Draw This, Then Die!

Episode 6

This episode really highlighted the bubbling frustrations that come with being a new talent who struggles to really put their work out there. It's the day that the girls end up going to Comitia and while a lot of the narrative plot beats here were pretty predictable, the groundwork that was established still allowed these moments to hit really hard. I'm glad the girls were able to sell their manga together and celebrate. After watching episodes of them learning how to do everything together after weeks of preparations, that felt very earned. However, I also related a lot to Yasumi's frustrations with the manga that she did completely on her own not selling, even if her friends and teacher admitted that it has a very likable charm.

Yasumi's manga is still all over the place with very poor art. It would be interesting if Yasumi takes the time in future episodes to actually develop her own artistic skills, especially if she wants to eventually put out a manga all on her own. Everybody she knows buying up her limited stock was a really beautiful gesture, and one that I think a lot of people could relate to. But that alone is not going to fuel the burning desire to put your work out there. This was a necessary frustration for her to go through, but how she processes this frustration to create something even better moving forward is what's really going to separate her from Miss Teshima.

Speaking of Teshima, while the flashback in this episode didn't really highlight anything new, I do think it hammered home what her big problem was as a creator. I think it really just came down to the fact that Teshima really was her own worst enemy. It didn't seem like she was receptive to criticism, or it looked like she was seeking a very specific reaction so when she didn't get that reaction from her editor, she immediately interpreted it as her work being looked down upon. She was so wrapped up in her own head that she wasn't even listening to her editor breaking things down during meetings. I do like the fact that Teshima and her past editor seemed to still be on good terms, implying that she has matured since and recognizes some of her own shortcomings.

It's clear that the creative spark in Teshima isn't completely gone and in fact, this episode even gave me a glimpse into the fact that it's still buried beneath the surface. It's clear that she's trying to suppress it for the sake of not getting hurt again, but I wonder what working with the students is going to do for her. Is she going to realize that she needs to learn to have more fun with the creative process? Is she going to learn that there were more things that she should have listened to when she was developing her past manga? I'm very curious, because it's clear that Teshima is supposed to be the secondary main character of this series. I like the way that the show highlights Yasumi's growth and as a mirror to Teshima's. Ideally, by the end of the season, the two will end up meeting in the middle to eventually create something that not only they are satisfied with, but something that other people will buy as well.

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Draw This, Then Die! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.