Tokyo life starting with painting

After writing his remarks about the completion of the serialization of "Hanzawa Naoki", Higashinoji also breathed a long sigh of relief.

According to what Koharu Hosokawa said, a special page will be dedicated to "He Shi", the epilogue at the end of the series.

This can be regarded as giving enough face to Higashinoji.

Generally speaking, when a comic like this is completed, one or half a box is given to the author to express the closing remarks.

Give it a full page. This is enough to show that Tomishima Publishing House attaches great importance to Higashino Tsukasa.

Higashinoji put down his pen and rubbed his temples, secretly thinking about the honors "Naoki Hansawa" had won along the way.

The manga department of "Heshi" ranked first in the readership survey for 25 consecutive issues.

Japanese manga ranks first in volume sales, first in annual sales, and ninth in total sales (related to the number of volumes).

These are all figures that can be boasted about.

There are also various ones. For example, some newspapers and magazines conducted surveys on "the comics that young people like to read most", "one of the top ten most popular comics by readers" and "the works that are most anticipated by readers".

In short, there are many other honors.

These honors come out of nowhere.

But basically they all issued certificates, so Tonoji thought about it and put it on the exhibition counter that Konoe Ryoka gave to him.

The originally shabby transparent glass exhibition cabinet has also been enriched a lot.

Except for these.

"I can finally stop here for a while and focus on the painting of "Spirited Away"."

Higashinoji stretched himself comfortably.

Yes.

Over the past few weeks, all his energy has been devoted to "Naoki Hansawa".

After all, breaking records quietly seems easy.

But if you really want to put it into practice, it would be a bit too difficult.

Even Higashino didn't dare to be distracted. After two weeks, he tried his best to draw this last volume safely.

I looked at the comments on the Internet that ""Naoki Hansawa" is over, and so is my youth."

Higashinoji is also a bit funny.

The completion of "Naoki Hansawa" will undoubtedly have some impact on the current Japanese comic market, but its impact is far less than that of "Unnatural Death" and "Midnight Ring".

Because the Japanese comics market has gradually come out of the cold winter period.

Workplace comics, mainly "Hanzawa Naoki" and "Unnatural Death", are now gradually becoming popular in the market.

Higashino Tsukasa is indeed jokingly called the ‘Father of Japanese Workplace Comics’ by some people.

However, seeing this title, Higashinoji was much calmer than expected.

Perhaps because of the three years in Japan, my mentality has become much more stable than before - mainly because this title is of little use, and if I have time to care about this kind of thing, I might as well continue painting "Spirited Away".

Thinking of this, Higashinoji also groaned, thinking about the current situation of "Spirited Away".

Higashino Studio has been roughly formed. Unlike when it was first established, Higashinoji could not continue working without him.

Therefore, in the past few weeks, they have produced some results that even Tonoji feels are good.

The rough original painting work for the beginning of "Spirited Away" has been completed, and some areas that need refinement have been handed over to Higashinoji for production.

As for the soundtrack of Hisaishi Joe in the previous life "Spirited Away", this is actually not difficult for Higashinoji.

After all, one of his former classmates who studied animation once did a project on "Spirited Away", and Higashinoji helped check a lot of information at that time.

Higashinoji returned to work on "Spirited Away".

During this process, Higashino Tsukasa also accidentally heard the news that Nakano Arisa had submitted "The Grudge" to Higashino Comics website.

This made Touyesi somewhat interested.

He has basically ignored Nakano Arisaki in the past few weeks and basically allowed her to develop freely.

I don't know how her skills have improved over the past few weeks.

Higashinoji was a little curious, so he made a special trip to Hosokawa Koharu's place.

As soon as he entered the door, he was overtaken by the strong smell of coffee in Hosokawa Koharu's office——

Although the coffee itself has a very fragrant aroma, it is not enough.

Higashinoji almost thought that Hosokawa Koharu had been soaking in coffee cans these days.

This taste.

Higashinoji didn't do anything like pinching his nose. He just helped her open the ventilation window behind her: "Editor Hosokawa, why do you smell like coffee?"

His tone was teasing. After all, the two of them were familiar with each other, so it was okay to make a joke.

But what Higashinoji didn't expect was.

As soon as he finished speaking, Hosokawa Koharu on the other side stared at him with particularly resentful eyes.

The usually bright eyes were dull now, with thick dark circles underneath them, but they were covered by foundation just now, and because his head was lowered, Tonoji couldn't see them clearly.

"Editor Hosokawa, what's wrong with you?"

Hosokawa Koharu's face looked too weak, as if he had stayed up for several days and nights, which shocked Tonoji when he saw it.

Those who didn't know better thought that the other party was a female ghost who came to claim his life.

"." Hosokawa Koharu didn't say anything, just rubbed his eyes, thinking about complaining to Higashinoji.

Yes!

Just complaining!

Because she can be said to be both a father and a mother these days.

"Hansawa Naoki" broke the record, and Tomishima Publishing House needed her help to sort out all the documents of "Hansawa Naoki"'s honors.

Nakano Arisa's "The Grudge" submission was uploaded, and she was busy helping to review the promotion.

Then she also had to hand in her own resume.

In addition, all the miscellaneous things accumulated, and she suddenly went from just hanging around every day to a high-intensity working state where she worked overtime until more than ten o'clock every day, and only dared to get off work after sorting out the documents.

His whole body turned into a top and was being whipped around.

And the culprit behind all this is

There is no doubt that it is Higashinoji in front of him.

Naturally, she wanted to complain to Higashinoji.

Of course, this is what I think about in my heart.

Tsukasa Higashino is her right-hand man, and there are many people who want to do this job as the editor-in-chief of "Japan's No. 1" manga, but they still can't do it.

This can be considered a sweet trouble for her.

"It's nothing, I just haven't been very energetic lately. I drank coffee to cheer me up."

Hosokawa Koharu wanted to rub his face, but felt that this action was not very elegant, so he raised his head and asked: "By the way, Mr. Higashino, is there anything you want to do here this time?"

"I want to see the original manuscript of "The Grudge" drawn by Arisaki."

Higashinoji saw that Hosokawa Koharu didn't want to explain too much, so he went straight to the point.

"Oh, that's right."

Hosokawa Koharu suddenly realized.

Nakano Arisa is considered Higashinoji's apprentice. Although he is not at the level of a housebreaker, he can still be regarded as a half-disciple.

It is natural that he would care about the development of his apprentice.

Thinking of this, Hosokawa Koharu did not hesitate and took out a box of manuscripts from under his desk. They were not copies, but originals.

"This is the original manuscript that Arisaki revised, and this is the final draft."

One box contains one copy of the finished manuscript.

This number is actually not too exaggerated for a comic book author.

After all, Higashinoji's pencil sketches of just shooting could fill a room after three years of accumulation.

Nakano Arisa has been working hard for a month or two, so it’s quite normal to have a box.

Higashinoji took out the manga manuscript from the box and flipped through it roughly, only to realize that Nakano Arisa's progress was really fast.

If there are problems with the movements, they will be marked with a red pen; if there are lines that need to be considered, they will be marked with a yellow pen; if there are problems with the characters' hairstyles and clothing, they will be marked with a green pen.

Looking at the green hair of the figure above, Higashino couldn't help coughing.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Chinese term "cuckold" in Japan, Higashinoji would have really thought that Arisa Nakano did this on purpose.

Put this aside

Higashinoji could finally see that Nakano Arisa was really working hard to learn to draw comics.

This also made Higashikata very satisfied.

After reading a box of drafts, Higashino didn't hesitate and turned to look at the finished draft of "The Grudge".

First is the cover.

Thick black ink unevenly covered the top words, and below was a little boy with a pale face and dark eyes without any white.

It is Toshio Saeki, the little boy who impressed people very much in "The Grudge".

At this time, Toshio Saeki's face was facing Higashinoji.

It was as if the resentment that penetrated into the bones could pass through the medium of paper and inflict resentment on Higashinoji.

Can.

Looking at the cover, Higashino raised his eyebrows in satisfaction.

Arisa Nakano has said before that she does not know how to draw the frontal faces of characters.

But it is obvious that after two months of training, she has been able to control the front face shape of the character.

including expression changes

If someone saw the cover she painted at night, they might gasp.

Higashikata continued to look down.

Only then did I see the annotation about the title of "The Grudge".

"Grudge" refers to the curse cast by a person who died with a grudge. It is a strong resentment caused by the anger in the heart of a person after he died in vain.

The twisted words give people a chilling feeling.

The cover ends here.

Nakano Arisa has definitely improved.

Look at the content again.

Saeki's house is shrouded in shadow.

The ghost who died in vain by making a "cluck, cluck, cluck" sound

The poisonous resentment has already wrapped around you silently when you opened the door.

Higashinoji looked at Nakano Arisa's manuscript, and his eyes flashed with admiration.

Very good indeed.

Not to mention scaring Higashinoji to the point of peeing, but his scalp was numb and his spine was chilling.

No wonder Hosokawa Koharu allowed her to submit this work.

Really top quality.

"In addition to these finished manuscripts, Mr. Higashino, would you like to take a look at the comment section under Miss Nakano's comics? There are some interesting comments."

"Interesting comment?"

Seeing Hosokawa Koharu operating next to the computer, Higashinoji put down the manuscript in his hand and stepped forward.

Nakano Arisa's "The Grudge" is obviously very popular.

Although it is not as popular as "Naoki Hansawa" and "Unnatural Death", it can still be regarded as attracting a lot of attention as soon as it was published - with more than a thousand comments.

It can also be seen from the "special praise" in the reviews that "The Grudge" is indeed very popular.

And put aside these evaluations

Higashinoji actually saw in the comment area, "It's very Higashino-sensei's style" and "I heard it's a work by Higashino-sensei's apprentice?" The quality is very good. 'comment of.

This made Higashino glance at Hosokawa Koharu a little surprised.

"I asked the person in charge of operations to add the words 'Teacher Higashino's apprentice'."

Hosokawa Koharu replied with a smile.

"Is it?"

Higashikata nodded without comment.

Some people may say that this behavior is a bit flattering to Higashinoji's popularity.

But reality is not like fiction.

Use the connections you can use as much as possible. Results are the most important.

To talk about 70, 80 or 90 without grades is simply nonsense.

So Tonoji didn't care.

Moreover, it was Nakano Arisa's outstanding performance that allowed him to receive such a large amount of recognition.

Seeing this, Higashinoji couldn't help but nodded, and asked casually: "By the way, what is Arisaki's pen name?"

This is just a casual question.

He felt that Arisa Nakano was probably similar to him. His pen name was ‘Higashino’, so Arisa Nakano might be called ‘Nakano’.

"Ah, I remember his name was Junji Ito."

Hosokawa Koharu glanced at the backstage record and said.

However, her words.

Even Toyoshi couldn't help but glance sideways at her, "What are you talking about?"

Junji Ito?

"Is your name Junji Ito?"

Tonoji confirmed it.

"Well, it's Junji Ito. Is there any problem?"

Hosokawa Koharu has a strong ability to observe faces, and he immediately noticed that something was wrong with Higashinoji's expression.

That is indeed quite problematic.

Higashinoji didn't expect to hear such a name here.

Junji Ito

That was a famous Japanese horror comic author in his previous life, the true ceiling of Japanese horror comics.

Although Higashinoji doesn't like reading comics, he has heard of his name.

What works like "Fish" and "Whirlpool"?

But when it comes to his most famous work, it may be "Fujiang".

Tomie, a beauty with charming hearts and unlimited reproduction. Even if she is killed, a drop of her blood and a hair can grow a new Tomie

But Higashinoji didn't expect that such a ruthless name would be used by Nakano Arisa in this parallel world.

This naturally surprised Tonoji.

He asked: "Did Yusaki tell you why she used the pen name Ito Junji?"

"Huh? I remember there was no particular reason."

Hosokawa Koharu shrugged: "It seems that there is a small town called Ito in her hometown. Junji is a name she randomly thought of. It seems that she wants to be more masculine and does not want people to notice her identity as a female author."

"That's right."

Higashinoji could barely accept this reason.

In Japan, women have always been a disadvantaged group. It is quite normal for Nakano Arisa to want to get rid of this stereotype and use a male pen name.

But he chose the pen name "Junji Ito".

Tōnoji didn’t even know what to say.

this situation

Should you say it's a coincidence?

Or should we say that there is God’s will in the dark?

It's really strange.