Full-time comic artist

"Hideki Hirota, Junichi Toyonami, Masako Sawai, Tsutomu Yagami, Jin Kobayashi..."

"Hiroshi Ikeda, Kazuya Takasugi, Satoru Murakami..."

"Ito Satoshi, Hana Chao, Kanda Taketo..."

Familiar or unfamiliar names, delicate or unbearable handwriting, boys or girls, people from different social classes and ages, all converged on this petition because of "Slam Dunk."

"This..." Higashino Hibiki was filled with mixed feelings.

He carefully kept the signed letters, and Sasaki returned the main body of the letters to him.

“This is really…” Sasaki’s voice was complicated, “Wrongly accusing an innocent person.”

They are clearly on the same side as the readers.

"Haha." Higashino chuckled twice, trying to ease the awkwardness.

"In short, you have to consider the readers' feelings," Sasaki said earnestly.

His attitude was completely different from Yoshihiro Togashi's because the readers of the petition were different from those who besieged Hibiki Higashino.

Although they all like "Slam Dunk", the readers' genuine feelings are the most precious.

The readers who wrote the petition were so candid; Higashino Hibiki should take this into consideration.

“Yes, I understand.” Higashino Hibiki nodded.

Higashino Hibiki treasured this petition, reminding himself not to betray the readers' feelings.

As for "Slam Dunk," there was no other way; he had already drawn "The Decameron" at the end, so there was no need to continue it.

Before Sasaki left, Hibiki Higashino wrote a few words and asked him to print them in Jump and pass them on to the readers.

"I decided on the ending of Slam Dunk a year and a half ago. The ending is very clear: it will end after the game against Sannoh. So I drew everything I could think of, which is why one game was serialized for more than a year."

"It was so full and exciting, and Slam Dunk reached its peak in this game."

"Right now, I've run out of inspiration and can't think of any more ideas for the next match."

"Or rather, there is no other ending that is better than this one!"

……

Two weeks later, when readers flipped through Jump, they could see One Piece and Hunter x Hunter, but they still felt empty inside, as if something was missing.

"This is so boring, I don't want to watch Jump anymore..."

"My youth is gone from Jump."

It's time to let go.

Many readers, following their old habits, subconsciously bought Jump, only to discover while aimlessly browsing that Slam Dunk had ended some time ago.

The current Weekly Shonen Jump is like a chicken bone—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away.

"This passage is..."

Until many people clearly saw Higashino Hibiki's words.

They read it carefully, word by word, trying to fathom Higashino's state of mind, and finally realized with a sense of loss—

"It's over after all. Shohoku's youth, my youth."

That summer will never return; it was buried in the season when cherry blossoms fall.

……

In the lead-up to Kazuhiko Torishima's departure, as he had predicted, Jump's circulation visibly declined.

The last time this happened was when Dragon Ball ended.

The number of views dropped from 635 million to 450 million, but the situation was reversed because of the serialization of "Slam Dunk".

Therefore, Horie Nobuhiko, who made great contributions to Shueisha, was sacrificed.

In April 2001, Jump's circulation began to plummet again.

Starting in 98, Jump's sales gradually declined, from 500 million copies to 450 million copies.

It may not look as good as before, but this is an inevitable result of the development of the times.

It's already incredibly lucky that Jump managed to maintain a circulation of 450 million.

Weekly Shonen Magazine's circulation of over 3 million copies is quite good, while Weekly Shonen Sunday only has a circulation of over 1 million copies.

"Jump's dominant position, which it has maintained with an absolute advantage, may now be in jeopardy..."

Since the end of "Slam Dunk", the number of copies sold has plummeted. Four months ago, it was still at 4.5 million. Before that, due to the peak of the "Slam Dunk" storyline, there was still an upward trend, but since the end of "Slam Dunk", it has quickly dropped to 4 million.

It's about to reach the 300 million level.

Fortunately, "One Piece is still available in Jump."

Slam Dunk has ended, but a significant portion of its readers will remain because One Piece will stay.

Kazuhiko Torishima calculated that the number of readers lost due to the end of "Slam Dunk" should be around 100 million.

In other words, the circulation of Weekly Shonen Jump in 2001 was still maintained at 350 million.

It's just as good as Weekly Shonen Magazine.

"This result is already quite good," he said with a wry smile.

Now it's time for me to take the blame.

……

Two days later, Hibiki Higashino returned to his daily routine.

During this period, apart from rumors circulating in the corners of the internet that "Tori Akino Mirai ended 'Slam Dunk' because he loved Naoko Takeuchi but couldn't have her, so he became disheartened," Hibiki Higashino lived a very carefree life.

It's so great not having to draw comics.

Akemi Akemi's work is very easy, as she is serialized in a monthly magazine.

He occasionally worked as an assistant, flipping through the collection of murder cases brought by Sasaki, and sometimes cooked, enjoying a comfortable life.

Today, Akemi Akemi finished the manuscript of "Cherry Blossom Mission" and can take a break for a while. Hibiki Higashino decided to move.

Akemi Akemi and the red maple villa they bought together have been vacant for a long time after renovation, and Higashino Shio often complains that Higashino Hibiki doesn't come home.

They had some free time, so they had to get to work.

Moving companies in Japan are very expensive, but they are well worth the price.

Yesterday, a moving company came to Dongye's house, took stock of the furniture, and sorted out the ones that weren't used much.

The staff also found Hibiki Higashino's neighbor, Mrs. Nakajima, to apologize for the noise caused by the move and to give her a small, inexpensive gift.

In short, Higashino Hibiki doesn't need to worry about moving; he can leave everything to the moving company and have a seamless transition without the hassle of organizing his belongings.

"Sister Mingmei, please don't move, okay?"

The people who were most heartbroken by the passing of the Higashino couple, besides Mr. Akimiya, were Akane Nakajima.

She had been painting with Akemi Akimiya for a period of time, and the emotional bond they had formed was hard to sever.

"I'm sorry, Akane." Akemi Akemi stroked her hair apologetically, "Because it was something that was decided a long time ago, you are an adult now and have learned to be considerate of others."

Higashino gave Akane Nakajima the figurines he didn't need to take with him, and Akane finally stopped crying and smiled.

……

The next day, Higashino Hibiki drove behind the moving company's truck and soon returned to the villa area.

At the villa entrance, Higashino Hibiki was surprised to find that Higashino Shio had been waiting for a long time, and Higashino Mei was also there.

"Mom, you..." Higashino Hibiki parked the car and rushed to greet her.

But he found that Higashino Shio completely ignored him and went to Akemi Akemi, saying, "Look how thin you've become, you need to get some rest."

Akemi Akemi was not used to her mother's love. Her eyes darted around, and she didn't know how to answer. Finally, she lowered her head and said, "Yes, Mom, I understand."

"That's good." Higashino Shio was very satisfied with her reaction.

When the driver was moving, Akemi Akemi found an opportunity to arrange for the movers to place the furniture and appliances one by one into the designated location.

"Please place this work desk with its back to the window."

This was Hibino Hibiki's habit; he liked to work with a cool breeze blowing, something Akemi Akemi remembered very clearly.

“Yes, madam,” the porter said loudly.

Mei Higashino skipped over, "Akami-neechan, I'm here to help you!"

Higashino couldn't help but complain, "This girl is already 23 years old, but she still hasn't grown up."

“That’s fine too,” Hibiki Higashino said.

"What's so good about it?"

When they met again, Higashino Hibiki was shocked to find that his mother had grown many white hairs and had more wrinkles.

She went from a gentle, middle-aged woman to a menopausal middle-aged woman.

“You too,” she said, pointing at Higashino Hibiki, “you’ve been married for almost two years, why haven’t you heard anything yet?”

"What news?"

"Of course it's the child!"

Hibiki Higashino: LOL...

"Your manga is finished, and you're also free of work. I read in a magazine that it's best to have a pre-pregnancy period before having children, so it's time for you to take action," Higashino Shio rambled on.

Higashino Hibiki let the words go in one ear and out the other, nodding occasionally to show that he was listening attentively.

Two hours later, all the furniture that had been moved in was in place, and even the clothes were put away.

Aside from the fact that the large villa looked empty, it also had the feel of home.

Higashino Shio and Higashino Mei didn't stay long; Mei drove home with her mother.

At night, as they were going to sleep, Hibiki Higashino said to Akemi Akemi, "I think Mom is right."

Chapter 265: Editorial Handover and the Serialization of "Bleach"