A fine enough how-to book for aspiring artists, but a rather flat reading experience for me. The balance between personal drama and the informative lectures from art teachers is better this time, but the main character doesn't really interest me and we're only given dribs and drabs about his classmates and teachers.

I may return to this in the future but don't feel like I'll be missing out if I don't.

It does make me nostalgic for Bakuman, a fun and informative series about teenagers becoming manga creators, and the more recent Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey, a dramatic and melancholy autobiographical look at the student/mentor relationship. ( )

There’s a lot going on here, but it’s still interesting so I’ll keep reading for now. In the beginning, I thought Yatora was getting pretentious, but he’s still down to earth. He just has the majority of his mind dedicated to his craft. He’s also taken a sudden interest in Yuka. One thing I like about Yatora is how sensitive he is and how none of his friends make fun of him when he cries.

Also, I was waiting for these boys to go to blows over ART! You call yourself an artist with those amateur brushstrokes?*villain voice* The tension was there, but it fizzled out. Yotasuke is majorly aggy, but I get his frustration with Yatora. he’s like the popular guy has to be good at art too?

If anything, this volume reminded me how important composition is to draw a viewer’s attention. ( )