Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 50 represents the future of JUMP.

Ken Sakamoto focused on his work, and even though he was just copying what he remembered, the workload couldn't be reduced.

It was purely a drawing job, and working on two projects at the same time consumed all his time.

After all, "Looking Back" had to be completed before the deadline for submissions, while "Chainsaw Man" couldn't miss the weekly submission deadline.

Although the web version is currently only updated to episode 5, he has already submitted the manuscript for episode 13. If he is willing, he can discuss with editor Kaji and ask for a two-week extension.

Even if it's just for the original manuscript fee, you have to draw more and submit more.

I calculated that I submitted a total of 250 pages of manuscript and one color page last month. When the settlement date comes, I will receive a little over 300 million yuan in manuscript fees, of course, this is the amount before tax.

After tax, it would be around 250 million.

Once the weekly serialization begins, the original manuscript fee will rise to 20000 yen per page, and the difference will be made up for the previously published parts.

He needs to make money quickly, since he doesn't know how JUMP's future development will turn out this time.

Last time, Ken Sakamoto paid little attention to other areas, but he was quite attentive to news from the manga industry.

The JUMP+ platform remained dormant until 2016, when it finally gained popularity with Fujimoto Tatsuki's "Fire Fist".

Then came works like "Astra Lost in the Sky" and "Spy Kids".

By this time, the influence of the JUMP+ platform was actually no less than that of the print magazine Weekly Shonen Jump.

Therefore, Shueisha, the publisher of the previous run, never considered the possibility of the work being serialized simultaneously on both platforms.

Even popular works on the JUMP+ platform occasionally have a "special edition" published in the weekly magazine, which also helps boost sales of the physical magazine.

In that sense, he has been a part of the industry's history.

In 2015, only a minority of readers are willing to read webcomics; most readers still prefer to read physical magazines.

In terms of popularity, works published in weekly magazines are many times more popular than those serialized on the web.

This trend of physical copies being more popular than digital copies will continue for another two years, until 2017.

Faster mobile internet speeds, larger phone sizes, and the increasing popularity of tablets... all these factors are more conducive to digital comics.

Therefore, starting in 2017, the total sales of digital comics slightly exceeded those of physical comics.

During the pandemic in 2020, digital comics completely overwhelmed physical comics, accounting for more than 70% of the market, making it extremely difficult for companies that were still fully committed to physical magazines.

If Shueisha hadn't established the JUMP+ platform, JUMP, which had been around for fifty years, would probably have faded into obscurity.

Of course, as an author, you just need to focus on drawing, but editors have a lot more to consider...

……

Just then, all the editors were present in the large conference room of Shueisha, and the atmosphere was somewhat solemn.

This meeting will determine not only the fate of a particular manga, but also the future of the entire JUMP.

At the head of the conference table sat Shueisha's president, Horiuchi, surrounded by several executives from other business departments.

He crossed his arms, his expression serious, and his gaze swept over everyone present.

Opposite him were the editorial staff, led by JUMP editor-in-chief Tomohiro Ohno.

“Ohno-kun.” President Horiuchi’s deep voice rang out, “JUMP+ is a project you spearheaded, and now you’re pushing Chainsaw Man. I’d like to hear your thoughts first.”

All eyes were on Tomohiro Ohno.

Tomohiro Ohno slowly stood up.

Although the working style of the JUMP editorial department is much freer than that of traditional Japanese companies, if you look at Shueisha as a whole, it is still a relatively conservative publishing group.

When the online platform was first proposed, the majority of opinions were against it.

It was Tomohiro Ohno who, under internal pressure, built the JUMP+ platform from scratch.

"President, everyone, I believe that the emergence of Chainsaw Man is an opportunity for JUMP."

He looked around and continued, “As you all know, print media has not had a good time in recent years. The circulation of Weekly Shonen Jump has been declining year by year. It’s not that our comics are not good enough, but that times are changing and we must find a new path for Jump.”

"When I founded JUMP+, I set a core concept: it must not just be an electronic version of a weekly magazine, but a platform that can produce masterpieces."

Although Tomohiro Ohno is bald and overweight, he speaks with conviction and his eyes light up when he talks about manga.

"Now, Chainsaw Man is the first successful work that Kaji has discovered for us. As a new work, it has won more than 10,000 votes on the platform for the first time. Currently, there are discussions about Chainsaw Man on major social networks."

After a few seconds of silence, the senior executive of the distribution department tapped on the table and spoke: "Editor-in-Chief Ohno, the current problem is a commercial conflict. If readers can buy manga at low prices on JUMP+, who will still buy our magazine? You also said that the weekly magazine's sales are declining."

“It’s a weekly magazine…so the sales have dropped.” Tomohiro Ohno shook his head and said, “Is our core problem the price difference between the print and digital versions? No, it’s the loss of readers.”

“Young people have stopped buying physical magazines. JUMP+ exists to keep these readers under our group.”

“My plan is to serialize Chainsaw Man on both platforms, and keep the web version faster than the weekly version. We will promote it in the weekly version, and let people know that they can read Chainsaw Man updates on JUMP+.”

The editorial staff had already exchanged information beforehand and were simply watching Tomohiro Ohno silently, while the group executives attending the meeting frowned.

Tomohiro Ohno continued, "Gentlemen, it's better to drive readers away from weekly magazines to the JUMP+ platform than to have them go to Shogakukan and Kodansha's online platforms, right? Besides, there are LINE comics and Korean webcomics, all vying for the same readership."

After Tomohiro Ohno finished speaking, a murmur arose in the conference room.

"It's too risky."

"If it fails, the weekly magazine will also go bankrupt."

Ultimately, who will bear the responsibility?

Keiko Kaji, who was sitting in the editorial department, had been watching the president's expression closely. She noticed that he was shaking his head repeatedly. Before he could speak, Keiko Kaji pushed her chair back and stood up.

"Excuse my bluntness, President!" Keiko Kaji clenched her fists nervously and said, "What the editor-in-chief said is the reality that our editorial department faces every day. There is less and less reader feedback from the weekly magazine. My colleagues in the distribution department must feel it even more deeply. The pressure to meet the magazine's sales targets is getting greater and greater."

"Chainsaw Man is currently generating a lot of discussion online. Many readers downloaded JUMP+ for the first time because of this work, and then went on to read other works."

"Actually... the issue you all raised about digital comics being cheaper than physical magazines is simply unfounded!"

Keiko Kaji said, "A weekly magazine costs only 260 yen, and it contains 20 serialized works, which means each episode costs only 13 yen on average!"

"Our subscription price on the web platform is 40 yen per episode. Even considering free episodes, promotional gifts, etc., the price per episode is still higher than that of a weekly magazine. Not to mention that a large portion of the price of a physical magazine is fixed cost."

President Horiuchi, who had seemed hesitant to speak earlier, now stared intently at Keiko Kaji, his fingers lightly tapping the table.

Seeing that the president did not interrupt, Keiko Kaji went a step further.

“Take the current weekly circulation of 2 million copies as an example. 30% of that is the cost of distribution, printing, etc., which is actually equivalent to selling less than 1 million electronic subscriptions.”

"Guys, do you know how well Chainsaw Man is doing right now?"

When Keiko Kaji spoke about Chainsaw Man's stats, her voice rose several decibels: "Every week, tens of thousands of readers vote for him, and the number of reads is even higher, averaging over 70,000 reads per chapter!"

"According to our reader survey, more than 70% of readers are willing to pay for Chainsaw Man. This new work by a new author, which has only been serialized for 5 chapters, is able to match 5% of the total profit of weekly comics on its own. JUMP+ is just starting out, and there is no limit to the number of comics serialized on the web platform at the same time... And what about weekly comics? I suppose the business department should have some predictions about how low the sales will drop in the future. It's not very optimistic, is it?"

"Gentlemen, as I said to Editor-in-Chief Sang in the previous editorial meeting, I am willing to risk my career for Chainsaw Man."

The meeting lasted from noon until it got dark. At first, Tomohiro Ohno was fighting for the rights to the JUMP+ platform. Later, Keiko Kaji got more and more excited and almost praised Ken Sakamoto as the Kishimoto and Oda of the internet age. She felt that she had gone a bit too far with her praise, so she sat down and waited for President Horiuchi to make the final decision.

Regarding JUMP+ and Chainsaw Man, Chairman Horiuchi's conclusion to Tomohiro Ohno was that there was no problem with serializing both simultaneously, and that they should closely monitor the data and feedback, but for the time being, they should not heavily promote JUMP+ in the weekly magazine.

It's a compromise, using Chainsaw Man as a test case. If it succeeds, everyone will be happy; even if it fails, it won't affect the weekly magazine's core audience.

After the meeting ended, the senior executives left first, and then the editors left the meeting room.

At this moment, Tomohiro Ohno called out to Keiko Kaji again.

“Kachi-san, thank you for earlier,” Ohno Tomohiro said. “If I were to speak for myself, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to get them to agree to serialize Chainsaw Man on both platforms at the same time. Although they didn’t agree to the idea of ​​getting traffic from the weekly magazine, it’s still a pretty good result.”

“It’s what I should do. I’m not just optimistic about Chainsaw Man, but also about Ken Sakamoto,” Keiko Kaji said.

Tomohiro Ohno nodded and continued, "They didn't mention the manga 'Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!' earlier. You should know the situation with that one now. It started out as a rich young lady serializing it for fun, but now..."

He handed several photocopies of the original manuscript to Keiko Kaji: "Look, this is the first part of her latest rewrite."

"That teacher, March Spring, is not just a flash in the pan. The level of detail in this picture is top-notch, even in weekly magazines."

As Keiko Kaji looked at the drawing, she couldn't help but be startled.

How could things have changed so drastically so suddenly? Is the chainsaw man still safe?!

Tomohiro Ohno had no idea that Keiko Kaji was thinking about the competition between her and Chainsaw Man. He continued, "Relying on just one book, Chainsaw Man, is too risky, so I plan to promote both works at the same time. And as for The Lady... you know, she has connections with President Aiga, so even President Horiuchi wouldn't have any objections."

As he walked toward the editorial department, Tomohiro Ohno shared his thoughts.

Kaji Keiko said, "Editor-in-Chief, do you mean... to promote Sakamoto-sensei and Mitsuki Haru-sensei as a duo? One focusing on plot and storyboarding, and the other focusing on animation?"

“That’s right.” Tomohiro Ohno nodded and said with a slight smile, “This was still Haru Mitsuki’s idea. I will send you the specific arrangements via email. Then, you can inform Ken Sakamoto and tell him to prepare to participate in the live broadcast.”

　I spent an entire night writing this chapter, which is over 3000 words long and has been condensed several times, but I still want to write about the moment of JUMP's transformation.

　　In reality, JUMP is the JUMP+ platform led by editor-in-chief Shuhei Hosono, as well as digital transformation. Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu, Daredevils, Spy Game, and many other works are all based on Shuhei Hosono. He is also the prototype for the character Tomohiro Ohno.

　　Lemon hoped to reflect reality as much as possible in the book, but of course, many things were changed due to the needs of the plot.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)