Full-time comic artist

"It's fun." The child tilted his head back. "The teacher is very gentle, and there are... there are playmates to play with."

He stammered as he told his father about his enjoyment, his mumbled accent melting Higashino's heart.

"That's good!" Hibiki Higashino nodded. The opening theme of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" started playing. He glanced back at the TV and saw Mami Tomoe's transformation scene. He quickly picked up his son and said, "Let's watch the anime together."

"Yes! I want to see Mami!"

While fighting the witch, Mami Tomoe smiled elegantly and introduced herself to Madoka and Sayaka.

She turned her head slightly, her golden curls flowing, accompanied by magnificent background music and the sound of gunfire, making her look beautiful and charming.

"What an elegant arms queen."

Hibiki Higashino looked at Tetsuro Araki's version of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," and found it to be no worse than Akiyuki Shinbo's, since it had the manga's storyboard as a reference.

With commercials interspersed throughout the animation, the 30 minutes passed quickly, and the second episode of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" came to an end.

Higashino Mirai clapped her hands, "This is so much fun!"

"Are you going to watch 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' again next week?" Nohira asked, looking down at him.

“Yes, I will!” Higashino Mirai nodded seriously.

In the third episode of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," according to the animation script, it should be time for Tomoe (Mami...).

Higashino Hibiki patted his son's round head. "I hope your memory isn't too bad."

A three-year-old child forgetting the plot of an animated film they watched should be fine; it shouldn't leave any psychological trauma, right?

……

After school started, Soma Go excitedly told his friends, "The animation of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' is really good!"

The dazzling performance captivated him.

It excels in all aspects, including voice acting, artwork, and music.

It's very fortunate that the comic can be produced to such a high standard.

If Puella Magi Madoka Magica hadn't already been incredibly popular, this anime would have made the work even more famous.

"Yes, yes! It's definitely one of the best animations in recent years!" The friend nodded.

He was a classmate of Soma Satoru in junior high school, a model student with excellent writing skills, and Yamada Eiichi, who had won a writing award.

Soma Goto, whose grades were mediocre, got together with him because they both loved manga.

Of course, it's perfectly normal for boys to like comics. What's different is that these two boys have some extravagant desires for comics, namely, they dream of becoming comic artists.

So we always discuss excellent works together to improve ourselves.

Yamada said, "After the anime airs, more people will get to know Akino Tori's work. Ah, anime adaptations are great! I definitely want my manga to be adapted into an anime someday!"

In terms of audience reach, animation is certainly stronger than comics.

There's a reason why Japanese television stations use anime as advertising: through the promotion of anime, the original work will become known to more people. With improved performance, it's only natural that sales of manga volumes and anime DVDs will increase significantly.

“Me too.” Soma Satoru nodded. Regardless of the animation quality, this is an honor for a manga artist.

It's legendary that every long-running manga by Akino Toriyama has been adapted into an anime.

There's no news of an anime adaptation for Yoshihiro Togashi's shelved manga, Level E.

“It’s just that Mr. Tori Akino suddenly started drawing workplace comics,” Satoru Soma sighed, “and it’s not interesting at all.”

He, at fourteen, didn't like it at all; it was so serious it was almost frightening.

The image of Asano Tadashi with bulging veins in the manga terrified him even more.

The pressures of the workplace were something this high school student couldn't comprehend.

"Huh?" Yamada asked in surprise, "Isn't 'Hanzawa Naoki' very interesting?"

Unlike Soma Satoru, he really liked this manga.

"Hanzawa Naoki, written by Tori Akino, is just right for me. He talks back to his superiors, cares for his subordinates, gets things done, and has principles."

"Moreover, this manga has a tight plot, with heartwarming content as well as tense and exciting conflicts. The pacing is excellent, and there are simply too many merits to list. As expected of Akino-sensei, he can maintain his high standard even after leaving Shonen Jump to draw seinen manga."

Yamada Eiichi praised repeatedly.

As a frequent reader of literature, he knew of the excellence of the plot of "Hanzawa Naoki".

Although this manga has only just begun serialization, even from just a glimpse, we can see the framework of "Hanzawa Naoki," which is the resistance of the weak and a satire of an indifferent environment.

Comics rich in humanistic themes are always good.

"Is that so?" Soma Satoru scratched his head in frustration. "But I really don't like 'Hanzawa Naoki'."

He still prefers One Piece.

It's just that the recent One Piece isn't as interesting as it used to be.

……

Hibiki Higashino asked in surprise, "Has One Piece's ranking in Jump dropped?"

He still remembers Eiichiro Oda's confident expression at the New Year's party.

Yoshida nodded. "Yeah, the storyline of 'Water Seven' probably made readers unhappy; it deviated from the typical shonen manga style."

Masashi Kishimoto made a major comeback, defeating Eiichiro Oda.

This is the hottest topic in Shueisha: Jump's top pillar has changed hands.

"Now, not only in overseas markets, but also in the domestic market, Naruto is number one."

Hibiki Higashino really liked the story of "Water Seven," which was full of passion and tear-jerking moments, but unfortunately, young readers didn't like it.

Perhaps these readers will really enjoy this chapter in the future.

But now One Piece has indeed fallen to second place.

Hibiki Higashino couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe Kishimoto is setting off fireworks to celebrate right now."

How many years has it been? He's always been second best, and finally he can finally hold his head high.

Yoshida continued, "The current third place in Jump is Akira Amano's 'Katekyo Hitman Reborn!', and that's all thanks to him."

He felt a little regretful about this.

After all, this was Toriya Akino Mirai's first mainstream manga, and he regretted that it was not completed halfway.

It would be great if more could be drawn; perhaps it could create a miracle in the current weak state of One Piece.

"That's Professor Amano's work."

The "Ring Battle" in "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!" reached another level, a brilliant chapter that rivals Naruto and One Piece.

A mix of emotion and passion, with constant plot twists that keep you entertained.

"By the way, Yoshida-kun," Hibiki Higashino asked, "how's Hoshino-kun's serialization going these days?"

Yoshida replied, "There are no problems with Hoshino-sensei. The average sales of the collected volumes have reached 50, and the sales are steadily increasing."

"That's good," Higashino Hibiki nodded, worried that Hoshino Katsura was sick and hospitalized.

Aside from the intense online battles, Weekly Shonen Jump is basically the same as before.

In another month, "Bakuman" will begin serialization, and two more assistants have entered Hibiki Higashino's house.

One is Hibiki Higashino's old friend, Koga, and the other is his female assistant, Naomi Nagase, who aspires to become a manga artist.

……

Weekly Young Jump went on sale on Thursday.

Jun Tanaka estimated that the number of readers who purchased the book had not decreased significantly compared to the previous week, which indicated that "Hanzawa Naoki" had retained its readership.

If things stabilize, the circulation of Weekly Young Jump will increase from 108 million to 120 million.

Akino Mirai made a huge contribution shortly after joining Seinen Jump.

In this day and age, it's quite rare for comic book sales to increase rather than decrease.

Regarding the content of this comic.

Branch Manager Asano Tadashi persuaded Hanzawa Naoki to work hard to get the application approved at head office, citing the reason that "it is for the benefit of all the staff of the Osaka West Branch".

Once a decision is made, Hanzawa will dedicate himself to fulfilling it.

Thanks to his diligence, the head office approved the loan.

The Osaka West Branch was the first to complete a loan quota of 100 billion yen and won the honor of being the best branch.

However, the good times didn't last long. Three months later, Nishi-Osaka Steel went bankrupt, and the 500 million yen loan was unrecoverable.

As expected, the project that Hanzawa Naoki was against turned out to be a disaster.

Asano Masashi, the branch manager, began to shirk responsibility, completely forgetting what he had promised.

The sycophantic deputy branch manager stood by the window, his expression hidden by the sunlight.

This guy condescendingly questioned, "Why didn't you even notice such an obvious cover-up?"

"Fake news" refers to fabricating data to make investors believe that the company is profitable.

He seemed to have forgotten that neither he nor the branch manager had set aside time for Hanzawa Naoki to review the reports.

"It's all your fault that we lost all 500 million!"

The deputy branch manager shielded himself from the sunlight, shamelessly shirking responsibility.

"How shameless! They take all the credit for getting the best branch and show off to the leadership; but when they make a mistake because of their overzealousness, they blame it on their subordinates. They have no shame at all!"

Junior high school student Yamada was speechless.

The adult world is so naked and complicated.

It suffocated him like a dark jungle.

The deputy branch manager even flew into a rage and walked up to Hanzawa, pressing Hanzawa's head down and forcing him to kneel down and kowtow to Branch Manager Asano Kusa to beg for forgiveness!

Hanzawa knelt on the ground, his head held high. He pushed aside the deputy branch manager and stared at Asano Tadashi.

"You were the one who said you were willing to take responsibility..."

"Enough!" Asano Tadashi said sternly, "At this point, stop passing the buck!"