Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

For top magazines, winning or losing isn't about short-term results, but about long-term operations.

Future is currently rampant, but it doesn't have much potential.

It's just another "Manga Boy" series.

"Bang bang."

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the meeting room.

"Please come in." Nagano Nori was somewhat displeased that the encouragement ceremony had been interrupted, but he remained calm.

Someone pushed the door open and came in; it was the deputy editor-in-chief, Nakano.

He was the person temporarily keeping the editorial department running during the meeting, but he came to find me at this time, holding a copy of Weekly Shonen Future.

This unexpected event cast a shadow over Nagano Nori's life.

"what's up?"

"Editor-in-chief, please take a look."

Nakano handed over "Weekly Shonen Future" and pointed to the right side of the table of contents, where a very conspicuous place read "Fuji Prize Recruitment Begins Advertisement"!

Nagano Nori's eyes widened in surprise!

Chapter 156 I want to support Oikawa-sensei!

Nagano Nori carefully read the rules of the "Fuji Prize," and his anger surged to his head.

It's not for any other reason than that I'm furious that Mirai-sha keeps copying me.

Whether it's the exclusive contract system for manga artists or the mentor-apprentice system between manga artists and their assistants, it's all the same. Nowadays, they've even copied the "Tezuka Award," euphemistically calling it the "Fuji Award."

Giving winning entries the opportunity to be published and assigning them editors—isn't this just a copy of the "Tezuka Award"?!

It's outrageous! Plagiarists are even surpassing the original creators. Is there anything more frustrating in the world?

He forgot that when Jump was first created, it borrowed a lot from Sunday.

This kind of thing doesn't have copyright; it's just a matter of mutual influence.

Faced with "Future," which filled his biggest void, Nagano Nori lost his composure.

If he didn't have strong self-control, he would have cursed out right now.

Nagano Nori glanced at the curious editors and swallowed back the words he was about to say.

"Everyone, stay calm, work as usual, and keep going!" Nagano Nori forced himself to remain calm as he delivered his prepared lines.

only……

"Oh!"

Amid the cheers of the editors, some people were quite puzzled.

Why is the editor-in-chief's face so red?

"He's too excited!"

……

After the meeting, Nagano Nori locked himself in the editor-in-chief's office.

Nakano sat to the left of the editor-in-chief's workstation in the large office, managing discipline while organizing his own work.

"Since October 1973, the sales of the Kamen Rider manga volumes have not been very good. Five months have passed and the first edition has not sold out. Some bookstores have even returned the Kamen Rider volumes, which are now piling up in the warehouse in Chiyoda."

Nakano can understand this. Although "Masked Ninja" is an excellent shonen manga, it just happened to run into the iceberg that is "Naruto".

In the midst of the oil crisis, young readers will only buy one comic book of the same type, since single volumes are still quite expensive.

It's commendable that "Kamen Rider" didn't have too many backlogs compared to "Naruto".

Even Jump couldn't predict the oil crisis; it could only be said that none of the favorable conditions—timing, location, and people—were met.

This is not a crime committed during war.

"Compared to 'Kamen Rider,' in less than half a year, the sales of the first volume of 'Touch' have exceeded 550,000 copies, which is an amazing achievement."

Touch (baseball)...

Nakano felt a little bitter: "This manga was the second-ranked shonen manga in 73, so it's reasonable that it achieved such a result."

This is a ranking he created himself, and it is also a ranking generally recognized by industry professionals.

A comic that is good enough cannot be hidden; an editor's appreciation ability is even greater than that of the comic artist.

Nakano looked left and right, in magazines like "magazine", "sunday", and even his own magazine "jump", but he couldn't find a new work that could rival "Touch".

As for which work is number one?

This needs no further explanation.

"The Naruto manga has even been reprinted three times. Miraisha recently revealed that sales reached 78 copies. This manga continues to break the record for the highest sales of Japanese manga volumes. It is an opponent that cannot be defeated no matter how hard you try."

Naruto seems to have transcended the realm of shonen manga, reaching an achievement of another level.

This is a work that has never been broadcast as an anime. In the past, Nakano would never have imagined that one day, a shonen manga would become a national-level work.

Naruto did just that.

Nakano was somewhat troubled by this, but fortunately he was only the deputy editor-in-chief and did not have to bear the pressure of the editor-in-chief.

He remembered Nagano Nori, and then Nagano Nori appeared in front of him.

"I've thought about it carefully. Although *Shonen Future* has created the 'Fuji Prize,' they're just a relatively new manga magazine with limited connections in television and newspapers. If we exert pressure, the existence of the 'Fuji Prize' can be hidden from public awareness."

But how long can this behavior continue?

Nakano thought.

But looking at the bloodshot eyes of Nagano Nori, he felt a pang of sadness, as if this was all that could be done.

Let's try to delay it as long as possible.

"I'll go and apply to my superiors right away." He took on the entire task.

"Okay, please."

……

……

Cool House Bookstore.

As the weekend holiday for Japanese students was coming to an end, the store manager leaned against the door, hoping that the students would return and the bookstore's sales would finally pick up.

They're not having an easy time either, because of the oil crisis.

When people have no money, why would they be in the mood to buy books?

We can only rely on the students.

"Recently, only the Naruto manga volumes have been selling well."

He said to Matsumoto, the shop assistant standing next to him.

“That’s right,” Matsumoto said, counting on his fingers. “In the two months after the New Year, the Naruto manga sold a total of 289 copies, more than many newly released manga.”

"Huh?" The store manager was a little surprised. He had just said it casually, but he didn't expect the number to be so astonishing.

It's simply unbelievable that a book that has already passed its shelf life can regain popularity and attract more new readers.

"Why? Why did this happen?" he murmured to himself.

“It might be because…” Matsumoto, who likes watching Parasyte and started reading Naruto under his younger brother’s influence, has some understanding of this. “Is Naruto just too interesting? A steady stream of people are being attracted to join the Naruto reading community.”

Less than half a year has passed, and his lingering attachment to Parasyte has lessened considerably. At present, his feelings for Naruto are even more profound.

Hiruzen Sarutobi left too many impressions on him, and he felt a sense of sadness after the end of an era.

"I see." The store manager nodded thoughtfully. "In short, the quality is excellent."

“That’s right.” Matsumoto nodded emphatically.

He didn't need to hesitate at all about this; it was already a widely accepted fact among his readers.

……

In early March, at the bulletin board in Waseda, Fushimikawa saw graduates giving their reports.

He saw his own name among them.

In other words, he passed his thesis defense and successfully graduated from Waseda University.

Fushimikawa felt no reluctance, only the relief of finally not having to go to school.

For him, his studies at Waseda University had become a waste of time.

Now, he can finally make use of this time on comics.

"Teacher Oikawa..."

The only person Fushimikawa still recognizes is Naoya Onishi.

He rubbed his hands together, looking somewhat uneasy. "Congratulations on your graduation."

“Onishi…” Fushimikawa was silent for a while, the joy of successfully obtaining the degree dissipating somewhat.

He put down his backpack, took out a piece of paper, and handed it to the other person.

“This is…” Onishi took the paper with some hesitation, turned it over, and his eyes widened instantly.

"Is this me?"

On the paper was his sketch.

Because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, the sketch and his face were somewhat different, but Onishi still recognized him at a glance.

Onishi was deeply moved when he thought that Fushimikawa would still take time out of his daily manga drawing to draw a farewell gift for him.

His hands trembled slightly, and he subconsciously said, "Thank you, Brother Chuan."

“That’s more like it,” Fushimikawa said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. “See you at Mirai-sha later.”

The gift had been delivered, and he waved goodbye before leaving Waseda.