【Hidarikiki no Eren】An explosive insight into the world of arts and designs!!

Hidarikiki no Eren (officially translated as “Eren the Southpaw” or “Eren the left-handed”) is a shonen manga series written and illustrated by Kappi. It was first serialized on the online site “cakes” from March 2016 to September 2017. The series was then remade and serialized in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump Plus magazine in 2017, with a total of 10 volumes. In 2019, the story of Hidarikiki no Eren was adapted into a TV drama series by MBS TV production.

The story follows Asakura Kouichi, a fledgling designer who works for a major advertising agency. Kouichi was very hardworking, with the aim of becoming a famous designer one day. His hard work finally got recognized as he was put in charge of an important project that worth a whooping 300 million Yen.

Asakura Kouichi woke up on his working desk and immediately checked the time. He had worked himself to exhaustion for 30 hours straight and accidentally fell asleep. The most important presentation of his life was less than two hours away and he didn’t have everything prepared yet.

Kouichi tried to calm down and assess the time he had left. He could make it to the presentation within one hour, but that still left him with less than an hour to finalize all his designs.

This was one of Kouichi’s biggest project ever since he started working for a major advertising company. It was a 300-million-yen project that a fledgling designer like him would hardly be able to get their hands on.

However, thanks to Kouichi’s senior, Kamiya, who recommended him to lead the project, Kouichi finally got the stage to show off all his potential. Remembering how Kamiya trusted in him, Kouichi rushed back to his desk and started working on the final details to his design.

He sped through the first revision within less than 10 minutes, but his phone kept bothering him. Kamiya was on the other end and was worried about Kouichi as he had gone silent for a few hours. Kamiya offered to take care of the rest of the work, giving time for Kouichi to rush to where the presentation would take place.

Kamiya and Kouichi finally met up in front of the building and had time to quickly revise the materials one last time. Everything looked good and the only thing left was for Kouichi to fix his attire and wear a proper blazer. He had been wearing his hoodie for three days straight.

Kouichi and the rest of the team met up inside the building. Finally, it was Kouichi’s, the project leader, turn to take the first major step in his career and shine.

The following day, Kouichi was again fast asleep in his office. Kamiya woke him up rudely but bearing great news. The presentation was a success and their 300 million Yen project had been green-lighted by the customer.

In light of the news, Kouichi gave himself a much-deserved smoke break. However, it was cut short by his boss calling him.

The creative director, head of the design department wanted to have a word with Kouichi about the project, but it wasn’t to give him a word of encouragement. On the contrary, he wanted Kouichi off the team, saying that he had done enough with the presentation and now the senior designers would take over.

Shocked by the news, Kouichi was still holding onto a single ray of hope. He believed his senior Kamiya would talk to the boss and convince him to keep Kouichi on the team.

At the end, Kamiya could only console him by telling him to hang on.

His last hope was extinguished when he heard those words from Kamiya. Kouichi couldn’t hold his disappointment and rage back any longer. He slammed his mug and left the restaurant in a hurry.

When Kouichi was finally alone, he busted into tears as reality had been too cruel to him, and because he had thrown a tantrum in front of the senior who has always had his back. He realized he had only been thinking of himself, but tears wouldn’t stop rolling from his eyes.

Kouichi took a taxi and headed straight towards the ocean. He wanted to go to Yokohama, where he studied art during his school years. He wanted to visit a place in his memory that gave him the motivation to become a designer.

Kouichi reminisced the days when he was still in school and art club, when he was a young boy brimming with hopes and dreams of one day becoming a famous designer.

Kouichi and his club-mate, Sayuri, were chatting when another friend of them came in with some news. Somebody from their school had been causing mischief by painting graffiti on the wall of the city museum. Kouichi was highly suspected as he was talented and a member of the art club.

They were planning to go and see the graffiti after school that day. When they were about to arrive, Kouichi was still over-confident in his art skills and was telling his friend how the graffiti was probably some kid’s pastime.

When he finally lifted his head and look at the wall, Kouichi’s jaw just dropped. It wasn’t some kid’s boredom and it wasn’t even something Kouichi himself could draw. Simply put, it was a masterpiece.

It was so good that Kouichi could only laugh. He compared the work to that of the famous American graffiti artist, Basquiat. At that moment, Kouichi decided that he would go look for the person who had made such a masterpiece – his school’s “Basquiat”.

How will Kouichi and his mysterious artist encounter each other? Will his dream finally come true? Continue reading Hidarikiki no Eren to find out.