A middle school cartoonist

In the editorial department of Youeisha's "Son Jumk", the heads of the editorial elite, convened by the new editor-in-chief, gathered together and held a weekly round table... er, no, it was a serialization meeting!

"... Now submit the last candidate serial work, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" submitted by Yujiro Group, the author is Shinkai Makoto!" The person in charge of presiding over the meeting this time was Aida! Looking at the information Yujiro provided in his hand, Aida looked at Yujiro with some doubts, "Yujiro, I seem to have never heard of this cartoonist. Is he a newbie?"

"Newcomer? Well... he's new!" Yujiro looked a little unnatural. As for the reason... of course it wasn't because of the embarrassment caused by being caught in a daze during the regular meeting!

"Hey, Yuujiro, what's the matter with you? This comic was recommended by you. You should know best what kind of person the author of the comic is!" Aida naturally noticed Yujiro's expression and was a little confused. He complained, "Now the comics have been submitted to the serialization conference...don't say you don't know if the author is a newcomer!"

"This..." Yujiro looked at Yoshida who had an equally weird look over there, with a helpless look on his face!

Aren't the two cartoonists with the same problem as Makoto Takahashi and Eiji Arizuma the ones who wrote him? I know, of course I know! But the problem is that after revealing the author's identity... that guy Takahashi Makoto said it. It's one thing for others on the editorial side to guess, but if there is any news about the author's identity, it would be revealed by me and here. , visually we can go home and prepare a suicide note!

"Well... before discussing the identity of the author, let's first consider whether this manga can pass the serialization meeting, right?" Yoshida, as a person who knows the inside story well, saw Yujiro in trouble, and considering that they have formed an alliance to form the same front, Yoshida Naturally, we have to lend a helping hand at critical moments! "Furthermore, comics can be serialized if they are interesting. This should have nothing to do with whether the author is a newcomer, right?"

"Aida, Yoshida is right... Comics can be serialized if they are interesting!" The editor-in-chief named Bottle, after scanning the editors in the room, issued the latest instruction, "Distribute the manga manuscripts to every editor! "

Although he had read part of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" at Makoto Takahashi's house, Yoshida still read it carefully from the beginning like other colleagues! Yoshida knew very well that, at least at this time, he could never show an expression like "I have read this comic at someone's home"... It seems that Yoshida's suicide note has not been written yet!

"The style of painting has not changed much, and the character settings are almost the same as before. Compared with before, there are basically no changes..." Yoshida flipped through the manga manuscript casually, and couldn't help but speculate about Makoto Takahashi's character in his heart. The true intention, "Hey! That guy Cheng, is he trying to use the guise of joining forces with Eiji, the new wife, to take the opportunity to start a new serialization in the weekly?"

No wonder Yoshida thinks so!

Although it is said that this "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" was jointly completed by Makoto Takahashi and Eiji Niitsuma, in Yoshida's eyes, the previous part is exactly the same as what he has seen before! The long-haired girl fights an unknown creature, and the girl with twin ponytails is with her ever-cute pet. The cute pet keeps coaxing the girl with twin-ponytails to sign a contract and change her job to become a magical girl...

The girl with twin tails did not sign a so-called contract to become a magical girl, but woke up from a dream! The city that collapsed into ruins disappeared, and the scene changed into a bedroom full of girlish atmosphere... It turns out that the previous battles were just the dreams of the girl with twin tails!

If in the girl's dream before, the crumbling city brought endless depression to people, then now the bedroom full of girlish atmosphere gives people a feeling of vitality! Although a large part of this is due to the difference in the scenes, the painting style has changed from gloomy to bright...

"Eh? The style of this scene looks like..." Finally seeing a part he hadn't seen before, Yoshida calmed down and began to watch carefully. However, Yoshida still noticed some detailed changes in the manga manuscript! Looking up at his colleagues who were focusing on reading the manga manuscript, Yoshida looked over there with confusion at Yujiro, who was winking at him, and the confusion on his face turned into realization! "The front part was painted by Cheng, and the latter part was probably completed by Eiji Niizuma! Although they are different scenes, why is there such a big difference when painted by the same person... Let me just say, it turns out that what Cheng said This is what cooperation means! But it’s a bit strange..."

What really surprised Yoshida was that the cooperation between Makoto Takahashi and Eiji Niitsuma did not have the negative effects that Yoshida expected... The manga did not collapse because of [fusion repulsion] in the two people's painting styles! Generally speaking, when two cartoonists work together to write a comic, this sounds like a strong alliance, but if you are not careful, it can turn into a situation where you are holding each other back!

When Yoshida and Yujiro promised Makoto Takahashi to submit "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" to the serialization meeting, not only because of Makoto Takahashi's force, but also because the two editors knew that the two cartoonists When you collaborate to draw a comic, it is easy for the painting to collapse... And even if such a work is submitted to a serialization conference, it will never pass the serialization conference, that's for sure!

However, the comic book has not been ruined. On the contrary, it is memorable because of the strong contrast... This means that the hidden method that Yoshida had considered before to brush the comic book "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" was actually cracked by Takahashi Makoto! How could Yoshida not be surprised?

"The painting style during battle is one type. Although the painting style of daily life seems to be similar, it is slightly different from that during battle!" Aida put down the comic manuscript in his hand, took off his glasses and wiped them gently, and sighed, "This cartoonist named Makoto Shinkai is so amazing... Yujiro, are you sure this is really a new cartoonist? Today's new cartoonists are actually at such a level... Tsk tsk tsk, another genius comparable to Eiji Niizuma and Makoto Takahashi?"

"Indeed! Yujiro, you have discovered another amazing newcomer!"

"Let's not talk about the painting style... From the content point of view, I think this comic is very interesting!"

"Among the several serial candidates this time, I think the most outstanding one should be "Puella Magi Madoka Magica"!"

"Second! Although it is the work of a new author, it is not at the same level as the other works!"

Although they were praised by several colleagues, the smiles on the faces of both Yujiro and Yoshida were full of helplessness and bitterness! Perhaps the colleagues who were still immersed in the comics did not notice, but Pingzi, the editor-in-chief, noticed the unnatural expressions on the two people's faces. However, Pingzi did not say anything, but just picked up the comic manuscript on the table again and read it again!

"Editor-in-chief, do you think this new series is..." After the discussion on the editorial side, Pingzi also read the comic manuscript in his hand again. Aida, who was in charge of presiding over the meeting, put forward the conclusion of the previous discussion, "Let's choose "Magical Girl Madoka Magica", and..."

"Before confirming the new series, I have to confirm some things!" Tapping the table with his fingers, Pingzi squinted at Yujiro, "Yujiro, and Yoshida stay... The others go out for the time being!"

Compared with the other editors who were full of doubts when they left, Yujiro and Yoshida were relieved. Looking at each other, they smiled bitterly at the same time. The two were mentally prepared to wait for the blame from the editor-in-chief! Although Editor Pingzi hadn't said anything yet, since they had been asked to stay, it was clear what was going to happen...

"The author of this comic..." Pushing his glasses, Editor Pingzi's eyes kept wandering between the two, and after a long time he asked, "Is it Makoto Takahashi or Eiji Nizuma?"

The editor-in-chief really knew!

"According to Nizuma-kun, this comic was completed by the two of them!" Since the comic was submitted to the serialization meeting by Yujiro, it was naturally Yujiro who was responsible for explaining it! "Although Yoshida-kun and I thought it was impossible for two people to work together to complete a comic, we didn't expect... they actually did it!"

"..."

Although the answer was unexpected, as the editor-in-chief, Pingzi was now able to remain calm even when faced with a catastrophe, and naturally would not be shocked by such news! The reason why he fell into silence was because Editor Pingzi felt that this matter was quite tricky!

If we agree to start a new series for this manga, it will be a bit unfair to other cartoonists, even if the two problematic cartoonists use the pen name [Shinkai Makoto]; if we don’t agree to serialize it, the number of comics will be unbalanced... You know, in the serialization meeting just now, it was decided to cut off a certain comic that was being serialized! Moreover, although many people have been influenced by the manga "Dream Eaters" recently and plan to become cartoonists and submit their works to the editorial department, there are basically no comics that can be adopted and serialized! So...

"Yujiro, you are responsible for contacting Eiji Niizuma; Yoshida, you are responsible for contacting Makoto Takahashi! It's best to let the cartoonist himself come to explain this matter..." After a long silence, the editor-in-chief finally spoke and made the final decision, "As for whether it can be serialized... Forget it, you should contact the two problematic cartoonists first!"

"Damn it! You didn't answer the phone at this time! Did you ignore it because you were drawing again?" After receiving the editor-in-chief's order, Yujiro immediately started to contact Eiji Niizuma, but the result... It seems that Eiji Niizuma has entered the [human-machine separation] mode!

"Acheng, where are you now? Huh? Hall of Valor in another dimension... Uh, don't make trouble at this time!" Feeling the strange eyes of the editor-in-chief and Yujiro, Yoshida scratched his head in embarrassment, and then said to Takahashi Makoto on the other end of the phone anxiously, "Come to the building of Yueisha quickly... What? Summoning spell? How can I have such a thing... Wrong answer? Uh... I said... Hello! Acheng, hello!"

Okay... Seeing Yoshida's horse face, turning from anxious to roaring at the already hung up phone, Yujiro and the editor-in-chief both understood... It was obviously Takahashi Makoto who decisively ended the call!

"In this case..." Before the editor-in-chief finished speaking, a crisp knock on the door sounded!

"Editor-in-chief, the front desk just called to ask if anyone has made an appointment with Mr. Makoto Shinkai?" Editor Kosugi, who was wearing black-framed glasses, leaned half of his body in and said uncertainly, "And the front desk also said that there are two gentlemen named Makoto Shinkai in the lobby now!"