Draw This, Then Die!

Ai Yasumi lives on the remote Izu Ōshima island and spends her days dreaming of professional manga stardom while attending a small high school. Her quiet routine shatters when she accidentally discovers her classmate Kaito creating a secret doujinshi that depicts a deadly game where artists must draw specific scenes or face execution. This discovery pulls Ai into a surreal narrative where the boundary between her daily life and the fictional horror she witnesses begins to dissolve.

The story expands as the school's manga club forms around these eccentric characters, each grappling with their own artistic obsessions and personal demons. The series balances slapstick humor about industry absurdities with serious explorations of mental health, burnout, and the crushing weight of creative deadlines. Readers follow the group as they navigate editor relationships and the psychological toll of trying to produce something meaningful under impossible pressure.

Written and illustrated by Minoru Toyoda, the work premiered in Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday in November 2021. It has since collected ten tankōbon volumes and won the prestigious 16th Manga Taishō in 2023 followed by the 70th Shogakukan Manga Award for Shōnen in 2024. An anime adaptation produced by Shin-Ei Animation aired its first season starting July 3, 2026, with a second season officially announced later that year. [edit]