Full-time comic artist

Nip all problems in the bud.

"I..." Yoshida pointed to himself speechlessly, feeling unexpectedly caught in the crossfire.

"Editor-in-Chief..." He looked at Sasaki, hoping his superior would say something kind.

“Yes, that makes sense.” Sasaki nodded.

Yoshida: "..."

Higashino Hibiki sat upright, when suddenly an idea came to him.

"The editor-in-chief's dilemma is that Jump's circulation is declining. To make Jump more popular, we need to discover more promising new talents."

Today's big names all emerge from the manga awards, Tezuka Awards, and Akatsuka Awards.

Jump's achievements are inseparable from these newcomer awards.

Sasaki nodded, waiting for Higashino to finish his story.

"It's too difficult to get a comic book serialization opportunity. If we could design a channel that gives new authors a shortcut, then perhaps we could bring all the heroes in the world under our control."

Chapter 292 Golden Future Cup

"Give newcomers a shortcut to serialization?" Sasaki muttered to himself.

The Jump Newcomer Award, or rather the industry's newcomer award, is linked to honor and money, and has little to do with whether or not a story can be serialized.

After all, newcomers have limited abilities and shortcomings in many aspects. Moreover, the winning works are all short comics, unlike long comics.

Hibiki Higashino nodded. "That's right. It's too difficult to serialize in Jump. Many newcomers are deterred."

After more than ten years of hard work, I still can't serialize it. This kind of future is too hopeless.

Koji Yoshida looked at Hibiki Higashino in surprise. "The idea that serialization is too difficult is completely unbelievable coming from you."

Hibiki Higashino spread his hands and spoke eloquently, "We hold a competition every year, and the shortlisted works can be published in Jump. The final selection is determined by readers' votes."

“That sounds interesting, and once a year won’t take up too many Jump slots,” Sasaki said, somewhat intrigued.

“However,” he frowned, “what kind of performance qualifies for serialization? Where is the line drawn?”

Some works are slow to gain popularity and may not be well-received by readers at first, but editors can see their potential. It would be too rigid to decide whether a work can be serialized based solely on its initial performance.

Yoshida's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "The shortlisted works will enter the serialization meeting, and whether or not they will be serialized will be decided by the editors. Of course, the results of being selected and shortlisted are also a major reference for the outcome."

"Let's do it this way!" Sasaki stood up. "Anyone who doesn't have a manga published can participate, and the event will be held during summer vacation!"

Although he hadn't reported it to Kazuhiko Torishima yet, Sasaki had already made up his mind to do it.

This is also one of his major achievements since becoming editor-in-chief.

……

It's almost the end of March.

This period of Death Note depicts the process of Light and L testing each other.

Numerous words filled the comic strip, and the two exchanged witty remarks while playing tennis or chatting over coffee.

If Yue misses even the slightest detail, L will discover her true identity.

The reader was surprised to find that the meeting between the two was so peaceful and...exhausting.

A huge amount of information is condensed into sentences. Every sentence in their dialogue must be carefully considered, the key points extracted, and the connection between them and the next sentence carefully considered.

Readers need to think like they would when dealing with L's moon, their brains racing, working in sync with the manga artist's thought process, to understand the content of these chapters.

L tempts Light to reveal information that has never been reported and is known only to Kira. Light's mind races as he answers each question, considering whether his behavior is beyond his established persona.

Shouldn't comics be relaxing? But after reading "Death Note," I felt even more exhausted, yet readers were still enjoying it and experiencing something extraordinary.

……

“Tori Akino Mirai, who could draw the silent white manga, has now become an illustrator.” Horie Nobuhiko shook his head.

He believes that Death Note might be better suited as a novel rather than a manga.

Horie Nobuhiko felt a surge of anger, as if he were a beautiful woman who had been forced into crime.

The final chapter of "Slam Dunk" with the character Mo Bai really shocked him; it represented his pursuit of a higher level in manga.

Tori Akino Mirai abandoned the higher realm of manga and chose to explain the content through narration, which inevitably fell into a lower level.

"Wow, the Death Note manga has surpassed 100 million copies sold! That's amazing!"

Editor Sato, one of Nobuhiko Horie's subordinates, walked over in surprise, holding the newspaper.

“One million…” Nobuhiko Horie fell silent. “Another bestseller.”

……

The news of Death Note's great success was released by Shueisha, and many people who paid attention to it had different feelings.

Parents were annoyed, teachers didn't understand, and students were overjoyed.

"This is Death Note!"

"Sweet!"

Looking at the newspaper, Soma Ichiro thought to himself, "Tori Akino-sensei has succeeded again."

He has never failed since the beginning of the serialization.

"And what about me?" Soma Ichiro looked at the storyboard on his desk and made a silent vow. "I need to work even harder! I can't let my juniors look down on me!"

In the year or so since Sasaki issued a notice of non-combat capability and refused to renew his contract, he still hasn't succeeded. He's been drawing different works, hoping to serialize his work, but all he's received is news of failure.

Even so, Ichiro Soma still didn't want to give up drawing manga. He stayed true to his original aspiration and worked late into the night every day, striving to create his works!

……

When Yamamura Morimichi learned that the Death Note manga had sold over one million copies in a month, his expression remained calm.

Yusuke Murata's eyes widened. "That's a million dollars in such a short time! Aren't you surprised, Mr. Yamamura?!"

“I’m used to it,” the villager replied indifferently.

For many years, he has been suppressed in this way, with no hope of ever getting ahead.

"Oh, by the way, Murata, have you finished that original drawing? Let me take a look."

“Oh, oh.” Murata nodded. After handing the manuscript to Yamamura Morimichi, he suddenly realized, “Is this the time to work? I’m not in the mood to draw at all right now. I’m still reeling from the explosive news about Death Note.”

"That's a million!" he muttered to himself.

Yamamura looked at the manuscript, nodded in satisfaction, and set it aside to dry. While assisting with the task, he said, "Over the years of competing with Tori Akino Mirai, I've learned one thing: don't let his achievements affect you. It's completely meaningless. Only by striving to improve yourself can you catch up with him."

"So, draw, Murata-kun."

……

The Death Note anime aired as scheduled.

The shocking effect not only swept through students who had just started school, but even many adults who don't follow comics were taken aback by the wildness of this animation!

Death Note is like a wild horse, making passengers' hearts race and their adrenaline surge.

"There are animations like this?!"

"So cool!"

"A god who judges sins, what a brilliant concept!"

The anime adaptation of "Death Note" was even more sensational than "Slam Dunk," with its gripping storyline captivating countless viewers.

"I'm so tired of those childish cartoons!"

"It's like walking a tightrope along a cliff edge, so thrilling!"

"A very charismatic protagonist!"

……

The high viewership of "Death Note" greatly encouraged new director Tetsuro Araki, who worked even harder.

"It's all thanks to the profound quality of Akino-sensei's work. If any other director had been in charge, the results wouldn't have been bad either. I was just lucky."

This is what he said in an interview.

But at the private celebration party, Tetsuro Araki got completely drunk.

"It's all thanks to me, hahaha."

After waking up the next day, he continued working non-stop.

……

"The Blind Football manga sold 56 copies? That's a really good result."

Hibiki Higashino was somewhat surprised to learn from Yoshida about the sales figures of the new manga volume of Yamamura Morimichi's work.

The first volume sold 56 copies, a rare high sales figure.

"Athletes with physical disabilities, driven by their love and pursuit of sports, fight with all their might. This kind of passionate and moving performance truly makes it a great work," Yoshida explained.

Sports for people with disabilities better embody the spirit of sports, and this beauty of imperfection naturally evokes a powerful and moving experience in readers.

"Yes, that makes sense." Higashino Hibiki nodded.

He had also seen "Blind Soccer," where each of the main characters had their own storyline.

There are those who disagreed with their teammates and left the team; there are those who are proud and highly skilled, but who lost their sight due to an accident and find it hard to accept reality; and there are those who were born blind, but who, due to an accident, fell into the shadows of society and possessed a cheerfulness and simplicity that the other team members did not have.

With its vividly portrayed characters and brilliant cinematography, "Blind Soccer" has already gained a following.

"Blind Football is a successful sports comic."

……

On a weekend morning, at Higashino Hibiki's neighbor's house.

There was a knock on the door, and the postman was standing there.

"Huh? It's a letter for me? Who would write a letter to a child?"

Filled with surprise and curiosity, Ken Miyano stamped the letter with his family's seal and then sat on the sofa, carefully examining it.