[GTJ]

Seems like a lot of work being put in for an amateur production. Props to you for your dedication.

The story is really cliché so far; you need a hook, something that sets you aside from the millions of other "childhood friend" and "overcoming the adversity of being an outsider" stories out there.

Also, you ask if I would buy or want to read based on the cover art alone? Absolutely not. It looks like it was done by a middle schooler who just got a pirated version of photoshop. The Japanese type logo is fairly decent, but red, white, and black are inadvisable for such an important design element.

Speaking of design, there is none. You better fire that "graphic designer" of yours. A black/white gradient for the background and a severed, poorly colored, and double-stroked head? Are you serious? Shoot him/her, just do it now. Also, what's up with that chinese takeout-style font up top? Readability is almost zero, and it has nothing to do with Japan. It's in poor taste and was not put there by a designer.

Is this a decent representation of the art style? Because if the characters all look like that, then I won't get past the first page. My advice is to stick with the "stick out from the crowd" theme. Drop the spikey hair and emo, downtrodden expression. Make a person who looks like a person, someone the readers can relate to on some level. Maybe even use a real person as a model (have you done life drawing before?), that could give you an edge if you just straddle that line between realism and anime. I know in the past anime/manga/movies have appealed to me when they're realistic for most of it and then have little twinges of anime that make you laugh or smile.

Needs a looooooooot of work. I would say hold off on all the merchandise because you're very far from that point yet; you need to have a fan base who's willing to give you their money, first. Having merch ready when you launch is in poor taste and sales will be stunted for a while because of it. Try instead creating merch as you get demand for it. Even a few emails. And then you can use an opportunity to advertise it when it comes out, and all the readers who have been thinking about wanting a shirt or something but didn't say anything will jump on it.