Full-time comic artist

"Thank you for your help, editor." Higashino nodded and brought over some tea. "I'll also need to ask you to find me an assistant."

Bird Autumn Studio is recruiting assistants again.

Those people from before, those who left the industry, either became manga artists, or Higashino asked his editor to find an assistant.

“This is my duty,” Xiang nodded.

……

He talked with Hibiki Higashino for a long time, and only after they had discussed and finalized the plot of the first part of "Hanzawa Naoki" did he return to the editorial department.

"So, Kosang," his colleagues surrounded him, eagerly asking, "What kind of person is Professor Tori Akino?"

"The number one manga artist in Weekly Shonen Jump, and so young, isn't he arrogant and difficult to get along with?"

Xiang shook his head in distress. He was a mature and steady person. What would Teacher Toriaki think if he heard what his colleagues said?

"The teacher was very kind and always discussed the plot with me on an equal footing. How can you say that? You should have seen him at the New Year's party."

Some people say, "He always chats with the comic book artists in Jump."

Someone nodded, "I always felt that he looked down on Junior Jump."

"You guys are really...super sensitive."

……

With some time still remaining before the serialization of "Hanzawa Naoki" begins, Hibiki Higashino takes Akemi Akemi to Tanikusa City in Saitama Prefecture.

This city is right next to Tokyo; you can get there by subway in no time.

The story of Bakuman is set here.

They need to take pictures of the street scenery.

Another point is that Hibiki Higashino is going to see an old friend, Hisashi Yoshii Yama, who works in the banking industry.

The Yoshii family lives here; they are a wealthy family in Tanikusa City.

Tanikusa Local Bank was also owned by the Yoshii family.

The author of the original work for "Hanzawa Naoki" had worked in the banking industry and knew a lot about the inside story, so the plot he drew was very realistic.

Higashino Hibiki's knowledge in this area is not entirely nonexistent, but it's better than nothing.

Drawing something wrong will make people laugh at you.

It's like they're cramming for the last minute now.

"Higashino-kun! It's been a long time!"

Yoshii Yamahisa was overjoyed to see Hibiki Higashino.

He received a call from Higashino yesterday and had been looking forward to this meeting.

The last time we met was the last time.

It's been several years now.

Only then did he notice Akemi Akemi.

"Mr. Akimiya...Mrs. Higashino, hello."

Akemi Akemi nodded. "Hello, Akihisa-kun."

Higashino Hibiki looked at him, finally focusing on the top of his head. "Where's your blond hair? And... are you losing your hair?"

Yoshii Yamahisa was embarrassed.

“Blonde hair gives an impression of immaturity, and my subordinates wouldn’t respect me, so I dyed it back to black. As for hair loss…” he brushed aside his thinning hair, “The banking industry is very stressful, especially now with the economic downturn…”

"By the way! Please come in."

……

Higashino Hibiki entered this luxurious villa, which was far more extravagant than the Higashino family home in terms of style.

The decor, resembling that of a five-star hotel, makes it feel less like a home.

Yoshii Yamahisa shook his head helplessly, "The banking industry needs to demonstrate its strength to its customers."

They sat down on the sofa, and Higashino Hibiki put down the gift.

"I opened it and looked at it."

Akemi Akemi said, "Please."

Upon opening the gift box, Yoshii Yamahisa's eyes lit up. "Oh! It's the dessert from that shop at school! I've been wanting to eat it for so long!"

"Higashino-kun, you guys are so thoughtful!"

This is not just about food, but also about reminiscing about wonderful memories of university life.

Hibiki Higashino casually said, "Akami wanted to eat it, so I brought you a portion."

"Huh? Wasn't this specially brought for me?"

Hibiki Higashino retorted, "Is it really necessary to go to so much trouble?"

I took a bus from Meguro Ward to Nerima Ward and entered Musashino Art University just for these few desserts.

Only his wife deserves Higashino Hibiki's actions.

"Yeah, right." Yoshii scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily.

"This is wonderful. It's been a long time since we last met, and we're still the same as before."

He was worried because their relationship had grown distant since they hadn't seen each other for so long. It would be too sad to remain awkward and unsure of what to say.

After the three of them shared their dessert, they talked a lot about their past memories.

About high school, about university.

Hibiki Higashino asked Yamahisa Yoshii, "How are things going with you and Takagi-senpai? Are you getting married?"

"It will take some time; she doesn't want to get married right now."

Japanese women's careers are often greatly affected after marriage.

Chapter 366 Youth Returns

"In fact, women can pursue their own careers after marriage."

Akemi Akemi looked at Hibiki Higashino and said to Yamahisa Yoshii, "It depends on whether her husband will support her."

Yoshii Yamahisa nodded. "Of course I understand that."

He touched his thinning hair and gritted his teeth, "I'll have a good talk with Xizi."

If he doesn't get married soon, Yoshii Yamahisa worries that once he goes completely bald, Takagi will no longer be interested in him.

After meeting, the old classmates had a long chat, and Higashino Hibiki explained the purpose of his visit.

He gave a brief account of the plot of "Hanzawa Naoki".

"The protagonist who works in the banking industry?" Yoshii Yamahisa opened his mouth wide and said in surprise, "It sounds like it's going to be very interesting."

"To be honest, I'm not really interested in manga in Jump these days. But if it's 'Hanzawa Naoki,' I'll read it carefully."

After leaving the manga industry and working at the family bank, Yoshii Yamahisa had no time to read manga and gradually put Jump down.

Hibiki Higashino nodded. "If you find any problems while reading the manga, please let me know."

“No problem.” Yoshii Yamahisa was quite happy to agree. “However, it would be too late to notify you if we only found out about the problem.”

After hesitating for a long time, he cautiously said, "How about I become a consultant for 'Hanzawa Naoki'? I'll go through the storyboards in advance..."

Before Higashino could speak, he scratched his head apologetically and said, "But it's not good either. I'm not your assistant anymore. If the storyboard is leaked, it will be a big problem. I'll pretend I said something wrong."

Higashino looked at him and shook his head helplessly.

"You're so awkward."

The premature leak of storyboard drafts is not actually a serious matter.

What's the point of taking something that's still being serialized?

Copyright is already clearly defined.

Moreover, Higashino Hibiki trusts Yoshii Yamahisa.

If Yoshii Yamahisa has changed after not seeing each other for so long, then consider the storyboard drafts as the cost of trial and error.

Hibiki Higashino asked, "Won't this disturb your work?"

"No, because it's a very simple thing."

"Then let's decide on this, please, Yoshii-kun."

They agreed that Hibiki Higashino would fax the storyboard to Hisashi Yoshii every Thursday so that he could check for errors.

This pattern is virtually identical to the game records that Akira Yamazaki, a 2-dan professional Go player, used to review the manga when he was serializing "Hikaru no Go".

However, Yoshii Yamahisa still explained a lot of things to Hibiki Higashino, such as the main bank.

"Due to the Korean War, the United States increased its demand for Japan, resulting in a large number of orders and the rapid development of the Japanese economy."

"Government controls on foreign exchange and low bank loan costs led Japanese companies to choose domestic bank loans for financing, giving rise to the main bank system."

"This is a long-term relationship between a company and a bank. The bank lends money to the company, enabling it to grow rapidly. Over time, the bank becomes the company's largest shareholder."

"This relationship is very close, so when a company runs into trouble, the bank will do its best to help, because it also represents the bank's interests."

"This ensures the efficient development of the domestic economy."

“For example, our local bank provided loans to Tanikusa Steel for a long time. This company produces steel for construction. At that time, the whole of Japan was engaged in large-scale infrastructure construction, and Tanikusa Steel developed very rapidly. Our bank also provided a lot of loans.”

"The rebates came rolling in."

"In this way, Gucao Local Bank became the main bank of Gucao Steel, and the other banks entrusted our family to supervise Gucao Steel."

"When the bubble burst and the economic crisis arrived, Gucao Steel naturally went bankrupt."

Yoshii Yamahisa gave a wry smile as he spoke.

This happened when they were in high school.