Full-time comic artist

He had felt the same way before. After watching "Bakuman," he was inspired by the main characters and couldn't wait to work hard for his dreams.

Not only those who aspire to be cartoonists, but also those who want to become authors, musicians, painters, teachers, doctors, and so on, will be overjoyed and full of motivation.

This feeling is not narrow; people with dreams are all passionate.

This is what makes Bakuman so beloved.

"Thank you, Nagase-kun."

Higashino nodded slightly.

"And what about you, Kawa-san?"

Koga said shyly, "Teacher, I still prefer Hiroaki Samura's 'Blade of the Immortal,' I'm sorry."

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Higashino Hibiki shook his head with a smile. “Of course, you should vote for your favorite manga.”

"Even I myself wouldn't vote for Torikino Mirai."

"Huh?" Naomi Nagase exclaimed, "What manga is that?"

Hibiki Higashino replied with a smile, "It's Kishimoto-kun's 'Naruto'."

This comic book represents his youth.

He started watching the Naruto anime when he was in elementary school.

Team 7, consisting of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi, brought him a lot of joy during his childhood.

"Naruto!" Nagase's eyes widened. "Why?"

Chapter 397 Kowtow to Me! Owada!

After careful consideration, Higashino Hibiki hesitated before saying, "Because Naruto is a very extreme manga, right?"

Nagase Naomi exclaimed in surprise, "Extremist?"

"Hmm," Higashino Hibiki said with a smile, resting his chin on his hand, "The characters' emotions are all exceptionally rich, and the collision of these rich emotions creates a highly dramatic plot. It's unforgettable for me."

He thought of Zabuza and Haku, Naruto and Sasuke, Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi...

They are all extremely distorted, which is rare in other comics.

Is that all?

What else do you want?

"I thought the teacher's favorite manga was..." Naomi Nagase exclaimed dramatically, spreading her arms wide, "works with artistic value, profound thoughts, humanistic concerns, and so on!"

Hibiki Higashino shook his head slightly. "The most important thing about manga is that it's interesting."

……

Thursday.

Kitamoto asked at the cashier, "How much is Weekly Youth Jump?"

"320 yen..." The waiter looked up, and upon seeing Kitamoto, exclaimed with surprise and delight, "It's Attorney Kitamoto!"

Kitamoto smiled and nodded, "Yes, good morning, Tamaki-kun."

“At this time…” Yu Cheng glanced at the wall clock, “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

He was a client of Beiben. He used to work on construction sites and his right hand was accidentally disabled. Thanks to Beiben, he was able to get full compensation.

So I am very grateful to North Honda.

"Of course I asked for leave." Kitamoto gave a thumbs up.

"Huh? Attorney Kitamoto is so serious and responsible, I thought you were a workaholic."

“I have hobbies too,” Kitamoto said. “Like this comic book magazine.”

"Oh! I'm sorry," Yu Cheng suddenly remembered his work. He scanned the barcode, took out his wallet, took out 320 yen, and prepared to put it in the cash register.

Kitamoto looked at his right hand. "How can I ask you to pay? Please accept this."

He handed over 320 yen, which Yu Cheng reluctantly accepted.

……

After leaving the supermarket, Beiben was in a good mood.

Regardless of what kind of firm he works for, as long as he can realize his own value, that's enough to satisfy him.

He is not like Hanzawa Naoki, who has such grand ambitions.

Don't go along with the corrupt practices; just do your job well.

When Beiben returned home, his wife and children went to work or school.

The room, which he used to find cramped, now felt eerily empty.

His once familiar home now feels completely foreign.

"Never mind, let's read comics instead."

Kitamoto started reading "Hanzawa Naoki," the manga that made him take time off work to keep up with it.

Higashino Hibiki's sins are so grave that even this excellent employee, who has never been late, has now learned to slack off.

……

At a bank board meeting, Hanzawa Naoki bluntly stated that Owada was attempting to exploit the 120 billion yen loss caused by Executive Director Hane to embarrass the Tokyo Central Bank during the Financial Services Agency's inspection, thereby forcing the governor to resign.

Owada denied everything.

Hanzawa Naoki then proposed that Owada lend 3000 million yen to his wife through Tamiya Denki.

Unable to produce any evidence, Hanzawa found himself at a disadvantage due to Ōwada's eloquent arguments.

If he doesn't fight back, he'll be accused of slandering his superiors.

Just before the verdict was handed down, Hanzawa Naoki produced a piece of evidence.

It is the cash flow data of Lafitte, the company owned by Owada's wife.

Owada's wife was not good at business, and the company not only failed to make a profit, but also incurred a debt of 1000 million yen.

After that, she did not revitalize her business, but instead borrowed money to pay off other loans, and unknowingly accumulated a debt of 100 million yen.

Despite his seemingly respectable appearance, Ōwada, the managing director, had a negative bank account balance!

The house is mortgaged and there is still a debt of 5000 million yen!

Even Kitamoto felt sorry for Owada; this elite who could turn the world upside down was actually so pitiful behind the scenes.

"Oh, Owada is so pitiful, hahaha."

He couldn't help but laugh.

Naoki Benzawa's exhilarating counterattack caused an uproar at the scene. Owada's carefully crafted facade was shattered, and everyone discovered his unbearable reality.

This broke Ōwada's composure; he stood up, slammed his fist on the table, glared, and shouted at him.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Readers just wanted to laugh when they saw it.

"Poor Owada."

……

After exposing Owada, Hanzawa Naoki did not pursue the matter, but instead looked at the board members present.

"Fellow directors, you have been sitting around this table, using sophistry to portray the black as white, which is why the Tokyo Central Bank has become what it is today!"

Hanzawa Naoki has started a gang fight. Kitamoto thought this episode would be a duet between Hanzawa and Owada, but it turns out Hanzawa Naoki's target is all the board members.

In the hands of these people, banks have become organizations that only think about how to profit themselves.

Abandoning the weak, no one is willing to take responsibility, and factional infighting leads to backstabbing and power struggles.

In such an environment, subordinates are subservient and dare not express their opinions.

When people and businesses in need cannot get help, the value of banks vanishes.

Hanzawa Naoki was heartbroken and angrily rebuked his ministers.

He expressed his feelings freely and vented all the anger that had been building up since childhood.

He spoke frankly and thoroughly about his ambitions and ideals for the bank.

"This is the goal that Hanzawa has been striving for all along!"

Kitamoto was deeply shocked.

After graduating, Hanzawa Naoki joins the bank where his enemy works. Despite the immense pressure of 5 million yen in bad debt, he doesn't falter. He actively revitalizes the Isejima Grand Hotel, weathers the crisis of a Financial Services Agency inspection, and exposes Ōwada's illegal activities...

All of this was done to expose the harsh reality of the banking system today, to put it out into the open.

Compared to this, Owada, that enemy, is nothing.

“I was too fixated on it.” Kitamoto shook his head slightly with a smile. “The most important part of ‘Hanzawa Naoki’ is right here. The core idea of ​​the manga is the meaning of life and a satire of the current state of the Japanese workplace.”

Superiors are afraid to take responsibility, and subordinates avoid them like the plague; this indifferent workplace is the current state of affairs in Japan.

Lifeless, stagnant, and mechanically going through the motions—even as a lawyer, Kitamoto deeply felt the same way.

Everyone was doing their own work, and no one dared to interfere in other people's affairs. The firm operated like a piece of code, and little jokes were always made.

When Hanzawa Naoki learned that Owada's son-in-law was Kurosaki, Kishikawa betrayed Owada at the meeting.

He admitted to all of Ōwada's irregularities.

"The bigger reason is probably Owada's way of handling things. Owada judges the future of his subordinates based on monetary value. When the losses outweigh the value, his subordinates will be ruthlessly abandoned."

“Owada survives like a gecko struggling for survival, and Kishikawa, this ‘tail,’ understands Owada well enough. He knows that Owada has always been using him, and he cannot sacrifice his daughter’s interests for Owada’s benefit.”

"Hanzawa Naoki knew this perfectly well, so he was full of confidence, knowing that this situation would definitely occur."

Kitamoto breathed a sigh of relief.

The last chapter of "Hanzawa Naoki" was so wonderful. I was reading it more and more slowly, and I didn't want to turn to the end at all.

Every expression on the characters' faces and every punctuation mark in the speech bubbles in the comics seems interesting and worth appreciating.