Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

"That's right. Although I've worked hard all year, and I should enjoy my vacation, the issue of the article being published in Weekly Shonen Future has been weighing on my mind. I really want everyone to see our results as soon as possible!"

"How will the results be? Will it sell well? Ah! The planned print run is a whopping 20! What if there's a backlog of unsold inventory!"

"A month ago, Jump's 'Kamen Rider,' which was used to target 'Naruto,' did very well. Will this have a negative impact?"

After the start of the year, the editors chatted amongst themselves like elementary school students starting school, with no order whatsoever.

They had no choice but to be excited or worried, as the upcoming results represented the company's future.

Whether you can eat a bowl of ramen and then throw it away, or you can only rely on Hinomaru to fill your stomach, depends on this shiver.

The meeting after the New Year was held in the editorial office of Weekly Shonen Future.

As the head of the manga department and the editor-in-chief of the shonen magazine, Toshiki Takei exuded confidence, regardless of his inner thoughts.

He glanced at the president, Maki Fujiwara, then at Shinsuke Kitahara, who had succeeded him as editor-in-chief of the youth magazine, and then at his other colleagues, before speaking.

"Five days from now, on Monday, January 8th, *Weekly Shonen Future* will be published as scheduled, with a circulation of 200,000. I think that's a bit low; everyone's being overly cautious. So there's absolutely no need to worry. Just everyone do their job. And then wait..."

"Good news is coming!"

……

We've been waiting and waiting, and Mirai-sha's new publication, Weekly Shonen Future, is finally on sale!

Doraemon readers are the main group that buys Weekly Shonen Future.

The fact that they can only watch one episode of "Doraemon" per month is practically a form of scarcity marketing, making them unable to stop watching.

Now that the author, Oikawa Ji, has finally started drawing shonen manga, they definitely have to show their support.

"It's definitely a work in the same style as Doraemon!"

"Don't talk nonsense, the trailer said it was a ninja theme."

"Ninjas, huh? They sound so serious. I bet they'd be really boring."

"Let's take a look first, after all, it's a manga by Oikawa-sensei."

"Yes."

Kaiji Imai weaved through the group of teenagers, and the sheer number of students buying manga filled him with a sense of awe.

"It has to be Oikawa-sensei, his influence is really strong."

It's a miracle that such a newly launched magazine with no foundation could attract so many people to rush to buy it. The scene was even more frightening than the release of "Jump".

Among the students who buy "Shonen Future" magazine, there may also be his readers.

Whenever he thought of this, Kaiji Imai had an idea.

Will these people be snatched away by Oikawa-sensei, or will they be drawn to "Kamen Rider" and become indifferent to "Naruto"?

"I'm so nervous."

He opened his mouth to breathe, trying his best to suppress his panicked emotions. Although he had done his best, he still felt it was not enough. Facing Oikawa, he could do no more than necessary.

"Don't think too much about it, the moment of verification is coming."

Amidst the students' astonished gazes, this middle-aged man calmly paid for the shonen manga magazine.

"That's 90 in total, thank you for your patronage." The cashier, wearing a red headscarf, smiled sweetly.

……

Naruto Uzumaki.

Long ago, a demonic fox with nine tails caused trouble...

The manga begins by using ancient Chinese characters to briefly introduce the background, leading into the story of the Fourth Hokage sealing the Nine-Tails at the cost of his life.

Naruto, Nine-Tails, and sealing—Imai grasped the worldview of Naruto with just a simple glance.

It's not a realistic ninja manga, but rather a fictional world imbued with romantic legends.

The comic then gets to the main point: a little boy is graffitiing on four statues on a rock face resembling Mount Rushmore.

Many villagers stood at the foot of the mountain, watching him act recklessly but helpless, and could only scold and berate him.

When the news reached the Third Hokage, the highest leader of the village, he was somewhat helpless.

"A ninja manga, but the main character is the type who likes to play pranks?"

Chapter 112 A Very Amazing Episode

The first chapter of Naruto is a whopping 53 pages long, but the story stays true to the theme, weaving information into the content and creating a mischievous, lonely yet positive protagonist.

Following the protagonist Naruto Uzumaki and the Third Hokage, the next person to appear is Iruka, a teacher at the Ninja Academy.

He severely criticized Naruto and demanded that he clean up the Hokage Rock, but then took Naruto to eat Ichiraku Ramen and showed concern for his life.

In this warm atmosphere, Naruto revealed his dream.

He wants to become Hokage and surpass all previous Hokage.

The concepts of Naruto and headbands were introduced in a timely manner, and the setting of the work was cleverly integrated into the plot.

However, Naruto's academic performance was not ideal, and he unfortunately failed the test of the Shadow Clone Technique.

The original Naruto manga has always had many problems. Although the story is exciting, the plot often doesn't connect well. For example, Naruto was born after Sasuke, but the manga claims that he failed the exam twice in a row.

He graduated this time at the same time as his peers.

Kishimoto wanted to depict Naruto's predicament to lay the groundwork for his later adventures, but he went a bit overboard.

He keeps making the same mistake in the stories after Naruto.

For example, Sakura saying that Naruto is an orphan, and the subsequent fake confession, and Naruto kneeling before the Raikage, all make readers feel resentful.

Fushimikawa will revise these issues one by one, which is an inevitable choice for him when drawing "Naruto".

Of course, Fushimikawa also had to revise the solution to the dilemma of whether the third generation was a schemer or too kind to be competent.

……

The advantage of comics is that they can capture close-ups of characters, allowing readers to savor them over a long period of time.

Naruto's lonely and sad expression as he sat on the swing after failing the exam was vividly captured by Oikawa, directly conveying his feelings to Kaiji Imai.

One of them dreamed of gaining the villagers' approval and becoming Hokage, but he failed the exam and couldn't even become a ninja.

The boy's desolation was laid bare.

The laughter and chatter of parents and children nearby only served to highlight Naruto's loneliness.

It's understandable that an orphan, with no one to care for him, might resort to pranks to attract attention.

On the other hand, it's remarkable that he still retains a child's innocence and aspirations for the future, despite rarely encountering kindness.

"What a pitiful protagonist," Kaiji Imai remarked. "Oikawa-sensei's drawing is truly superb; a single close-up is enough to convey the protagonist's feelings, evoking pity and empathy in the reader."

Kaiji Imai admitted that the first half of Naruto Uzumaki was very interesting.

It's a perfect score.

This made him a little nervous. The information density was so high, yet it was all so effortless to watch. Instead, it closely followed the protagonist's emotions, making the reader happy when he was happy and sad when he was sad. It was simply divine skill.

He thought about his own "Masked Ninja" and immediately felt that it couldn't compare.

Despite having the same number of pages, his information was pitifully scarce, and the ink was wasted.

"It's so well drawn..."

Instead of being happy, Kaiji Imai felt a sense of fear.

"Let's look behind us?"

……

Naruto was misled by his teacher Mizuki to steal the Book of Seals.

I learned the technique of multiple shadow clones from it.

The plot then becomes more intense.

Iruka's parents died because of the Nine-Tails' rampage, and the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Naruto by the Fourth Hokage.

He was thus artificially isolated, becoming an island in the village.

Naruto's life of being disliked.

Mizuki relentlessly tormented Naruto's spirit until Iruka risked his life to save him.

“Since my parents passed away... no one has praised me or acknowledged me.”

"I'm so lonely..."

“I often do stupid things in class to get everyone’s attention.”

"Because I can't attract other people's attention with my outstanding qualities. It's better to be treated like an idiot than to be treated like a ghost."

"So I've been doing stupid things."

"I am in great pain."

Iruka shed tears as he protected Naruto with his life.

"You're the same, aren't you... Naruto... You're in pain too, aren't you? It must be very painful..."

His empathy and the care and concern he showed in his words were exactly the emotions Naruto had been pursuing.

Shuimu's conspiracy failed.

Faced with Mizuki, who both acknowledges him and threatens his life, Naruto, who has been out of sorts, finally reveals his protagonist side.

He raised his index and middle fingers with both hands, then crossed them to form a cross.

Kaiji Imai turned the page, and what he saw made his pupils tremble.

It was an unexpectedly large double-page spread, with the lines written in bold and enlarged characters.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!!!"

The dark forest was crowded with thousands of Narutos. There were close-up shots and densely packed heads in the distance. Mizuki, who brought endless pressure, seemed weak, pitiful and helpless.

The oppressive atmosphere vanished, and at the end of the manga, Naruto received a headband from Iruka and became a ninja of Konoha.