Haruka started reading Phantom Blood. After finishing the equivalent of one volume:
The first thing that stood out was the heavy 80s influence. It felt raw, like it came straight from that era. Haruki was probably into that time period. Compared to his other works like Fullmetal Alchemist, Initial D, or Rurouni Kenshin, this one felt like the weakest in terms of story. The plot was simple: Dio becomes a vampire, and Jonathan goes after him. Very straightforward. The characters felt flat at first. There were emotional scenes, but they didn't carry much weight early on.
Haruka could tell this was probably Haruki's first manga idea. It wasn't bad, but it didn't have the depth or sharpness of his later stuff. You could see he was still figuring things out.
Then it shifted. When Zeppeli gave his life energy to Jonathan, it was the first time Haruka felt something from the story. And by the last scene—Jonathan holding Dio's head as the ship burned, and Erina escaping in the lifeboat—she was pulled in.
She said, "It starts off rough, yeah. But around the middle, it clicks. Compared to your other stuff, it's definitely weaker. If we're aiming for Shroud Line, this isn't there yet. But... what sets it apart from other works is the art style."
He smiled slightly.
"But I think I've gotten better when I started drawing Part 1. You'll see it in Part 2."
Haruka moved on to Part 2.
It opens with Speedwagon discovering a stone mask deep in some ancient ruins. As he moves further in, he finds a massive stone pillar, and inside it, a figure embedded in the rock. It looks human. Surrounding it are more masks, hanging around ominously. Before he can figure out what it all means, Straizo suddenly betrays him. He kills the researchers and puts on a mask himself, turning into a vampire.
Then the story jumps to New York City.
Fifty years have passed since Phantom Blood. A bulky man is buying ice cream. A kid runs by and steals his wallet. The kid ducks into an alley, only to get grabbed by a crooked cop, who tells him he'll have to give up half of whatever he steals from now on, or get beaten and thrown in jail.
That's when the bulky man steps in and says, "I lent him the wallet."
He introduces himself: Joseph Joestar. As the cop tried to intimidate him and pick a fight, Joseph punched him, sending him flying. The kid who stole the wallet said thank you and introduced himself as Smokey.
It was also revealed that when Erina escaped the ship years ago, she was pregnant. Her son grew up, got married, and died in the First World War. Joseph was his son, raised by Erina.
Later, the three of them were eating in a restaurant when some gangster insulted Smokey. Joseph got up and confronted him.
The gangster stood, smirking. "You looking for a scrap, boy?" He reached into his coat.
Joseph interrupted. "If you're looking for your brass knuckles, they're not in your coat pocket. Try your back pocket."
The gangster froze, reached into his back pocket, and sure enough, the brass knuckles were there.
Before he could react, Joseph added, "Now you'll say, 'How the hell did you know, bastard?'"
And the guy repeated it exactly.
Joseph explained how he'd seen blood on the guy's shirt but not the coat, which meant he'd taken the coat off during a fight and shoved the brass knuckles in the back pocket afterward. Then he said, "Next you'll say, 'So what, punk.'"
And again, the guy said it word for word. Then he got mad and swung at Joseph.
Joseph dodged, then knocked him out.
A few moments later, the gangster's boss sat up from his seat, apologized for his subordinate's behavior, and told them the news: Speedwagon was killed.
Hearing that, Erina looked shaken. Joseph snapped.
"You didn't have to say that in front of Granny Erina," he said, and then he beat the shit out of the boss.
That night, Joseph and Smokey were at a bar when Joseph noticed a man staring at them from outside. Joseph stepped out. It was Straizo.
As Joseph walked up, Straizo bared his fangs and said, "I will kill you, Joseph Joestar, before you become stronger."
Joseph pulled out a tommy gun and opened fire.
Haruka blinked, surprised. She glanced over at Haruki. This really was his early work. The tone, the way Joseph acted—there was this raw, teenage energy to it. Funny, but in a way that only a 16-year-old could come up with.
She laughed a little and kept going.
Joseph emptied the whole clip into the vampire, but he just stood back up, completely fine. Joseph tried using a grenade, but that didn't work either. The vampire kept walking toward him.
Joseph muttered, "Time for my secret move."
Then shouted, "NIGERUNDAYO!" and ran off.
Haruka looked up again, half amused, half surprised. This was probably the most personality Haruki had ever written into a main character. Compared to everything else, Part 2 felt like a big step forward. It still had serious parts, but now there was proper timing and personality. Joseph was unpredictable, and that made him fun to follow.
She read through some of the major moments. It was already clear: this was way better than Part 1.
Even the power system had grown. It wasn't just Hamon and punches anymore. There were smart, creative fights. But the highlight was still Joseph. Every scene he was in, he carried.
Haruka said, "So I think we just do Part 1 in volume. After that, we start serializing in Shroud Line."
At first, Haruki had thought of releasing Part 1 in volume. But then he thought about doing it weekly. After crunching the numbers, though, he realized something:
If he went full weekly, this series would take over 15 years to finish. But if he stuck to volume releases, he could probably wrap it up in under six—and still have time to do new weekly series and earn more World Points that way.
"I was thinking," Haruki said, looking at the draft on the table. "This thing's gonna take a while. I don't want to spend over a decade on one project. I've got other manga I want to try too. So maybe we just go straight to volumes. What do you think?"
Haruka paused. "If we only do volumes, it might not pick up right away. Weekly stuff helps get more readers early on. What if we do Part 1 as a volume, then serialize Part 2 in Echo Shroud? Build up hype. Then we go back to volumes for the rest. That way, we get both reach and sales."
Haruki nodded. "I like it. Let's go with that."
Haruka gave a small nod. "I'll talk to the editor-in-chief. It's not a usual way to release, so I'll show her the draft and get back to you in a week."
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 60+ advanced chapters)