Original Artwork from The Climber: Chapter 1 Opening Illustration
After I submitted the first draft of this color page to the Young Jump editorial department, I immediately received a request for revisions from the editor-in-chief. His comment was simple: “The expression is wrong.” He told me, “Buntarō isn’t this kind of character.”
Looking back now, I realize I had been trapped by the classic formula of shōnen manga—the idea that a protagonist should wear red, grit his teeth, endure hardship, and ultimately achieve victory.
It was only a single panel, but it became a decisive turning point that shaped the direction of The Climber.
Naturally, I redrew the opening illustration as well, changing Buntarō’s outfit from red to blue. Today, that kind of color change would be simple with digital tools, but at the time I was working entirely with traditional analog artwork, so I had to redraw everything from scratch.