Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

"Huh? You want to become a comic artist?"

When Mizutani, a veteran convenience store clerk, heard about Katsuhiro Otomo's dream, he looked at him in surprise, somewhat incredulous.

"Become a household name cartoonist? How is that even possible?"

One in ten thousand? One in a hundred thousand? Mizutani doesn't know, but it's probably more. Only by crossing a narrow bridge among thousands of competitors can one make a living by writing comics, right?

Moreover, it's about becoming one of the very top performers.

Seventy years later, there is only one newcomer who has made a name for himself and can stand shoulder to shoulder with manga artists like Fujiko Fujio.

Do you see yourself as Oikawa Ji?

Katsuhiro Otomo lowered his head. Even his senior, Mizutani, who always took care of him, didn't think highly of the matter, which made him regret speaking up.

Yesterday, Oikawa contacted him and, after hearing about his current situation, invited him to be his assistant.

Katsuhiro Otomo readily agreed. His part-time job at the convenience store was coming to an end, and he wanted to have some heartfelt words with his senior, Mizutani, before parting ways.

Unexpectedly, his first thought was to question it.

Mizutani continued, "Stop daydreaming and work hard. There are opportunities everywhere in Tokyo. Instead of having unrealistic dreams, you should work and study at the same time and get out of the odd-job life as soon as possible."

Katsuhiro Otomo looked sullen, his bangs obscuring his view.

He tried to defend himself, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the words to express himself.

The seniors' words were all mature and insightful, but he was somewhat unhappy that his dream had been denied.

Because of "Astro Boy," Katsuhiro Otomo started working hard to draw comics from a young age, honing his drawing skills to this day.

After graduating from high school at 18, he left his hometown and came to Tokyo to make a living. He was able to endure hardship and loneliness. Mizutani didn't know any of this and made his own conclusion, leaving Katsuhiro Otomo deeply disappointed.

What he wants more is support and understanding.

Mizutani felt a sense of satisfaction looking at his withdrawn state.

Just then, someone pushed open the door and walked in, facing the sunlight. He looked at the two people at the cashier and smiled.

"Found you, Otomo-kun."

Katsuhiro Otomo looked over, his eyes widening in surprise. He exclaimed, "Oikawa-sensei, what brings you here?"

"You know each other? Oikawa?" Mizutani asked, puzzled. "Which Oikawa?"

Katsuhiro Otomo didn't have time to pay him any attention. He quickly walked around the cashier and stood in front of Fushimikawa, looking up at him and asking:

"Didn't we agree that I would go to your studio to report after I finished my work?"

Fushimikawa smiled and said, "I thought it was about time and I was free, so I came to pick you up. It's a bit far from my studio, so this is more convenient."

Upon hearing this, Katsuhiro Otomo pursed his lips and blinked repeatedly, trying not to embarrass himself.

His eyes were a little red. After entering the workforce, this kind of respect moved him even more than before.

Mizutani had been staring at Fushimikawa for a while when suddenly, a thought struck him, and he shouted, "Oikawa...aren't you the manga artist Oikawa Ji?!"

Fushimikawa nodded: "It's me, that's right. Thank you for taking care of Otomo-kun all this time."

The guess was confirmed, and Mizutani was speechless for a moment.

He looked at Fushimikawa, then at Katsuhiro Otomo, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Previously, if he met Oikawa, he would definitely ask for an autograph, but now, shame filled his chest.

This made him feel extremely ashamed.

'Otomo is a genius recognized by Oikawa...'

In the time that followed, he never denied Katsuhiro Otomo's dream again, and his eyes were full of envy.

Many of the generation influenced by Osamu Tezuka's manga have a dream of becoming manga artists, which has led to fierce competition and made people hesitant to pursue their dreams.

About 20 minutes later, Katsuhiro Otomo finished get off work, took off his work clothes, and said to Mizutani, "Goodbye, senpai."

……

After Katsuhiro Otomo finished his work, Fushimikawa drove him to his place.

The row houses were a gathering place for newly arrived Tokyo migrants with little savings. The houses were next to each other, sharing water, and the walls were so thin that you could hear your neighbors talking clearly.

It's cold in winter and hot in summer, so it's not a comfortable place to live.

Katsuhiro Otomo's rented room is very small, less than 10 square meters, and has no bathroom. If he wants to use water, he has to go outside to get water from a public tap.

Fushimikawa frowned as he looked around, then turned to Katsuhiro Otomo and asked, "How can you draw manga properly living in a place like this?"

“Of course.” Katsuhiro Otomo nodded. He walked to the table by the window and took out his dip pen. He then opened the drawer, preparing to show his latest work to Jiro Oikawa.

With a crash, the drawer shattered, and the papers inside scattered onto the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Bending down to pick up the drawer handle, Katsuhiro Otomo froze on the spot. He turned back and glanced helplessly at Fushimikawa, explaining awkwardly, "I had too much stuff in there..."

Fushimikawa sighed, walked over to him, picked up the manuscripts one by one, and then said, "Let's go."

"Mmm..." Katsuhiro Otomo responded softly.

……

Fushimikawa drove, and the two silently headed towards Waseda.

As they passed a bank, Fushimikawa stopped the car and turned to Katsuhiro Otomo, saying, "Wait a moment."

"Ok."

Looking out the window at Fushimi River's retreating figure, Katsuhiro Otomo sighed.

He messed everything up by showing such a pathetic side in front of his idol.

About ten minutes later, Fushimikawa walked out of the bank, his expression calm and unchanged.

After getting in the car, he threw a thick envelope on the back seat.

“This is…” Katsuhiro Otomo asked, somewhat puzzled.

"There's 200,000 inside. Take it and use it. Rent a nice place. Don't waste your talent."

Fushimikawa had previously heard Fujimoto Hiroshi say that when he and Abiko Motoo first arrived in Tokyo to make a living, they lived in the attic of Abiko's relative's house.

It was a narrow space, making it difficult for two people to turn around while drawing comics.

At night, they need to move the tables and chairs out of the room and into the hallway so that they can have a place to sleep peacefully.

When Osamu Tezuka learned of their plight, he rented rooms for them in Tokiwa-so and gave them 3 yen, giving them a chance to catch their breath in their difficult circumstances.

At that time, the starting salary for a recent college graduate was around 12,000 yuan, and 30,000 yuan was a lot of money.

Fujimoto Hiroshi spoke with deep emotion, but Fushimikawa, unaware of their feelings at the time, only felt that they must have been moved to tears, just like Otomo Katsuhiro in the back seat.

"Thank you... thank you, Mr. Oikawa."

His lips trembled, and his voice choked with emotion.

Fushimikawa said, "When you're serializing manga in the future, just choose our Mirai-sha."

"Of course!" Katsuhiro Otomo felt that he was putting his mind at ease and was even more moved.

Fushimikawa drove the car to the company, and the two walked back to the studio.

He didn't buy a car, since he didn't need one.

When it's only occasionally needed, driving an official vehicle is sufficient.

……

After Fushimikawa introduced Katsuhiro Otomo to his assistants, Oikawa Studio began its work.

Before long, Mitsuru Adachi discovered a problem.

Katsuhiro Otomo is too much of a perfectionist.

He would fixate on even the smallest mistake and waste time trying to fix it.

This idea is actually quite good, but it becomes a big problem when applied to a weekly serial.

After all, serializing a comic book is a time-consuming and laborious task; as long as it is completed well, that's enough.

Overemphasizing the visual quality of a work will only affect the work progress and ultimately lead to delays.

If we really wanted to find faults, Mitsuru Adachi could find a whole bunch.

But he didn't have time to deal with it, and felt that he would let it go if it was within an acceptable range.

This is a principle that all cartoonists follow.

"It's just that some passersby have grown a bit more hair, you don't need to worry about it, just finish your work first."

“…Hmm.” Katsuhiro Otomo hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement.

At 8 p.m., the day's work was over, and the assistants left one by one.

Fushimikawa carefully put away the dried manuscript in a drawer.

"Huh? Otomo-kun, aren't you going home yet?"

Fushimikawa was slightly taken aback when he saw Katsuhiro Otomo still drawing manga.

"Have you finished today's work? Even if there are still some omissions, you can come back tomorrow to draw them."

“I think…” Katsuhiro Otomo didn’t look up. He applied correction fluid to the manga manuscript and said seriously, “I’ll fix this part.”

Fushimikawa went over to take a look and found that the image that Katsuhiro Otomo was modifying was a van drawn from the side.

"The perspective is off; it's almost drawn as a frontal view from the side."

"Yes." Katsuhiro Otomo nodded.

"Let go of anything that doesn't involve faces; there's no need to be overly meticulous."

Katsuhiro Otomo paused in applying correction fluid, looked up, and stared straight at Fushimikawa.

"Teacher...do you think so too?"

Chapter Eighty-Seven: Stocks! Stock God! Let's broaden our horizons!

Fushimikawa understood Katsuhiro Otomo's thoughts.