Full-time comic artist

He would give up drawing comics in order to pursue a boring future.

You're underestimating him! He's a man who's been working hard since elementary school to become a cartoonist... a boy!

Soma Ichiro, however, saw another side to it, and he was very pleased.

"Even if only one comic book was serialized, it will leave a beautiful memory in the hearts of children."

“Akito Takagi likes ‘Super Hero Legend’ and there are readers who get excited when they recall ‘Space Railway Hero’.”

"I will not give up drawing comics."

……

Takagi Akito kept trying to persuade Mashiro Moritaka.

His language is highly persuasive, making readers feel excited and want to put down their textbooks to draw comics.

However, Mashiro Moritaka remained unmoved.

When he was in elementary school, he wanted to be a cartoonist.

Since my uncle is a cartoonist, he's bound to be influenced by him.

My uncle said that cartoonists are popular, rich, and famous. He likes a girl who is academically excellent and has become the president's secretary. Despite only attending a fourth-rate university, he wants to draw comics.

As a result, by the time his "Legend of the Super Heroes" anime aired, that girl was already someone else's wife.

Two years after this conversation, manga artist Taro Kawaguchi passed away.

In the seven years following the cancellation of "Legend of the Super Heroes," Taro Kawaguchi only had two manga series published, which were also quickly cancelled.

Soma Ichiro: "Huh?"

"Is that how you see me, Toriya-kun?"

"He drew comics because he had a crush on a girl, but died after achieving nothing."

"Seriously, what kind of image do I have in his mind?!"

He scratched his head, looking utterly helpless.

Mashiro Moritaka believes that Kawaguchi Taro committed suicide.

It's quite normal for gamblers to commit suicide.

"Huh? Suicide? How cruel," Soma Ichiro muttered.

Just then, his phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID to see which phone booth the caller ID belonged to.

"Moshi moshi".

"Uncle, it's me! Wu!"

"You should be at school right now, right? What's up with the call?"

"Uncle, you absolutely cannot commit suicide! Even if you can't continue the serialization, you must live on!"

Soma Ichiro stared at the microphone with a dark expression on his face.

"Yes, yes, I won't commit suicide. I'm perfectly fine." He comforted his nephew, who was on the verge of tears, and said gently, "Don't think nonsense. That's just a comic book."

What do you mean by "unable to continue serialization"...?

“Hmm…” Soma Satoru nodded.

……

This sad past has haunted Mashiro Moritaka ever since, leaving him unable to let go.

He gave up on becoming a cartoonist and became a confused teenager.

"Like most sports manga, the protagonist is moved after feeling lost, joins the team, and becomes someone who pours out their youthful sweat." Akira Toriyama, looking at "Bakuman," could already imagine the plot that would follow.

Just as he said, Takagi Akito tricked Mashiro Moritaka into marrying the girl he secretly loved—Azuki Miho.

Azuki's dream is to become a voice actress, and she will attend the voice acting school in Hachioji for high school.

"I draw... This guy is the original creator, so... if our manga is adapted into an anime... I hope to first reserve Azuki-san as the voice actress for the female lead."

Looking at her casual clothes and her sparkling eyes, Mashiro Moritaka couldn't help but blurt out.

"So if you want this dream to come true, marry me!"

Miho Azuki shyly agreed.

And so, Mashiro Moritaka and Takagi Akito's journey into manga began.

The first episode of Bakuman has ended.

Akira Toriyama's eye twitched. "What is this thing?"

"Why are you suddenly rushing towards marriage...?"

He tried to piece together the storyline, but he still couldn't understand it; the progress was too fast.

"That guy Higashino never seems to know how to draw the main characters' love lines..."

"Akira Fujisaki from Hikaru no Go has disappeared from the public eye; Haruko Akagi from Slam Dunk is unpopular; Misa Amane from Death Note has mental problems; and Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a lesbian."

"What's wrong with Tori Akino? His short comics are all classic romance works, but he's really bad at writing long comics."

"He really is..." I laughed.

Akira Toriyama burst into a shameless laugh.

However, he lacks self-awareness; the character of Chi-Chi in Dragon Ball is also indescribable, not even as good as the female protagonists in the other comics he listed.

Akira Toriyama decided: "The start of Bakuman is quite interesting, well, it certainly surprised me. I'll keep watching."

……

The beginning of "Bakuman" didn't generate much buzz, at least not as much as "Hanzawa Naoki".

Readers can simply finish reading a manga and move on to the next one; it doesn't offer the same sense of surprise as Death Note.

On Friday, Xiaozheng ranked first, just an ordinary first place, not much behind second place, "Naruto".

Koji Yoshida couldn't congratulate Hibiki Higashino either.

Yoshida calmly said, "It's first place."

"Hmm." Hibiki Higashino nodded and continued writing "Hanzawa Naoki".

Xiaohe didn't react; he was checking his completed original drawing.

Akemi Akemi is compiling the original manuscript for the fourth chapter of the manga.

Nagase Naomi was dumbfounded.

"This is number one!"

The achievement she longed to attain.

Why are these people completely unmoved, even showing a hint of... disappointment?

"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled. "Mr. Akimiya, aren't you agitated?"

“This is the first chapter since the serialization started,” Akemi Akemi said. “It would be a problem if we didn’t get first place.”

She explained to Naomi Nagase that Masashi always gets excellent grades in the first chapter of a Weekly Shonen Jump manga.

It should not be linked to subsequent minor positive grades.

"I see." Nagase Naomi nodded, seemingly understanding.

That's the value of Bakuman.

Many people who dream of becoming cartoonists know nothing about comic magazines. How should they work hard? This is a common question.

"Bakuman" can educate readers on how to draw manga, how to submit it, and what awards to enter...

It can be considered a textbook for a segment of the population.

……

"So we can even collaborate on comics..." Soma Satoru suddenly realized, looking at Yamada Eiichi.

He's good at drawing, Yamada is good at storytelling, and they know each other well, so they'll definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.

He hadn't thought of this before; he was just focused on his work.

After all, even someone as bad at drawing as my uncle didn't collaborate with anyone else.

Chapter 371 An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!

When Satoru Soma approached Eiichi Yamada, the latter, as if on cue, said, "Let's collaborate! Let's draw manga!"

"Let's become a cartoonist! Yay!"

They clasped hands together and saw the path ahead in "Bakuman".

……

"It's alright, it's alright."

Eight generations of growth have given them a sigh of relief.

He said that if Akino Mirai, who was submitting her work to Yoshida Koji, left Jump, he would be the clown.

That's not a big deal, but if he can't get closer to his idol, he'll be heartbroken and cry.

Bakuman is a manga by a manga artist, and he is very interested in it.

"Yoshida-san, may I meet with Tori Akino-sensei?"

he asked Yoshida Koji.

Yoshida asked in surprise, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

“Maybe…” Yashiro pointed at himself, revealing his little tiger teeth, “Tori Akino-sensei can find inspiration in me! He can draw a genius manga artist, the kind who suppresses the protagonist, haha.”

"You're really confident," Yoshida shook his head. "Not now. Let's wait until your manga starts serialization."

"Eh? Okay." Yashiro Shigeaki pouted. "Then I'm going to sprint."