Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

The scores given by the other judges were also between 95 and 100.

The average score for this work is 98.3 points, and the total score is 1,180 points.

Looking at the number, Masaya Sakurai thought to himself, "Just as I expected."

This is indeed the most outstanding new manga artist at this year's Tezuka Award.

Chapter Ten Awards

Masaya Sakurai also glanced at the scores of the other works.

really……

The second-ranked work is number 009, "HAMMER HEAD" by Naotake Saito.

The twelve judges scored this work between 80 and 95 points.

The average score is 87.5 points, and the total score is 1050 points.

It scored nearly 130 points lower than Attack on Titan.

The gap is quite significant, even to the point of being a significant disparity.

However, Masaya Sakurai was not surprised at all, because even seasoned editors like them could see the difference between Attack on Titan and other submissions.

It's impossible that famous manga artists like Toriyama and Oda wouldn't have noticed.

He continued reading.

The third-ranked work is number 022, Daisuke Oikawa's "DEVIL MAGIC".

The average score for this work is 82.3 points, and the total score is 988 points.

The fourth ranked work is number 005, "ANSWER" by author Taro Matsukawa.

The average score for this work is 80.1, and the total score is 961.

The average score of the other works was below 80, and some were even below 60.

Masaya Sakurai and several other editors, including Shihei Hayashi, entered the scores for all the works and checked them again.

After confirming that there were no problems, he saved the statistical results.

"Editor-in-chief, the statistics for the four works I'm in charge of have been completed."

Masaya Sakurai handed the form to Masahiko Ibaraki and said.

Ibaraki Masahiko took it and glanced at it, then asked, "Is number 017 the Attack on Titan manga?"

He had obviously read Attack on Titan, after all, he was one of the judges for this selection, and the Tezuka Award was nominally hosted by him and Fujio Akatsuka, who was on par with manga masters such as Fujiko Fujio and Osamu Tezuka.

However, Master Fujio Akatsuka has been seriously ill for several years now, and Akira Toriyama has basically been acting as his representative.

The main judges were Masahiko Ibaraki and Akira Toriyama, and he gave Attack on Titan a very high score.

Masaya Sakurai paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, that's the one."

Ibaraki Masahiko glanced at the scores and, as he expected, smiled and said, "That's a very high score, 98.3 points..."

Masaya Sakurai said, "Yes, all twelve judges gave very high scores."

Ibaraki Masahiko nodded without saying anything and placed the form on the table.

Masaya Sakurai returned to his seat and continued with his other work.

About an hour later, all the editors had finished their statistical work.

The statistical results for each person were compiled and sent to Ibaraki Masahiko.

Ibaraki Masahiko merged the tables from all the editors and did a final check.

He spent about twenty minutes confirming that all the numbers were correct.

Then he stood up, walked to the middle of the office, clapped his hands, and announced, "Everyone, the statistics are in."

All the editors stopped what they were doing and looked at Masahiko Ibaraki.

Ibaraki Masahiko held a piece of paper in his hand, on which was written the list of winners of this year's Tezuka Award.

He cleared his throat and said, "I announce the winner of the 73rd Tezuka Prize..."

The office fell silent immediately, even though... based on their senior editors' perspective after reviewing the submissions and their observations during the score tallying, the outcome seemed to already be in their minds.

Ibaraki Masahiko read aloud, "The selected works, the highest award, the winner is..."

He paused, then read aloud, "Attack on Titan... doesn't eat pears."

A few soft claps rang out in the office.

Masaya Sakurai and Shiping Hayashi exchanged a glance and smiled.

This result is not surprising at all.

Masahiko Ibaraki continued, "The shortlisted work, 'HAMMER HEAD'... Naotake Saito."

"There are two masterpieces: the first is Daisuke Oikawa's 'DEVIL MAGIC!' and the second is Taro Matsukawa's 'ANSWER'."

After reading the paper aloud, Masahiko Ibaraki placed it on the table and said, "...These are all the winning entries for the 73rd Tezuka Award."

He glanced at the editors present and continued, "Next, we need to contact these four winners to inform them of the results and confirm the subsequent contract details. Who will be responsible for this task?"

Lin Shiping thought for a moment and said, "I'll contact Saito Naotake..."

He then turned to Masaya Sakurai with feigned helplessness and said, "After all, I lost the bet."

Masaya Sakurai immediately understood and said, "Then I'll contact Ms. Apricot Who Doesn't Eat Pears."

The other two editors also took on the liaison work for Daisuke Oikawa and Taro Matsukawa, respectively.

"Okay, it's settled then."

Masahiko Ibaraki nodded and said, "Make sure to contact all the winners today and inform them of the results. Also, pay special attention to the case of 'Don't Eat Pears,' as this is an entry that was selected for a prize of two million yen. Make sure to confirm with him the method and timing of the prize money distribution."

Lin Shiping and Sakurai Masaya replied, "Understood."

Ibaraki Masahiko said, "Then let's all go about our business."

The editors returned to their seats and began making phone calls to the winners.

Masaya Sakurai picked up the phone on the table, opened the submission registration form, and found the contact information for "Not Eating Pears".

The submission registration form included the address and phone number of someone who doesn't eat pears.

When submitting entries for the Tezuka Prize, authors are required to include their pen name, real name, contact information, and even their age and full address.

It's clearly written on the submission registration form.

Just then, Masaya Sakurai looked at the "real name" section...

"Aragaki...Eri?"

He read the name aloud.

A female cartoonist?

He was slightly surprised, but quickly continued looking at the remaining contact information and address.

After all, there are quite a few female manga artists who draw action-packed shonen manga.

For example, Hiromu Arakawa, the author of "Fullmetal Alchemist," and Akira Amano, the author of "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!", are both very well-known.

There's also Rumiko Takahashi, the author of "Inuyasha".

Besides these, there are many female comic artists, such as the more famous Crocodile Teacher in later generations.

Therefore, it is not uncommon for female comic artists to submit works of action-packed shonen manga.

Furthermore, there are quite a few male manga artists who draw shoujo manga on the other hand.

Here's a little-known fact... One of the pioneers of shoujo manga was actually a male manga artist.

For example... Osamu Tezuka's "Ribbon Knight" is one of the pioneering works in the genre of early Japanese shoujo manga.

Japanese manga doesn't care about the gender of the manga artist at all; they only care about whether the manga itself is good or not.

Therefore, Masaya Sakurai doesn't really care that the author of the Attack on Titan manga is a girl.

What he was more concerned about was that Eri Aragaki was currently living in Tokyo, albeit in Nerima Ward.

Nerima Ward is one of the westernmost wards of Tokyo's 23 wards.

The rent there is relatively cheap, and many people with low incomes live there.

It seems this new cartoonist is also in a difficult situation.

But this makes it easier to contact them and also makes it easier for them to urge them to submit their work later.

For some reason, Masaya Sakurai's first thought was to make it easier to urge the author to finish the manuscript later.

He shook his head, banishing his distracting thoughts, and waited for a reply after the call connected.

Chapter Eleven Successful People

And at this time.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Eri Aragaki's situation is much worse... well, actually it's not that bad.

She's working at a convenience store now.

She doesn't only work the night shift; the layout of the convenience store is actually arranged by all the employees together according to their individual circumstances.

At this moment, Ayane Takeda and... the convenience store manager are also on duty at the store.

During this period, she has been working part-time since she took a break from school.