Full-time comic artist

Da Xi nodded, then stroked his chin thoughtfully for a long time. "Then you should try a different approach."

……

Today, Yamamura brought his new work to Shueisha.

"The air conditioning in the meeting room is broken. Let's go to the editorial office to talk."

Daishi led the village to the second floor of the Jiyingsha building. As soon as they opened the door, the cool air from the air conditioner hit them, and they instantly felt refreshed.

The editors at Jump were all in their offices, and nobody noticed them.

Not long after.

“Blind Football?” In the editorial department’s break room, Onishi looked up in surprise upon seeing the contents of the comic.

This new work from such a perspective was something he hadn't expected.

Even most readers of sports comics may not be familiar with this sport.

In 1996, blind football became an official competition event of the International Blind Sports Federation.

It is a completely new sport.

The rules of the game are as follows: Five-a-side football, with five players on each side, and the game time is two 20-minute halves.

It's somewhat similar to basketball.

“Yes,” Yamamura nodded, “I think it’s a very suitable subject.”

After listening to Onishi's advice that day, his intuition kicked in.

After thinking about it for a while, Daishi suddenly felt that this was a good topic.

Football is a popular sports comic.

Five-a-side format means that the characters can be portrayed in detail.

Blind people playing football can attract readers with a sense of curiosity.

"Please wait a moment," he said, bowing his head to the mountain village.

……

The information in the three-panel storyboard includes—

The protagonist is 17 years old and becomes blind due to an accident. His character design is similar to that of a modern mountain village: he wears sunglasses, has a stubble beard, and appears very颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, dispirited, and颓废).

He was saved by his former football coach and started playing blind football.

His sensitive heart gradually healed, but his teammates were all problem children.

The goalkeeper was transferred from the men's soccer team because of his poor performance.

Arrogance, prejudice, and inferiority complex led to conflict, but ultimately, past grievances were resolved.

……

"That's really good." Daishi looked up. "The character design is good. Although there are conflicts, there's nothing that will annoy the reader. Yamamura-sensei is very good at drawing sports-themed works."

The manga, which took Yamamura Morimichi a year to polish, was exceptionally brilliant because once the subject matter was finalized, the original character designs and general direction could be applied.

"Hmm." Yamamura raised his head and nodded. He had been racking his brains for the past two weeks to come up with a good manga.

He and Onishi then discussed for a long time until the loud noise from the editors interrupted their conversation.

……

"How was it? Great, right!"

"Yes! How interesting!"

Wow! That's so handsome!

Onishi frowned and glanced at his colleagues gathered together: Asada Takanori, Yahagi Kosuke, and Heiji Yoshihisa. Apart from Yoshida Koji, who was also a newcomer like him, they were all senior editors in the Jump editorial department.

They were so amazed, not knowing what it was.

"Mr. Shancun, that's enough for today. Please make a few more revisions, and then I will submit 'Blind Football' to the group leader."

"Hmm." Yamamura nodded as he put away the storyboard.

"Goodbye." Da Xi stood up and bowed, then quickly walked towards the group of editors, who were quite curious.

Yamamura didn't care. After putting the storyboard away, he stood up and prepared to leave.

"What! A new manga by Toriakino-sensei!"

Upon hearing Dai Xi's shocked exclamation, the mountain village came to a halt.

He looked up, his expression shifting between light and shadow. "Tori Akino...'s new work..."

They collided again.

……

Onishi walked up to his seniors, asked a question, and was told about the Death Note.

Shocked, he curiously looked at the cover of the storyboard, which showed two people back to back. One of them was a handsome man with a resolute gaze and an inscrutable expression.

The other one is a bit strange.

He had black hair, a hunched back, disheveled hair, and deep dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were wide open, but empty and lifeless.

The two people looked very different; one was an elite student, and the other was an unpredictable eccentric.

When they stand together, the contrast becomes apparent. Even Da Xi, who is unfamiliar with the plot, can clearly see the opposing stances of the two.

"It's really well drawn," Onishi had just thought Yamamura's storyboard was good, but after seeing Higashino's, he felt that "Blind Soccer" could be improved a lot.

“Death Note…I wonder what kind of manga it is…” He stroked the storyboard, his heart itching with curiosity.

"Tori Akino-sensei's manga must be incredibly interesting!"

Onishi opened Death Note and started reading.

……

The mountain village did not leave, but quietly watched Daishi's reaction.

As a manga artist, it was inconvenient for him to look at the storyboards of Akino Mirai.

So I just stood at a distance.

"How interesting! This concept is so interesting!"

Onishi held the storyboard for "Death Note," spitting as he spoke!

"Spicy! So spicy! How could there be such a comic!"

Yamamura stared wide-eyed at the scene of editor Daishi losing his mind.

His own comics don't have this feature.

Shancun clenched his fist, squeezing it so hard that his fingertips turned white.

"Spicy?" Koji Yoshida walked up to Onishi and said smugly, "That's right. Unlike Akino-sensei's previous manga, it's not a mainstream manga like 'Slam Dunk' or 'One Piece,' but a spicy, unorthodox manga!"

"It's a suspenseful and thrilling mystery manga that blends intellectual battles and deduction, a clash between two protagonists with opposing stances!" Koji Yoshida repeated.

"A mystery manga?" Oonishi, still reeling from Light Yagami's use of the Death Note to kill someone, finally realized what was happening. Recalling the contents of chapters two and three, and L's deduction of how he confirmed Light Yagami's existence, he nodded in agreement. "It's a mystery manga!"

From this one passage alone, he could tell that Death Note was simply the pinnacle of mystery manga!

"I haven't seen such a brilliant mystery in a long time."

Onishi couldn't help but mutter to himself again.

Koji Yoshida was extremely pleased with himself. "Hmph."

Onishi suddenly found him repulsive; he was just lucky to be in charge of Tori Akino-sensei, so what was he bragging about?

I'm also in charge of teachers in mountain villages.

He suddenly realized what was happening and turned to look at the mountain village.

"Mr. Yamamura used to draw detective and mystery manga, but now he draws sports-themed manga."

"Tori Akino-sensei has shifted from sports-themed stories to detective mysteries..."

"How amazing!"

……

"A captivating detective manga?" Yamamura pricked up his ears, having overheard their entire conversation, and grew even more curious. "I really want to see what it's about."

He has been working in the field of detective fiction for many years, and his first works were in this area. Only today has he started to change course.

He was very confident in his detective reasoning skills, believing he wouldn't lose to any of the manga artists in Jump.

"Slam Dunk has ended. If we could beat Death Note with Blind Soccer, then..."

He suddenly didn't want to stay any longer; the fateful showdown between him and Tori Akino Mirai was finally coming to an end!

What? You lost before?

That doesn't count from before!

He was full of energy; every cell in his body was telling him, "Don't just stand here, start running!"

The current storyboard for "Blind Football" is far from enough; it needs to be at least good enough to impress that short editor!

He wants to go back and revise it again! Until he's satisfied!

……

"However, would the editor-in-chief approve a dark manga like Death Note?"

Onishi raised a question.

Even within Jump, there are no manga as unique as Death Note.

This comic may have been doomed from the start.

“This…” Yoshida Koji glanced at Sasaki at the editor-in-chief’s desk and hesitated before saying, “The editor-in-chief doesn’t quite approve… However! I will definitely do my best to make Death Note a serialization!”

“You and I are exactly the same, both newcomers,” Da Xi complained. “What ability do you have to influence the editor-in-chief’s decisions?”

“This…this…” Yoshida said, looking disappointed.