Full-time comic artist

He shook his head, took a sip of coffee, and opened a comic book magazine.

Hirohiko Araki is still following the same old path, continuing to serialize the fifth part of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," Golden Wind.

Evergreen's "Wulong Police Station" is still not finished; it's practically become a tangled mess.

As for "Rurouni Kenshin", it's utterly uninteresting.

He ignored the other comics, quickly flipping through them before moving on.

"Jump is doomed," he concluded.

The last thing I watched was "Slam Dunk".

The second half of the match between Shohoku and Hainan.

Takenori Akagi made it onto the court, and right from the start, he scored with a dunk.

Shohoku scored 51 points, surpassing Hainan for the first time.

Coach Takato couldn't help but glance at him, "Akagi... what a strong man, there's no sign of a foot injury."

When Sakuragi asked Akagi about his foot injury, he gave an awkward smile and said, "Of course it's fine."

It's not convincing at all.

Akagi was playing with the determination to die.

He absolutely cannot give up when there are still twenty minutes left.

This was an opportunity he had worked so hard for, and he couldn't let it slip away.

Kogure looked at Akagi and recalled his first year of high school.

Akagi couldn't hide his resentment when the other team members lost because they faced strong teams.

While others were just getting by, he wondered why he hadn't tried harder.

The match continued, and facing the Hainan players, Akagi glared at them with a determined look in his eyes.

His gaze was so intimidating that the opponent became timid, and the ball was passed to Maki Shinichi.

Shinichi Maki, who was like an emperor, was already the focus of everyone's attention when he was a freshman in high school.

He was in the stands at that time, watching Hainan and Xiangyang compete in the final week.

Shinichi Maki and Kenji Fujima are both first-year students, just like him.

They are the two heroes of Kanagawa, the shining new stars of Hainan and Shohoku, that's what everyone calls Shinichi Maki and Kenji Fujima.

In the audience, Akagi was filled with shock and resentment.

It would be great if he could play a few more games!

I will definitely come here in the future!

After that, the training for the Shohoku basketball team became even more intense.

The basketball team members all quit.

They just want to play basketball happily, not work this hard.

Only Kiminobu Kogure was with Akagi in the team.

Even so, Akagi did not give up.

He was just a newcomer in his first year of high school, but after rigorous training, he became one of the top centers in Kanagawa.

Now I can finally stand here!

Chapter 191 The Mediocrity of Jump

"Today's episode of Slam Dunk was very interesting."

Sanyuanyi enjoys watching stories that dissect the inner thoughts of characters.

Therefore, he is also a loyal reader of manga like "Hikaru no Go".

Akagi Takenori's tough-guy tenderness captivated Sanyuan.

"This is the kind of work that Jump should have."

Filled with a strong sense of superiority, he began to write furiously, and soon an article was finished.

After that, he needs to find information and fill in the details; he has to take it slowly.

However, the title of this article has already been decided.

The Mediocrity of the King of Glory "Jump"!

……

This Sunday, Hibiki Higashino received a sample copy of Weekly Shonen Jump.

"Huh!" The color cover page surprised him greatly.

"Is this the kind of treatment one gets for the very first serialization?"

Hibiki Higashino was impressed by Kazuhiko Torishima's grand vision.

He clearly had doubts about One Piece, but once he made up his mind, he fully supported the manga.

That's right, the very first chapter of One Piece had a color cover!

On the cover, Monkey D. Luffy points his index finger forward with a broad smile, declaring that an adventure is about to begin.

Hibiki Higashino received this honor only during the serialization of "Slam Dunk".

He quickly handed the comic to Akemi Akimiya to share.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Akemi Akemi covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide open like saucers.

"She's still a new cartoonist, and she already has a color cover in the opening chapter right after starting her serialization."

She opened the comic book.

"Oda-kun's editor has changed."

Before the serialization, it was Hisashima; now it's Asada Takanori.

This is where things get complicated.

The editors you work with when you're a newcomer are the ones who are most trusted by the cartoonist, since you've grown up together and gone through the most confusing period together.

Just like Hibiki Higashino highly approves of Sasaki's suggestions, but if another editor were in charge of him, Higashino might not trust the new editor's abilities.

Oda is the same.

"Huh? There are no outlets." Akemi Akimiya realized belatedly after glancing at the One Piece manga.

"It's probably because too many of my posts are placed here," Hibiki Higashino said with a laugh. "It could also be due to the influence of Toriyama-sensei."

"No wonder it took three meetings to approve the serialization," Akemi Akemi muttered.

Most shonen manga have screen dots.

One Piece is truly unique.

Therefore, many manga artists saw this new work in this issue of Jump magazine and expressed their feelings.

"It seems quite interesting."

"It's a very unconventional work."

"It's something to look forward to."

The next morning, Higashino was getting up and eating breakfast when Minami Chiharu brought him a newspaper.

Hibiki Higashino was shocked: "You're not still working part-time delivering newspapers, are you?!"

Even though he was already in the management of "Mirai-sha" company.

Due to its own connections, a large portion of the outsourcing for "Slam Dunk" went to Mirai-sha, and combined with the revenue from "Hiyori," the company's benefits were quite good.

Nan Qianchun chuckled, "I need to exercise too; it would be a shame if I didn't deliver newspapers."

She was wearing sportswear, waved, and then ran away.

She still has the same mindset as before, without the slightest change.

"I really envy her."

Hibiki Higashino started looking at the magazine that Chiharu Minami had brought.

The front page wasn't anything special, but when you turned to the second page, there was a long article.

Before he could even read the title, he saw the accompanying image: the cover of the latest issue of Jump, which featured One Piece.

"Is it an article praising Oda?"

Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a disparaging remark about Jump.

The tone of the message was one of disappointment, suggesting that Jump is not what it used to be, and it was a very negative assessment.

"The work is rigid, superficial, lacks depth, and lacks imagination. Without Slam Dunk, Jump's circulation would have continued to decline, and it's possible that it would have fallen below Weekly Shonen Magazine."

Besides "Slam Dunk," this writer named Sanyuan Yi also hates the current state of Jump and hopes that Torishima Kazuhiko can make changes.

Higashino Hibiki was filled with questions.

In this era of declining birth rates and rapidly evolving electronic products, it's quite remarkable that Jump, with its massive size, has managed to maintain its current status.

And to make matters worse, using One Piece images as illustrations is just ridiculous.

They'll be proven wrong in the future.

……

By the end of September, One Piece was progressing slowly, but its performance hadn't been explosive, and it still needed more time to prove itself.

Musashino Art University's anniversary has arrived.

The students had a great time. Just like in an anime, the school was transformed into an amusement park, with fun facilities everywhere. There was even a campus anime convention this year.

Some clubs made movies about aliens and magicians fighting each other;

Some clubs created fighting games, and everyone lined up to play them with great enthusiasm. Although the finished products were just average, the joy of playing games together was something that was hard to experience.