Full-time cartoonist

Higashikata Hibiki said he was frightened.

He stared blankly at the crowd. Yoshida Koji covered his face with shame; Araki Hirohiko was holding a wine glass and looking at this place curiously; Akimotoji's expression was serious, but the smile at the corner of his mouth revealed that he was watching the fun...

Oda Eiichiro, Kishimoto Masashi, Yamamura Morimichi, etc., everyone who noticed it all watched without blinking.

Hibiki's scalp felt numb.

He thought about it carefully and realized that he really didn't recognize the girl in front of him.

"Who are you?" Dong Yexiang asked.

"My name is Hoshino Katsura." Hoshino Katsura took the envelope, stood up straight, and said blankly.

"Put the money away first." Dong Yexiang sighed.

"Oh." Hoshino Katsura quickly put the envelope back into his backpack.

"Let's go over there and have a chat." Dongye pointed to the corner with a snap of his fingers.

"I...I'm honored!"

The two of them left, and the others found that they couldn't see the excitement and could only start chatting as if nothing happened.

…

"Hoshino Katsura, the author of "The Exorcist Boy"," Hibiki Higashino said after careful consideration, "This is a very interesting comic, and so far it is the most exciting work at the serialization conference..."

"Yeah!" Hoshino Katsura flushed with excitement. Her idol valued her so much, which made her extremely happy.

Just as happy as the comic passed the serialization convention.

"But..." Higashikata hesitated.

"Teacher, please speak directly." Hoshino Katsura patted Barren's chest, "I'm listening."

"Well," Higashikata nodded. He really didn't want to complain, "Why do you want to give me money?"

"Because Editor Yoshida said, this is how I can thank you."

"Yoshida? Yoshida Koji."

"Well, it's him."

Hibiki clenched his fists and looked angrily at the crowd. Yoshida, who was paying attention, saw the look in Hibiki's eyes and his heart stopped.

"Then why are you thanking me?" Hibiki forced out a smile, as if he had eaten a stuffed nine-turn large intestine. Facing the ignorant Hoshino Katsura, he could only smile.

"Everyone thinks that "Zone" is the work of a teacher, and that's why they pay attention to me," Katsura Hoshino rubbed the corners of his clothes and said discouraged, "If I weren't a teacher, I wouldn't have been selected for the "Golden Future Cup". "

"I see."

Higashikata understands.

There is no need to thank yourself.

He said: "Everyone thinks you are my vest, that's why they watched "Zone"."

"Uh-huh."

"Doesn't this prove that "Zone" is interesting?"

"What?" Hoshino Katsura pricked up his ears.

"Because my work must be interesting, everyone will think so. "Zone" was accepted by them."

"Yes...that's it." Hoshino Gui nodded suddenly.

"Zone" bears the title of Tori Akino's future work, but it has not been criticized. This is already a kind of proof, proof that the content of "Zone" is wonderful.

"It turns out that my comics..." Hoshino Katsura's eyes sparkled, and she suddenly felt confident, "it's also very interesting."

She likes Tori Akino's future works and has always regarded "Soul of the Game" and "Slam Dunk" as unattainable goals.

Now she discovered that she might actually be able to draw works comparable to these comics.

"Phew, thank you, Tori Akino-sensei."

For the first time, Hoshino Kei had such strong self-confidence.

This was all given to her by Tori Akino in the future.

"Well, it's good that you understand this." Dongye Xiang nodded, his face darkened, "Don't act recklessly like this in the future! It can easily cause trouble to others."

Hoshino Katsura also understood, she lowered her head, "I was so excited after meeting the teacher that I couldn't help but do those things..."

"I...I like the teacher!"

"Huh?!" Higashikata was shocked.

"Teacher's work."

"Oh." Dong Yexiang breathed a sigh of relief.

"I won't do this again," she rummaged through her backpack, pulling out thick envelopes.

Higashikata was startled.

"Oh, I got it wrong, hey."

She stuffed the envelope back, took out the official signature pad, handed the signature pad to Higashi Hibiki with both hands, and said respectfully: "Teacher, please sign your name for me. This is also one of my original intentions for drawing comics. . When I was in junior high school, "The Soul of Chess" stayed with me for a long, long time."

Hibiki Higashino took the signature pad, took out a pen and asked, "Which character in "The Soul of the Game" is your favorite?"

"Of course it's Zuo Wei! He's so handsome, and his love for Go makes me admire him very much."

"so."

Hibiki drew a simple drawing of Sae Fujiwara, and then wrote, "I wish you good health - Tori Akino Mirai."

Hoshino happily took it and watched it excitedly.

She looked at her backpack again, worried that putting Tori Akino's signature in it would crush it. Finally, after thinking about it, she hugged the signature in her arms and kept it carefully.

"Why good health?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I think, with Hoshino-kun's strength, "Exorcist Boy" will naturally become a popular work without having to write about a successful career." Higashino Hibiki is full of confidence in her, "Compared with other things, the body is the most important, and Teacher Yoshihiro Togashi is Drawing comics wears your body down, so I hope you can have a healthy body and face the huge workload of weekly serialization."

"Teacher..." Higashino said earnestly, Hoshino Kei was so moved that his eyes turned red, "I understand."

…

The New Year party will end soon.

Compared with previous years, the newcomers who joined this year impressed Higashino Hibiki.

In terms of comic works, this year is the golden generation of jump.

Katsura Hoshino, Hideaki Sorachi, and Akira Amano are all future famous mangakas.

"Oda," he patted Eiichiro Oda on the shoulder with emotion, "we are all former waves."

"Teacher," Oda couldn't bear to look at him, "You are only about 28 years old this year, which is the age when others just started serializing. You look like you are about to retire. It's really strange."

"And I will continue to paint for a long time. I will keep painting. Twenty years from now, readers will be able to see my name shining on the jump."

Eiichiro Oda has always loved comics. Others will suffer from serialization, but he is very happy to draw. I hope that this kind of years will continue.

"You're such a pervert."

"Ha, teacher, you are scolding me."

"I'm just showing my heart."

"Aren't you scolding me too!"

Oda finally stopped holding on and asked, "What's next? How long will it take for you to draw new works?"

"Emm," Higashikata raised his head, "In two months."

…

Two months later.

Both Omori and Tanaka passed the serialization meeting.

"Secret Words" and "Desperate Diary" were published successively.

Two more comics with the worst scores were cut in half.

"The Exorcist Boy" has achieved gratifying results and is very popular among readers. Its current Xiaozheng ranking is between 6th and 9th, which is at a very good stage.

After all, it is still a newly serialized comic, and it is still waiting for follow-up efforts.

"All Things House Gin" is officially serialized and named "Gintama". In Japanese, the pronunciation is also Dandan.

Onishi accepted.

Other editors thought it was too dirty.

But when it came time for Sasaki to vote, he actually approved the name.

Hibiki Higashino: I didn’t expect you to be like this Sasaki.

Because of its name, "Gintama", which is about male genitalia, did very poorly.

After all, readers are too embarrassed to bring up this shy topic in the streets.

"Gintama" is currently ranked 14th.

Sorachi Hideaki began to worry that his work would be cut in half.

The performance of "Gintama" is still declining, and it won't be long before the novice protection period ends. If you can't stabilize by then, it will be all over.

Akimiya Akemi doesn't understand this. Is it irrational to bury the future of the work on homophones? Sorachi Hideaki's mental state is cause for concern.

This is Sorachi Hideaki. Higashikata Higashi said so.

Only Sorachi can draw such unethical comics as "Gintama", and his unique character has opened up a new track.

"Tutor", which was serialized before and after "Gintama", is even better.

However, the work is tepid, ranking around 10, and seems to have little potential.

Amano Akira draws funny daily stories, but the main line is never drawn, and creating laughs is not that interesting.

In short, the current "Tutor" is not attractive enough.

…

Higashino Hibiki handed the storyboards of the first three episodes to Koji Yoshida.

It contains the first two episodes of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica".

Yoshida Koji frowned.

Madoka Shikama is an ordinary second-year junior high school girl, living an ordinary and happy life.

The appearance of the mysterious transfer student Xiaomi Homura begins to make a huge change in Madoka's destiny. One day, a mysterious creature named Kyubey hopes that Madoka and her friend Sayaka can sign a magic contract with it and become "magical girls" to fight against the evil witch and protect the world.

"I hope you can make a contract with me and become a magical girl!"

Seeing this, Koji Yoshida flipped through the storyboards faster and faster.

Apart from the cute female characters, "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" is just an ordinary magical girl manga.

If Tori Akino hadn't said this was his work, Yoshida Koji would not have believed that he would draw such a featureless comic.

So far, only the character Xiaomi Homura is interesting.

The next content of the storyboard is an expansion of the world view.

Kyubey contracts a magical girl and will grant her one wish first.

After the contract is successful, the magical girl will have a soul gem. The soul gem will become turbid during battle and daily consumption.

The opponent of the magical girl is the witch. The witch is an alien who hides in the barrier and spreads despair and corrodes people's hearts.

The battle between magical girls and witches is full of dangers, and you will die if you are not careful.

The witch also has a Lament Seed, which can purify the turbid soul gem.

etc……

After reading the storyboard of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", Yoshida was a little hesitant and didn't know how to persuade Akino.

With Tori Akino's future artistry, of course it can be serialized.

But results are not guaranteed.

Basically, he is in an ordinary position. If he is outside the 10th place, he may even be cut in half.

Thinking about it this way, drawing this comic is really not worth the gain.

"Teacher, why did you draw "Puella Magi Madoka Magica"?"

"Because it's fun." Hibiki replied.

"That's it." Yoshida suddenly realized.

Just like the manga Akira Toriyama drew after finishing "Dragon Ball", the results were not ideal. Most readers have not heard of it, and there is no possibility of animation.

But Akira Toriyama even said, "COWA!" "" is his favorite work, surpassing "Dragon Ball" and "Arale".

Therefore, Yoshida Koji looked at Higashino Hibiki and said sadly: "Teacher, you followed Akira Toriyama's path and finally reached this point. You began to give up painting works that readers like, and pursue your inner destination."

"???Is that so?" Higashikata was confused.

"I understand." Koji Yoshida did not discuss the pros and cons of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". He stood up and said, "I will help you pass this work on."

"That's good." Anyway, the result was achieved, and Higashikata didn't care anymore.

…

"I may never see Tori Akino-sensei's comics again."

"Just like Toriyama-sensei."

"Oh, what a pity."

The editors of the "Weekly Shonen Jump" editorial department received Yoshida's analysis when they questioned Koji Yoshida after watching the storyboards of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica."

This analysis is so reasonable that the editors all believe it, and they believe it deeply.

Even if Hibiki Higashi comes out to explain, they will think it is Mr. Tori Akino's last act of compassion and they don't want readers to know the bad news.

…

"After the new work is completed, Tori Akino-sensei may put the pen to paper."

At Eiichiro Oda's studio, editor Takahiro Takahiro native suddenly sighed.

"Hey! How could it be!"

"unbelievable!"

"This news is amazing!"

Oda's assistants stopped writing one after another and made a sound of shock.

"Toriakino-sensei, he's just..." Someone was mid-sentence and realized that Hibiki Higashino had been drawing comics for many years.

"Soul", "Slam Dunk", "Death Note", plus some short comics, Tori Akino has created many excellent works in the future.

Counting from the year 1993 when he debuted, it is now 2004, which is quite a lot, almost the same as Akira Toriyama.

Literary creation is based on an author's literary accumulation, which has nothing to do with age. Tori Akino was gutted in the future.

Coupled with persistent creation, it can also lead to mental exhaustion.

Therefore, it is reasonable for the 28-year-old Tori Akino to start retirement care in the future.

"Teacher, please stop."

"I really don't want him to leave."

They were all smiling and filled with emotion.

Oda also had tears streaming down his face, "At the New Year's party, the teacher was more self-proclaimed than before. At that time, he told me that he wanted to take a rest... I couldn't bear to let him go."

"There is still such a thing." Editor Tu Shengtian nodded, "Then it seems that they are almost inseparable."

…

Douda brought the news to the editorial office.

Sasaki also overheard their discussion.

He held his chin and began to think.

"Maybe that's really the case..."

Akino Tori took five and a half years to complete "Slam Dunk" and only one year to complete "Death Note."

As for "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," the planned serialization target is only half a year.

I want to draw short works more and more, which is also a sign that the cartoonist is tired of long comics.

"From high school to now, Tori Akino-kun is finally leaving Jump."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair.