Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

The meeting room was silent for about two seconds.

Then everyone looked at Masaya Sakurai in surprise, and several editors sitting in the back row even peeked out.

Because a short comic not only made it into the top ten, but also reached the seventh position.

This is extremely rare in the history of Weekly Shonen Jump's popularity rankings, especially since this is not a side story of a popular long-running series, but an original short manga.

Although the story of "Wu Song" comes from the novel "Water Margin", it is undoubtedly an original short manga by Eri Aragaki.

Everyone was somewhat surprised, even Masaya Sakurai hadn't expected it...

"Wu Song" actually made it into the top ten, and even ranked seventh!

Then Ibaraki Masahiko announced that the subsequent rankings were somewhat different from the previous ones, but also basically the same.

The discrepancy is because "Wu Song" ranked seventh in popularity this time, so all works that were originally ranked seventh have naturally been moved down one place.

The Prince of Tennis went from seventh to eighth, and To Love-Ru went from eighth to ninth.

Even Attack on Titan dropped to tenth place, but luckily, it was right at the end of the top ten.

After all, the treatment of the top ten most popular people is different from that of the bottom ten. Not only is the income different, but the placement and treatment in the magazine are also very different.

For example... the top ten most popular comics can be published at the front of the magazine, and given priority on black and white pages.

Comics ranked outside the top ten in popularity face the risk of being squeezed out of the page or merged with other comics.

Even Ibaraki Masahiko was somewhat surprised that "Wu Song" made it into the top ten this week. He put the statistics sheet on the podium and asked curiously, "Who was in charge of this week's short comics?"

Masaya Sakurai sat up straight. "It's my responsibility."

"It seems to be getting a good response. I've also read a lot of reader comments, and it seems that many people want a sequel or a similar short comic."

Ibaraki Masahiko picked up the neatly organized folder of reader comments on the podium and flipped through it. "Who is this manga artist? If they are a newcomer who doesn't have a regular serialization yet, we can consider discussing the possibility of expanding this short story into a long series."

Masaya Sakurai immediately understood what he meant.

For popular short manga like this, where readers are willing to read sequels, Shueisha is basically willing to let the original author expand the plot and setting to turn it into a new long-running series in order to make money.

Chapter Seventy-Two: Another Short Story

Several works in JUMP have started as short stories as a trial run, and only became official serializations after receiving a good response.

For example, Nobuhiro Watsuki's "Rurouni Kenshin" started with short stories.

Ibaraki Masahiko's implication is quite clear.

That is, if the author of "Wu Song" is a newcomer who has not yet started a regular serialization, then this short story could be considered as a candidate for the next long serialization.

However, this is unlikely.

The reason, of course, lies in...

Masaya Sakurai immediately said, "The author of this manga is Ms. Fuchiriko."

Ibaraki Masahiko paused for a moment, then hummed in agreement.

Eri Aragaki is already working on Attack on Titan, and it's consistently ranked in the top ten in popularity, so it's impossible for her to dedicate another storyline to it.

After all, people's energy is limited, and it is wishful thinking to try to manage two long-running comic series at the same time.

Of course, there are also writers like Tsugumi Ohba who only write scripts for the story setting. He himself does that, providing several scripts to different manga artists for them to draw.

Or, like Ken, some people are responsible for drawing the original Death Note manga given by Tsugumi Ohba while also slowly drawing another monthly or bi-monthly magazine in other Shueisha publications.

However, for someone like Eri Aragaki, whose stories are considered original by outsiders and whose illustrations are also her own, it would be difficult to simultaneously publish two long-running series.

Even if Eri Aragaki said she could do it, Weekly Shonen Jump wouldn't agree.

Ibaraki Masahiko understood, closed the folder and put it aside, then said, "Alright then, but you can write a few more related short stories later."

Shueisha typically gives these short comics to promising new comic artists for trial serialization and for commercial collaborations and promotions.

However, there are also many times when established and popular manga artists are given the opportunity to serialize their short manga to attract readers. After all, Shueisha also needs to make money and maintain its popularity.

For example, popular long-running manga series like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece have various side stories and new short stories as test projects. There are also original short stories created by people like Xiao Jian who are very enthusiastic about his clever ideas.

If a short comic is also popular, Shueisha is willing to give it more opportunities, allowing the author to publish a short story in the magazine from time to time to maintain its popularity, which is beneficial to both the magazine and the author.

"Okay, I see."

Masaya Sakurai nodded, indicating that he understood.

Then, Ibaraki Masahiko flipped to the column about "Attack on Titan" in the statistics table, glanced at the number ten ranked, and asked, "How is the preparation of the 'Attack on Titan' manga going?"

"It's ready. The cover and opening color page are finalized, and all revisions are complete."

Masaya Sakurai revealed the upcoming workflow for the Attack on Titan manga: "After a pre-release interview next week, it will be officially released the week after next."

"Row."

Ibaraki Masahiko nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

Then I flipped to the very bottom of the statistics table and looked at the work that was at the bottom.

This issue happens to have one comic that has been at the bottom of the popularity charts for four consecutive weeks, and the editors all know what that means.

After all, it had been mentioned in meetings for the past three weeks.

When the popularity rankings came out this week, that comic only moved up one place.

Despite some progress, this level of popularity is still not enough to keep the manga running.

After deciding to cut the film shortly, he instructed the relevant editor to communicate with the author as soon as possible to handle the aftermath.

Because the announcement of the manga's cancellation doesn't mean it will immediately stop serialization next week, but rather that there will be a buffer period of 2 to 4 chapters, allowing the manga author a symbolic "final chapter" to wrap things up.

This also gives the editorial department some buffer time to find a cartoonist who can take over the serialization position and prepare to start a new comic series.

He then looked at the other editors and asked them to prepare new works to replace the serialized works, and to draw up a list of candidates to discuss at the next meeting.

This list generally includes cartoonists who previously tested the waters with short comics and received a good response.

"Yes……"

The editor of the bottom-ranked comic book nodded with his head down, wrote a few words in his notebook, and his expression showed little change.

This scene plays out every few months in JUMP's meeting room.

While new editors might have some feelings about it, most senior editors don't feel much of a difference.

However, new editors at Shueisha generally do not become the main editors in charge of manga. Instead, like Yuki Honda, they assist senior editors to gradually become familiar with the work before newcomers try to take over and be directly in charge of a manga.

"...Alright, that's all, meeting adjourned."

After Ibaraki Masahiko finished speaking, he clapped his hands and announced the meeting was adjourned.

……

After the meeting, Masaya Sakurai prepared to call Eri Aragaki.

However, at that moment...

"Sakurai, wait a moment."

Lin Shiping suddenly walked over and called out.

"?"

Sakurai Masaya looked over in confusion, then stayed where he was and waited for Lin Shiping to come over, asking, "What's wrong?"

"It's like this..."

Lin Shiping scratched his head and said, "Isn't the short comic section at the end of this month my responsibility? I was just thinking about which cartoonist to contact, since you know, cartoonists don't really want to work at the end of the year."

After all, the end of the year is approaching, and Shueisha usually takes a break from publishing and holds internal annual meetings in December.

Therefore, many cartoonists like to start preparing for their vacation in November.

In particular, skiing and hot springs in winter are highly anticipated activities for many people throughout the year, so they need to take a vacation.

This manifested as periods of hiatus, and a slowdown in the manga's plot.

This period is arguably one of the least desirable times for Japanese manga artists, second only to the Obon holiday in August.

Therefore, starting in November, famous cartoonists like Xiao Jian will no longer want to draw short comics or increase their workload.

Some cartoonists even finish the manuscripts that are due later with their assistants in advance, submit them ahead of time, and then go on vacation.

Of course, for newcomers who are eager to make their mark, an increased workload is nothing.

It's quite obvious that Lin Shiping has his eye on... Eri Aragaki's short manga, which is better and is currently receiving a lot of attention.

Furthermore, Eri Aragaki hasn't truly become famous yet. Although her Attack on Titan series has consistently ranked in the top ten in popularity, she hasn't released a single volume yet, and the series hasn't been adapted into an anime.

His income is significantly lower than that of other established cartoonists. Since he relies solely on royalties, he probably wouldn't mind drawing another short comic to increase his income.

"Okay, I'll talk to Ms. Riko."

Masaya Sakurai didn't think much of it; it was just a casual remark, so he agreed.

"Thank you so much, Masaya!"

Lin Shiping quickly put his hands together in a gesture of "thank you very much," and then said, "Then I won't bother you any longer, I'll go back to work now."

"Ah."

Masaya Sakurai then turned and called Eri Aragaki.

But when I called, it took quite a while before the call was answered.

"Hey~~ Ha~~"

Eri Aragaki's voice finally came from the other end of the phone, still sounding a bit groggy.

Chapter 73 Genius + Eccentric = Cartoonist