Full-time comic artist

Some leagues have only three or five spectators, while others have thousands of spectators.

However, the match between Meiji and Tokai last weekend left a very deep impression on her.

Even though it was just a friendly match at the school level, she felt the atmosphere that only a league would have.

Moreover, many new people have joined the basketball community.

Just like the middle-aged man next to her who looked like he had kidney deficiency, he was definitely not a basketball enthusiast.

All of this is thanks to Tori Akino Mirai!

"I really want to meet Tori Akino Mirai." That's what she thought.

……

In the afternoon, Sasaki brought the photocopied storyboard to Hibiki Higashino's studio.

These are all works to be submitted to the serialization meeting. The reviewers need to read them in advance and write their opinions and evaluations so that they can quickly express their views at the serialization meeting.

Hibiki Higashino was very curious. This was his first time attending a Jump serialization meeting, and he wondered which familiar works he would encounter.

Driven by curiosity, Higashino Hibiki read through his books one by one.

He nodded repeatedly; the works that could participate in the serialization meeting were indeed quite good.

At this point, instead of looking for strengths like in a newcomer award, the focus is on finding the shortcomings of the work.

The works presented at the serialization conference were basically the culmination of several years of work by the authors, so they were all very well-developed.

Higashino was amazed, marveling at the level of competition in the industry.

Even for a work like this, the chances of it being serialized in Jump are extremely slim.

There were a total of seventeen entries, but only three could be serialized, making the competition extremely fierce.

After his initial surprise, Higashino Hibiki pulled out a new work that immediately made Higashino's eyes widen – he had found a treasure.

This work is based on Egyptian culture, and the protagonist is a timid student who is often bullied.

His hairstyle is very distinctive, one of the most eye-catching in Jump magazine.

Compared to him, Sakuragi Hanamichi is practically a good boy.

The painting in this work is very skillful; it's clearly the work of an artist who has been immersed in painting for many years.

There are no problems with the artwork, and the plot is very interesting. Among these serialized works, it is an outstanding masterpiece.

The key point is that Hibiki Higashino really liked this work and witnessed its success in the future.

So he picked up his pen and wrote down his evaluation.

Sasaki was quite surprised when he saw it. "Such a high evaluation?"

“Yes,” Hibiki Higashino nodded, “I sense it. This will be a work that represents the future.”

Sasaki was surprised. He had read the manga and found it quite interesting, but it was only considered average in Jump. He hadn't expected Hibiki Higashino to give it such a high rating.

He wanted to ask more questions, but after writing his comments on the leather bag, Higashino quickly moved on to his next work.

He could only purse his lips and look forward to the serialization meeting.

……

A week later, on Sunday, Hibiki Higashino went to Shueisha.

Wearing his badge in the lobby, Hibiki Higashino came to the editorial department once again. He remembered that the last time he came was after he won the Tezuka Award.

Time flies, and almost three years have passed. He has gone from being a second-year high school student to realizing his dream of studying at Musashino Art University.

The turning point in my life was drawing comics.

Stepping out of the elevator, Higashino Hibiki no longer felt the shock of the previous time, but his heart was even more stirred.

At the elevator entrance, in addition to Goku and Jotaro as usual, Fujiwara no Sai and Sakuragi Hanamichi were also present.

Filled with emotion, he followed Sasaki into the editorial department.

"Tori Akino is here!"

"The pillar of Jump!"

The editors stared at him.

A college student has actually drawn one of Jump's most popular works.

They can now work here leisurely thanks to Mr. Toriakino.

"The serialization meeting is about to begin."

Many editors also counted on their fingers; they were the editors who had responsible works enter the serialization meeting.

Those authors hand over their comics with high expectations, and I really don't want to see them disappointed.

"It absolutely has to pass!"

……

At 3 p.m., after exchanging pleasantries with Hibiki Higashino and Kazuhiko Torishima, they entered the conference room where the serial was being serialized.

The people here are either editors-in-chief or team leaders; they are part of Jump's management team.

Each and every one of them is highly experienced and has made outstanding contributions to Jump.

Editor-in-Chief: Kazuhiko Torishima; Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Kondo; Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Hisashi Sasaki.

Team leader: Yoshihisa Heiji; Team leader: Asada; Team leader: Kosuke Yahagi...

Hibiki Higashino sat among these people, and he felt like a husky had infiltrated a pack of wolves. The way these elites acted changed after he came in.

Apart from that one work, this serialization meeting wasn't anything special; at least Higashino Hibiki had no recollection of those works.

Jump holds several serialization meetings every year to sift through the sands and find the real gems.

All the hard work of these cartoonists ultimately amounted to nothing.

Therefore, some people say that drawing comics is like gambling; there is only a one in ten thousand chance of success.

All the people who can get into the serialization meeting are capable, but most of them can't even be the cornerstone of Jump Manga.

After reviewing one work after another, Hibiki Higashino shared his thoughts, noting that despite coming from the future, his vision was still quite good.

Torishima Kazuhiko was somewhat surprised. Hibiki Higashino's idea was similar to his: in addition to the quality of the work, he valued works with the potential for peripheral development.

Chapter 135 The Future of Jump

Yoshihisa Pingzi said, "Yu-Gi-Oh! is a work by Kazuki Takahashi, which I was in charge of."

"He started working in the field of comics in 1981, and by the time he created Yu-Gi-Oh!, he had accumulated 14 years of experience."

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Higashino Hibiki was filled with emotion.

This is a huge money-making machine, which has kept Takahashi-sensei in the top three of manga artists' annual income for many years, and for a period of time he even took the lead.

If Oda hadn't come from behind, Kazuki Takahashi would have been even more legendary.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is arguably Jump's most profitable manga IP. Card sales alone have exceeded 1 trillion yen.

Although the manga volumes are not entirely satisfactory, its IP value is even greater than that of "One Piece".

Hibiki Higashino recalled the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which was worth 8700 million RMB.

When the news broke, Higashino Hibiki was stunned; the card dealer was really rich.

It was only later that I learned it was a staged auction. However, the card's true value is estimated to be over 20 RMB.

It's worth much more than the commemorative painting from Akira Toriyama's exhibition.

It truly is a masterpiece honed over 14 years.

"14 years?" Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kondo was taken aback. "Has this Takahashi-sensei published any works in Jump?"

He had no recollection of this person.

Yoshihisa was flustered for a moment.

Torishima Kazuhiko interjected, "Speaking of this person, I know a little about him. Around 1990, Takahashi submitted a manuscript to Jump, but it wasn't accepted."

"The editorial department believed he was a talented person who might shine one day, so they assigned him to an editor, namely Toshimasa Takahashi."

"Later, under the guidance of Toshimasa Takahashi, he also had a serialized work called..." Kazuhiko Torishima hesitated; he had actually forgotten the name of this work.

“It’s ‘BURAY, the Man Who Burns in the Sky,’” said Yoshihisa Heibo. “It was serialized in 1991 and was canceled in 1991.”

The protection period for new works ended just after it expired.

Those present nodded in understanding, gaining a preliminary impression of this Kazuki Takahashi.

This refers to the majority of people who strive in the field of comics.

It's all too common for new authors to be canceled midway through their writing careers.

New authors who can consistently publish serialized works are relatively rare.

However, despite not making any progress over the years, he is still working hard in the field of comics. People present thought that he must really love drawing comics.

“Although my previous results were not good,” Yoshihisa Ping quickly explained, “this new work by Takahashi-sensei, Yu-Gi-Oh!, is a work that we discussed for a year before creating.”

"Mr. Takahashi worked as a game designer at Sega, so don't worry. I also have a lot of content from after Yu-Gi-Oh!, including the new games he designed. They are all very interesting."

Everyone nodded, waiting for him to continue.

The bottle recounted the plot of the first three chapters of the manga, and Higashino Hibiki, looking at his own evaluation on the leather bag, felt a sense of temporal dislocation.

"Yugi Muto was initially set up as a high school student who was often bullied. This was to create a contrast with the later plot and was also influenced by Takahashi-sensei's work, 'Mataro ga Kita'."

"Yugi Muto assembled the Millennium Puzzle, and Atem's soul was thus awakened."

"When Yugi Muto was bullied, Atem's soul took over his body and punished the bullies by playing the game."

This kind of beginning is completely different from what Hibiki Higashino knew about the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime.

Even the Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction he had read didn't include any plot points related to the first three chapters.

Honda and Jonouchi, those two bastards, are actually bullying Yugi Muto.