Crunch Time「修羅場, Shuraba?」 is the forty-eighth chapter of the Oshi no Ko manga series. It is written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. It was released in Weekly Young Jump on June 24, 2021.[1]
Summary[]
At the actors' request, Yoriko goes to see Abiko at her apartment. However she is surprised by the state of her apartment as well as the fact that she is still working on her manga after missing her deadline the day before. Yoriko asks about her assistants but Abiko reveals that she fired them two months ago because they could not match her art style. Therefore she has been working on the manga alone, even if she is only sleeping two hours per day. Yoriko warns her that she will either work herself to death or become too depressed to work. As Abiko talks about her upcoming hectic schedule, Yoriko decides to sit down to help her.
Looking at the work, Yoriko remarks that Abiko's manga is too detailed for a weekly series and she needs to hire assistants as soon as possible. Abiko has tried but she finds them unsatisfactory one way or another and those she deems to have potential would quit if she tries to be strict with them. Yoriko thinks she must have been too strict and she should make compromises but Abiko believes that it would result in a drop in quality of her work and thus her fans would abandon her. Yoriko argues Abiko is running from communicating properly and simply blaming others. Abiko finally snaps and the conversation escalates into a shouting match between the two, with the junior mangaka saying her senior has no right to speak to her until she can match her sales figures while the senior mentions the junior has given into the reader's pressure by pairing up fan favorites. Abiko counters by pointing out the flawed adaptation of Sweet Today and she could have done more.
The two continue to bicker eventually night turns to day and they have managed to complete the chapter. As they finally relax, Abiko admits she wonders if she would finally fail to meet the deadline every week but somehow she always delivers and Yoriko points out it is their pride as mangaka. The two then start apologizing for the things they said. Abiko then asks how Yoriko can get along with people so easily and she explains that she does so by meeting them halfway. Abiko's reservation comes from the fact the adaptation of Sweet Today was tarnished in her opinion. Yoriko recalls her first meeting with Abiko when she first came to work as her assistant, before comforting her and calling her clumsy.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- The Japanese title Shuraba (修羅場) is a Buddhism term (the term actually originate from Hinduism) which refers to the battle between Asura and Deva. The term have slightly different interpretation in different countries.
- In Japan, the belief is that Asura started the war after Deva forcefully marry Asura's daughter. Today, it usually refers to chaos or shambles in modern day context such as overtime at the work place or a complicated relationships such as a love triangle.
- Therefore the title of this chapter can be used to describe Abiko's work place condition as well as the state of the "Tokyo Blade" stage play adaptation as of this chapter.
- In China, it is believed Asura has beautiful women but lack fantastic food while Deva has the latter but lack the former. Their envy towards each other led them go to war with each other. The term is rarely used outside of manga and anime imported from Japan or Buddhist context.
- In Korea, the term retain more of original meaning of mayhem and battle but it is sometimes interpret as hell, specifically Avīci, the lowest level of hell in Buddhism.
- In Japan, the belief is that Asura started the war after Deva forcefully marry Asura's daughter. Today, it usually refers to chaos or shambles in modern day context such as overtime at the work place or a complicated relationships such as a love triangle.