Full-time comic artist

Yoshida felt the voice was very familiar. He glanced down at the caller ID and exclaimed, "Tori Akino-sensei!"

Yoshihiro Togashi, who was lying on the ground, twitched his ears.

Koji Yoshida quickly covered his phone and turned to the side, bowing and scraping as he said, "Did you draw the beginning of a manga? Yes, yes, I'll be there right away."

He was overjoyed, to the point of bursting with excitement.

Becoming Tori Akino Mirai's editor and working with him to create a national manga has always been his dream.

Yoshida waited for Higashino to hang up the phone, and then ended the call himself.

He looked at Yoshihiro Togashi and asked impatiently, "Mr. Togashi, is there anything else? If not, I must leave now."

"Wait a minute," Yoshihiro Togashi stopped him, "Is Akino Tori preparing to start a new serialization?"

Yoshida hesitated for a moment, "Yes...that's how it is."

“I think it’s about time,” Togashi pondered. “He’s been resting for quite a while, from April to August. I thought we’d hear from him in June.”

Why would the teacher think that way?

"Akino Tori is a very restless person; he definitely won't be able to give up manga," Togashi muttered to himself. "Just like I used to be..."

He raised his head slightly, let out a groan, and said to Yoshida while clutching his waist, "Please tell Tori Akino for me that he should take a break while drawing manga."

"I received it."

……

When Yoshida Koji arrived at Tori Akino's studio, Hibiki Higashino was drawing character designs.

Having not drawn comics for a long time, he actually felt a sense of nostalgia.

In his writing, Ryuk the Grim Reaper and Light Yagami soon appeared.

Ryuk has a bizarre appearance; he is a wild beast with long arms and legs, flared nostrils, a mad look in his eyes, and black feathers on his shoulders.

Light Yagami has brown hair, a tall and slender build, and handsome looks.

Before the serialization of "Death Note," Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba drew short manga as a trial.

It's the same notebook where anyone whose name is written in it dies, but if you erase it with an eraser, the dead person is resurrected—a much more restrained setting.

It's clear that the duo had some concerns before drawing "Death Note".

Can society accept works with extreme themes?

Will it corrupt children with immature minds?

Perhaps it was after the editor's guidance that Death Note came into being.

Hibiki Higashino kept thinking about the plot of "Death Note" when the doorbell rang, and he couldn't help but look outside.

"The editor of Death Note has arrived."

The world of the past was only able to overcome obstacles thanks to Koji Yoshida's efforts.

……

Following the address provided by Hibiki Higashino, Tanaka arrived at the Red Maple Villa. Just as he was marveling at how big the house that Akino would live in was getting, he saw a very popular person standing at the gate.

He paused, looking at the person from afar.

"Hello." Koji Yoshida spotted him and waved familiarly.

Tanaka had no choice but to walk over.

Just then, Higashino Hibiki opened the door and peeked in. "You've all arrived. Please come in."

……

Hibiki Higashino introduced the two sides.

Tanaka was somewhat surprised. Had Tori Akino-sensei changed editors?

It's a real shame that I can't work with Mr. Sasaki.

However, Tanaka was somewhat troubled by having to deal with unfamiliar editors again.

"I wonder what kind of person Editor Yoshida is?"

Koji Yoshida looked at Tanaka, somewhat surprised. "Is Tori Akino-sensei really that confident? Is he already sure he can serialize it?"

The situation reached a stalemate for a moment.

Hibiki Higashino took out the character design sketches and asked the two, "What's the first impression that comes to mind when you see them?"

"The teacher's drawing is so good!" Yoshida exclaimed involuntarily.

Tanaka looked up at him. "So you're a huge fan of Professor Tori Akino."

Hibiki Higashino sighed, "Yoshida-kun, I'm asking for your opinion on these two characters."

Yoshida coughed, his face flushing. "I'm sorry."

He looked at the painting, pointing at Ryuk, "It looks crazy, neurotic, the kind of thing you never know what it might do. And..."

Yoshida pondered, "It gives me the feeling that it thrives on chaos and likes to stir things up."

Hibiki Higashino smiled and nodded, then asked Tanaka, "And you?"

Tanaka replied, "Me too."

"What about Yagami Light?" Hibiki Higashino asked again.

"He's handsome, a well-behaved student," Tanaka said, rubbing his forehead, enunciating each word clearly, "and has excellent grades. He's very popular, but as the main character in Jump, isn't he lacking in distinctive features?"

"Where is Yoshida-kun?" Hibiki asked Yoshida Koji.

"Tanaka-san is right. The main characters in Jump all have flaws. Light Yagami's demeanor seems perfect."

In the painting, Light Yagami purses his lips, his hair is meticulously styled, and his eyes are bright and piercing, giving him the air of a composed and confident elite who seems to have everything under control.

“Stories are easier to develop with a protagonist who is a hoodlum or a mischievous character,” Yoshida said.

Chapter 268 The Serial Killer Light Yagami and His Simp (Editor's Note)

Most of the main characters in the shonen manga in Weekly Shonen Jump are delinquents—simple-minded and prone to causing trouble.

Koji Yoshida looked at Light Yagami, unable to figure out what kind of work Akino Tori would create in his new manga.

"His eyes are clear and innocent, he looks like a model student. I wonder how his story will unfold? Is it similar to 'Hikaru no Go'?"

Hibiki Higashino shook his head.

Hikaru Shindo also grew up from a loud and boisterous child.

"It can't possibly be a sports manga like 'Slam Dunk,' can it?" Koji Yoshida said hesitantly, as he also thought it was impossible.

“You really dare to think that way,” Hibiki Higashino said with a laugh.

He took out the storyboard from the first episode. "There's only the first episode for now, but the overall setting of the story is complete. Take a look."

"Yes." Koji Yoshida solemnly accepted it.

Hibiki Higashino handed another storyboard to Tanaka, saying, "Now it's your turn to shine."

Tanaka's art style has a melancholic feel, which would be very suitable for Death Note.

With him serving as an assistant, Higashino Hibiki will save a lot of trouble.

I was so glad that Tanaka readily agreed when I called him a couple of days ago.

……

Yoshida held the storyboard, feeling its weight.

He is not yet Tori Akino's future editor; he is merely a bridge responsible for relaying information between him and the editorial department.

This time, the fact that Tori Akino Mirai was able to show him the storyboards shows that she approves of him.

Yoshida gripped the manuscript tightly with his fingers; he was determined not to let this sentiment go to waste.

The manga was called "Death Note." Koji Yoshida read it with a blank expression, while Tanaka looked somewhat nervous.

……

At first, it was a very boring world of death gods.

Ryuk throws a "Death Note" into the human world, where it is picked up by the good student Light Yagami.

The notebook contained the following written in English:

"The person whose name is written in this notebook will die."

"The notes will not work if the appearance of the person whose name is written is unknown, so they will not have the same effect on people with the same name."

"After writing down the name, if the cause of death is written down within 40 seconds in the human time unit, the person whose name is written down will die for the cause written down."

"Those whose cause of death was not specified died of cardiac arrest."

"After stating the cause of death, you can write down the specific circumstances of death within 6 minutes and 40 seconds."

This setup surprised Koji Yoshida. A notebook that could take other people's lives, with such complex rules set in the first episode, must be used well.

It's not hard to imagine how the story will unfold from here on out.

Akino Mirai's new manga has exceeded Koji Yoshida's expectations.

Five days later, when Ryuk found Light Yagami, his hideous appearance terrified Light so much that he fell off his chair, looking utterly disheveled.

What happened next made Koji Yoshida's eyes widen.

In just five days after obtaining the Death Note, Light Yagami filled it with countless names!

The person whose name is written on it will die!

So the model student he thought Yagami Light was actually a ruthless criminal.

The protagonist is the villain!

This is extremely rare.

Ryuk didn't do anything to Moon, but he revealed other settings about the Death Note.

If Light Yagami were to abandon the notebook, all his memories of it would be erased until he comes into contact with it again.