Full-time comic artist

“It’s entirely possible!” Yoshida Koji said loudly, completely out of character, silencing Higashino Hibiki.

"Yes, yes! It's possible!" Tanaka immediately agreed upon finding someone supporting him.

He said with difficulty, "Teacher, please give me more time to prepare."

Tanaka is having second thoughts.

Higashino Hibiki stared wide-eyed at Yoshida Koji. "You're not going to help me, fine, but why are you causing trouble?"

Ignoring Hibiki Higashino, Koji Yoshida said to Tanaka, "It's understandable to have such concerns. So..."

"Make one or two changes?" Tanaka asked expectantly.

"Let's go to the shrine to pray and perform a ritual to exorcise evil and pray for good fortune."

"what!"

Tanaka was dumbfounded. Yoshida Koji continued, "The power of the curse is far less than that of the god, so you can rest assured."

"Yes...yes."

Tanaka thus passively accepted it.

While Tanaka wasn't paying attention, Koji Yoshida turned around, grinned at Hibiki Higashino, and gave him an OK sign with his right hand.

Hibiki Higashino gave a thumbs up, defeating him with Tanaka's logic. Yoshida-kun, you are indeed very strong.

……

Yoshida was very efficient; before Tanaka could think much about it, he took Tanaka to Hakone Shrine.

This place is dedicated to a god of good fortune. Many Tokyoites come here to perform exorcism rituals during their birth year, and it is said to be very effective. It is part of the commercialization of shrines.

After Yoshida paid the money, he invited a priest to perform an exorcism and blessing ceremony for Tanaka.

The scene was not actually grand; only one priest served him.

But when Tanaka entered the main hall of the shrine and sat on a bench, feeling the quiet and solemn environment, he immediately got into character and felt his mind and body being purified.

After the priest entered, he first struck the large drum in the temple, then announced the identity and address of the deity Tanaka, followed by chanting prayers...

After going through the complicated process, Tanaka felt that under the divine light, he was no longer afraid!

Back at Hibiki Higashino's studio, he confidently took on the role of assistant.

Koji Yoshida prescribed the right medicine, and the illness was cured.

This editor was the first person to truly broaden Higashino Hibiki's horizons.

……

After watching Death Note, Koji Yoshida immediately returned to the editorial department and told the editor-in-chief, Sasaki.

Sasaki was not surprised at all, and Torishima Kazuhiko, who had just changed shifts, also said with a smile, "I knew that kid couldn't stand being alone."

Sasaki has officially become the editor-in-chief of Jump, but he will need to remain in his position for a while to provide backup for Sasaki.

Sasaki smiled and nodded. "That's great news."

After Slam Dunk ended, it lost a number of readers, and with the current variety of entertainment options, Jump's circulation is not very optimistic.

The release of Tori Akino's new work is sure to attract readers.

“However…” Yoshida Koji hesitated before saying, “Death Note might have some problems.”

"Just tell me," Sasaki said calmly.

Koji Yoshida quickly summarized the contents of the first chapter of "Death Note".

After reading it only once, the story of Death Note was deeply ingrained in his mind and he could not forget it.

"Hiss, a serial killer protagonist..." Torishima Kazuhiko hesitated.

Weekly Shonen Jump is a shonen manga, and its audience is mostly between 10 and 16 years old.

Children of this age are easily distracted by external factors, and parents pay extra attention to this.

Jump is frequently the subject of complaints from the PTA.

“This kind of dark subject matter will definitely attract attention.” Torishima Kazuhiko nodded with his arms crossed. “If it passes, Jump will be in big trouble.”

"How about we ask Tori Akino to try a different theme?" he asked Sasaki. "That guy can still come up with some great manga anyway."

Sasaki remained silent, which made Yoshida Koji anxious.

"Editor-in-Chief Torishima! How could you do this? You've rejected an excellent work before it even happened! Death Note is the culmination of Tori Akino-sensei's hard work, this... this is too much!"

Koji Yoshida angrily rebuked Kazuhiko Torishima, saying that a newly hired editor dared to speak to him like that. Kazuhiko Torishima stared straight at him.

Yoshida was sweating profusely, but he still didn't back down an inch.

“You are a responsible editor.” Kazuhiko Torishima raised his coffee cup high in a toast, then drank it all in one gulp.

"Phew, thank you." Yoshida breathed a sigh of relief, wiped away his cold sweat, and asked Sasaki, "Editor-in-Chief, what do you think?"

This is the current editor-in-chief of Jump; everything is decided by him.

Sasaki hesitated for a moment, then instead of answering directly, he began to talk about the past.

"After Yu Yu Hakusho ended, Togashi began serializing LEVEL E. This manga is completely different from his previous style, full of imagination, and served as a testing ground for Hunter x Hunter."

"I think the same goes for Death Note."

"Death Note and Slam Dunk are works that have nothing in common. Tori Akino Mirai's previous experience is useless. Now, apart from his amazing drawing skills, he is starting from scratch."

"Therefore, like 'Level E,' the value of 'Death Note' is..."

Sasaki stroked his chin, his glasses obscuring his expression, making it impossible to discern his thoughts.

……

In August, Akemi Akemi was exceptionally busy. "Sakura Quest" was doing very well, and the editor asked her to draw a full-length colored manuscript. She was both happy and pained.

After Hibiki Higashino finished drawing the storyboards for the first three chapters of "Death Note," he handed them over to Koji Yoshida.

Yoshida's expression, a mixture of accepting a heavy responsibility and being preoccupied with his own worries, immediately made Tanaka feel uneasy.

Higashino Hibiki didn't ask any more questions. After Yoshida Koji left, he and Tanaka became Akemi Akemi's assistants, waiting for the editorial department's response.

"You're really full of confidence." Akemi Akemi finished drawing a manuscript and looked at Hibiki Higashino's calm face, and couldn't help but say.

"What?" Higashino Hibiki was taken aback.

"I don't worry about my comics not being accepted at all when I submit them," Akemi Akimiya further explained.

"Oh, I see." Higashino Hibiki scratched his head and replied casually, "My manga will definitely be approved."

“That’s right,” Tanaka nodded, “The teacher’s manga will definitely be serialized.”

His tone became uncertain.

After all, the protagonist in "Death Note" has extremely skewed values, which could easily lead to complaints from parents. It's hard to say whether the editorial department is determined to withstand the pressure.

"It will definitely be serialized!" Hibiki Higashino told Tanaka with unwavering certainty. "One hundred percent!"

"Yes Yes……"

The atmosphere became somewhat tense.

“Mr. Tanaka,” Akemi Akemi broke the silence, smiling as she asked Tanaka, “how have you been these past few days?”

Tanaka replied, "I stayed at home for a while; my nephew was too much of a nuisance. He also frequently had to help with farm work."

Honestly, when I was little, my parents had to move a lot because of their jobs. Now that they're older, they seem to miss their hometown, which makes it hard for me to adjust.

As he complained, a faint smile played on his lips. Recalling the months he had rested, he was completely immersed in happiness.

Higashino patted him on the shoulder and told him that after he contacted him directly, Tanaka immediately put aside his hometown life and returned to Tokyo to work as an assistant, helping him draw manga. He was truly remarkable.

……

Almost a year has passed since the end of "The Bizarre Detective Agency". Yamamura Morimichi is wearing sunglasses to cover his dark circles. He has a stubble on his chin and looks much more颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of listlessness, apathy, or a lack of motivation).

His wife, Yamamura Hidemi, wanted to take care of him, but Yamamura refused.

“I’ll be more inspired if I look like this,” he said at the time.

Now, finally, Yamamura arrived at the editorial department with the storyboard.

“Mr. Yamamura,” the editor said, waiting for him downstairs. When he saw Yamamura’s appearance, his expression was one of normalcy.

"Editor Daishi, you don't need to wait for me." Under the blazing sun, the sunlight was fierce, and Daishi Hengping's forehead was covered in sweat, which moved the mountain village.

Kohei Onishi joined Weekly Shonen Jump at the same time as Koji Yoshida. He was 23 years old and wore black-rimmed sunglasses, but Onishi, with his baby face, looked only 18.

At first, Yamamura Morimichi was very dissatisfied with this editor. Onishi Kohei was a newcomer, and his youthful face gave people the impression that he was unreliable and unlikely to be of much help.

As a result, this newcomer made him look at him in a different light.

Chapter 270 Two-way journey

Although Kohei Onishi is a newcomer, he has a sharp understanding of the positioning of Jump Manga. He is the kind of editor who is very knowledgeable about the market.

This complements the idea that Yamamura Morimichi draws manga entirely based on intuition.

Upon learning that Yamamura was going to draw a sports manga, Kohei Onishi encouraged him with great approval: "Slam Dunk made sports manga a huge hit, which is a great opportunity to draw sports manga. The Prince of Tennis seized the opportunity. Teacher, your idea is great!"

Yamamura's face darkened; the editor actually thought he was trying to ride on Akino Mirai's popularity.

He stated frankly, "I draw sports comics to surpass 'Slam Dunk'."

"How is this possible?" Da Xi blurted out in disbelief.

The mountain village's face grew increasingly dark.

Daishi quickly tried to cover it up, "Teacher, you really have lofty aspirations, ha... haha..."

Although there were unpleasant moments, sports manga was indeed a good idea. After Slam Dunk became a huge hit, Onishi studied it for a long time and became very experienced in this area.

It gave him a lot of inspiration when he was struggling in the mountain village.

"Aside from 'The Sun Murder Case,' which you co-authored, you've been drawing manga for five years now, teacher. But your drawing skills are still far inferior to those of Tori Akino-sensei; that's a disadvantage. You can only say that they're barely good enough."

"Next is the choice of subject matter; baseball and soccer have the largest audiences..."

Yamamura interrupted him in frustration, "I've watched both Touch and Captain Tsubasa, but I still have no ideas."