1983 Past Life Manga King

The president, who had been pensive in front of Jiro for a while, opened his mouth again.

“There are not enough hit films, and there are no super-hit films at all. There is still a long way to go.”

“Yeah. There are still plenty of magazines with only hits. And most of those magazines are around half a million copies.”

“Yeah, I understand what you mean.”

“···········?”

“Ah, I called you because it was a problem I was thinking about alone. Well, we have regular meetings, but the opinions of people in the field are more important than the hard-headed executives. And I wonder what you are thinking.”

“Ah yes.”

“Anyway, joining the 1 million club is not easy. It seems like you looked down on the cartoon side too much.”

Saying so, he smiles to himself.

However, Jiro was awakened by the word of the 1 million club.

So, are you really aiming for a million copies?

One Million Club (3)

100 million copies

As expected, I also knew that a person named Hiroyuki Mitsuda was ambitious.

When Hiroyuki inherited this Mitsuda Shoten from his predecessor, it was a fact that even Jiro had heard and knew that it was nothing more than a small publishing house.

However, he showed his unique skills and grew a small company into a big one in a short time. Of course, the focus was on fashion magazines.

Even now, the most popular department at Mitsuda Shoten is the fashion magazine.

In any case, the reason that such a publishing company started comics was because they could not ignore the trend of comics.

However, Mitsuda Shoten was completely ignored on the battlefield, which he jumped into belatedly.

Then, by chance, Jiro joined the company with Samsara in charge, and that has been a catalyst for the entire comics department to make progress.

Of course, the results are quite good, and in the case of a boy hero, the sales volume is higher than the middle class.

But the 100,000 copies are a different story.

There are a few magazines that have sold over 1 million copies now, but they are all Japan’s best boys’ manga magazines.

It is not as easy as it sounds for a boy hero to enter such a place.

Returning to the editorial department, Jiro flops into his seat, looking down at the two copy manuscripts on his desk.

Samsara and Fasiencia.

In the case of Samsara, it is emerging as the best work recognized by others, but Pasiencia is a little different.

As a work of excellence, it is gaining immense popularity among sports manga fans. However, its commercial potential does not come close to the most popular manga, “Captain Tsubasa.”

Although the picture’s detail and realism are great enough, it lacks appeal to general fans, who are the main readers of the magazine.

Of course, this problem is also the biggest problem with the difference in awareness of magazines.

In the case of Captain Tsubasa, isn’t it serialized in a monster magazine called Shonen Jump, which sells 4 million copies?

At least, for Pasiencia to fight Captain Tsubasa, it should be serialized in a boys’ magazine or Boys’ Sunday.

In addition, Captain Tsubasa is very popular with women, unlike the existing boys’ manga. It is not as easy as one might think to pass such a work.

So, the piece that Jiro had a lot of personal regret for was Pasiencia.

However, it is unreasonable to expect more popularity than it is now.

Because it had already surpassed the recognition of the magazine.

That was the time when Jiro was lost in his thoughts.

“that······.”

“···········?”

The first person you see comes near Jiro’s seat, hesitating to see if he has something to say, and scratching his head.

A dwarf young man with thick black horn-rimmed glasses, chubby hair, and an old young man.

Upon closer inspection of him, an ocher-colored briefcase was tucked under one of his armpits. After seeing it, Jiro nodded his head as if he understood.

It looked like he was also an aspiring manga artist.

“Oh, you brought the manuscript.”

“Yeah······.”

“Are you in charge?”

Surprised by Jiro’s question, he waved his one hand and said.

“Oh, no. This is my first time coming here.”

“i See. So can I have a look? I am an editor too.”

“Yeah. Please.”

“Once over there.”

Saying so, he led me to a seat behind the partition in the corner of the editorial department.

And as soon as I took a seat, I was given an envelope from the man. And immediately, Jiro took the manuscript out of the envelope and said:

“The portion is quite large.”

“is that so?”

The man answers by scratching his head.

At a glance, it’s almost 40 pages long. In serial terms, 2 pots.

“Is this a short story?”

“Yeah. But since I made it with a feature film in mind, I made more of the story behind it. Of course, only by name.”

“i See.”

Saying so, he nodded his head and went through the manuscript one by one.

He quickly turned through the manuscript with careful eyes and looked at the overall composition and drawing skills. However, compared to most of the other aspiring students, he was not particularly good at drawing. No, I feel like I’m below average.

I don’t know if it’s a gag cartoon in the first place, but at first glance, the content is dark and realistic, so it’s more disappointing.

However, the story should be looked at first.

From the beginning, I started looking at the manuscript, focusing on the story again.

It’s a style with a lot of narration, so it’s a burden to read.

However, the more I turned the page, the more I fell into the content without knowing it.

It is a story of a human who gains powerful power, first doing good for the people around him, and then turns into a villain after feeling disgusted by those who criticize him.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

It is usually developed in such a way that the villain in hero manga is the main character.

However, it is not an exaggerated feeling like a normal hero cartoon, but rather realistic.

Besides, he’s not a complete evildoer, so he doesn’t just do evil for no reason.

Some of the worst criminals are even punished by themselves. So rather, it gives a cool catharsis.

Anyway, the main character is in a subtle position.

He’s not completely evil, and he’s not good either.

He’s just a human who feels unstable.

Looking back, he also resembles Akira’s Tetsuo.

However, the picture is clumsy, so it doesn’t really touch me, the only difference is that it’s more brutal.

Anyway, people are terrified by the runaway of the main character, and an army is sent to stop him, but many die.

A series of shocks that do not exist as mercy.

It’s a bit of an unconventional progression for a boy’s manga, but it’s immersive.

It feels like a great cartoon, except for the fact that the pictures are disappointing.

“This is the back story you mentioned earlier.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have a name now?”

“Ah yes. Wait.”

The man who answered so hurriedly rummaged through his bag. Then he picked up one of several practice books. Then he handed it to Jiro.

Jiro opened the practice field again and started looking at the name.

The picture in the name is natural, but it is far less than the manuscript. Still, it wasn’t that difficult to understand the story, so I immersed myself in reading it.

And he soon covered the practice range.

“The story is not over.”

“Yeah. It’s a long story.”

“I think so.”

Convinced, Jiro nodded his head.

If this is a story like this, it would be more interesting to express it slowly with enough time.

Of course, there are a lot of awkward dialogues, probably because he is still an aspiring student and lacks experience. But overall, it’s a fun enough cartoon.

However, it is impossible for Jiro to make a decision right away.

“Can I leave the manuscript and practice room alone for today?”

“Yeah. It’s okay.”

Jiro nodded his head at those words and immediately took out his wallet from his pocket and held out a business card and a note on his table to the man.

“This is my business card. Could you please write your name and phone number here?”

“Oh, I don’t have a phone at home.”

“Yeah? Then how do you get in touch? May I send you a letter?”

“Yeah. I hope you do. I’m usually busy with work. I took a day off today. Well, that’s why I have to work overtime tomorrow night.”

“Ah yes.”

“Then can I go see you?”

“Yeah. Please.”

After sending the man away, I immediately went through the manuscript again and found Yajima.

“Senior, can you take a look at this?”

“What?”

“It’s a manuscript of an aspiring cartoonist who just came here.”

“Why? It’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. However, because the content is a bit unusual…

“Content?”

“Take a look.”

“uh. okay.”

When Yajima received the manuscript from Jiro, she immediately began to look at it.

He had expectations for Jiro’s words, but as soon as he sees his first page, he becomes disappointed.

“Don’t just focus on the picture, it’s the content, the content. See it.”

“I know. But, isn’t the picture a bit too much?”

“Once you read it.”

“Okay, okay.”

With an expression that Yajima can’t do, he starts examining the manuscript again.

“There are a lot of pages.”

Turning the page while grumbling like that, he doesn’t say anything while looking at whether he was immediately absorbed in the content.

After looking at him for a while, Yajima immediately lifted his head.

“Hey, this. It’s pretty fun, isn’t it?”

“It’s not quite. If that’s the case, it’s not worth it.”

“Yeah, what. Even so…”

Yajima’s expression nodding his head seems complicated.

“Isn’t this a bit outrageous?”

“right?”

“okay. If it was a detailed painting, it would feel too cruel.”

“Isn’t it also suitable for boys’ comics?”

“However, the overall flow of dialogue is more suited to a boy’s manga, so it’s not like that.”

“Honestly, I also feel a little halved when it comes to painting like this, so I thought that it might be an advantage.”

“Still, the problem is that the picture doesn’t catch my eye.”

“Then, is it on hold?”

“No, if that’s the case, I’ll suggest a team leader meeting. And once the decision is made, the editor and the vice-editor will attend the meeting.”

Saying that, I took the manuscript and approached the most senior among the team leaders. Then, when I tell him something, I see him nodding his head.

* * *

“My opinion?”

– Yeah. Tomorrow Kawada will bring you a copy of the manuscript.

“Yeah. Okay.”

Having said that, I hung up the phone.

All of a sudden, you want to see the manuscript of an aspiring manga artist, what’s the matter?

In the words of the team leader meeting, opinions were divided in half, so the manuscript was not made.

And it seems that the manuscript is coming to me with the opinion of one of the team leaders.

Well, it’s not a big deal, since you only need to read the manuscript and share your opinions.

Still, it’s a cartoon to the extent that I can’t make a decision.

I’m curious about something.

and the next morning.

Michiko came to the studio and gave me a briefcase.

“This is the manuscript that Akagi-senpai asked to give.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll stop by Mi-ja Jeong’s studio and come back in the afternoon.”

“Yes, yes.”

When I said that, Michiko hurriedly said hello and immediately left the studio.

After she saw it, she pulled out the copied manuscript from the briefcase.

As soon as I took out the manuscript, the first impression I had was that the drawings were quite messy.

When she first heard that the decision was not made at the team leader’s meeting, she expected that the quality of the painting would still be good, but that thought was completely wrong.

If so, the bottom line is content.

At first glance, it’s hard to catch my eye because it’s a manga with a lot of text, but I read it slowly and focused.

And while reading it, I was surprised several times.

“···································································!

There are a lot of extravagant scenes than I thought.

Scenes of people dying horribly are quite frequent.

Of course, when I think about it, it’s not to the point of being radical by the standards of the days I lived in.

However, considering the age of 85, it is quite unconventional.

Compared to Korean comics, Japanese comics are freer in terms of expression, but still, this is a bit great.

However, even taking that into account, it is quite a boyish development, and it is also quite fun.