Full-time cartoonist

Masashi Kishimoto got out of the car expressionlessly, Hibiki watched him leave expressionlessly, the driver drove the car expressionlessly, and no one among the three wanted to talk.

After returning home, it was ten o'clock in the evening.

He looked at the bedroom from downstairs. The lights went out and Akimiya Akemi fell asleep.

Hibiki opened the door quietly and walked into the entrance hall. After changing his shoes, he thought twice and called Akira Toriyama to talk about the problems he was facing.

"'Paprika' made readers very dissatisfied. I'm a little surprised...why is this?"

If you see something you don’t like, just skip it. No one can guarantee that the works drawn by their favorite author will always be wonderful.

The response to "Paprika" was so intense that it broke Hibiki's cognition.

"Haha, this is a matter of course." Toriyama Akira was still awake. He was doing some work. After receiving the call, he was happy. He simply put the work aside and replied with interest, "You know "COWA!" right?"

Higashikata replied, "Of course."

This is a short comic serialized after the completion of Akira Toriyama's "Dragon Ball".

Akira Toriyama said: "Then you should know that the problems you are encountering now are all problems I have encountered.

Readers don’t want to see COWA! ", they hope it will be another "Dragon Ball" and another "Arale".

The serial "COWA!" "During the time, many old readers sent letters by mail asking me whether I was serious about drawing comics.

Is Akira Toriyama still Akira Toriyama?

You are far worse than your disciple Tori Akino Mirai now.

Someone always says that. "

Higashikata's eyes widened, "But, I haven't heard of these things."

The serial "COWA!" 》, everything was calm.

He didn't know that behind the scenes, Toriyama Akira had also been questioned.

Akira Toriyama replied, "Maybe my readers have grown up, but you are also facing it, right? Others compare Oda Eiichiro to you?"

"That's right..." Dongye Xiang was depressed.

He stood up and sighed, "It was like this during the serialization of "COWA!". It felt uncomfortable to be noticed. Until "KAJIKA" and "Desert Adventure" were serialized, no one cared that these were Akira Toriyama. The works allow me to create with ease.”

Higashino Hibiki walked to the balcony, enjoying the summer wind and listening carefully.

"So, Higashino-kun," Akira Toriyama continued, "there are situations where people are dissatisfied with Paprika because readers have too high expectations for you.

"This is Tori Akino-sensei's manga, it must be very interesting." Everyone will think so.

Long-form comics such as "The Soul of Chess" and short-form comics such as "The Garden of Words" have long raised the threshold for readers.

Now that the incomprehensible "Red Hot Chili Peppers" appeared, their feedback was violent. "

Higashikata thought thoughtfully, "I probably understand."

After Masashi Kishimoto finished "Naruto", the new comic "Samurai 8~Kiki Samurai Hachimaru" was cut in half because it was not good enough.

Readers' ridicule and confusion were more severe than in other comics.

Because you are Masashi Kishimoto, you have to bear excessive expectations. If these expectations are not met, they will turn into bad public opinion.

Akira Toriyama said: "You can either draw works that readers like, or you can draw works that you like. It's a good choice, isn't it? As long as you dare to bear the consequences. If you were not Toriya Akino, this comic would probably not be serialized."

Hibiki's mind is getting clearer and clearer.

Akira Toriyama saw things very clearly and firmly chose the path he wanted to take. Compared with him, I am far behind.

Tonight, after his former assistant Kishimoto Masashi came to him to resolve a problem, he also went to his teacher Akira Toriyama for advice.

"Haha." Hibiki couldn't help but laugh. This is what jump cartoonists convey.

Toriyama Akira was puzzled, "Why are you laughing?"

Hibiki Higashikata smiled, "I think it's great to be a teacher's assistant."

Akira Toriyama felt a little shy, "You...you guy...why are you so stupid all of a sudden? It...makes me so moved."

"hey-hey."

…

After an interlude, Akira Toriyama suddenly said: "Paprika is not suitable for Jump, nor is it suitable for Shueisha's other magazines. This is a comic with a very small audience. I really don't know how you came up with it."

"But it's very interesting! It's the funniest comic I've seen this year!"

The themes of comics are for entertainment, and only a few of them contain literary and artistic works.

Readers are here to relax, not to cultivate their sentiments.

This is why Paprika failed.

Akira Toriyama likes "Paprika" very much. He is used to writing hot-blooded comics, and when he saw the unique content, he became obsessed with it.

Perhaps it is because he is getting older and has more leisure time at work, so he has time to focus on reading novels and comics.

Akira Toriyama put his heart into it, and you can appreciate the depth of this manga.

"Paprika" is very simple in terms of story, but the comic has a lot of details. Among these many details, the sum total becomes a wonderful composition.

He guessed that Tori Akino should have finished painting "Red Hot Chili Pepper" long ago. Otherwise, there would be so much content that the weekly comics would not give the author enough time.

This is from a painter's perspective.

In terms of storyboards, it’s even more amazing.

The different dreams that are so imaginative and imaginative may appear to be scattered and incomprehensible, but in fact they are always closely linked to the theme, and they are just a blur of foreshadowing.

There is no gap between the dream and the next dream. Before he could react, he was already in another dream world.

In this regard, it is even more important than "Millennium Actress" to leave no trace.

As for some small advantages, such as the tension of the characters' movements, the continuity of the shots, and the close-ups of various shots, there is no need to say more.

""Paprika" is your masterpiece, right? It's the culmination of what you've learned from drawing comics for many years. As a teacher, I will give you full marks. Because the only thing you can get is full marks." Akira Toriyama praised him without hesitation. .

"Show off your skills? There are some, right?" Higashikata replied.

Most people can't draw such cartoons. Only cartoonists who are experienced and constantly striving for excellence can challenge one or two.

Akira Toriyama said: "Please continue drawing, I am looking forward to the follow-up content."

"Of course, teacher." Higashikata replied.

Higashino Hibiki had a deep talk with Akira Toriyama and completely put aside other people's dissatisfaction. He just needed to continue serializing.

…

"One Piece by Mr. Oda is really interesting, and so is Death Note. It's just that I still can't understand Paprika."

Jin Ziyan sighed, sat on the sofa in the living room, and spread the jump on the coffee table.

He is the son of filmmaker Shusuke Kaneko. Under the guidance of his father, he has a great yearning for literary works.

All his high school classmates rejected "Paprika", but he was able to calm down and read the comic seriously.

It’s just that after studying it, I still can’t understand it.

Kaneko Shusuke put down the newspaper and glanced at his son, "Can't understand the comics? Let me take a look."

He picked up the jump casually and said, "What's so hard to understand? Isn't it just a comic?"

"'Red Hot Chili Pepper', 'DCMINI'..." After seeing the comic content, he put down his crossed legs and sat upright, "This is Mr. Tsutsui's "Dream Inception". "

Holding the jump in both hands, Kaneko Shusuke was very surprised.

In 1996, he watched "Inception", and this wonderful world deeply attracted him.

So he knocked on the door to visit Tsutsui Yasutaka, hoping to adapt the novel.

Tsutsui Yasutaka was very cooperative and he was also very enthusiastic about the film adaptation plan.

The man is affectionate and the concubine is interested. It was originally a happy ending.

However, after careful preparation, Shusuke Kaneko found that with his ability, it was difficult to tell the story of "Dream Detective" clearly, and it was also difficult to film an imaginative dream.

In the end, considering the issue of funding, this plan could only be aborted.

This is also a rare setback for Shusuke Kaneko.

"The comic version of "Dream Inception" is really bizarre." He felt like he hadn't woken up.

Is there a comic version of the work that has caused countless filmmakers to fail?

"I need to take a closer look," he murmured.

"The content here is that Kosaku Tokita listened to Atsuko Chiba's reprimand, and in order to prove himself and save the situation, he put on "DIMINI" and entered the ice room dreamland. "

Tokita was lost in a dream and became a robot.

Atsuko Chiba followed her into the dreamland. She fell from a high altitude and turned into Sun Wukong flying in the clouds and mist.

Everything is possible in dreams.

"The shots here are so good. If placed in a movie, it will definitely amaze readers." Shusuke Kaneko couldn't help but sigh while holding his chin.

Next, frogs, dolls, lucky cats, raccoon-shaped decorations, human-like household appliances, big-head dolls, animal-faced tiles, robots, mannequins from clothing stores, and other items are paraded through the city.

"These are all things that people throw away."

The torii gate and Buddha statue, lucky cat and animal-faced tiles represent religion and traditional culture.

Home appliances are also constantly being updated.

These things are the opposite of New Age.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."

In the dream, the sky is so bright that it makes people uncomfortable.

"Himuro's mind turns out to be such a different kind of nightmare."

Normal nightmares are full of gloom, but the opposite is true in the comics, giving Shusuke Kaneko a different kind of freshness.

In the city, Chiba Atsuko found no trace of Himuro.

The boundary of the dream was broken, and she followed the boundary and entered another world.

This is a broken and decayed world, from sewers to root-filled caves.

Atsuko Chiba finally discovered that this place turned out to be Himuro's decayed body covered with tree roots, and she had just been traveling through Himuro's body.

"It's so imaginative. Who painted this?"

Seeing this, Kaneko Shusuke couldn't help it. He turned the page forward and saw the name Tori Akino Mirai.

"So familiar..."

…

Chiba Atsuko flew up along the tree trunk and saw the face of the chairman who opposed "DCMINI".

It turns out that the mastermind behind everything is the chairman.

The roots began to catch her, and at the critical moment, Atsuko Chiba woke up.

She came to confront the chairman.

Only then did he realize that he was still in a dream.

In order to avoid being tracked by the chairman, she sometimes turns into a sphinx and flies into the sky, and sometimes turns into a mermaid and swims in the sea.

Finally, he turned into Pinocchio and watched the other Sun Wukong himself being caught by butterflies in the sky.

She also fell into a multi-layered dream.

"Hiss~" Shusuke Kaneko was shocked. Just looking at this paragraph, the unique style of "Dream Detective" has indeed been retained.

But it is obviously content that the original work does not have.

“Tshitoi’s words are difficult to convey and reconstruct the visual experience, and I have been troubled by this for a long time.

It's so hard to make an Inception movie interesting.

It's just a comic, but it actually creates a sense of entertainment that is independent of "Dream Detective". That’s amazing! "

The comic ended here, and he was still a little unfinished and wanted to continue reading.

The current content is exciting enough, but the content after that is the essence of "Dream Detective".

"Is there a next chapter?" Shusuke Kaneko asked his son, pointing to the jump.

"This is the latest content." Jin Ziyan spread his hands and expressed that he had no choice.

"That's such a pity." Shusuke Kaneko smacked his lips and felt regretful.

"By the way, do you still have the comic magazine with the previous chapters of "Paprika"?"

"Yes, I'm going to take a serious look at it, so I won't throw it away as rubbish."

"Okay, please help me get it."

There is a stack of comic magazines on the coffee table in the living room.

There are 5 books in total, and the jump of 400 pages is spectacular.

However, Kaneko Shusuke only watched "Paprika" and it won't take long.

In 30 minutes, he watched "Red Hot Chili Peppers" carefully, and he was amazed.

"It can be seen that Mr. Tori Akino has thought about a lot of things. The dream parade at the beginning was in the desert far away from the crowd, which symbolized being far away from the crowd. So my guess just now was correct. The main subjects of these parades were all abandoned by people. s things."

"They have entered the city, what will happen in the future? I am very curious."

He dropped the jump and was moved by "Red Hot Chili Peppers."

Then he turned his attention back to the jump.

"Is it still a comic similar to "Red Hot Chili Peppers"?"

He knows Jump, and "Dragon Ball" is also a comic he used to love.

It's just that as I get older, my hobbies change.

"Let me take a look."

""Naruto", "One Piece"... are all comics similar to "Dragon Ball"..."

"Wait a minute, is this also a work by Tori Akino-sensei?"

"Is it called "Death Note"?"

…

Dong Ye rang early and he started his morning run.

When I got home, there was today's newspaper in the mailbox.

He opened the newspaper and started reading.

""The average unemployment rate hits a new high of 5.4%..." Is it only 5.4%? There is still room for decline. "

""The bodies of the actress and her boyfriend were exposed in the wilderness, and the suspected gangster killed them. The police have closed the case." There is nothing Kira can do about this kind of thing. "

"The advertisement for Panasonic air conditioners... Advertising queen Norika Fujiwara is really eye-catching. Sales of Panasonic air conditioners are about to rise again."

""I felt after reading "Paprika", an unparalleled work of genius"..."

"Hibiki," Akimiya Akemi asked, seeing Hibiki Hibiki reading the newspaper carelessly, "Is there any important news?"

"It's all the same, nothing new..."

"etc!"

"What's Paprika?"