Full-time comic artist

"Damn it! I'm just a nobody who got a Tezuka Award honorable mention; I'm still far from good enough!"

He couldn't help but feel sad.

"What's with that expression?" Higashino Hibiki exclaimed in surprise.

I feel like Oda-sensei is about to cry.

"How can you draw a good comic with that kind of expression?" he questioned.

Oda lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, I just realized my limited abilities. I've bothered you today."

"What interruption? I haven't given you the results yet." Higashino Hibiki's expression relaxed, and a smile appeared on his lips: "Welcome to the team, Oda-san."

"Eh!" Oda exclaimed in surprise. He looked up at Hibiki Higashino, who was a year younger than him. "Can I join?"

“Yes,” Hibiki Higashino nodded, “It’s recruiting an assistant, not a manga artist, so the requirements won’t be very high.”

A regular manga artist's assistant earns 10,000 yen a day, which sounds pretty good.

However, weekly cartoonists typically need an assistant for 3-4 days a week.

In one month, with about 15 days, the monthly income is around 15 yen.

In modern Japan, this would be considered a job with very low pay.

Many comic book artists' assistants need to work odd jobs at convenience stores to make a living.

Similar to voice actors, before becoming famous, they could only work hard in their main job while also working part-time.

Therefore, there are relatively few assistants for comic artists; as long as they are usable, that's fine, and there aren't any major requirements.

Higashino Hibiki is incredibly lucky to have such talented assistants as Akemi Akimiya and Hisashi Yoshii.

In the world of assistants, they are extremely rare.

With no other choice, Hibiki Higashino looked at Oda in front of him and could only compromise for now.

To move from extravagance to frugality, try out an assistant with average abilities.

Chapter 74 The Garden of Words

three days later.

"Big brother, it's been so long! I've missed you so much."

While working at McDonald's, Mei Higashino used a nearby phone booth to call Hibiki Higashino.

"Mei, I miss you too," Hibiki Higashino said, holding the phone to his shoulder while drawing a storyboard.

It's been a long time since I've seen my sister. I wonder what's going on; she's just as busy as I am. I only go home a couple of times, but we always manage to miss each other.

Their mother, Higashino, once joked, "You two are taking turns keeping us company. We're not even old yet, but we're already experiencing what it's like for you to be grown up and working."

"Is your allowance enough?" Hibiki Higashino asked, then smiled and said, "Little sister, our family is rich now, we can arrange whatever you want."

Having become a manga artist and made money, Higashino Hibiki is full of confidence and experiences the joy of being rich when facing Higashino Mei.

"No, I don't have anywhere to spend money here," Mei Higashino refused. She glanced at the McDonald's, where a senior voice actress was showing her what it was like to work.

"By the way, big brother, is 'Hey—Come Out' your script?" Higashino Mei asked.

When someone came to the school to recruit voice actors, she actively signed up because her voice was unique, sharp yet cute, which easily left an impression on the audience.

So it was selected.

She voiced many of the characters, including a host, the female partner in a couple, a police officer, and a dog.

Therefore, I have a deep understanding of the script, and it's the kind of work that's sure to be outstanding.

The ending is particularly powerful.

She saw the author of the script on the cover; his name was Hibiki Higashino.

At that moment, her heart was like a stampede of horses, or a volcanic eruption.

After carefully questioning the supervisor, Asahina Yuko, it was confirmed that she was indeed from Enhiko High School, and she even had the urge to give up.

Mei Higashino wasn't ready to tell her family about becoming a voice actress.

After all, at this time of year, people working in animation are often looked down upon.

But it was such a great opportunity that she gritted her teeth and persevered.

Sure enough, not long after, "Hey—Come Out" began to be broadcast on television.

And so her voice acting career also became...

Actually, there's no change; you can just add in the description that he once played the lead role in "Hey—Come Out".

Because of this work, no one will pay attention to the voice actors.

It was just a stepping stone for her.

Mei Higashino has been working hard as a voice actress since junior high school, and almost 5 years have passed since then.

After participating in Hibiki Higashino's works, I finally stepped into the field.

This time in "The Twelve Zodiac Guardians", she got a minor role, appearing in only half an episode of the animation, but she was already very satisfied.

Therefore, Mei Higashino was deeply impressed by "Hey—Come Out," as it was a work that changed her life.

“It’s me,” Hibiki Higashino nodded. “My classmate wanted to participate in an animation festival and asked me to write the script. Because he was very sincere, I wrote this work.”

"As expected of the eldest brother," Higashino Mei said admiringly, "He's too strong!"

"Haha." Higashino Hibiki felt a little guilty when others said that, after all, he had plagiarized someone else's work.

But since it was his younger sister who said it, Higashino Hibiki felt nothing but pride.

I hope the author, Shinseiichi, won't mind if an older brother tries to project a superior image to his younger sister.

Having comforted himself, Higashino Hibiki felt at ease.

“Teacher,” he was on the phone when Oda walked over with the completed original drawing. He was in charge of the background of the drawing, and he said confidently, “I’ve finished it all, there won’t be any problems.”

Hibiki Higashino stopped drawing the storyboard, casually took Oda's drawing, and glanced at it.

"No, go and revise it."

"Oh, what's wrong? Everything was done according to your instructions."

"This……"

Higashino Hibiki stopped, turned around and said to Higashino Mei, "I'm still busy here, so I'll hang up now and call you back later."

"I won't bother you any longer, brother."

Mei Higashino waited for the phone to go busy before hanging up.

She is now pursuing her dreams smoothly, and she sees her older brother, who used to have no goals, becoming happy and going to work while humming songs and dancing.

……

After joining Hibiki Higashino's studio, Eiichiro Oda realized his shortcomings in manga and has been working hard to improve.

Yoshihiro Togashi's "Yu Yu Hakusho" is already very strong, but in the early days, Togashi's drawing skills were very poor, and the success was supported by the interesting plot.

He remained humble and learned from other authors' techniques while drawing comics, which improved his drawing skills and led to the later creation of Yoshihiro Togashi.

Oda decided to learn from Togashi, and after doing his job as an assistant, he would spend two hours improving himself under Hibiki Higashino's guidance.

only……

He was drawing on the dining table when his back and waist started to ache so much he couldn't take it anymore. Looking at the pile of paintings on the table, he couldn't help but complain, "Tori Akino-sensei, when will I get a worktable?"

“I’m sorry, Oda-san,” Hibiki Higashino said as he drew, “there’s really no space left in the living room. Just hang in there for a little over a month, and we’ll be moving into the new studio.”

"Damn it!" Oda gritted his teeth, looking at the drawing in front of him as if it were his father's killer, and drew with all his might.

Hibiki Higashino watched Oda's retreating figure, cheering him on.

Suddenly, she felt someone nudge her arm. She turned around and saw Akemi Akemi.

She asked curiously in a low voice, "Isn't it enough for me and Yoshii-kun to handle the assistant's work? Why did you hire another assistant?"

Hibiki Higashino explained, "Akira Toriyama didn't need any assistants back then, so why did he ask the two of us to help him draw manga?"

"You mean a short manga?" Akemi Akimiya became interested. Akira Toriyama had serialized "Dr. Slightly Back" in V Jump to help Kazuhiko Torishima. "Did Mr. Torishima also ask you to draw a short story? What is it?"

Hibiki Higashino shook his head. "It's my own idea to draw, but it will probably be submitted to VJUMP."

"As for what kind of work it is," Hibiki Higashino handed her the first episode's storyboard, "please see for yourself."

This was drawn in his spare time recently; only the first chapter is available.

"It's called 'The Garden of Words'? What a beautiful name." Akemi Akemi was stunned when she opened the first page after seeing the title on the cover.

"Is this still a storyboard?" she murmured to herself. "Even the background is drawn so exquisitely, it's practically worthy of being serialized."

“Serializations will have higher requirements,” Hibiki Higashino said. “Readers will feel as if they are seeing the rainy season of summer. Full of life, shady trees, rippling water, and continuous rain.”

"I'm going to skip the halftone paper and use only drawing. That'll bring out a refined and beautiful feel. Isn't that a bold move?" Higashino asked.

Chapter 75 Restrained Love

“I want to draw the background using only dotted strokes,” Hibiki Higashino said.

"Why do this?" Akemi Akimiya asked, puzzled. "There's also the ongoing serialization of 'Hikaru no Go,' will this be enough time?"

Hibiki Higashino gazed at her, "I hope that when readers see the background, they'll exclaim 'Wow!' or 'Wow, what a beautiful art style!' They'll be awestruck by the magnificence of the backgrounds in 'The Garden of Words.'"

"So, I'm counting on you, Akimiya-sensei, let's finish it together, our 'The Garden of Words'."

Higashino Hibiki's eyes were bright and alert, as if he had staked everything on this manga, which made Akemi Akemi curious about the content of the manga.

She nodded and said seriously, "Please let me take a look first."

Akemi Akemi smoothed her hair, lowered her head, and read intently.

……

The twenty-page storyboard depicts a story set in the rainy season of June, quite different from "Hikaru no Go," and a faint sense of sadness permeates the opening.

The male protagonist, Takao Akizuki, stepped out of the subway and gazed at the tall buildings through the smoke.