Full-time comic artist

"Add one."

Hibiki Higashino looked at his two assistants and said, "It will definitely happen."

He had a farewell dinner with his editorial assistants, marking the end of his work on "Hanzawa Naoki".

This comic is now officially finished.

……

"What a pity, 'Hanzawa Naoki' has ended!"

Kito sighed deeply, his voice filled with conflicting emotions. "Although the ending moved me to tears and resonated with my soul, it was still too short. 'Hanzawa Naoki' only has 34 chapters. Tori Akino-sensei is really capricious."

“Mmm.” Kuriyama Minami nodded repeatedly. “It feels like a dream, like a familiar friend suddenly saying goodbye. It’s really hard to accept.”

Since the serialization of "Hanzawa Naoki" lasted for more than half a year, it has become a part of his life, and he doesn't want to give it up.

Yesterday he saw Hanzawa scolding the board members, and today he has to start getting used to his farewell.

"One Piece is approaching its 10th anniversary of serialization, and my beloved Hanzawa Naoki hasn't even reached one-tenth of its serialization time?"

"Ugh."

They both sighed at the same time.

Minami Kuriyama was watching TV when Akino Mirai was being interviewed, saying that the inspiration for the plot of "Hanzawa Naoki" came from a banker friend's sharing.

“Why can’t that banker share more stories?” he complained. “He should talk more about how he exploits his employees, engages in shady deals, evades taxes, and falsifies financial statements.”

"Well, whatever." Kito shrugged. "Life goes on."

Reading "Hanzawa Naoki" was like experiencing a familiar yet wondrous adventure for them. Now that the manga has ended, it's time to return to reality. Simplicity is the true essence of life.

After all, it's impossible to really learn from Hanzawa and bravely say no.

The emotions this comic evoked have ended here.

“Oh right,” Minami Kuriyama remembered, “the Japan Media Arts Festival is holding the ‘Japan Media Arts 100 Award’ to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Let’s vote for ‘Hanzawa Naoki’.”

"Damn it, I almost forgot." Ghost Head slapped his forehead. "Which website is the vote on?"

“Let me look for it…” Kuriyama Minami typed on the keyboard, and after a short while, “Found it, on the ‘Japan Media Arts Plaza’ website. I’ll send you the link.”

As he spoke, he opened the manga category, searched for "Hanzawa Naoki" in the list of works, and then started voting.

"This is really troublesome."

This online survey has many details and requires a lot of information to be filled in. It's hard to finish it unless you're truly passionate about it.

Seeing the message "successfully sent," Kuriyama Minami nodded in satisfaction, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk... these are all wonderful manga, it's really hard to choose."

On the other side, Gui Tou scratched his head, caught in a dilemma.

"Hanzawa Naoki" is indeed very interesting, but it's not enough for him to make a decisive choice.

"Let's...choose that one..."

He hesitated, then moved the mouse and clicked on "Dragon Ball".

Kuriyama Minami stared at his computer screen, her eyes wide, "You traitor!"

……

"Hanzawa Naoki has been published in three volumes, with a total sales volume of 625 million copies, which means an average sales volume of about 208 million copies."

Sō sat upright in front of Higashino and recounted the good news in detail.

In just six months, "Hanzawa Naoki" has sold a total of 625 million copies, a staggering number.

After all, the sales of manga volumes need to be accumulated slowly, and we haven't reached the limit for "Hanzawa Naoki" yet.

Furthermore, with the final volume of "Hanzawa Naoki" not yet released, it's only a matter of time before it surpasses 1000 million copies in circulation.

Only a few manga series, such as "Salaryman Kintaro" and "Peacock King," in Weekly Young Jump have achieved this level of success.

Other comics rely on building up long stories, but "Hanzawa Naoki" is a miracle.

There has never been a manga like this in Weekly Young Jump.

But what...

Xiang raised her eyelids with a resentful look, staring at the carefree man in front of her.

"Really? That's great, hahaha."

He scratched the back of his head, grinning broadly, trying to show his surprise and happiness.

However, it inadvertently reveals a nonchalant attitude.

This miracle of Weekly Shonen Jump is just ordinary for the manga artists in front of us.

Really...

"Sigh," Xiang sighed, continuing the topic, "When the 'Hanzawa Naoki' TV series airs, the manga will definitely be reprinted, and the sales might even double. Anyway, that's how it is."

"Thank you for your help." Higashino Hibiki nodded, his hands resting on his knees.

“Next is…” Sho took an envelope from his briefcase and handed it to Hibiki Higashino. “This is a questionnaire from the Agency for Cultural Affairs regarding the ‘Top 100 Media Arts in Japan.’ They asked me to give it to you.”

Higashino Hibiki accepted it with both hands.

He had done this many times before, with questionnaires from Weekly Shonen Jump and letters from the Manga Artists Association, so it wasn't surprising.

"I was even thinking of asking questions on the website."

The organizers are really overdoing it; they could have just invited people directly through the website. Now they have to write their own invitations and mail them in, which is such a hassle.

“Teachers are very important,” Xiang said. “To show respect, it’s better to send a written invitation.”

"Too."

……

After the village left, Higashino Hibiki opened the envelope and began reading the questionnaire.

There are four sections in total: Art, Entertainment, Animation, and Comics.

Japanese art...

Hibiki Higashino filled in his father-in-law's painting.

His appreciation of art is so good that if you ask him to look at ukiyo-e prints, he might as well look at doujinshi (fan-made comics).

When it comes to entertainment, it has to be Super Mario Bros.

This was his childhood.

He was most exposed to FC games during his childhood, and could play games like "Tank Battle", "Contra" and "Double Dragon" for a whole summer.

Of these, he thinks Super Mario is the most interesting.

When it came to animation, he chose Spirited Away.

The manga, as he said, is "Naruto".

A rather subjective conclusion.

However, his responses to the large-scale survey were just a baseline. By summarizing everyone's subjective feelings, we can get the overall thoughts of Japan.

"In Japan's decades-long history of manga, which manga is the most beloved by the public?"

Hibiki Higashino put down his pen, rested his chin on his hands, and pondered, "Is it Dragon Ball, or One Piece? Is it Astro Boy, or Phoenix?"

"It's unbelievable."

Although this is just a survey and will never be accurate, receiving this honor is extraordinary and will place one at the pinnacle of Japanese manga artists.

……

"I knew it! It must be a work by Akino-sensei!"

"It might be Kishimoto-kun! Naruto is very popular right now."

"It must be Osamu Tezuka, the god of manga!"

"It's Hirohiko Araki's 'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'!"

"Where did you put Hayao Miyazaki, the artist of 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind', in your minds?!"

When Sasaki Takashi entered the editorial department, he saw many editors arguing fiercely.

Even the deputy editor-in-chief, Kosuke Yahagi, failed to maintain order and instead shouted himself hoarse in the crowd to cheer for Masashi Kishimoto.

The promotion for this year's "Top 100 Japanese Media Arts" is in full swing, with even editors taking sides and talking about their favorite manga.

The editor who had previously worked with Akira Toriyama returned to the editorial department to cheer him on;

Hirohiko Araki's devoted fan debated with a group of scholars on behalf of his idol.

They argued incessantly, spitting as they spoke.

Sasaki stood at the door for a long time, but they didn't notice him and continued their debate without a care in the world.

Koji Yoshida's voice was the loudest: "Death Note is the strongest! Can any other manga do that?!"

The sound would penetrate the floor and disturb other colleagues.

Sasaki frowned and coughed loudly.

This unique timbre, as if etched into DNA, immediately silenced the editorial department.

Everyone finally noticed Sasaki, their eyes darting around, heads bowed, as if they were in a noisy study session seeing their homeroom teacher's stern face.

Only one person kept talking and continued to chatter.

"I'm telling you, 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' shouldn't be underestimated either. It deconstructs the magical girl genre and has high artistic value!"

Onishi tugged at Yoshida's sleeve, but Yoshida ignored him and continued, "Several of Tori Akino's manga are huge hits. Maybe half of the top eleven manga are Tori Akino's works."

"Osamu Tezuka and Akira Toriyama are both things of the past. Now, Akino Toriyama is the one being serialized!"

The others felt their backs burning, ignored Yoshida, and left with their heads down.

"Time to get to work."

"Where are the files for the One Piece movie?"