Full-time comic artist

"Teacher?" Higashino glanced at her sideways, a teacher who had never taught a single class.

Akemi Akemi waved her hand. "You'll find out later."

She covered her mouth and chuckled, as if she had remembered something happy.

Higashino ignored her; there was plenty of fun in that idiot's head, let her entertain herself.

“To be fair, Higashino-kun is indeed hardworking,” Akira Toriyama said. “Sometimes when I get up at night, I find his window is still lit.”

Yumi Toriyama looked at Hibiki Higashino and advised, "Even if you have to draw manga and study hard, you should also get some rest in your spare time."

"Yes, thank you for your concern." Hibiki Higashino said, "I understand. I don't want to get sick and hospitalized because of overwork after just getting the right to serialize a story."

Yumi Toriyama nodded. "It's good that you know what's going on."

It felt nice to be cared for, and Higashino Hibiki didn't find them nagging at all; he felt warm inside.

Yumi Toriyama looked at Akira Toriyama and said, "That one should be here by now."

"Ah." Akira Toriyama checked the time and nodded.

Akemi Akemi asked curiously, "What?"

"The ranking of works to determine their survival."

No sooner had Akira Toriyama finished speaking than the landline at home rang.

"I'll go answer it," he said to Yumi Toriyama, then got up and headed for the landline phone at the front door.

“Yes,” Toriyama Yumi nodded, then explained to the curious Akemi Akemi, “It must be Mr. Takeda Fuyumon, the editor of Dragon Ball. He would inform Sho about his grades every Friday afternoon.”

Higashino suddenly realized.

He was somewhat familiar with this; it was also known as the newspaper's ranking, a ranking derived from a reader survey included in Jump.

Because Weekly Shonen Jump was launched later than the other two major shonen manga magazines, it needed to gain reader support and understand their thoughts.

Reader surveys were interspersed within the comic magazine.

One of the most important aspects is the ranking of "favorite works".

Most of the time it's 3 parts, sometimes it's 1 part.

Every Friday, 1000 reader responses are selected and ranked based on factors such as gender, age, and class. This is Xiaozheng.

If a comic's performance is unsatisfactory for three consecutive weeks, it will be canceled, forcibly ending the comic.

The better your grades, such as being number one in elementary school, the more likely your comic will be featured at the top of the magazine.

The capable rise, the mediocre fall.

This is a very important metric for manga artists who serialize their work in Jump.

Popular works like "Shaman King" and "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!" were canceled because of Kosei's poor grades.

Therefore, even very popular comic artists worry about this.

Aside from groundbreaking works like Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto.

However, this is a very realistic situation. If a comic can't attract readers, then it should be ended.

A short while later, Akira Toriyama returned.

He held up one finger and returned to the table triumphantly, "As expected, I'm number one again!"

"Wow, Akira Toriyama-sensei is amazing!"

Akemi Akemi, who had been nervously tilting her head back, clapped and cheered excitedly.

First place is a very difficult achievement to obtain, even though many serialized comic artists have won places from second to twentieth.

"Ah! I really want to serialize this too!"

"That day will come, as long as you keep working hard."

Hibiki Higashino smiled and said, "Congratulations, Akira Toriyama-sensei."

“Actually, I’ve won first place many times,” Akira Toriyama said, sitting down in his chair. “Sometimes even several times in a row. But when I hear that I’m first, I’m still very happy. After all, it’s Jump’s number one.”

The number one manga magazine in Japan, with an average sales volume of 630 million copies, achieving the top spot is a significant accomplishment.

……

On Monday, Weekly Shonen Jump was released.

Akemi Akemi borrowed a car and took Hibiki Higashino to Nagoya.

"I want to see the comics I drew myself!"

She said this.

I want to see the results of my efforts as an assistant.

Unfortunately, the 35th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, released today, does not feature the artwork they created as assistants.

"Ah, I forgot!" the idiot roared, "The serialization will be delayed by a week after the manuscript is submitted!"

Hibiki Higashino shook his head. "After all, we need to allow time for proofreading, printing, and distribution."

They pulled me over without a word, and I thought it was something serious.

“What a pity…” Akemi Akemi lowered her head.

"But there's the latest issue of Jump!" she exclaimed happily.

"A person like that definitely won't be depressed," Higashino thought to himself.

She's really good at self-regulation.

……

Hibiki Higashino used to think that going on a date with a beautiful 24-year-old woman would be a happy thing.

I only just realized that not every young lady is named Akemi Akimiya.

"So spicy! So spicy!"

He ate the spicy tofu with tears streaming down his face, wiping his nose and tears, but he kept stuffing it into his mouth.

What a ridiculous scene.

"If you can't eat spicy food, then don't eat spicy food." Higashino Hibiki couldn't bear to look at her. Hearing that spiciness is a form of pain, he really suspected that Akemi Akemi was a BDSM enthusiast.

Pain and happiness.

He scooped a spoonful of Mapo Tofu into his mouth and savored it.

"But...but it feels so good, I can't control myself." Akimiya Ningmei pulled out a tissue, wiped away her sweat, and looked enviously at Higashino Hibiki, who had no sweat and a calm expression. "You...has it, isn't it spicy?"

"It's alright," Hibiki Higashino replied.

Chapter 12: Works That Do Not Exist

After finishing his lunch in a few bites, Higashino Hibiki avoided the disheveled Akemi Akemi and looked around.

I saw an advertisement on the wall of the food court.

"The Tokyo Student Animation Festival will open on July 20, 1994. We look forward to your attendance."

Below that is a smaller line of text, which contains the address and the organizer.

There are also the participation methods and deadlines.

"Are you surprised?" Akemi Akemi's red lips swelled. "It's probably to absorb fresh blood."

Is there a shortage of people to produce animation?

“Of course,” Akemi Akimiya explained, “Since the Miyazaki Tsutomu incident, the animation industry has been severely impacted. Many people working in the animation industry, and those who were planning to, have switched careers.”

Moreover, the animation industry suffers from poor treatment, with no basic guaranteed salary, low wages, long working hours, and widespread disdain. Except for those with boundless passion, it's difficult to persevere in this field.

I know Tsutomu Miyazaki... Hibiki Higashino.

It cannot be elaborated upon, but he was a heinous criminal. Because of his otaku identity, he was deeply despised by otaku.

Comics did have an impact, but this was offset by the presence of many world-class comic works during that period.

City Hunter, Saint Seiya... although both of these series were forced to be canceled due to their later performance.

However, the results were quite good at the time.

"Only when a groundbreaking animated work is released can the tide be turned," Hibiki Higashino said.

“It has nothing to do with us.” Akemi Akimiya shrugged.

"Yes."

……

Akemi Akemi enjoyed a rare day of leisure, so she didn't return to Akira Toriyama's house until 7 p.m.

After apologizing to Yumi Toriyama, Hibiki Higashino took the copy of Weekly Shonen Jump and went back to his bedroom.

The artwork on the cover is Yoshihiro Togashi's "Yu Yu Hakusho".

During this period, Togashi-sensei worked very hard, claiming that he only slept 10 to 20 hours a week, which sounds exaggerated, but the manga did continue to be serialized and there were basically no breaks.

Compared to when she was serializing "Hunter x Hunter," she's practically a different person.

Moreover, he takes his work very seriously, not delegating the main parts to his assistants, and working tirelessly through the night, to the point that his editors can't stand it anymore.

"As a cartoonist, you must see things through to the end."

He is truly talented and virtuous, worthy of admiration.

However, this may have been the reason why he grew tired of drawing comics, to the point that he felt like vomiting whenever he saw one.

The current Weekly Shonen Jump has so many interesting manga that Hibiki Higashino could learn from.

Yu Yu Hakusho, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Dragon Ball, Kochikame...

So Higashino Hibiki basically read it from beginning to end, without missing a single book.

but……

"What about Slam Dunk?"