Great Mangaka

On Wednesday, March 11th, long queues formed at all bookstores in Osaka selling Weekly Shōjo Manga.

Kento had not seen such a scene in a long time. He was a reporter for Tōkai Daily newspaper and had reported on the situation when Weekly Shōnen was published. The popularity back then was still fresh in his memory.

However, with Kanto's appearance, Hinotori Publishing's manga magazines were no longer as popular. Normally, the number of readers buying weekly magazines in bookstores and newsstands surpassed that of the two weekly magazines.

This was due to two factors. One was Kanto's mass production of manga. Relying on thousands of mangaka, it launched a daily magazine sales model. Although this model was deceptive, Tuesday's and Monday's magazines had different focuses, but essentially they were still weekly. Even so, new magazines came out daily, which was very pleasing to readers.

In contrast, Hinotori Publishing only published two days a week, which, as expected, seemed to be falling behind. Furthermore, Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga's quality was uneven, and it couldn't compare to Kanto Daily's overall quality.

Due to these two factors, the press generally believed that Hinotori Publishing's cession of Osaka, the manga headquarters, to Kanto Manga Company was a predestined outcome for its development, and therefore, paid less attention to Hinotori Publishing.

However, Kento always had an idea in mind: he believed that Kanto Manga would surpass Hinotori Publishing. One of the main reasons was that Mirai-sensei did not launch new works.

Mirai-sensei published a work in Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga, and over time, readers' sense of freshness had faded. That's when Kanto's manga emerged. Only then did such a big change occur.

This idea. The current situation is the best proof...

"Damn it, how many beauties!"

The one who exclaimed was Jiro, the photographer and Kento's colleague, who was holding a camera and enthusiastically photographing the trendy scene at the bookstore: "When Kanto Daily came out, it didn't seem that spectacular!"

Kento nodded. In the first week of Kanto Daily's launch, the lively atmosphere was less than half of what it was now. The bookstore in front of them had two floors, and the queue in the manga section on the upper floor already reached the first floor. And the queue was full of young girls, looking like a country of women.

"There are so many women that I'm embarrassed to interview them." Kento smiled bitterly, but Jiro was different, his eyes sparkling: "What are you afraid of? We are journalists. If we go to interview them, they won't say anything."

He was a little eager to act.

"That's right"

Kento calmed down and walked towards the bookstore.

"Clear the way, clear the way!"

But before they entered, a young man ran out of the bookstore. He was panting, his face flushed, and he was holding a magazine in his arms. Kento noticed it was Weekly Shōjo Manga.

"Wait, Jiro." Kento reached out and grabbed his colleague, who wanted to approach the "Daughter's Kingdom," and then walked towards the young man: "Hello, sir? We are reporters from Kanto News Agency. Can you accept our interview?"

Kento smelled the perfume emanating from the man, the perfume of the women queuing in the bookstore. It seemed that this man was a sight to behold.

"Reporter?"

The man was startled and said, panicking: "Don't interview me, I don't accept interviews. There weren't many people when I entered the bookstore. Who would have thought so many women would appear in the back? It's an accident! I don't mean to be vulgar!"

He misunderstood that the reporter wanted to interview him for being in the group of women. Kento smiled and said: "Don't worry, we're not doing an interview about this; we just want to ask you about this magazine...".

Kento pointed to the Weekly Shōjo Manga the man was holding in his hand.

The man was stunned for a moment, then wiped the sweat from his face: "Oh, so you're investigating Mirai-sensei's new work; why didn't you say so earlier?"

His expression lit up. His professional sensitivity let Kento know that this was a reader willing to accept interviews and answers. Today he found a good target.

"Sir, Weekly Shōnen isn't published until tomorrow. Why did you come today to buy Weekly Shōjo Manga magazine?"

Kento took out paper and a pen and prepared to write down:

"I'm a fan of Mirai-sensei and I've been looking forward to his new work for a long time. It's true that today's manga are for girls, but I still don't want to miss it." The man touched his head and smiled: "And didn't they cut a lot of manga this week? Weekly Shōjo Manga costs 240 yen, too cheap. There's no pressure to buy one."

"Yes, that's right."

Kento nodded as he wrote. Hinotori Publishing carried out an unprecedented mass cut this week. Although it caused dissatisfaction among some readers, they could previously buy two magazines for the price of one, and the price reduction was also well-received by other readers.

"Is there any other reason?"

Kento continued to ask.

"Anything else? And Mirai-sensei's girls' manga are also very good! My colleagues and I read the latest Inuyasha as a boys' manga." The man laughed: "We thought this girls' manga must be the same as the previous one, so today at work... several colleagues helped me with my work and I ran out to buy magazines."

"Oh, right." The man turned to Jiro, who was about to take a picture of him, and said: "Don't take pictures, my boss isn't here today. If you put me in the newspaper, he'll scold me to death tomorrow!"

"Okay."

Jiro put down the camera. He took thousands of photos a day, but only a few people could appear in the newspaper, so it didn't matter whether he took them or not. Today's main interviewee is a girl, so, of course, he had to publish the beautiful girl in the newspaper tomorrow.

"Don't worry, we rarely publish people who don't want to be reported. Even if we have to put you on the list, we'll disguise you so no one can see you...".

Kento thought that a man with a pixelated face appearing in the newspaper was also a very interesting advertisement, but he couldn't say it aloud, so he had to keep asking: "Are you satisfied with Mirai-sensei's new manga? Is it the same style as Inuyasha?"

"No, they're different...".

The man shook his head, looking somewhat disappointed: "The new manga is a typical girls' manga. At first I wanted to buy several copies, but now I can only return one."

"A typical girls' manga?"

Kento quickly wrote it down. He was surprised. No wonder there were no male readers in the bookstore. It turned out that Mirai-sensei's new manga was a typical girls' manga. He was puzzled. 'Why did Mirai-sensei abandon the style that attracted both men and women?'

After the interview, Kento and Jiro entered the bookstore. This time, their goal was very clear. They interviewed different types of female readers, and the answers they received were surprisingly similar.

The female readers who had read the sample were full of praise and lauded Mirai-sensei's new work, calling it excellent. The girls who hadn't read it were also very excited. They knew through other channels that Mirai-sensei had published a girls' manga, so they rushed to visit it excitedly.

"Mirai-sensei has always favored male readers. Even female manga like Five Centimeters Per Second use the male protagonist's perspective. Although they are all great, I have always looked forward to him writing a manga suitable for girls!"

"But this Ouran High School Host Club is particularly good. I think it's better than Kaya Hoshino's Hoshi."

"This is a conventional female manga. I like it very much. It shows that Mirai-sensei is willing to listen to everyone's voice. But after reading it, I found that Mirai-sensei is really good at everything and draws everything very well. I hope he can draw more types of manga and not limit himself."

Kento also saw some housewives who came to buy Weekly Shōjo Manga, and their answers were very interesting.

"I like idol romance dramas. After watching the first episode of Ouran High School Host Club, I felt that it told the story of Cinderella becoming a princess... Although it's a bit cheesy, all girls have that dream. I really like this manga."

"My daughter asked me to buy it, but after seeing the sample, I think I can watch it with her. The handsome boys who appear are pleasing to the eye... What are you laughing at? No one stipulates that middle-aged women can't look at handsome boys?"

"I think Mirai-sensei's manga will soon become the topic of plaza dances and mahjong parlors..."

After the investigation, Kento basically confirmed the effect of Mirai-sensei's new manga: it's a reverse harem work that drives women crazy, but men don't like it...

This result disappointed him a little. He felt that Mirai-sensei had taken a path that suited the market, but in the end, when interviewing the bookstore manager, Kento received an unexpected surprise.

"I'm very satisfied with Mirai-sensei's new work, Ouran High School Host Club."

The store manager, a middle-aged man, smiled and replied: "When Mirai-sensei launched Inuyasha, sales in our bookstore were also very good, but there were thousands of male customers, which was a big problem."

"Weekly Shōjo Manga and Weekly Shōnen were originally magazines with completely different readers. I think that if Mirai-sensei continues to launch manga that appeals to both men and women in Weekly Shōjo Manga, its positioning with Weekly Shōnen could become confused, or even homogenized. I think that's very dangerous."

"Mirai-sensei may not care, but as a professional manga company, Hinotori Publishing must have a clear positioning in the classification of its magazines to cultivate a readership, which also benefits the development of manga." If everything gets confused, mangaka will not be able to write niche works, and everyone will write neutral manga.

The bookstore manager's answer made Kento understand that Mirai-sensei was repositioning Hinotori Publishing's two magazines. He could attract both men and women, but other mangaka didn't have that ability.

"In this case, is Mirai-sensei tying his own hands?"

Kento always believed that this was not good, especially for Mirai-sensei.

"I don't think so...". But the bookstore manager didn't believe it. He shook his head and smiled: "Mirai-sensei dared to do this because he had confidence. If before he had to consider both male and female readers to maximize a manga's readership, now he might have confidence."

"He can create a sales miracle by relying solely on female readers!"

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