Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 51: Memorable Scene or Deadly Scene?
"Sakamoto-sensei, are you home?"

"Hmm~ I'm downstairs at your building. It seems there's no call button on the door. Could you please open it for me?"

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

Keiko Kaji, carrying a canvas bag, stood quietly waiting at the apartment entrance.

"It really is dilapidated..."

Kaji Keiko looked at the dilapidated apartment building again. The exterior walls were covered with a layer of sheet metal. It must be very noisy inside on rainy days.

After all, houses with wooden frames are not soundproof at all.

Soon, Keiko Kaji heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She took two steps back until the sliding door in front of her opened from the inside.

"Good afternoon, Sakamoto-sensei." Kaji Keiko bowed slightly to Sakamoto Ken.

Ken Sakamoto nodded and replied, "Good afternoon, thank you for coming again, editor-san."

"It's my job."

As Keiko Kaji spoke, she walked into the apartment building.

This was Keiko Kaji's third visit to Ken Sakamoto's residence, so she was quite familiar with it.

Upon entering the house, Keiko Kaji first took out a copy of JUMP from her backpack and handed it to Ken Sakamoto.

“Sakamoto-sensei, don’t forget, this week is the first time Chainsaw Man has been published in JUMP. Did you buy JUMP yesterday?” Kaji Keiko said.

“I really forgot…” Ken Sakamoto took the magazine from Keiko Kaji and said, “I’ve been busy rushing to finish the manuscript these past few days, and it’s been too long since the initial submission.”

"Haha, that's true. It's mainly because Sakamoto-sensei's work is so ahead of its time. There are already more than ten chapters of manuscript."

In the few steps that Keiko Kaji took to reach the living room, Ken Sakamoto had already flipped to the section on "Chainsaw Man" in the magazine.

Because this is the first serialization, it has been given a color page and doubled to 50 pages.

After a quick glance, Ken Sakamoto put the magazine aside.

He picked up the neatly arranged manuscript from the table and handed it to Kaji Keiko.

"I've been busy working on short stories for submissions lately, so I've only drawn up to chapter 14 of Chainsaw Man," Ken Sakamoto said.

“It’ll be done soon.” Keiko Kaji took the manuscript and said, “Sakamoto-sensei has become the example that other editors in our department use to urge writers to submit their work, especially those who like to delay.

Kaji Keiko knelt down in front of the table and spread out the manuscript paper.

"Then, I'll take a look at episode 14 now."

As she spoke, Keiko Kaji began to carefully turn the pages one by one.

"Hmm... this chapter is called 'Sexy Kiss'."

Keiko Kaji saw Himeno and Denji's agreement to defeat the demon and asked, "Sakamoto-sensei, in the later plot, will Himeno, who promised to French kiss Denji, also join the heroine's side?"

“No.” Sakamoto Ken shook his head and said, “Himeno’s sweetheart is Hayakawa Aki. Does the editor want to know what happens next?”

"Huh?" Keiko Kaji paused slightly and said, "Didn't Himeno promise to give Denji a French kiss?"

“That doesn’t mean he likes her, and this kiss happened in front of Hayakawa Aki…” Sakamoto Ken was about to continue talking about the details of the kiss in the later part of the story, but then he changed his mind and said, “Ha… but the later part of the story hasn’t been fully decided yet, the editor will know when the time comes.” Some dark scenes are better left unsaid to the editor.

Once the original manuscript is finished, or even if it has progressed to later parts of the story, the editor will find it difficult to ask him to revise the plot.

Ken Sakamoto is recreating Fujimoto Tatsuki's "Chainsaw Man" this time, and he plans to not change a single storyboard.

At least for the first "Chainsaw Man" movie, we should trust Fujimoto Itsuki's talent.

In fact, some abstract ghost stories are the source of heated discussions on social media platforms.

Keiko Kaji flipped through the chapter, pondered for a moment, and said, "I have no objection to this chapter, but Sakamoto-sensei should also work on the later chapters, since you never discuss the plot with me."

“I know what I’m doing,” Ken Sakamoto said.

"Alright, alright, that makes things easier for me too. As long as the quality of the work doesn't decline, that's fine," Keiko Kaji said. "By the way, I have some ideas about the plot recently, let me tell you about them."

“Editor, please speak.” Ken Sakamoto listened attentively.

Although he wouldn't change the plot...

Keiko Kaji said, "Things are different now than before. Social media platforms have a huge amount of traffic. If you can become popular on those platforms, it will greatly help the popularity of your work, especially for web-based serials like ours. After readers see discussions on Twitter or other places, they don't need to go to a bookstore to buy a book. They can just open a webpage or an app and start reading immediately."

“That’s right, that’s definitely the trend going forward,” Ken Sakamoto nodded and said.

“So…” Keiko Kaji said, “Sakamoto-sensei could consider adding some content to the plot that could spark discussion among netizens, that is… iconic scenes.”

"By the way, these iconic scenes aren't necessarily about how beautiful the visuals are or how exciting the plot is, but rather a kind of... well, how should I put it..."

Keiko Kaji thought for a moment and gave an example, saying, "Have you seen the episode of Naruto with the Chibaku Tensei? Although many people say that the animation was bad, in fact, that scene, which lasted less than a second, brought a lot of discussion to the work, and people still talk about it even years later."

“My pain is greater than yours!” Ken Sakamoto recited the line directly. He smiled slightly and said, “Don’t worry about the memorable scenes, editor-san, there will definitely be some.”

"Haha, Sakamoto-sensei, just don't turn a famous scene into a death scene," Kaji Keiko said casually.

Ken Sakamoto simply smiled and didn't reply.

Kaji Keiko carefully organized the original manuscript of this chapter, put it into a file bag, and then put it into her canvas bag.

She looked at Ken Sakamoto's desk, where there were still sketches on it.

"Sakamoto-sensei, is there still time for that short story submission?" Kaji Keiko looked at the date and said, "Right now, there are still twenty days."

"It's about half done, isn't it?" Ken Sakamoto sat back down at his desk, picked up the completed manuscript, and straightened it. "Editor-san, could you take a look at this manuscript for me?"

"Great!" This was exactly what Keiko Kaji had been looking forward to, and she immediately reached out to take the manuscript.

The manuscript, consisting of over seventy pages, was quite a thick stack. Kaji Keiko placed the manuscript on the table and examined the cover page on the top.

The cover is colored, and the overall tone is dark. In the study, the protagonist, who is about the age of an elementary school student, sits at his desk and draws. It is a very simple scene.

“Looking back suddenly…” Keiko Kaji murmured the title, looking at Ken Sakamoto with some confusion, “It’s a very literary title.”

She said jokingly, "It's hard to imagine that the author of 'Chainsaw Man' would draw artistic comics. Is there something scary in them?"

(End of this chapter)