Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

After initial success, he established the core theme of "friendship, effort, and victory" that Weekly Shonen Jump has maintained for decades.

Future top-tier works like "Slam Dunk" and "One Piece" will all rely on these three words. This is the secret to Jump's long-term success.

Survey supremacy is another of his achievements. The serialization of his works is determined by the readers' preferences, and those that rank low are canceled, regardless of the cartoonist's status or relationships.

The cartoonist training system and exclusive supply agreements go without saying.

In short, Nagano Nori is an exceptional editor, arguably the best in Japan.

It's perfectly reasonable for someone like that to pay attention to the work of their competitors.

"I haven't found any promising newcomers in Weekly Shonen Magazine. The circulation is still supported by Hara Ikki and Chiba Tetsuya."

He said this to his colleague, Nakano.

“Sunday really struck gold,” Nakano replied.

Nagano Nori was certainly aware of this: "Is it Oikawa Ji, who drew Fujiko F. Fujio's Doraemon? I heard he's only 18 years old."

Nakano retorted, "No, he's 19 years old this year."

“He’s still very young. He can draw for decades more,” Nagano Nori sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Watanabe is really lucky. With the top manga artists from Tokiwa-so gone, a genius newcomer has come along.”

The studio fell silent.

There were, of course, reasons why they left Shogakukan to start their own business at their sister company, Shueisha.

This naturally concerns factional struggles and blocked upward mobility.

Nagano Nori suffered a lot of grievances as a result.

They all shared the same thought: to see Sunday fade away.

However, this impending future seems to be disrupted by a newcomer named Oikawa Ji.

"You say," Nagano Nori sat up expectantly after a long pause, "Oikawa is famous for 'Doraemon,' but his 'Ikkyu-san' doesn't seem to have the potential to become a huge hit. So, could it be that he... isn't good at setting up characters and world-building?"

Looking into his sparkling eyes, Nakano waved his hand.

"Don't get your hopes up. Oikawa's success comes from his raw talent. His drawing skills, storytelling, and panel layout are all top-notch. He would be popular even if he only drew romance between boys and girls."

He was referring to "Romance in the Snowy Mountains".

This comic, devoid of gimmicks or grand scenes, surprisingly became the number one hit on Sunday and is extremely popular with readers.

It also helped Sunday attract many female readers.

It's simply unbelievable.

In 1971, what people saw was a movement of masculinity, a victory of friendship, bad fighting, and explicit images.

The idea of ​​teenage romance is a bit ahead of its time.

“Hmm,” Nagano nodded thoughtfully, “Oikawa is a remarkable manga artist, and we shouldn’t underestimate him because of his age. However, he’s currently drawing the kind of cartoonish children’s manga pioneered by Osamu Tezuka, which is gradually becoming outdated in shonen manga magazines. If he can’t make a change, he probably won’t achieve much.”

Noriyuki Nagano is a person who values ​​innovation.

He had seen the scene after the success of "Star of Giants," where a bunch of people crowded around drawing sports comics about tenacity.

The anime series "Shameless Academy" caused a sensation, and similar works began to emerge one after another.

Ordinary cartoonists follow behind innovative cartoonists, eating the scraps.

Therefore, the results they achieved were naturally not as good as those of the pioneers.

Learning from successful comic artists is important, but with your abilities, what makes you think you can beat the veterans? Newcomers who want to serialize their work need to create unique pieces and carve out a new path.

These were his words of advice to his editors.

"Whether Oikawa has this ability is still unknown. Let's wait and see," Nagano Nori said.

……

Not long after learning of the great success of "Snow Mountain Romance", Fushimikawa received some good news.

COM will be available at the end of April.

"Confessions," an experimental work that has not yet been promoted, is waiting for the market to validate its success.

"The sales channels for 'COM' mainly rely on individual subscriptions and university bookstores," Osamu Tezuka explained. "University students are the main readers of 'COM,' and I think they will give you a fair evaluation."

In the traditionally conservative manga industry, innovation is mainly reflected in the magazines "GARO" and "COM". Even "JUMP" has to consider commercial viability.

Therefore, "Confessions" is aimed at young readers who are most receptive to new ideas.

“Perhaps elementary school students will buy ‘COM’ from other channels because of the name Oikawa Ni,” Osamu Tezuka joked. “If you scare them, Oikawa-kun, you’ll be the sinner.”

"Confessions" is still quite frightening, both in terms of the plot and the impact created by the storyboard and visuals.

Fushimikawa shook his head, sensing that Tezuka-sensei still harbored some resentment.

Are you really that unwilling to accept this?

Tezuka.

Silently, Fushimikawa bid farewell to Osamu Tezuka.

"Thank you for your help, Tezuka-sensei."

He hadn't even gotten into work mode when he heard the sound of the door lock turning.

Shortly after, Asano Megumi entered the room.

"Xiao Hui, there's no work to draw today, you don't need to come." Fushimi Kawa looked up and said to her with a smile.

"You've come all this way to Tokyo, but you haven't really explored it much yet, have you? You should check out Tokyo's vibrant atmosphere. Hey? Why is your face so red? Is it hot outside?"

Asano Megumi's face was flushed, which looked quite pretty.

"Um, A-Chuan," she said shyly, lacking her usual decisiveness, "can I hug you?"

“Of course you can.” Fushimikawa was a little surprised. Without asking why, he stood up and opened his arms. “Come here.”

Asano Megumi immediately threw herself into his arms, as if she didn't want to wait a moment longer, and the huge impact made Fushimikawa groan.

But before he could even feel the pain, he clearly tasted the two soft mounds on his chest.

That unique feeling left him momentarily stunned.

Has she developed that well?

How scary.

Chapter Fifty: The Pioneers of a New Era

At Ochanomizu University.

'If we're going to make an analogy, I'm actually Nobita, and Agawa is Shizuka.'

Thinking about what Asano Megumi had said after their meeting, Nagai Miyuki still found it hard to believe.

'Asano-san actually places such a low position on her relationship with Fushimi-san?'

She's clearly a stunning beauty, very popular at school. Even if Fushimikawa is a famous manga artist, they should still be considered a perfect match, a handsome couple.

Rather than the type who can't live without him.

But she spoke so earnestly that it didn't seem like she was lying.

This made Miyuki Nagai sigh.

With such a humble suitor who was much prettier than herself, Fushimi gave up on continuing her secret crush on him.

After all, there was no hope of success in this matter.

"Hehehe..." She suddenly let out a strange, wicked laugh.

Yuka Higashino shuddered.

How could a friend with a heart as pure as a white lotus flower reveal such a cunning side?

I just went out and met with someone.

"What...what happened?" she asked cautiously.

“It’s nothing,” Miyuki Nagai said, smoothing her hair behind her ear as she recalled her advice to Megumi Asano.

"You like Fushimi-kun, but after knowing each other for so long, your relationship hasn't changed. Isn't that a problem?"

"Please teach me!"

The usually aloof Megumi Asano grabbed Miyuki Nagai's hands: "I have the same problem, but I don't know why."

"Hiss~" With a sharp pain, Nagai Miyuki broke free from the other person's hand. Looking at the red mark on the back of her hand, she forced a smile and said, "That's because Fushimi-kun only sees you as a friend, not as an attractive female college student."

"This is so troubling."

"What you need to do is to exude your charm in front of him, and it would be best to have some intimate contact."

"And A-Chuan... what should we do then?"

“Since he considers you a friend, start with things friends do. Hold hands, hug… and then progress to kissing, or even…”

Make a ring with your thumb and index finger, and move the index finger of your other hand in and out of the ring.

"so."

Asano Megumi's face flushed crimson, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, steaming in dense wisps. It wasn't hard to tell what she was thinking.

Is it difficult for you?

"No, I'm going to do it!" Asano Megumi made up her mind. Then she ran away as if she were running.

……

At this moment, without answering Higashino Yuka's question, Nagai Miyuki murmured to herself:

"If it succeeds, I'll be happy for Asano-kun; if it fails, all the better."

"Fushimi-kun is focused on his career and probably doesn't have any plans to get a girlfriend anytime soon."

"So, Asano will most likely fail, hahaha."

"It would be best if Fushimi remained single for life, and no one could ever have him."

She suddenly started daydreaming.