The episode 7 of Draw This, Then Die starts with Ai Yasumi living an ordinary life on Izu Oshima, where she is still lonely and struggling to connect with other people. While playing by herself, she comes across a mysterious-looking shop she does not remember seeing before: Teramura Book Rentals, a tiny store dedicated entirely to manga.
Inside, Ai is welcomed by the shop owner and encouraged to browse freely. The place feels almost magical to her because it opens the door to a world she has barely experienced before. Among the shelves, one particular book catches her attention: Robota & Pokota, a single-volume manga by Hoshino Rei.
Ai asks whether the manga is popular, only to learn that popularity does not decide whether a story is worth reading. The owner tells her that there are countless manga in the world, but every reader has to discover for themselves what they truly enjoy. With that thought in mind, Ai borrows Robota & Pokota, beginning an obsession that changes the direction of her life.
As she reads, Ai immediately connects with the story. The manga follows Robota, a robot who sees everything through logic but struggles with social situations, and Pokota, a tanuki-like companion who helps him understand emotions and other people. Ai sees herself in Robota. Like him, she is awkward around others and has spent much of her life alone.
The difference is that Robota has Pokota to guide him. Through their friendship, Ai watches him learn how to react when someone is angry, how to understand sadness, and how to connect with others. What begins as a simple story quickly becomes something deeply personal for her. Ai is jealous of the friendship she sees on the page because it represents something she desperately wants for herself.
From that moment, manga becomes a major part of Ai’s everyday life. She returns to Teramura Book Rentals again and again, reading everything from Doraemon to Ushio & Tora and eagerly talking about the stories with the shop owner. Each manga leaves an impression on her, and she starts imagining what its characters would do in ordinary situations.
Still, Robota & Pokota remains her favorite. Ai carries it with her constantly, rereads it whenever she can, and finds herself thinking about Pokota whenever she faces a difficult situation. The manga is no longer just entertainment. It has become a kind of emotional guide for a girl who does not know how to handle the world around her.
A month after starting high school, Ai is caught dawdling on her way to school by Teshima-sensei. The strict teacher immediately reprimands her, especially because Ai is carrying her beloved manga. Ai asks for permission to stop at the shopping district to return the book, and Teshima-sensei reluctantly lets her go.
When Ai reaches the rental shop, however, she cannot bring herself to give up Robota & Pokota for good. She learns that she is practically the only person who still borrows it and asks whether she can simply buy the book instead. That idea disappears quickly when she discovers that used copies have become extremely expensive because the manga was canceled and developed a cult following.
Unable to afford it, Ai borrows the book again. On the way to school, she nearly crashes into another girl who is carrying a painting for an art competition. After making sure the painting is safe, Ai impulsively asks to see the finished work. It is another moment where her favorite manga pushes her to do something she normally would not have the confidence to do.
Ai and her friends also continue their energetic routine of climbing the hill to school, enjoying the view of Izu Oshima and the natural scenery around them. But her peaceful morning ends when she is called to the faculty room. Teshima-sensei has caught her with Robota & Pokota during class and confiscates it.
Teshima-sensei then launches into a harsh attack on manga itself. To her, manga is nothing but pointless fiction and temporary stimulation. She dismisses it as a waste of time and insists that Ai would be better off with more modern forms of entertainment. She even plans to return the book herself and tell the rental shop not to lend Ai anything in the future.
For Ai, the criticism is painful because Robota & Pokota means far more to her than Teshima-sensei understands. Ai finally explains why the manga matters so much. She reveals that she had no friends as a child and spent most of her time reading manga. More importantly, she explains how Pokota taught Robota to understand other people.
Ai remembers using the lessons she learned from the manga in real life. After a frightening encounter with a dog at the park, she gathered the courage to approach other children and ask them to play. The moment changed her life because she finally made friends. In Ai’s eyes, manga did not lie to her. It gave her the courage to do something she could not have done alone.
Teshima-sensei still refuses to accept Ai’s argument and coldly insists that manga is fiction. Yet Ai’s memories prove the opposite in a different way: even if the characters are fictional, what a reader feels and learns from them can be completely real.
Afterward, Ai discovers something astonishing. Robota & Pokota has become so valuable that copies are selling for huge prices online. Then she checks Hoshino Rei’s social media account and notices activity for the first time in years. The former mangaka has suddenly announced a new Robota & Pokota book after a decade away from the spotlight.
The announcement says Hoshino will personally distribute copies at Comitia, a doujinshi event taking place that weekend at Tokyo Big Sight. Ai and her friends immediately realize what this means. A manga protagonist would obviously go on the adventure, so Ai decides that she has to go.
The problem is that she lives on an island and cannot simply travel to Tokyo without her family noticing. Ai works out a reckless plan to take a ferry, attend Comitia, and return on an overnight boat. She lies about staying with Akafuku and suddenly realizes that her dream of meeting Hoshino has turned her into someone who is practically running away from home.
Even so, Ai remembers Pokota’s reassuring influence and pushes forward. When she arrives in Tokyo, Ai is overwhelmed by everything around her. Comitia is unlike anything she has ever seen. The massive event is filled with creators selling manga they made themselves, and Ai watches people proudly present their work directly to readers.
One creator’s book impresses her so much that she can barely believe the artist drew it alone. Then Ai starts noticing the same thing everywhere. Everyone is creating their own manga. That realization hits her all at once: she can draw her own manga too. The discovery is a major turning point for Ai. Until now, manga has been something she consumes, loves, and learns from. At Comitia, she finally understands that she could someday become one of the people who creates those stories.
Her excitement quickly turns into panic when she learns that another creator’s new book has already sold out. Worried that Hoshino’s booth might run out of copies as well, Ai rushes to find it and joins the line. Even if she cannot buy the book, she decides that simply meeting the creator would be enough.
As her turn approaches, Ai becomes increasingly emotional. She has waited so long for more Robota & Pokota that the possibility of meeting Hoshino-sensei feels almost unreal. When she finally reaches the booth, she excitedly declares herself a huge fan. Then comes the episode’s biggest shock.
The person behind the booth is Teshima-sensei. Ai is completely stunned and tries to address her as her teacher, but Teshima immediately denies being the person Ai thinks she is talking to. The reveal suddenly changes everything Ai believed about the woman who had spent the episode criticizing manga.
After the crowd thins, Ai finally pours out her feelings. She admits that she had been waiting for years to read more of Hoshino’s manga and had worried that the creator might never return. She even imagined every possible reason for the long absence, from Hoshino quitting to something terrible happening. Now, standing there with a new book in front of her, Ai can barely contain her happiness. She is simply grateful that Robota & Pokota has returned.
Teshima-sensei then asks the obvious question: did Ai really travel all the way to Tokyo by herself? Ai knows she is about to be reprimanded, but her excitement is stronger than her fear. Inspired by everything she has seen at Comitia, she asks Teshima-sensei to teach her about manga because she wants to start drawing her own.
Teshima-sensei rejects the idea immediately and repeatedly, but Ai refuses to let the moment go. When she explains that she cannot catch the last ferry home and had planned to wait until the overnight boat, Teshima-sensei abruptly packs up her booth.
To Ai’s surprise, Teshima-sensei gives her the new Robota & Pokota book and takes her to catch a ferry back to Izu Oshima. Ai ends the day returning on the same kind of boat that brought her to Tokyo, but she is no longer the same girl who left the island.
She did not just get a chance to meet the creator of her favorite manga. Ai discovered that manga can be made by ordinary people, found the courage to imagine herself as a creator, and uncovered the incredible truth that Teshima-sensei is connected to the very story that helped her make friends and change her life. By the end of the episode, Ai finally gets what she wanted most: a new copy of Robota & Pokota and the beginning of a dream that could one day lead her to create a manga of her own.
Draw This, Then Die Episode 7 is a heartfelt and entertaining turning point for Ai, blending comedy, nostalgia, and genuine emotional growth into one memorable episode. Ai’s trip to Comitia gives the story a bigger sense of scale while showing how deeply manga has influenced her life, from helping her overcome loneliness to inspiring her to create stories of her own. The episode’s strongest moment is the unexpected reveal connecting Teshima-sensei to Robota & Pokota, adding surprising depth to their earlier conflict over Ai’s love of manga. With Ai discovering a new dream and taking a major step toward becoming a creator herself, Episode 7 delivers both a satisfying emotional payoff and an exciting new direction for the series.
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