"Hehe..." If Rita had been trying to persuade ordinary high school students who had never been beaten down by society instead of Sogo Doma, then perhaps they really might have been swayed by her and voluntarily helped her persuade Mashiro. But with Sogo Doma, all her arguments earned was a teasing smile.
"You're saying Van Gogh fell into poverty because his paintings weren't appreciated at the time?"
"Is there a problem with that?" His teasing manner, coupled with that final rhetorical question, actually made Rita hesitate somewhat. "Van Gogh's paintings were simply too ahead of their time for the people back then, to the point that..."
"Oh?" Hearing that, Sogo Doma smiled again. "So art can also be constrained by its era, right?"
"Well..." Rita hesitated even more. "Sometimes, art really is restricted by its era..."
"Since you think that..." Before she could finish, Sogo Doma spoke again. "Then do you think it's possible that manga could also evolve into a form of art...?"
"How could that be!?" Rita could no longer hold herself back. "How can something like manga be compared to great works of art...?"
"Tsk, tsk..." Before she could finish, Sogo Doma shook his index finger. "Don't you think you sound just like the people who mocked Van Gogh back then? There must have been people saying to Van Gogh, 'What the hell is that thing you drew? You call that a painting? You call that art?'"
"I..." Rita choked on her words. After a long while, she said, "I can't agree with that. I simply can't agree. How could manga possibly have anything to do with art? I understand now—you're trying to use this kind of nonsensical argument..."
"Nonsensical?" Sogo Doma said. "Was anything I said wrong? Didn't Van Gogh persevere amid all kinds of doubts