Full-time comic artist

"I really can't bear to part with it."

He finished reading the 19-page weekly episode in just two or three minutes.

He really wanted to watch the entire Slam Dunk manga in one go.

"Shohoku's next opponent is Takezato, and the one after that is Ryonan," Kazuya Takasugi pondered. "Takezato should be fine, after all, they were the bottom of the Kanagawa semifinals who were crushed by Ryonan by a large margin."

"But, Ryonan..."

Kazuya Takasugi frowned. "This is bound to be a tough battle."

"However, it's sure to be exciting!"

He began to look forward to it.

……

Hibiki Higashino was working when Nozomi Takagi barged in and confronted him aggressively.

Yoshii Yamahisa tried to stop her, but she pushed him away.

He looks weak and lacks the authority of a husband.

"What's wrong?" Higashino asked.

"What else could it be?" Takagi Kiko said, both amused and exasperated. "President, what are the next plans for 'Mirai-sha'?"

In January of this year, "Hiyori" ended.

They waited and waited, but no new projects came in.

They can only continue to take on subcontracted work and live off their savings.

After enduring it for a month, she finally couldn't take it anymore and went to Higashino Hibiki.

"Oh, right, right!" Higashino Hibiki slapped his forehead. "I forgot."

Asahina had also contacted him about this matter, and Higashino Hibiki readily agreed, only to forget about it immediately afterward.

"I've drafted the new plan, could you please take a look?" Hibiki Higashino took a file folder from the drawer and handed it to Nozomi Takagi.

Kiko Takagi took it, didn't leave, sat down at the dining table, put on her glasses, and began to read it carefully.

After a while, her expression turned serious.

The new animation is a very normal 24-minute animated film.

Furthermore, the funding is provided solely by Mirai-sha, without the formation of an animation production committee.

This means that the cost of each episode, which is around 1500 million yen, is used up by Mirai-sha's profits.

"It will have 11 episodes in total and will cost around 1.6 million yen."

This amount of money already represents more than half of the net profit of "Nichijou".

If the audience doesn't approve and it fails, it will be a huge blow.

It could even lead to the company falling apart.

But then she thought about it again, and since the boss had money, she decided to do as he said.

“The animation is ‘Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day,’” she gasped, then added, “It’s so long.”

“Then let’s use the abbreviation,” Hibiki Higashino said: “Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day.”

……

The "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day" project was unanimously approved by Mirai-sha.

The production of the new animation will take more than a year, and it is tentatively scheduled to air on television next April.

As for the female lead's voice actress, it's of course Mei Higashino.

You can tell from the name.

Hibiki Higashino's original intention in founding the animation production company has finally been achieved.

In March, Hibiki Higashino was flipping through Weekly Shonen Jump.

Finally, the announcement for the short comic contest appeared on the advertising page.

The participants included: "Hirohiko Araki, author of *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind*; Mirai Toriaki, author of *Slam Dunk*; Nobuhiro Watsuki, author of *Rurouni Kenshin*; and Morimichi Yamamura, author of *The Mysterious Detective Agency*..."

“They’re all heavyweights,” Higashino Hibiki said with a smile.

He found it very amusing.

These people's short stories must be very interesting.

Just then, he received a phone call from Yamamura Morimichi.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Yamamura?"

Higashino was curious.

"There's something I want to ask you," Yamamura said shyly. "I hope that the background of 'Slam Dunk' will appear in my short manga, but there won't be any specific content!"

Although Higashino was curious, he readily agreed.

It's just a small matter.

In the Future Jump manga "Gintama," there are quite a few jokes about the predecessors.

There are many storylines in Dragon Ball.

Chapter 199 The Confessional

"A short comic contest! I'm so excited!"

"All the participating writers are ones I really like."

"Akitori Akino-sensei! And Watsuki Nobuhiro-sensei!"

"Will they release a spin-off of the ongoing series? I want to know why Sakuragi Hanamichi failed to confess his love 50 times!"

"I want to see Jotaro make a move in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 5! Which is more powerful, time deletion or time stop?"

Readers were filled with anticipation, and April arrived quickly.

At the start of the school year, Higashino Hibiki moved up to the fourth grade.

Even the cherry blossom trees with only bare branches are now blooming with dazzling pink petals, which flutter in the wind.

"Springtime is great in every way, except for the hay fever..."

Higashino muttered to himself.

Akemi Akemi handed him a mask and told him to put it on.

Upon arriving at the school, a graduate representative delivered a graduation speech in the auditorium.

The senior student spoke with heartfelt sincerity, and the students below were moved to tears. From time to time, younger students who knew the senior student waved goodbye.

Higashino Hibiki wondered when they had all gotten to know an upperclassman, and how they had developed such a deep friendship.

He originally just wanted to go through the motions, but now he's feeling extremely uneasy.

Just then, someone waved to him with a smile.

Higashino had some recollection of the person and his brain raced. Fortunately, he had a strong memory and recognized the person he had only met once.

His name is Kitamura Tatsu, a member of the "Mirai-sha".

When we first met, he was a third-year student; now he's about to graduate.

Time really flies.

He looks radiant now, probably ready to make his mark after graduation.

Higashino waved to him and greeted him.

……

After the graduation ceremony, Higashino Hibiki was about to leave when several upperclassmen stopped him.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Tori Akino?"

"I am Toriaki Mirai, the artist of 'Slam Dunk'."

"Please!" They took out autograph boards, bowed, and looked up at Higashino Hibiki with longing eyes.

"Of course." Higashino Hibiki nodded, and each person took the autograph board and wrote "Tori Akino Mirai".

This was the first time he had met these people in his three years at university; he never expected them to be his readers.

Before parting, the leader expressed some sentiments.

They are members of the basketball club and really like the anime "Slam Dunk".

However, what they like is fun basketball; they simply play basketball and don't think about participating in competitions.

So they work three days a week and rest two days a week, living a leisurely and carefree life.

After watching "Slam Dunk," the desire of the Shohoku basketball team or other teams to win the national championship made the members of the Musashino basketball team feel ashamed.

Effort, struggle, hard work, and ambition are not associated with them.

Especially in the match between Shohoku and Hainan, in Akagi Takenori's past, those unambitious Shohoku players were their synonym.

So he dared not come to see Higashino Hibiki.

Finally, graduation time arrived, and considering this was his last chance, he gritted his teeth and went to Higashino Hibiki.

"Thank you," Hibiki Higashino said with a smile. "I'm truly honored that you like Slam Dunk so much."

……

After delivering the newspapers, Minami Chiharu bought a copy of Jump.

This issue features short comics by one of his favorite authors, Morimichi Yamamura.

In high school, she saw Yamamura shirtless and lost all liking for the author, but she still read his manga, Minami Chiharu.

"The Bizarre Detective Agency is much more interesting than The Sun Murder Case."

After reading the latest episode of "The Mysterious Detective Agency," Minami Chiharu sighed.