Full-time comic artist

"I just said..."

“I heard you,” Higashino waved his hand, making Yoshida stop. “My feelings for Puella Magi Madoka Magica are the same as theirs, you understand?”

Keep drawing, go deeper into the darkness, and the light that finally bursts forth will be dazzling.

To consider the readers' perspective and modify the plot of "Little Circle" would be to ruin their reading experience.

……

The book signing continued half an hour later.

People kept coming and going, and even after three hours of busy work, the queue didn't shrink much.

"I never expected that there would be so many readers who like 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'."

Yoshida did some mental calculations and had a good idea of ​​how well "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" would fare.

When he first saw that Akino Tori's new work was a magical girl theme, he immediately sentenced "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" to death.

Even for Akino Mirai, the average number of copies of the Madoka Magica manga volume is only around 50.

but now……

"I'm still too inexperienced," Yoshida shook his head.

It was six o'clock in the afternoon, and the event finally came to an end.

If I count them up intermittently, I must have sold tens of thousands of books.

"This has broadened my horizons."

The store manager came over and handed over a bottle of mineral water.

"Thank you." Higashino nodded and drank half a bottle of water in one gulp.

During the book signing, he didn't waste any time and didn't drink a drop of water, even though he was very thirsty.

"As expected of manga artist Tori Akino Mirai, I haven't seen so many readers here in a long time."

“It’s a manga after all,” Higashino Hibiki cleared his throat.

After the event, he went straight home.

……

"Is today the signing event for the 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' manga?"

Yoshihiro Togashi was playing a game when he suddenly remembered something and said to Naoko Takeuchi, "Aren't you going to participate?"

“Let’s not interfere with Akino’s creative process,” Naoko Takeuchi replied.

“It will be even more exciting after ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica’,” Togashi said.

For him, an unexpected plot is what makes a plot exciting.

Most comics are repetitive and uninteresting.

That old fox could guess what would happen next just by reading the beginning, so he didn't bother to read any further.

Only unexpected plot twists can excite him.

That's how it is with "Puella Magi Madoka Magica".

Just like the previous Death Note series.

“It’s okay,” Naoko Takeuchi gritted her teeth, “magical girls also need diversity.”

Togashi joked, "There will be copycat works soon."

……

"This must be the latest manga submitted to the serialization meeting."

Several editors stood together, quite interested in a stack of storyboards.

"That's right, but it's not as good as before. There aren't any manga that really catch the eye." Yoshihisa rubbed his chin, looking troubled.

"Let me see," Koji Yoshida said, flipping through the storyboards one by one.

"This is... Magical Girl Duel?"

He was stunned when he saw a comic book.

He opened it and began to read it carefully.

"The gist of it is that 24 magical girls engage in a dark battle, and only one can survive in the end..."

"Among them are the reasons for choosing to transform into a magical girl:"

Some girls transform into magical girls to take revenge because of school bullying;

She was assaulted by a male teacher and decided to turn to darkness;

Some women have been used and then abandoned by their boyfriends...

This comic has absolutely no positive message; it's entirely filled with extreme and dark content—in other words, it's a work full of sensationalism.

Most importantly, this is a copycat work of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica"!

"Team leader," Koji Yoshida said loudly, looking at the bottle, "How can a work like this be serialized?!"

Chapter 342 A Copycat Work

“Yoshida,” Yoshihisa Hibiki said, rubbing his forehead in distress, “you should know that when a work is successful, copycat works will appear, and this situation cannot be prevented.”

"Has your excessive admiration for Akino Mirai caused you to lose your composure?"

"I...I'm sorry..." Yoshida Koji came to his senses. Just as Yoshihisa Pingzi said, when a popular work appears, someone will imitate it.

The emergence of dark and tragic magical girl works is inevitable.

As an editor, he should have been aware of this much earlier.

……

on Monday.

"How was the autograph session with Akino-sensei?" Yuji asked Akihisa after returning to Tokyo from a trip to Hawaii.

He had just landed when he bought Jump and went to Akihisa's house.

He missed the precious book signing event because of his trip, which was really a shame.

I should have come back earlier.

"Although he has many readers, the teacher has always been very refined and easy-going."

Akihisa had a very good impression of Higashino Hibiki. Just looking at the scene of Akino Hibiki working all day made his scalp tingle. With tens of thousands of volumes to sign, his hands must have broken from signing so many.

But Akino Toriyama has always worked diligently.

When it came to his turn, he mustered up the courage to say that he hoped "Little Circle" would have a happy ending.

After a long period of busy work, Tori Akino listened attentively, smiled and nodded, and said, "Thank you for your appreciation."

At that moment, Akihisa was deeply moved.

Even the trauma I suffered because of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" is almost forgotten.

"Teacher Tori Akino is really nice; he's gentle, refined, kind, and handsome."

Yuuji, who was reading Jump, looked up and glanced at his friend.

"You're so easily moved. Look, in the latest issue of 'Little Circle,' look at what that Akino bird drew this time..."

He sighed at Akihisa's naiveté and threw the jump out.

Akihisa carefully caught it, complaining, "Be careful, this is a 400-page Jump."

He then sat cross-legged on the ground, turned to the page of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," and began to read it carefully.

……

Sayaka seems to have broken down.

She hysterically defeated the witch, her body covered in wounds.

The seeds of sorrow for the uncertain future were sown by Sakura Kyoko.

His own soul gem was clearly murky and turbid.

When faced with her caring friend Madoka Kaname, she said, "You are capable of doing anything, yet you do nothing."

"I'm suffering for you, yet you ignore all of this and act like you know everything."

Madoka possesses miraculous talent; she could even turn the universe upside down and become a god.

But that's not the reason she became a magical girl.

Akihisa exclaimed in disbelief, "How could Sayaka say something so outrageous!"

“It’s probably due to the tainted Soul Gem,” Yuuji replied. “That’s where the soul resides, so it’s bound to have an effect if it gets dirty. And… Sayaka probably has no will to live anymore.”

Akihisa's eyes widened. "How did things get to this point..."

Yuuji shrugged. "These were all drawn by that person, the one you admire, Tori Akino-sensei. And there's even more outrageous content later on."

“Even worse…”

Akihisa flipped through Jump and started reading.

Under the setting sun, Hitomi and Kyosuke Kamijou sat together chatting.

Sayaka witnessed this scene from the shadows.

She turned around abruptly, tears streaming down her face, and then began a self-destructive battle.

"Sayaka is finished."

Seeing Akihisa's dazed look, Xiong Er realized that he had finished reading "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" and said quietly, "After all, Sayaka no longer has the will to live."

The recent episodes of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" have all been devastating for Sayaka.

The final, heavy straw broke the camel's back, causing Sayaka to give up her last will to live.

Even a fool like Akihisa has figured it out now.