make my graduation project". Truthfully, I'm not good at stories where charracters make lots of mistakes. "Aah, it'd have been better if they did this instead", "This kid actually wanted to say something more", "If they had did this here, no one would have to be sad"... Was what I was thinking while making Kaiju-kun. Even if none of the characters was good at living, even if there isn't someone understanding to help them, even if no miracle happens to make everyone happy, it seems a story can still come about. That was a great discovery for me in life. cont.
>>274953276>Thank you for reading this long essay up to here. And now, I'd like to express my gratitude from the bottom of my heart to you for picking up and reading Kaiju-kun. To the editor who reached out to turn Kaiju-kun into a book and listened to my many preferences, thank you very much. To Obara-kun who designed the book, I'm happy we could work hard together on the graduation project as friends, thank you. Thanks to everyone's efforts, I believe we've created a wonderful book. Thank you all very much.>I hope tomorrow will be a great day for everyone.>Ruu1mm
>>274953276>>274953311That's nice
Cover flap 1>Ruu1mm>Graduated from the Visual Communication Design Department at Musashino Art University. During his enrollment, she completed the 204-page manga "Kaiju-kun" in about three and a half months as her graduation project. Her favorite food is peaches. Her debut work was the short story collection "Birthday" (published by KADOKAWA).
Dust Cover - Front
Dust Cover - Back + Spine
Cover flap 2
Cover - Front
>>274953455She's hot now, I can tell
Cover - Back
The following is special bonus content of the digital complete edition
Graduation Project Exhibition Main Visual Poster
contact Exhibition Main Visual Poster
Graduation Project Edition "Kaiju-kun" Cover
Life-size panel
Life-size panel.
Graduation Exhibition "Let's Do Our Best" Illustration
Business Card
Konomi Grown Up Image Illustration
Image Illustration
Christmas Illustration
Afterword Cut
>>274953751>>274953783Intense. Makes it feel like a very different manga
Early Stages Image Illustration
Digital Book Release Promotion Illustration
Sticker
Sticker.
Original Cover Illustration(Original as in made for this version)
Original Cover Illustration
Kaiju-kun Omake Manga 1Stubborn Head>Kamiko's hair is cute today*Style Leader*Wah>Right?>I've been into hair arrangement lately>Kono-chan, you always have the same hairstyle, don't you?*Going for the childlike look, huh?*C'mere~>I'll arrange it for you!>Eh!*Me!?*Pyoko*Pyo*Pyon>That's it!>No choice put to pull them out!>Minako, keep it together!
SynopsisCreation Materials
Konomi>She lived at a research facility in the mountain with her mother and researchers until the spring of her 13th year. Frustrated that her father isn't accepted and persecuted by people for being a kaiju, she enrolled in middle school, thinking to make lots of human friends in his place and change the image people have of kaiju.>She's pure and innocent, but also naive, so due to the environment of her upbringing, she is unfamiliar with human relations. Because of this, she can't comprehend the dual side relationship among friends, and can't tolerate things like bad-mouthing, bullying, quarrels and discord. She believes it's natural for everyone to be understanding of each other.Comment>Konomi was, in both mind and body, drawn like an elementary school student. She looks like she's being worn by her uniform. Since she has never had any contact with people her age, she takes every word at face value and is easily excited. She's an awkward girl that can't read the mood nor create a mood on her own. I made a conscious effort to draw Konomi's pupils so dazzling it hurts.cont.
>>274954371Shintarou>He has deep regrets about having used violence against people, even if it was to stop the bullying, and is depressed, thinking it's natural that he is bad-mouthed.>From the beginning, he has a broad-minded and gentle nature so he cannot comprehend the feelings of those who are extreme or intolerant. In addition, because of the bullying he experienced in elementary school himself, he has become overly cautious of human relations.>He is avoided by his classmates, while simultaneously, Shintarou also avoids his classmates. Because of this, he doesn't know much about the relationships between his classmates, and thinks that everyone except him is on rather good terms.Comment>Shintarou's hair is messy because he is bullied (avoided) and feels guilty about caring about his appearance. After the dream in chapter 4, I changed the way Shintarou's drawn quite a bit. He has a smart and mature air around him so, in a different way to Konomi, he's also an oddball that doesn't suit the middle school uniform.
Character「Classmates」Honda Ayumi>She cares about her friends. She can talk cheerfully with anyone, but her language can be a little extreme. She is passionate and will absolutely not forgive anyone who hurts her friends. Her childhood friend, Aoyaki Toshiyuki, is in the same class, but, although she wants to get along with him, she can only act mean to him since they're in different groups in class.Sagawa Kana>She's shy and timid except at home. Despite being stubborn, her reactions are usually so honest that she's well liked one way or another. She's childhood friends with Honda Ayumi. They have been close since elementary school, but after becoming second-year students, Ayumi grew closer to Minako, leaving her feeling alienated.Aoyagi Toshiyuki>He's often single-mindedly focused on what he's passionate about, even missing what's going on in his surroundings. His dream is to become a novelist or writer so he is very passionate with his activities for the school newspaper club. He's also interested in scifi and the occult, making him highly curious about Hidaka Konomi. During the chain of events, he was displeased with the scrawling made on the school newspaper.Oikawa Minako>Since reaching puberty, Minako has been troubled by the changes in herself. She feels fed up with her childish classmates and places trust in her own maturity. Being preoccupied with her own issues, she is generally indifferent to anything else.
>>274952763I want to hug the Kaiju!
Character「Childhood friend」Naoya>He's quiet but strong-willed, energetic and inquisitive. During the new term of his 6th grade, he got into a scuffle with his classmates who stepped on a swallowtail caterpillar he had brought to school, which escalated into bullying.>He was shocked when his close friend Shintarou hurt someone to defend him. Currently, he's going to a private middle school different from Shintarou.Comment>If the one with the greatest influence on Konomi is her father, then Shintarou's childhood friend is the most key person to him. He appears very few times and his name doesn't even come up in the main story, but he is at the root of it. He's similar to Konomi in that he's pure, but more than Konomi, he's the type with a strong sense of self.>As Shintarou kept agonizing over his thoughts, he became like a divine being in his mind so I portrayed him in a beautiful and ephemeral way.Drawing Memo Sign:>Kaisei Middle School>Hidaka Konomi>Before drawing the first draft, I make memos for all the main characters.>How to draw their expressions, their mood, places to keep in mind so they don't become different characters, I make notes on such points.
>>274954493
Kaiju>A symbol of violence, minority, and fraternity. The father was inspired by the image of the kaiju from "Ballad of the Kaiju">Although kaiju's possess overwhelming power, in movies, they're powerless against the pressure of the mass and are always defeated by the unity of humanity. Indeed, Konomi is also much stronger than others, but for that reason, she was seen as an enemy.>The cause of bullying in this work is "everyone's solidarity" and it occurred because of the human pressure to conform.>Also, characters other than Konomi and Shintarou actually have elements of a kaiju within them as well, such as having a harsh tone, thinking only of themselves, or being distrusting of others.>Since everyone is a kaiju, the opposition between the classmates and the two isn't portrayed as one being purely bad, but rather, the focal point is on the conflict between "environment" and "individual".Bird and Fish>The classroom feels like a fish tank where fish from the vast ocean have been crammed into. An article by Sakana-kun in the Asahi Shimbun titled "Let's Go Out to the Open Sea" left a strong impression on me, and fish have become the underlying concept of this work.>The classmates were likened to fish, their names given based on sea creatures, and at the end of each chapter is inserted a drawing of a fish tank and fish. The fish in the fish tank represents the situation in the class, changing with each chapter.>Birds cannot blend into a school of fish, but they are able to have an overhead view overlooking the sea. In the story, the main characters who don't fit into a group but saw great development, Tobimoto, Hidaka and Tokinosu are named after birds.
Kaiju-kun Omake Manga 2Puberty>Shintarou wants to talk to his childhood friend for the first time since grade school*Pin pon>Um... This is Tobimoto>Eh!?>Shintarou!>It's been a while! What's the matter!? *He...*He's big...*Whisper>Um, well,>Naoya, could it be that you...>Also has kaiju blood?
MakingProduction Process
>During the one-year graduation period, the first half was spent mainly on gathering materials and reading books to deepen the concept, and I actually started creating the story around September. It was my first time ever creating roughly 200 pages.>The manga creation process for this work was as follows: Plot (writing the story outline into text) -> Storyboard (turning the plot into rough sketches. At this stage, the pages, dialogue, and panel layouts are mostly decided) -> First draft (the rough sketches are refined into a first draft) -> line art -> scanning, toning, and finishing>Since I revised the storyboard repeatedly with the help of friends and teachers until I was satisfied, it took a while to finalize, from September until mid October. It ended up being about 200 pages, so I was really in a rush and worked frantically to complete it.Step 1: Plot>The plot is often created using the memo pad function on the computer these days.This is because it makes it easier to move around text, such as copying or striking through sentences casually. For the plot of "Kaiju-kun," I made two versions and chose the better one.>Since the plot isn't a novel, I don't focus on the detailed parts like dialogue or specific scenes until the storyboard stage. However, I take notes so that I can think about them easily when I'm at the storyboard stage, writing important lines or key points in ().>There are times when parts of the plot change significantly during the storyboard stage, but what's most important is conveying what I want to express and making the story one that I truly like, so it's fine to change it as much as needed.
Step 2: Storyboard>For the storyboard, I first did a rough sketch with a sharp pen on A4 copy paper, then moved to digital to store, trim, and experiment.>Starting with a rough analog sketch makes easier to get an overall view of the story, which is ideal. I printed it out as spreads to check that the flow of the story is uninterrupted and if it reads at a comfortable pace.>After reading it over and over again, I gradually lost the ability to tell whether it's interesting or not, or even if the story is being conveyed properly, so I passed it around to as many friends as possible and have them read it.>Storyboarding is a difficult process that I can't seem to get used to no matter how many times I do it.
Step 3: Rough Draft>For the rough drafts, I printed the digital sketches onto manuscript paper. The drafts were printed in light blue, while only the panel frames were printed in black. This eliminated the need to manually draw the frames, saving a significant amount of time. For complex backgrounds that required drawing numerous desks and chairs, I started using 3D models to simplify the process. With this method, it's like magic — the background, complete with perfect perspective, was created instantly, which is extremely convenient.>That said, due to the large number of pages, it still took about 20 days to complete.
>Top right page: Rough draft>Bottom right page: Finished manuscript1. Tools (G pen)2. Background (The dream scene)Step 4: Line Drawing1. Tools>I primarily use Nikko's G-pen for drawing. As for ink, I use Kaimei Bokuju, which I found produces the thinnest lines among all the inks I've tried. After purchasing a brush (Sakuyo brush) for filling blacks and drawing text, working on the artwork became significantly more enjoyable. I also recommend it because the ink is easy to use up entirely.2. Background>I draw the background using a ruler and millipen. Using a ruler makes the process easier and faster. However, for the dream scene, I intentionally avoided using a ruler to create a more ambiguous atmosphere and drew the background freehand. Since I also use a dip pen for drawing the background, just like the characters, the boundaries between people and objects become indistinct.
Hey, OP
(Read right page first)(Top left title) Newly Illustrated Commentary: How Kaiju-kun was MadeHow Kaiju-kun was Made>Graduation projects typically take a year to complete, but during the first semester from April to August, I didn’t really do anything and mostly just searched for ideas. I ended up drawing it in about three and a half months. Actually, I was really unsure whether to make my graduation project a manga, and I spent too much time deciding to go with the manga format!! I was worried too much about whether people would be able to understand it. After reading "The Art of Organizing Thoughts," I realized that meditating on ideas is a good way to solidify them, and that’s how I came up with the theme of “kaiju”(Middle illustrations)>Production Schedule８ ７ ６ ５ ４>Reading books and such(Can't make out the runes at the end here)１２ １１ １０ ９>Tone Background Line drawing - First draft - Storyboard Plot*Emotionally expressive, childlike, and short-tempered(Arrow) Droopy eyes*Turns into a kaiju when his emotions get intense(Sign) The two in the beginning*Transfer student*Taking the side of the bullied kid at the new school*Both ended up being bullied>The story I initially thought of was a bleak one, where a kid trying to understand the minority ends up being bullied. However, Kaiju-kun became a story about people who are aware of their own minority status working together to find what they can do. I'm glad it was able to turn into a story with a hopeful ending.Groups and Goals>People have a tendency to create goals, and "an enemy (goal) is essential for a group to unite." My father, who was watching Hanzawa Naoki, told me this, so I made it the central theme of the story.cont.
>>274954837(Left page)Children and School*Kawai Hayao*Iwanami Shoten(Books)Kawai HayaoChildren's UniverseIwanami Shoten386Kawai HayaoChildren and SchoolIwanami Shoten212>In the first semester, I became interested in books about children written by Hayao Kawai, where they discussed how children sometimes grow significantly through things like becoming truant or falling ill, and how dreams can help organize one's thoughts. Shintarou, too, experienced growth by getting sick and having violent a dream, which serve as a catalyst for him to reflect on "his self up to now" and make a fresh start.Setting>I referenced my alma mater, the middle school, for the school building. I felt like I hadn’t fully graduated from middle school, so I thought I’d wrap everything up and make it a good memory, then graduate for real. There’s no sea nearby... but it was a school that felt like a shrine after sunset.
Kaiju-kun Omake Manga 3Midday Mystery>Ahh, damn. It got away!*BAM>Staff members rushed to class 2-3 upon hearing the gunshot
Reiwa 3 Musashino Art University Graduation - Completion Works ExhibitionOpening time: January 13, 2022 (Thursday) to January 16, 2022 (Sunday)
2021 Musashino Art UniversityVisual Communication Design Department Graduation Works Exhibition「shide CONTACT 2022」Opening time:February 24th (Thursday) - March 1st (Tuesday), 2022
And that's all for today as well as Kaiju-kun. Thank you to everyone that has followed and read along. In the end, they can walk, they can swim, they can fly, they can violate you through their own mind, there's really no avoiding the kaiju's we will meet along the way after all.Next time, you never know what could happen next in the middle school life when puberty start hitting in Shuukan Shounen Girl.With that, as always, good day/night to you all.
>>274954835
>>274955186Thanks OP!Konomi is way too cute, i will miss her, shame her manga was so short
>>274953751>>274953967I feel like the Kaiju form would have been crow related with all these posters featuring them.
>>274955186Thanks OP. I like using the chapters you translate to practice my kanaKonomi a cute!
>>274955186Thanks OP I already gave my opinions on the series last time, so this time I'll just say it's nice to see how the author clearly put a lot of love into creating everything. Thanks for the extensive dump and TL Goodnight
>>274952944Konomi is the BEST girl! >>274953311thx author-sama>>274955186Thanks for the dump and the TL, OP.
>>274955186Thank you for posting. Neat little stoy.
I just realized there's a change of names here from Minako to Ayumi>>274954280>>274954427
>>274953455>>274953492look like they all grown up.university students?>>274953967woah>>274954123seem like the author love them really much. I wonder when most people making fictional characters, do they hold the same affection toward these characters or just think of them as characters in this story?>>274955186Thank you OP. This was quite a nice read.
>>274953783Very different vibe
>>274954837>>Graduation projects typically take a year to complete, but during the first semester from April to August, I didn’t really do anything and mostly just searched for ideas. I ended up drawing it in about three and a half months. Actually, I was really unsure whether to make my graduation project a manga, and I spent too much time deciding to go with the manga format!!Fucking classic. It's nice to see Nips slacking off on big projects too.
>>274955186Thanks for going above and beyond, OP.
>>274955186Thanks OP.Charming story, Konomi is very cute.
>>274954870>Shintarou, too, experienced growth by getting sick and having violent a dream, which serve as a catalyst for him to reflect on "his self up to now" and make a fresh start.Fix to>Shintarou, too, experienced growth by getting sick and having a violent dream, which served as a catalyst for him to reflect on "his self up to now" and make a fresh start.
>>274953081cute drawings on the wall
>>274952944The goodest.
>>274953751>>274953783If this is the first thing I see, I'd expect the manga to be some kind of thriller.
>>274954435You'll need to hug her kaiju form first.
>>274954638MOGGED
>>274955186Thanks OP!>>274959935>I wonder when most people making fictional characters, do they hold the same affection toward these characters or just think of them as characters in this story?For me, it depends on how much effort and thoughts you put into the characters. Played TTRPGs for years and that's where I got that from. I made high effort characters and got sad when they're dead and happy when they got their good endings. A lot of times, I made shitposty characters to just dick around. Picrel is a character I put a lot of effort in, even drew the portrait myself. He's dead halfway through the campaign and is one of the most memorable character I've played.
>>274953276can you really consider this an axed manga if it was a university graduation project?
>>274963747No one said axed anything
>>274963757We're gonna axe you
>>274963757You mentioned the axe in the very first manga you dailied, thus setting an expectation
>>274964217That's just a coincidence
>>274964217It's been quite some time...
>>274964071nyo...
>>274963365i will die trying
Thanks for the dump, OP! If the thread is still up tonight, I'll try to do a quick typeset of that special chapter>>274954078The poster for sure looks very different, but I still see the cover as just a lighthearted take on kaiju movie posters (or just Japanese movie poster design in general.) It is actually closer to the Shin Godzilla poster design now that I'm looking at it again, but you get the idea. What I'm really interested about though is the birds. Looking through the exhibition and publication materials, almost every piece has birds in it, be it crows, seagull, doves, etc. As someone who has gone through art school grad projects, there's usually a lot of holdovers from previous iterations that make it into the final project, so I wonder what they intention was with them. Maybe it was just "birds look cool and I need to fill up this space in the sky" or maybe the story was originally a bit different
>>274966858Ok, turns out I just missed the page explaining the birds, so that one is my bad. That little blurb does connect a lot of the small bits of symbolism in the story, though.As a side note, when mangaka have themes for their character names, is that something that the average nip reader would pick up on? I know that titles like Bocchi or Kunoichi Tsubaki are very on the nose with their character names, but I do wonder how much I'm missing as a dekinai by not being able to make those connections, consciously or not
>>274969378cute
>>274955186Thanks OP!
>>274955186Thanks OP, did you translate all the extra or did you just run the pages through a translator?
>>274966858bumping for this anon
>>274952944Konomi truly was a good girl.
>>274974830I'll be around in about 3hours for what it's worth
>>274975645
Posting as I go so this thread doesn't need to get bumped. Let me know if I mess anything up and I'll probably upload to MD once I'm done
Sorry for the speed, I am getting quite distracted at the moment
>>274972837Just the long text on this page >>274954837 since I was out of time but I still checked back.Otherwise, used jishofu when needed.>>274981840Shh -> GiggleSleep depravation caused this
My favourite page, personality. I think I'm finally starting to reach that age where I can relate more to the adults than the children in these sorts of stories...>>274982681Corrected. If you catch any others, let me know
>>274981217noice
Sad there's no good way to get the SFX to overlap the first speech bubble in this one like the raws
>>274982918It's not a rhetorical question or anything here. The meaning is more like>So Konomi wasn't a bad girl then/after allSo I'd ditch the ?Also, are you the anon who TS'd the Yona Yona Yona 4koma as well?
>>274983877Hmm, I'll change it to "wasn't a bad girl..." and, for what it's worth, I changed the SFX to "run" since I suppose its more describing the feet than the wind this time. SFX do my head in sometimes>Yona Yona Yona 4komaNah, wasn't me. I've wanted to typeset some of these translated dumps before, but have always been too lazy to do so
>>274986003Jolt and chatter in reversed order
Also, OP, I just assumed earlier, but would you be alright if I uploaded this to MD? If so, what would you like me to credit you as? If you don't want me to, or would rather upload it yourself, let me know and I have no problems.>>274986863Fugg, corrected too
>>274986958Hmm, I should probably clean up this RD a little bit now that I'm seeing it again...
Alright, I remembered I am not good at redrawing so we just screened it out some more
>>274986958Anonymous or under /a/nonymous is fine>>274987400Afterward -> Afterword
>>274987400Thanks for the typeset anon.
>>274953907HENSHIN!>>274954493>Tobimoto, Hidaka and Tokinosu are named after birds.Wait who was Tokinosu again?>>274954946heh>>274955186Anon you're insane, thanks a bunch for acquiring and translating all that.It was a neat read too, reading about the creative process. Manga's neat too of course, but I think it brought up a few too unpleasant associations, and that kinda distracted me from thinking about it too much. So in that sense, reading what the author was going for was super neat, might re-read it with that in mind at some point then since it's so short.>>274967140>As a side note, when mangaka have themes for their character names, is that something that the average nip reader would pick up on?Man I wonder that all the time with homophones and stuff, like Japanese has so many that maybe they just don't think anything of them or maybe they did do that on purpose. And I'm semi-decent at Japanese myself.
>>274989937Tokinosu is Shintarou's friend. >>274954548Actually, a more accurate translation would be that their names contain the character for bird (tori). Was kinda autopiloting when I wrote that based on the classmates' description
>>274990863>Tokinosu is Shintarou's friend.Ah, forgot to check his other name.
>>274986516Thank you for posting.
See you again, Kaiju appreciators.
>>274952763Kek
