Full-time cartoonist

Sasaki blamed himself: "I didn't expect that "Millennium Actress" would have such a small audience on Jump..."

"it does not matter."

He heard Higashi Hibiki say this.

"It's already pretty good."

After all, "Millennium Actress" is a literary film, it won't be a hit but it won't be a hit. The box office is not high in the first place, so we can't force readers to like it.

It would be great if it could be serialized on Jump.

"Millennium Actress" should be a work competing for awards, but Hibiki Higashino put it in an inappropriate position.

There are too few animated films that are as popular and successful as "Spirited Away".

He was originally inspired to draw "Millennium Actress" for a moment, so he shouldn't have too many requirements. It was enough to satisfy his temporary desires.

Akira Toriyama is worthy of being Higashino Hibiki's guiding light. Every time Hibiki has trouble with comics, he thinks of that teacher and makes a decision.

He crossed the river by following Akira Toriyama's teacher.

"Hahaha."

Thinking of this, Higashikata couldn't help laughing.

"What are you laughing at? What's so funny about this?" Sasaki was surprised.

Higashino Hibiki replied with a smile: "I'm thinking it would be great if there was no master Hayao Miyazaki in the world, so that I can copy his next work."

"Spirited Away" in 2001 was an epoch-making animated film.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Sasaki really suspected that the child was stupid.

"I was just joking." Higashikata replied.

Hibiki Higashino is still in the mood to joke, which means there is nothing wrong with him.

So Sasaki hung up the phone.

"Bad grades?" Akimiya Akemi asked.

"Yes," Hibiki Higashi nodded, "The quick result is third place."

Qiugong Mingmei knew clearly that she had expectations.

"Millennium Actress" is a thankless work.

But she didn't stop it, because this work was indeed wonderful, and it would be a pity not to draw it.

Cartoonists do not necessarily have to draw works that reach a wide audience. This is the case with "LEVEL E" painted by Yoshihiro Togashi.

Unconsciously, Hibiya Higashino walked to the position of Yoshihiro Togashi and Akira Toriyama.

…

Friday.

The sun was blazing, and 19-year-old Odagiri was riding a bicycle. The suit he was wearing was so hot that he was covered in sweat.

The annual Honinbo battle has begun. Last year, Odagiri entered the round robin, and finally lost to Zhao Zhixun 9th dan and failed to win the Honinbo title.

He is still working hard this year and just finished today's game.

On the way home, while waiting at the traffic light, there were two high school students wearing basketball uniforms and holding basketballs next to him.

"'Slam Dunk' is getting more and more interesting! I'm really looking forward to the game between Shohoku and Sanno!"

"Yes! The Mountain King is so awesome! It must be an exciting game!"

Odagiri smiled, but quickly suppressed it.

He is nineteen years old and still has not received the title of "Honinbo".

As someone who has inherited the Go path taught by "Hibiki Higashino", I must have this highest honor!

He cried bitterly when he lost at the end last year.

The dream brushed my fingertips, which was very uncomfortable.

Teacher Hibiki Higashino was also looking at himself who failed.

When he thought of this, he couldn't stop crying at that time.

"But Akino Tori's "Millennium Actress" is so boring."

"It's a nice painting, but I can't see it."

The green light turned on and the high school students left. Odagiri stood there stunned.

""Millennium Actress"..."

Is this a new work by Tori Akino-sensei? It seems to be cold.

Riding his bicycle, he quickly returned home and dug out the jump he bought on Monday.

"Ah, indeed."

On the cover, he saw Tori Akino's name.

Sitting on the sofa with mineral water in hand, he quietly watched "Millennium Actress".

After a while, he was confused, "It's a good work, but I don't like it very much."

It's not a jump-style comic.

Just like Natsume Soseki's "I Am a Cat" has been highly praised and has high literary value, but Odagiri prefers to watch "The Sun Murder" by Yamamura Morimichi.

The latter is certainly not as good as the former, but it is certainly more interesting to read for Odagiri.

So now, he can understand the value of "Millennium Actress", but he can't see it.

Most readers probably think so.

"What a pity," Odagiri, who started to devote his energy to Go at the age of 13 and has a low level of education, shook his head. "I can't understand the comics that are drawn with such care."

"Tori Akino-sensei must be in a bad mood right now."

…

Hibiki narrowed his eyes and swallowed the watermelon Akimiya Akemi fed him into his mouth with a sound of "ah".

"So iced, so sweet."

This year’s watermelon is extra delicious, but it’s so expensive.

"Can I make shaved ice?" Hibiki asked enthusiastically.

When he was young, he often watched the cartoon "Chibi Maruko-chan".

One of the episodes is in the summer. Maruko-chan has a shaved ice machine at home, and the whole family makes shaved ice together.

He was so greedy when he saw it that he also wanted to eat it.

It's like he wanted to eat Dorayaki after watching "Doraemon".

Although the taste of Dorayaki was ordinary, he still wanted to try the taste of shaved ice.

Paired with watermelon, the taste is absolutely the same.

"Ah, you are so annoying." Akimiya Akemi was speechless. She always had demands. Marrying a little boy was really troublesome.

"Okay, okay, I'm going to buy a shaved ice machine tomorrow."

Looking at Higashikata Hibiki's longing eyes, she said helplessly.

"It's so kind of you, big sister," Hibiki bowed in thanks.

Akimiya Akemi shuddered. She took a deep breath and asked with a trembling voice, "Have you sent out all the wedding invitations?"

"Of course I have sent it out." Higashino Hibiki puffed up his chest and said very proudly: "After writing the invitations on Monday, I will send them all to the mailbox. Friends in Tokyo should have received them, and it will take some time for those from other places."

He was curious again and asked, "Why do you ask this?"

Akimiya Akemi gritted her teeth, "Of course I regret it."

Unfortunately it's too late.

…

After "The Soul of the Game" ended, Odagiri rarely watched Weekly Shōnen Jump. But I still keep the habit of buying.

He had just finished watching "Millennium Actress", and when he was feeling regretful, the doorbell rang.

"Hello, are you Mr. Odagiri?"

The other party is the postman.

"Yes." Odagiri nodded.

"Here is your letter, please sign for it."

With some doubts, Odagiri stamped it with his own seal and got the email.

"Teacher Hibiki Higashikata's letter? What could it be?"

Apart from the occasional phone call, they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

If you need to send an email, it must be important.

Odagiri quickly opened the envelope and saw a wedding invitation.

"Teacher Hibiki Higashino is getting married on September 24th this year!"

"What great news!"

A smile broke out on his face, but it quickly faded and became determined!

"See you again Hibiki Higashi on September 24th, I will definitely become "Honinbo"! "

At the same time, many people received Hibiki Hibiki's wedding invitation.

In Tokyo, Kitamoto started his internship, and he was struggling as a lawyer. Not just the letter of the law, he also had to learn how to treat others.

Learn to investigate and visit.

After so many days, his feet had a layer of calluses.

Compared with these, feeding the president's hamster is easier.

Just after he got home, he saw a letter in his mailbox at home.

"Higashiro is getting married!"

"It's really unexpected. He actually has a girlfriend?"

"The woman is..."

"Teacher Akimiya Akemi!"

Kitamoto's eyes widened.

In a high school, Hua Chao is working as a physical education teacher.

With a height of 195 centimeters, handsome appearance, and cold personality, he has a lot of little fans.

"Teacher Hua Chao, won't you laugh?"

"He didn't even smile when he saw his girlfriend."

"I really want to see Teacher Hua Chao's smile!"

A few little girls were on the second floor, peeping at Hua Chao with their chins propped up, making silly laughter from time to time.

"so hot."

After a while, the school staff sent a letter to Hua Chao.

After he took it apart...

"Teacher Hua Chao smiled!"

"So handsome! So gentle!"

"What's in the letter?"

"Wait! What kind of expression is this!"

When he saw the woman, Hua Chao's mouth seemed to be dislocated. It was wide open and did not close for a long time:

"Ah...ah..."

Like being mute.

He was shocked.

After a while:

"Akimiya Akemi...isn't she an art teacher in high school..."

…

Time quickly came to August, and "Millennium Actress" was updated to its fourth episode.

Xiaozheng's results were third, eighth, tenth and ninth.

The latest chapter has actually improved.

"Chiyoko Fujiwara rescued a fugitive painter and a revolutionary fighter who fought against the war in Manchuria."

"She fell in love with each other, but the two broke up soon, and the love ended quickly."

"Chasing love hard, only to find one key that can open the most precious thing." "

It is also the key that Tachibana Genya found at the beginning of the manga.

Chiyoko Fujiwara still cherishes the key, which shows that her love for the painter has not ended and continued decades later at the age of 70.

"In pursuit of a painter, Chiyoko came to Manchuria to film and began her career as an actress."

"The pursuit of reality and the pursuit of making a movie are integrated together. It is really a clever design."

“The interweaving of narrative and play-within-play is simply fantastic.”

Miyazaki raised his head and enjoyed this moment immensely.

He recalled "Millennium Actress" and sighed that this is the art of film.

That's right, movies.

Although "Millennium Actress" is a comic book, the techniques used in the comics are all movie techniques.

In addition to the general storyboards of movies, Tori Akino has reached a new level, standing out from shonen comics and starting artistic creation.

The intersection of comics and movies is such a wonderful feeling.

Hayao Miyazaki enjoyed reading "Millennium Actress" as if he saw himself painting "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" more than ten years ago.

"This is a really big surprise."

He had a throbbing feeling like watching "The Legend of White Snake" in high school.

This is also the reason why he has never retired and is working tirelessly in the comics industry.

Beyond material things, it is an unparalleled spiritual enjoyment.

…

The plot of "Millennium Actress" continues to take turns.

Filming from Manchuria traveled back thousands of years.

In this scene, Chiyoko is the princess and she has clearly grown up.

After that, there were different movie plots. Chiyoko Fujiwara made one movie after another. What remained unchanged was her pursuit of painters and her search for love.

She became an actress because of love and never gave up.

The switching of the camera seems like a clever move to Hayao Miyazaki, but to high school students, it is an inexplicable plot.

They are increasingly confused about the comic "Millennium Actress".

Shonen comics should be easy to understand.

So they dropped the comic.

"Tori Akino-sensei, if you have this time, you might as well update two episodes of "Slam Dunk" a week!"

"That's right, I really want to see the Mountain King fight as soon as possible!"

While they complained, "Millennium Actress" still didn't stop.

In fact, most readers don't like it, but "Millennium Actress"'s Xiaozheng score is still hovering at tenth place.

It shows that some readers are supporting this work.

…

jump editorial department.

Editors routinely hold serialization meetings.

"I, Yahagi, am the editor of "Naruto". Although Mr. Masashi Kishimoto is still a newcomer, this work is already very mature. Now eight episodes of storyboards have been drawn, all of which maintain the standard. The plot design of the first scene is very good. Wonderful."

"Well," Torishima Kazuhiko nodded, "Ninja-themed comics... I think they will be popular."

Sasaki also said: "The setting is very interesting, the standardized use of hand seals, various ninjutsu, and full of imagination."

"If we can maintain this quality, I think we can pass."

Both editors approved "Naruto", and Yahagi clenched his fists and cheered quietly.

"But," asked Yoshihisa Botanical: "Because what we see are all storyboards, we don't know Masashi Kishimoto's artistry. A comic like "Naruto" that is full of battle scenes requires an author with excellent artistry."

"It has a sense of impact, the use of speed, and the performance of physical strength... emmm, can Kishimoto Masashi-kun complete it?"

Bottle asked Yahagi.

"Of course there is no problem," Yahagi nodded calmly, "Kishimoto-kun has loved Teacher Akira Toriyama's "Dragon Ball" since he was a child, and has been working hard to become a cartoonist. He also studied art in college."

"So the painter was no problem for him."

Yahagi paused for a moment and then said: "At least he is much better than Oda-kun's painter."

The implication is that Oda can draw "One Piece", and my author Masashi Kishimoto has no problem drawing "Naruto".

"As for the use of speed lines and the like, there is no problem." He said: "In March, Kishimoto studied with Mr. Tori Akino for a period of time."

“I learned a lot about this type of technique, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

Yahagi nodded proudly, thinking everything through. He is simply a wise man among editors.

He waited for the editor-in-chief's approving gaze.

However, at this time, Torishima Kazuhiko was deep in thought.

"Tori Akino?"

Torishima Kazuhiko turned to Sasaki and asked: "What is Xiaomasa's score in "Millennium Actress" this week?"

"Ninth place." Sasaki replied.

"Hey!" Bo Bo was surprised, "It's still in the top ten!"

He has been exposed to a lot of negative news about "Millennium Actress" recently.

Teenagers often call me asking to finish "Millennium Actress".

It is rare to see anyone discussing this work.

Compared to Tori Akino's other comics, "Millennium Actress" has no social impact at all.

"So who is the voting group?" Torishima Kazuhiko continued to ask.

"The age group of those over 20 years old accounts for the most, at about 56%. After that, those over 17 years old account for 28%," Sasaki said seriously. "Male readers account for 86%, which is a very strange data."

"Shouldn't we discuss "Naruto" now?" Yahagi was speechless.