Full-time comic artist

By this week, the contract had been signed, and Madhouse was busy with production.

Koji Yoshida continued, "The tentative date is April of next year."

Hibiki Higashino nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Editor Yoshida."

It's already November, and Madhouse has made incredible progress by completing pre-production and broadcasting in less than six months.

……

After finishing his work, Hibiki Higashino continued drawing, while Koji Yoshida did not leave.

Akemi Akemi had completed a portion of "Cherry Blossom Mission," and she stood up, stretched, and prepared to take a break.

"Huh?"

Akemi Akemi prepared to sit down on the sofa and watch TV to change her mood.

As a result, she saw Koji Yoshida sitting on the sofa, pressing the buttons on his phone repeatedly, making a constant "click-click-click" sound.

As he moved his hands, Yoshida's lips would occasionally curl into a smile, and Akemi Akemi could tell that he was very proud and excited.

"Are you chatting with a girl you like?" Akemi Akimiya asked curiously.

Yoshida was startled and quickly hid his phone. "No, that's not it."

Seeing that he didn't want to answer, Akemi Akemi didn't press him further.

This relieved Yoshida Koji.

"Editor Yoshida, when will the new assistant arrive?" Tanaka asked weakly, raising his hand. "The teacher has no more manuscripts in reserve."

The two of them are currently finishing the weekly magazine, which is exhausting.

While Tanaka is well-suited to drawing the somber "Death Note," he shouldn't treat people like donkeys.

He was so worried that he might also die suddenly.

He doesn't even have time to clean up now; he just goes to bed and falls asleep as soon as he gets home.

“It’s going very smoothly. Please hang in there a little longer. It won’t be long.” Yoshida Koji replied with great certainty. “I’ve been communicating with Mr. Omori. He has changed and will soon be able to turn over a new leaf.”

"Then I'll leave it to you." Tanaka had no joy left.

Bird Autumn Studio worked until 10 p.m. yesterday and then pushed his bicycle home.

Tanaka's clothes were too sloppy due to long working hours, and he hadn't had time to clean his hair, which covered the upper part of his face.

Because of this, he was questioned by the police and mistaken for a bicycle thief.

This suspicion intensified, especially when Tanaka stammered his answers and avoided eye contact with the police.

Higashino Hibiki arrived and explained, and the matter was finally resolved peacefully.

Since yesterday, Tanaka has been terrified of the night and hopes to get off work early.

……

Akemi Akemi aimlessly dialed the TV channels.

She didn't know what she wanted to do; she just had nothing to do and wanted to pay attention.

"The Kanto Junior High School contacted us. The administrators said that someone had handed us a book, a cursed book for that A-kun."

That is, the protagonist of the "Sake Demon Rose Saint Seiya Incident".

"This is what the book looks like."

Akemi Akemi stared intently.

This is a black notebook with "DEATH NOTE" written on it!

Chapter 279 The Influence of Copycats

The anime adaptation of "Death Note" has begun, and the fierce battle between Light Yagami and L will soon be broadcast. But just then, someone wrote "DEATH NOTE" in the notebook and mailed it to A-kun from the juvenile detention center.

The host flipped through the notebook, which was filled with A's name, Shinichiro Higashi, written in dense red ink.

The real names of juvenile offenders should not be exposed, but reporters who rushed to report on the case at the time leaked the murderer's name as Shinichiro Higashi in order to get more clicks.

This curser has put in a lot of effort.

Now, there are countless images of Shinichiro Higashi on my laptop, which TV stations can only broadcast with the text blurred out, making the red text seem even more menacing.

"This notebook, besides containing A's name, is filled with words like 'Go to hell' and 'scum,' making it a cursed letter. Considering the potential impact on A's mental state, the juvenile detention center did not give it to him."

"Actually, there was a story in a magazine about a protagonist who used a 'DEATH NOTE' to execute a large number of death row inmates, which is very similar to A's experience."

"Our initial assessment is that this is a simulated curse from its readers."

The host was holding a Jump issue with "Death Note" as the opening color page; after blurring it out, the words "DEATH NOTE" were visible.

It was exactly the same as that cursed notebook.

"Tori Akino-sensei!" Yoshida Koji turned around abruptly and saw Hibiki Higashino standing there dumbfounded. "Something's wrong!"

"No," he slapped his left cheek hard. "I'm the editor, I need to stay calm! I can't let my panic get to the cartoonist!"

Hibiki Higashino was amused. He pressed his hand down, signaling Koji Yoshida to be quiet. "I thought of this when I decided to draw Death Note."

"I just didn't expect it to come so quickly..."

"I wonder if Madhouse will postpone... or even cancel the Death Note anime production?"

……

Following this news report, several other television stations competed to report on Death Note imitators, creating a stir.

A primary school teacher, in an interview, stated, "This kind of trend is spreading among students; they treat cursing others' lives as a form of amusement. This must be the influence of that comic!"

He pointed to the sky and the ground, making solemn vows.

Some parents also said that their children were obsessed with this anti-human comic book, reading it over and over again.

The negative ideas surrounding Death Note spread rapidly.

The number of complaint letters from parents and teachers has increased several times over, and the Jump editorial department's phone has been ringing off the hook, making even normal business processing a problem.

The Japan Cartoonists Association called Shueisha because the Death Note incident had a negative impact on the manga.

Shueisha's top management began to exert pressure.

Fortunately, the head of the third editorial department, who reports directly to the upper management, is Kazuhiko Torishima, which allows Sasaki to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was under these circumstances that Koji Yoshida was called into the conference room by Kazuhiko Torishima.

……

Yoshida Koji looked at Sasaki's somber face and felt uneasy.

"What on earth happened? It's not like they're going to put Death Note on hiatus..., is it...?"

Japanese manga has very high boundaries, and the government generally does not prevent the publication of works that do not cross boundaries.

However, Death Note caused a huge uproar, and there are indeed some problems with works that can influence the thinking of adults when serialized as shonen manga.

Unexpectedly, Sasaki asked, "Yoshida, how is Mr. Tori Akino? Has he been negatively affected? How is his mindset?"

Sasaki's voice was filled with concern.

Yoshida breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Tori Akino-sensei didn't react much and is still drawing manga."

He felt embarrassed talking about it; the editor was actually more flustered than the cartoonist, which was really inappropriate.

“Hmm,” Sasaki nodded thoughtfully, “That’s good, but you also need to pay attention to the storyboards after Death Note. Will Tori Akino-sensei tone down the spicy scenes because of this? That’s what you need to do most.”

“I understand,” Koji Yoshida replied immediately. He hesitated for a moment before leaning forward to ask, “Editor-in-Chief, will this incident affect the production of the Death Note anime, or even its serialization?”

“Don’t think like that,” Sasaki’s face darkened. Considering that Yoshida Kouji was still a newcomer, he took back his scolding words and instead instructed, “In front of Tori Akino-sensei, you have to act like nothing happened. This is just a small matter, nothing to worry about. Do you understand?”

"Yes, I understand." Yoshida nodded.

Yoshida quickly relayed the editorial department's response to Hibiki Higashino.

He discussed the plot with Hibiki Higashino as usual, as if he wasn't the one who panicked that day.

Higashino Hibiki didn't ask any questions, as if the matter had simply passed.

……

Madhouse Corporation.

Masao Maruyama summarized the plot of Death Note over the past two weeks.

"Light Yagami successfully obtained the name of FBI agent Rei, who was tracking him, by exploiting the crisis of the drug addict alcoholic. In this part of the story, he manipulated a female classmate who admired him and the Shinigami Ryuk. He also used Rei to eliminate the 12 FBI agents investigating Kira in Japan."

"The Japanese police, the FBI, and L's influence have been constantly being eliminated by Light Yagami. Now it's L's turn to confront Light Yagami personally."

“Hmm.” Maruyama Masao nodded in satisfaction. “The spiciness of Death Note has not been lost. These two chapters further demonstrate Light Yagami’s high intelligence and ruthlessness, and they are two chapters that are still of high quality.”

As the founder of Madhouse, he doesn't care about the clamor and turmoil of public opinion.

He'd seen a lot in his life; literary creation was just like that—easily influenced by external factors. So he decided to leave the animation industry altogether.

Now he's just worried that Akino's future will be affected, so he's become hesitant and timid, causing a major change in the style of Death Note.

By then, the comic that I once admired will have lost its core and become useless.

“Maruyama-san, you may not know this,” the subordinate beside him said with a smile, “Jump’s manga is drawn two weeks in advance to allow time for proofreading, printing, and distribution. In other words, these two chapters were drawn before the public opinion was even released.”

"The next episode is where you can truly glimpse into Akino's inner thoughts."

“I see.” Masao Maruyama nodded with a smile. “But I still want to believe him. After all, he’s the author of ‘Hey—Come Out!’ and ‘Millennium Actress.’”

"I really envy Teacher Tori Akino, hahaha."

They were chatting and laughing when suddenly the secretary rushed in, "Something terrible has happened! Political commentator Mr. Oyama has launched a scathing attack on 'Death Note' in the Yomiuri Shimbun!"

……

Hiroyuki Ōyama is a renowned Japanese political commentator and a visiting professor at Higashi-Nippon International University.

Wherever he appeared, it was in newspapers and news related to international relations.

It has nothing to do with the manga industry, yet it is now publicly criticizing Death Note.

After taking the newspaper, Masao Maruyama's expression changed. "You're just saying that!"