Full-time comic artist

"Is it really that cruel? Just because you have to fight a witch, it's like you're guaranteed to die."

Ultraman and Kamen Rider also fight against enemies, but their sense of crisis is not as strong.

According to Homura Akemi, becoming a magical girl is a hopeless situation.

"Tori Akino-sensei has overdone the atmosphere," Katsura Hinagiku thought.

Homura Akemi believes that Sayaka becoming a magical girl was an irreparable mistake, just like the dead cannot be brought back to life.

Once you become a magical girl, there is no hope of redemption.

That's too outrageous and pessimistic.

"Tori Akino-sensei really went to great lengths to portray 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' as dark and cruel."

Katsura Hinagiku sighed.

She felt very depressed watching it, unable to breathe.

This magical girl manga evoked a particularly different feeling in her.

Last year, when she watched "Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch," she was very fascinated by magical girls and would shyly hope to be what she would be like if she became a magical girl.

"Phew." Katsura Hinagiku gazed at the beautiful scenery outside the window for a while before continuing to read her manga.

Sayaka, a warrior of justice, is going on patrol to protect the city.

Xiaoyuan followed beside her, just like she did with Mami Tomoe back then.

Along the way, Kyubey constantly tempts Madoka to become a magical girl and protect Sayaka.

Magical girl Sayaka's patrol discovers "the apostle of the Graffiti Witch".

The background of the barrier is a collection of drawings from a notebook, which, like the apostles' doodles, are in a childlike style.

The apostles were much weaker than the witches. Sayaka kept wielding her long sword and was about to win, but she was stopped by another magical girl, Sakura Kyoko, who was holding a spear.

For the apostles have no seed of lamentation.

She plans to let the apostles roam freely, and then harvest them after they have devoured four or five people, become witches, and possess the Seed of Lamentation.

“How can you kill the chicken before it lays an egg?” said Kyoko Sakura.

"Huh? This is also a magical girl?" Katsura Hinagiku was stunned.

Sakura Kyoko, eating taiyaki, looks incredibly cute, yet she's so heartless.

"The weak humans are eaten by witches, while we eat the witches."

The righteous and kind Sayaka couldn't stand this. She became a magical girl to help others, and even if she had selfish motives, she was definitely different from the arrogant Kyoko.

However, the newcomer Sayaka was no match for Kyoko and was repeatedly defeated.

At this point, Kyubey again persuaded Madoka to become a magical girl.

Just as Madoka was about to agree, Homura Akemi appeared and stopped both sides.

The comic ended after the intense battle was stopped.

"Before, it was a battle between magical girls and witches, and the strange witches really affected the sensory experience of the battle scenes. Now, the magical girls are fighting each other with weapons, and Akino-sensei's masterful storyboarding perfectly showcases it. The drawing is really good," Katsura Hinagiku exclaimed. "It's like watching a martial arts movie."

"As expected of Teacher Tori Akino."

……

Editorial Department of Weekly Shonen Jump.

Looking at the data, Kohei Onishi saw that Gintama was doing better and better. In the ranking of works in the "Golden Future Cup", it was now in second place, only behind D.Gray-man.

"Puella Magi Madoka Magica is so scary, it came in second place this time."

"I thought it was just an ordinary work."

The editors in the editorial department started discussing it.

"It's probably related to the positioning; there's a strong sense of conflict."

"Yes, that's one of the reasons."

"After all, it's a dark and brutal magical girl story that no one has ever seen before. Out of curiosity, people will want to come and take a look."

Yoshida Koji listened to their discussion and pursed his lips.

Those who jump to conclusions are truly pathetic.

They only thought of the dark and brutal aspects, without considering the deeper reasons.

……

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is doing better and better.

It's the kind of rapid rise that makes it into the top three of Jump.

"Huh? Just this kind of comic? I can draw that too!"

In a Tokyo apartment at dusk, with only a corner of the curtains peeking out, Ryuzawa looked at Jump and smiled.

"These days, all comics need to be dark, gritty, and brutal is fine, right?"

"As expected of Akino-sensei, he seized upon the strong conflict between fantasy magical girls and dark manga, grabbing the readers' attention with plenty of hype. No wonder he succeeded."

"Truly my guiding light!"

Ryuzawa is someone who wants to become a manga artist. He had previously serialized his work in Jump, but the manga was canceled as soon as his probation period ended.

Several years have passed, and he has been trying his best, but the series has never been published again.

"If I draw a similar comic, it will definitely be able to be serialized."

Long Ze chuckled to himself.

……

Chapter 337 Does our company have a president?

When the sixth chapter of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" was published and caused a public reaction, an editor contacted Ryuzawa and suggested that he could draw a similar piece, since it was just borrowing inspiration and not plagiarizing the plot.

Longze considered the current situation and decided to go along with it.

Because dark magical girl stories are simple: just connect children's ridiculous fantasies with darkness, creating a strong conflict, and readers will keep reading.

You don't need strong drawing skills or to carefully consider the plot; you can just use a template.

"But Mr. Tori Akino has only drawn one magical girl who died so far. He's so kind."

……

Higashino Hibiki's nose was itchy, and he couldn't help but rub it.

"What's wrong?" Maruyama Masao looked at him with a gentle smile.

"It's nothing, maybe it's just pollen." Hibiki looked around before refocusing his gaze on the screen.

Today he's at Crazy House to talk about the animated film "Paprika".

After the first half of the animation was completed, Madhouse invited Hibiki Higashino to provide guidance.

This is also to prevent the original author from having objections, which could result in excessive losses.

Let's first agree on a direction for the adaptation.

"That's the troublesome thing about Tokyo," Masao Maruyama sighed helplessly.

Every spring feels like a tribulation, causing much distress.

Thankfully, summer has finally arrived.

"Shall we begin, Mr. Tsutsui?" Masao Maruyama turned his head and asked Yasutaka Tsutsui.

“Yes,” Tsutsui Yasutaka nodded, his face beaming with excitement. His long-held dream had finally come true.

Although it's not a live-action movie, it's already quite good that "Dream Raiders" got an animated film.

The lights in the screening room were turned off, the screen lit up, and the words "Paprika" appeared.

Hibiki Higashino glanced sideways at Masao Maruyama, the creator of the Madhouse, who was now staring intently at the screen.

Although he was no longer young, his eyes were as bright as a child's, revealing a thirst for knowledge.

Madhouse had previously applied to Jump for an adaptation of Millennium Actress, but while negotiations were still ongoing, Paprika suddenly appeared.

Masao Maruyama wanted a better work, so he shamelessly apologized to Hibiki Higashino and finally spent a lot of effort to acquire the adaptation rights to "Paprika".

"He was focused solely on his work and unaffected by profit; he truly possessed the heart of a child."

Hibiki Higashino couldn't do that; he's always been a scheming opportunist.

Therefore, he always held these people in high esteem.

……

The screening of "Paprika" ended quickly because it only had 20 minutes of plot.

"How about it?"

The lights in the screening room were on, and Masao Maruyama looked at Hibiki Higashino and Yasutaka Tsutsui, asking impatiently.

"This is exactly what I wanted!" Yasutaka Tsutsui exclaimed. "There couldn't be anything better!"

"Thank you for your recognition, Professor Tsutsui." Maruyama Masao smiled and looked at Higashino Hibiki. "What are your thoughts, Professor Toriakino?"

"That's good enough!" Higashino Hibiki didn't say anything, but Tsutsui Yasutaka kept praising it.

He really liked it a lot.

"Hayashibara Megumi's voice is quite nice; it has the same aloof and restrained quality as Chiba Atsuko. When I watched the 'Detective Conan' anime and was drawing 'Paprika,' I immediately associated Chiba Atsuko with Hayashibara Megumi's voice," Hibiki Higashino said.

"What's next?" Maruyama Masao was very dissatisfied with this question.

"I wonder which master composed the soundtrack? It has a magical, dreamlike quality, and the switching between Chiba Atsuko and Paprika is quite intense," Higashino asked.

"It's Professor Hirasawa Susumu."

No wonder.

Under Masao Maruyama's expectant gaze, Hibiki Higashino continued, "The animation effects are also very good. As expected of Madhouse, it's top-notch in the industry."