Full-time comic artist

The magical girl needed in the world of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" is someone like Kyoko, a selfish person.

This is a real dilemma.

Naoko Takeuchi's eyebrows were all twisted together.

"Damn it, it's Tori Akino who draws such weird manga!"

She suddenly understood and stood up abruptly. Her agility made Yoshihiro Togashi, who was clutching his back and groaning, extremely envious.

"Puella Magi Madoka Magica shouldn't be a magical girl anime! Hmm."

"Naoko." Togashi beckoned.

"What's wrong?" Naoko Takeuchi looked at Togashi with displeasure, interrupting her anger.

"Help me up, my phone is ringing."

Naoko Takeuchi helped Yoshihiro Togashi sit up and handed him her phone.

"Oh, it's Yoshida-kun. What's up? Hmm." Togashi answered the phone, nodding repeatedly as he listened to Yoshida Koji's words.

Three minutes later, he put down his phone, a knowing, yet malicious smile on his face.

"Is something the matter?" Naoko Takeuchi asked curiously, "What made you so happy?"

"It's just about the licensing of 'Hunter x Hunter' and inquiries about paying taxes."

"That's all?"

"Well, but..."

"But what?"

“Yoshida-kun said,” Yoshihiro Togashi leaned back, gloating, “that Akino Mirai will probably be holding a book signing event. That will be very interesting… Ouch, that hurts… Ouch, ouch, ouch.”

He clutched his waist, gasping for breath.

……

Katsura Hoshino came to the Shueisha building to discuss the storyboard for "D.Gray-man".

She and Yoshida agreed to meet in the first-floor meeting room.

Yoshida seemed very busy, constantly checking his watch.

However, he still gave his suggestions for "D.Gray-man" in a methodical manner.

“Yes, I will revise it.” Hoshino Katsura nodded.

Yoshida is a difficult person to get along with; he's terrifyingly domineering.

But his advice was always right.

D.Gray-man is doing very well. It received high praise as soon as it started serialization, and escaped the situation where newcomers were worried about being canceled.

For example, with Lenalee, Katsura Hoshino envisioned Lenalee as a cute and strong character, and thus wanted to draw her with short hair.

But Yoshida, a man, understood that everyone liked girls with long hair, so he strongly requested that Katsura Hoshino make Lenalee have long hair.

As it turned out, Lenalee became very popular.

If you listen to Yoshida, you will always succeed.

This person has a knack for judging the market.

Hoshino Katsura pouted, looking at Yoshida with a slightly aggrieved expression.

It's really uncomfortable for a cartoonist like her to be unable to create her own work.

One day, she will change Lenalee's hair to short hair.

Koji Yoshida too, he needs to vent his frustrations by drawing them in his manga!

"What's wrong?" Yoshida asked urgently, glancing at his watch.

"It's nothing," Hoshino Katsura replied.

"Okay, let's end it here then." Yoshida stood up and walked towards the door.

Looking at his retreating figure, Hoshino Katsura was puzzled.

"What urgent matter could he have? Is it related to the latest 'Golden Future Cup'?"

Katsura Hoshino put away the storyboard, walked out of the meeting room, and came to the lobby of Shueisha. He saw Yoshida standing outside the door, as if waiting for someone.

"Pfft." Hoshino Katsura couldn't help but laugh. It was so hot outside, and Yoshida was wearing a suit with beads of sweat on his forehead.

This was the first time she had ever seen Yoshida in such a disheveled state.

So I watched quietly.

Not long after, a car stopped outside the building, and someone got out. Yoshida went to greet them.

"Teacher Toriakino, thank you for your help this time."

"You're the one who's been working hard, Editor Yoshida." Hibiki Higashino looked at him. "Just stay in the studio and wait for me. I'll contact you through the front desk."

"I just happened to be in the lobby, it was just a coincidence." Koji Yoshida shook his head.

"Then let's go in."

Hibiki Higashino came this time to discuss the release of the "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" manga.

Koji Yoshida followed closely behind, walking in front of Hibiki Higashino and leading him forward.

Although Hibiki Higashino had visited Shueisha many times, he did not slack off.

This exceeded what an editor should have done.

It gives off a mindless vibe, like someone blindly following a celebrity.

“This…this is Editor Yoshida…” Hoshino Katsura looked at the humble Yoshida and felt his worldview collapse.

Yoshida, who was so arrogant in front of her, turned out to be nothing more than a loyal dog of Tori Akino Mirai.

……

Hibiki Higashino stopped as he passed by Katsura Hoshino.

"Hoshino-sensei, you're here too."

“Tori…Tori Akino-sensei,” Hoshino Katsura glanced at Yoshida, her lips twitching, “It’s been a long time. I’m shocked to see you.”

"Huh?" Higashino Hibiki was confused.

"No...no, I should say I'm very happy."

"Hoshino-sensei, you need to rest. You can't keep talking incoherently," Higashino advised.

Katsura Hoshino stood there, looking dazed.

It completely lacks the inspiration that the author of "D.Gray-man" should have.

"Excuse me."

She chatted with Akino Mirai for a few more minutes, and Hoshino Katsura breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her idol leave.

"We should certainly treat Mr. Tori Akino with respect. But... Editor Yoshida, hasn't your public image collapsed?"

"These editors can only bully us newbies, they don't dare to criticize veteran manga artists. If I killed off Mami Tomoe, editor Yoshida would definitely have something to say about it."

Katsura Hoshino was dissatisfied, feeling that she was being treated differently.

"In the future, perhaps there will be a cartoonist who creates the best characters, only to have them easily killed by the villain. No buildup, no process, and the villain will even think, 'I'm sorry you didn't give it your all'... Ah, what am I thinking? How could that be possible?"

"Even if a cartoonist goes crazy, the editor will definitely restrain them."

Katsura Hoshino shook his head, dismissing the thought, and leisurely left Shueisha to return to his arduous task of revising the storyboard.

……

Higashino went up to the second floor and met Sasaki Hisashi.

Sasaki has some thoughts about the first volume of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica".

So Hibiki Higashino came here.

Previously, when releasing collected volumes, Yoshida would make the notification, and Higashino would simply draw a color cover.

"Tori Akino-kun, let's go to the conference room."

Upon seeing Hibiki Higashino, Sasaki put aside his work and stood up immediately.

"Okay."

Hibiki Higashino and Sasaki chatted as they entered the conference room.

"This time, I hope you can hold a book signing event."

Sasaki spoke his mind.

“This…” Higashino Hibiki began to think.

No autograph sessions were held for the first volume of the Slam Dunk manga and the entire Death Note manga.

Ultimately, it was Sasaki who was worried about the performance of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica".

Although Madoka is currently in the top three of the manga series serialized in Jump, it is no less impressive than the early performance of Death Note.

Sasaki doubted whether he could maintain this level of success in the collected volumes.

Readers might watch "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" because of its hype, but they might not necessarily spend money to buy the 400 yen single volume.

Whether it can gain market recognition is the question.

He needs Akino to hold a book signing event to attract readers to buy the first volume of "Little Circle".

"I've been underestimated." Higashino Hibiki looked up at Sasaki. "Well, that's settled then."

Holding autograph sessions is no problem for him; he's already quite adept at it after his autograph sessions for "Hikaru no Go" and "Slam Dunk."

However, this time, be careful of biased readers.

Higashino muttered to himself, "Maybe I'll get stabbed in the back..."

"Security is paramount! Absolutely!"

Seeing Hibiki Higashino's worry, Sasaki couldn't help but smile. It turned out that Hibiki also knew how much his work offended people.