Full-time comic artist

"Mitsui and Rukawa should move forward as much as possible, and Akagi should make a long pass whenever he has an open space. Dribble the ball to Miyagi, the attacking captain."

This places a heavy burden on Miyagi's shoulders.

When the national tournament began, Miyagi Ryota's performance was not good due to his height, and he was far inferior to the other team members.

At the most dangerous moment, Coach Anzai entrusted the task of breaking through Sannoh's defense to Miyagi.

"Huh?" Soma Satoru seemed to understand but not quite. He didn't know how to play basketball, and there was only a girls' basketball team in his elementary school.

"Is this all the tactics? It's so simple."

However, it seems there's a turning point.

Ryota Miyagi's opponent is Eiji Sawakita, the number one player in the country. He excels in one-on-one combat, mid-range shots, drives, layups, and dunks.

No one had a good chance of winning over Ryota Miyagi.

At this moment, Miyagi enters the scene.

In the palm of his hand were the words "First Defender" written by Ayako.

In a flash, under Coach Anzai's entrustment and inspired by Ayako, Miyagi Ryota passed the ball to Sannoh's backcourt!

Finally, an opportunity to attack arose, and they broke through the Sannoh defenses.

……

"Phew," Soma Satoru thought, his head spinning from the tense and exciting episode. He felt as if he had entered the basketball court and become the basketball, experiencing the thrill of the game amidst the complex and intense exchanges.

"Tori Akino-sensei's drawings are so amazing!"

“Of course!” Higashino Hibiki nodded.

"Such a manuscript would require three highly skilled and experienced assistants working more than ten hours a day for three days to complete!"

"As for the storyboard, it requires three days of careful refinement and polishing. A single line of dialogue and a single action require a very long time to think about."

Higashino Hibiki became more and more agitated as he spoke; these were all his blood and tears.

Weekly manga is truly inhumanly drawn; even the Grim Reaper would find Slam Dunk a headache.

There's no need to write it down in a notebook; just wait patiently, and you'll be able to wait until Tori Akino Mirai suddenly dies.

Soma Ichiro was shocked, "You must be exhausted. I never imagined you would have such a heavy workload."

Some manga artists, like Akira Toriyama, can draw Dragon Ball by themselves, but Slam Dunk is absolutely impossible!

"Tori Akino-sensei is really hardworking." Soma Satoru nodded, admiring Tori Akino Mirai even more. He asked curiously, "But Uncle Higashino, how do you know so much?"

Higashino Hibiki chuckled, “Of course I know. No one knows Tori Akino Mirai better than me. Well, maybe there is one.”

Chapter 248 Shogakukan Manga Appreciation

"There is only one person who understands Toriakino Mirai better than I do."

Higashino Hibiki stood up, put his hands on his hips, and said loudly.

Soma Satoru asked incredulously, "Uncle Higashino, who exactly are you?"

Soma Ichiro smiled and pointed at Higashino Hibiki, reciting a poem-like speech.

"He was my colleague at Jump."

Hibiki Higashino then boasted, "A genius manga artist who started serializing at the age of 17!"

Ichiro Soma: "Hikaru no Go, which injected fresh blood into Go, is his work."

Soma Satoru listened intently, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

Hibiki Higashino: "I've also drawn manga with romance themes."

Soma Ichiro lowered his head and reminisced: "That was 'The Garden of Words' and '5 Centimeters Per Second.' You portrayed love and separation so well."

Hibiki Higashino: "Thank you for the compliment. After that, I drew another sports-themed inspirational manga, which was..."

"Slam Dunk!" The child snapped out of his daze, staring intently at Hibiki Higashino, and shouted, "So you're Akino Mirai-sensei!"

Seeing his immense excitement, Higashino puffed out his chest, his vanity greatly satisfied.

“Yes, that’s me.” Higashino Hibiki patted Soma Satoru’s head and said with a smile, “I am Toriakino Mirai.”

It's really rewarding to create artwork that children love.

Many people serialize their work in Jump for this very reason: to get their work seen by more people and to gain wider publicity.

"Hehe." The child laughed happily.

but……

"Uncle actually knows Mr. Tori Akino!" Soma Satoru turned around and glanced at Soma Ichiro. "I'm really surprised."

Soma Ichiro rolled up the storyboard, patted Soma Satoru on the head, and said, "You really underestimate your uncle."

"It hurts so much." Soma Satoru shrank his head.

"Hahaha." Higashino Hibiki laughed.

Afterwards, Higashino Hibiki saw Soma Satoru's paintings. At the age of eight, his paintings were very immature, but as long as he worked hard, he would definitely be better than his uncle. Higashino Hibiki looked forward to his future.

He gave Soma Satoru pointers, telling him how to draw it.

Soma Ichiro nodded thoughtfully, as if he had also grasped something from the basics.

Hibiki Higashino was speechless, never expecting that Mr. Soma's basic knowledge was so poor.

Soma Ichiro smiled wryly, "At first, I didn't know that you had to use a G pen to draw manga. By the time I wanted to make corrections, it was too late to change my bad habit."

He meant that he was a self-taught monk and had no other choice.

It was through sheer obsession and hard work that even editors found frightening that we got to where we are today.

"It must have been really tough."

……

"Tori Akino-sensei, while you keep drawing manga, remember to take a break too."

"Thank you."

Hibiki Higashino, who is very popular with children, did not leave Soma Studio until dusk today.

He originally intended to comfort Soma Ichiro, but ended up receiving concern from his nephew instead.

What a wonderful experience.

Hibiki Higashino walked towards the parking lot.

As he passed a coffee shop, someone saw him and chased after him when the doorbell rang.

"Is this Mr. Tori Akino?" he asked nervously.

Higashino nodded. "Hello."

“How lucky,” he said, clenching his fist. “Could you please sign your name for me?”

He took out a signature board, and Higashino signed his name.

"Um," he scratched his head sheepishly, "could you please write a sentence? 'Wishing SHIELD-kun a speedy serialization.'"

Higashino Hibiki paused for a moment, then smiled and wrote down the words. He asked, "Are you drawing manga?"

"Hmm," he nodded, smiling shyly, "It's not very good, but I'm trying."

"Good luck." Higashino Hibiki patted him on the shoulder and handed him the autograph board.

"Thank you."

Higashino Hibiki turned and left, bowing deeply to Higashino Hibiki's retreating figure.

……

The Shogakukan Manga Award has four categories: children's, boys', girls', and general audiences, plus an occasional special award from the judging panel.

The so-called Four Heavenly Kings can have five, and Shogakukan is the same.

Every February, this is when the most prestigious award in the Japanese manga industry is announced.

Will there be a manga by Tori Akino-sensei this year?

“I think about this every year.”

"Hikaru no Go and Slam Dunk are both outstanding works."

"Last year's winner in the shonen category was Ryoji Minagawa's 'ARMS,' which was very interesting, but I don't think it was as brilliant as 'Hikaru no Go'."

"Ah."

In February, the air was still cold, and the cherry blossom trees were withered and black.

Xiao Tian tightened his clothes and heard the discussion among the students around him.

He also didn't understand why the organizing committee hadn't awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award to Tori Akino Mirai yet.

For Miki Toriaki, the "Shogakukan Manga Award" was just icing on the cake, but it didn't have any real value.

But for the organizers, it's an essential act to prove their authority.

No currently serialized shonen manga can compare to Mirai Toriakino.

"It's strange."

He shook his head and went to work; after all, he was just a junior employee.

……

Sports manga have a consistent lineage, from "Star of Giants" to "Ashita no Joe", from "Slam Dunk" to "The Prince of Tennis".

A continuous stream of excellent works is being produced.

Hibiki Higashino is reading a manga, which is also a sports-themed manga, and the subject matter is very unusual.

It's Katsutoshi Kawai's "Wind Chaser! King of Boat Racing".

The content is about high-speed water rowing races.

It also depicts the protagonist's obsession and love for rowing.