The anime adaptation of manga artist Hei's "Ina Botan, Drunken Lily" premiered this April and recently aired its grand finale. While the plot itself had fans buzzing, one particular scene's animation detail sparked a massive discussion on X (formerly Twitter) in Japan, all because it looked uncannily like the original manga's art style.
The whole buzz started with X user "文兎（@bump_of_Dixon）" who, after watching the "Ina Botan, Drunken Lily" finale, pointed out how one specific shot of Botan's eyes was incredibly similar to Hei's recent manga artwork. They even joked about nearly falling out of their chair from surprise!
And then, the plot twist! Creator Hei themselves popped into the replies, casually dropping the bomb: "Yeah, that scene? I drew the key animation for it." The original poster, 文兎, laughed, admitting they had a strong hunch it was the creator's handiwork, but never expected it to actually be true.
Hei-sensei later elaborated, explaining they had the privilege of contributing to a single cut in the finale as a layout (LO) and key animator. They also extended their gratitude to the animation team for transforming their keyframes into such a brilliant final product.
After the post blew up, fans flooded the comments, declaring Hei-sensei's reply "the #1 line you wish you could say at least once in your life." Others playfully quipped, "I just wanted to praise the art style, but I accidentally summoned the original creator!" and "Knew it! I totally felt it was them!"
From a fan's gut feeling to the creator's direct confirmation, this delightful interaction added an extra layer of fun behind-the-scenes chatter to the anime's finale—a truly unexpected treat for viewers who stuck with it till the very end!