Full-time comic artist

"Waaaaah."

Akane Nakajima was crying, her head resting on her desk.

"I'm so miserable!"

She worked hard drawing until late last night, but she was still criticized by her teacher when she came to school today.

"I read a manga at Tori Akino-sensei's studio on Monday. 'The End of the Century Leader' was hilarious! Hahaha!"

The teacher tapped her head, "You're lying again. Look at your drawing, it's a mess. Next time, make sure you finish your summer homework properly."

The other students were all catching cicadas and rhinoceros beetles together.

Although it's still the same old summer vacation diary format from elementary school, at least I didn't write anything random.

The teacher angrily scolded Akane Nakajima for a long time until she cried.

"Keep trying!"

Halfway through her crying, Akane Nakajima suddenly realized something.

……

Bird Autumn Studio.

"Without Soma and the others, the studio feels so deserted."

Omori ate his hamburger, muttering to himself.

Tanaka nodded in agreement. "Yes, there are some."

Nowadays, apart from mealtimes, the studio is filled with the sound of G-pens scratching paper.

The hustle and bustle of people coming and going downstairs after get off work has become a daily routine to look forward to.

"It wasn't like this when Oda was in the studio," Tanaka said nostalgically.

"Eiichiro Oda, the artist of One Piece, he's an amazing guy." Omori said seriously after finishing his hamburger, taking a couple of sips of cola, with breadcrumbs still on his lips.

Eiichiro Oda has fulfilled the dreams of tens of thousands of people.

He created One Piece, which is loved by millions of people, and is a popular manga artist in Jump.

Among the authors currently serializing their works, no one is stronger than him except for Tori Akino.

The two of them were chatting while Higashino Hibiki was looking at the latest ranking list for Kosei.

……

"Slam Dunk, number one."

"Second place in One Piece."

"Naruto ranked third."

The Jump manga familiar to Hibiki Higashino gradually appeared one after another.

These three rankings also represent Jump's average top three rankings this year.

Next, we go to the second tier.

"Fourth place in The Prince of Tennis".

Takeshi Konomi's "The Prince of Tennis" was well-received by readers.

This extremely exaggerated sports comic opened up a new world for readers.

"Fifth place in Yu-Gi-Oh!"

Kazuki Takahashi's manga IP is stronger than "Slam Dunk," but both rely on card sales.

While the cards boosted the comic's popularity, they still only ranked fifth.

"Ranked sixth in 'Leaders of the End of the Century'".

The manga by the genius Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro only ranked sixth in 2000, but it was fourth in 1998.

It's not that his paintings are bad, it's just that the competition is getting fiercer.

"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean ranked 7th."

"The Mysterious Detective Agency" ranked eighth.

……

Higashino exclaimed in astonishment, "What a stellar list!"

Based on Xiaozheng's average ranking, we should also include Togashi's "Hunter x Hunter" in fourth place.

Both One Piece and Naruto have drawn inspiration from Hunter x Hunter.

If it weren't for Togashi's laziness, the success of Hunter x Hunter would probably be no less than that of One Piece.

"It's like gods fighting."

Even his later works, if placed before 2000, would have ranked in the top five, or even the top three.

Just as Higashino was marveling at the moment, his cell phone rang. The caller was Yamamura Morimichi.

Hibiki Higashino answered the phone, and all I heard him say was, "I'm going to end 'The Mysterious Detective Agency'."

"why?"

Hibiki Higashino was somewhat surprised. Although the performance of this work had declined and was not as good as Takeshi Konomi's "The Prince of Tennis", it was also due to the emergence of many excellent works in the past two years.

The readership of Yamamura Morimichi has not declined; he simply has not kept up with the times.

Moreover, a comic like "The Bizarre Detective Agency," which consists of countless short story segments, can be drawn indefinitely as long as it performs well.

Similar to "Detective Conan", so there is no need for Yamamura Morimichi to end so hastily.

He could have continued the serialization until it was canceled, which is the fate of many manga in Jump.

"I've drawn what I wanted to draw, so that's enough," Yamamura Morimichi replied calmly.

He couldn't possibly say that he had run out of ideas and was racking his brains every day to come up with bizarre events that could be explained by science, could he?

Wouldn't that make us look weak in front of Tori Akino?

Hibiki Higashino praised, "Mr. Yamamura, you have real courage."

"That's what you were thinking when you finished Hikaru no Go, right?" Yamamura Morimichi said in a deep voice, "To let the work end in a suitable place."

Higashino Hibiki nodded. "Yes."

“No,” Yamamura rejected his previous opinion, “There’s another point. You’re also confident that your next manga will surpass Hikaru no Go, so you ended Hikaru no Go without a second thought.”

He had said everything, leaving Higashino Hibiki speechless.

"You're really confident, to the point of arrogance, but you actually managed to do it." Yamamura didn't care and continued, "But I think the same as you. My next manga will definitely be even better."

Higashino Hibiki had to admit, "Even in middle age, you still have such a sharp edge."

He understood his situation and was able to finish his comic book so easily because it had already been tested by readers and was sure to be a popular work.

Unlike Yamamura Morimichi, he was making a truly difficult decision.

After "The Bizarre Detective Agency" ends, he may never be able to continue serializing it again, and he may never be able to achieve the same level of success as he has now.

But he still simply let go.

Hibiki Higashino advised him to reconsider, "Nobuhiro Watsuki, the artist behind 'Rurouni Kenshin,' hasn't released any new works in over a year. Perhaps you should reconsider..."

"Don't be so arrogant!" Yamamura snapped. "I can do it too, you can do it!"

Hibiki Higashino said, "You should know that I don't have that kind of thought?"

"..." There was a moment of silence on the other end of the mountain village. He took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, I was too strong-willed."

Hibiki Higashino said, "It's okay, but I still hope you can think about it carefully."

“I’ve made up my mind,” Yamamura said. “For my next manga, I’m going to draw a sports-themed manga!”

There was no sound from the other end of the phone for a long time.

Higashino Hibiki put down his phone and sighed. He understood that it was Yamamura Morimichi's pride that was causing the problem.

The show "The Bizarre Detective Agency" is declining in popularity and being surpassed by a constant stream of new talents. A genius like him cannot tolerate the status quo.

Eiichiro Oda, Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, Takeshi Konomi, Masashi Kishimoto...

Therefore, Yamamura Morimichi decided to abandon "The Strange Detective Agency" and explore higher possibilities.

“A sports manga?” Hibiki Higashino muttered, holding his phone. “Is that guy Yamamura planning to compete with Slam Dunk? He’s got guts.”

"That's my idea!"

On the phone, Yamamura Morimichi's firm voice came through, startling Hibiki Higashino.

He thought the mountain village had hung up the phone.

"Since we're going to have a goal, let's aim for number one!" Yamamura said. "I'm going to beat Slam Dunk with a sports manga!"

As long as you work hard in a down-to-earth manner, the broader your vision, the greater the motivation you will generate.

Shan Cun is thirty years old, but he is still a boy.

He is still the same person who competed with Hibiki Higashino back in 94: Morimichi Yamamura.

Hibiki Higashino said from the bottom of his heart, "You are amazing."

The mountain village is like Don Quixote rushing towards the windmill.

The achievement of "Slam Dunk" is a milestone.

Not only in Japan, but also in China, Europe and America, and the whole world, people are excited because of "Slam Dunk".

In the ranking of Japanese manga media art, "Slam Dunk" should be number one.

Even after 2020, a year familiar to Hibiki Higashino, no sports manga has surpassed "Slam Dunk".

And no work with such a sensational impact has ever appeared again.

"Tori Akino, you're really arrogant," Yamamura said in a muffled voice.

That's infuriating! What does it mean to say "you're so great"?

Akino Mirai holds "Slam Dunk" in very high regard.