Great Mangaka

"Ding-ling-ling..."

The intense ringing woke Takumi out of bed. He picked up the phone sleepily and replied in a daze, "What's wrong, Alice?"

"Who is Alice?"

A crisp girlish voice came from the other end, and Takumi finally reacted, "Shiori, it's you, why are you calling me?"

He looked at the time. It was only seven in the morning, too early. Classes had not yet started. 'Why would I call him Shiori so early?'

"Takumi, have you been online? Mirai-sensei has published a new novel online. It's a classic. He has a lot of talent. If you haven't read it, go see it soon. Don't miss it!" said Shiori excitedly.

"Oh."

Takumi muttered faintly: "I know, I'm going to go back to sleep."

"Hey, wait, I have something else to do!" Shiori quickly interrupted him and said, "Next week is a holiday. Can you accompany me to a place on November 22?"

"Okay."

Takumi yawned and nodded.

"Great. I'll let you know the details first. Prepare well."

Shiori hung up the phone contentedly.

Takumi woke up suddenly. 'Preparation, more preparation? What did Shiori want me to do? He accepted without asking. What a mistake!'

She sighed and couldn't sleep anymore, so she got up and went outside to wash. Aika left early and came back early with vegetables and made breakfast.

At breakfast time, a news item appeared on television:

"Yesterday, the famous mangaka Mirai-sensei published the novel The Legend of Wukong online. It received more than a hundred thousand visits in half a day. Some say it's a response to the release of a female manga of romantic princess Kaya Hoshino. Our network interviewed Kaya Hoshino to see what she thinks of this novel."

"Hello everyone. I'm Kaya Hoshino. I read The Legend of Wukong. It's a very good novel. I didn't expect Mirai-sensei to be as good at two skills as I was. I admit that I underestimated it. I hope Mirai-sensei can continue to work hard and become a top-notch novelist as soon as possible."

"Miss Kaya Hoshino is already a first-rate novelist. Of course, all of the above are the personal opinions of the reporter, not those of our station."

Takumi stopped moving at the table. It wasn't because of fear of Kaya Hoshino, but because of Aika's resistance to attracting too much attention. I didn't know how I would react at that moment.

"You've done something so big again." Aika ate the noodles without changing her expression, very calm: "Don't worry, I knew last night and now I'm not surprised."

"Yes."

Takumi wiped the sweat from his face.

"But I have something to say."

Aika put down the bowl and chopsticks, her face suddenly cooled, and she stared at Takumi: "If you stay up for more than ten hours to do something again, don't blame your mother for being angry."

She was already angry.

Takumi quickly apologized, not daring to disobey the mother who raised him.

After breakfast, Tomato arrived.

"Master Mirai-sensei, I'm here to work!" Tomato was very excited as he walked through the door: "Master Mirai-sensei, you must autograph me after the publication of The Legend of Wukong. That novel is great!"

Takumi nodded happily: "We'll talk about it after its publication."

I was a little worried about whether it would be published smoothly. Alice went to his house last night and told him that Hinotori Publishing would not publish The Legend of Wukong.

This surprised Takumi. 'You can make money, but you don't publish it. What is this?' But Alice's explanation was also very clear. Hinotori Publishing is a professional manga publisher. There is no need to get involved in novels for momentary pleasure. They do not intend to compete with Tatsuryū Publishing in the novel market.

The novelistic market is even crueler. It's very good to be successful in the manga industry.

In fact, publishing a novel is not a very complicated task for Hinotori. The main problem is that Takumi doesn't want a conventional publication. He wants to use The Legend of Wukong to increase his influence. The company must invest a lot of money in advertising; otherwise, it won't have much effect.

Hinotori believes there are too many variables. If the publicity is too great, it could even distort the company's external image and attract the surveillance and hostility of many novelist groups. In that case, it's best to give up the copyright of The Legend of Wukong to show sincerity.

Takumi was a little disappointed with this decision, but he also admired it.

Tsukimoto Genji, who led the development of Hinotori, was a cautious person who could withstand the pressure. He knew that The Legend of Wukong would generate great economic benefits, but he abandoned it so as not to get involved in the novel market. This behavior is exactly the same as the idea of not easily engaging in animation.

Tsukimoto Genji was very careful at every step. Hinotori was led by him. Not to mention future development, at least the chance of accidents was minimal.

But in this way, Takumi had to negotiate with other publishers. He wrote The Legend of Wukong not for money at all. Money is secondary. What's important is the impact that The Legend of Wukong can have. This novel will attract more people to get to know him and be interested in his mangas.

Through research, Takumi is able to better understand the gap between the novel and manga markets in Japan.

A very simple example can serve to illustrate this: NHK's cultural channel reports on the novel industry and presents excellent newly published novels almost daily, which is equivalent to permanent advertising. It is easy to imagine the situation of the novel industry in Japan.

The mangas have not been included separately in NHK so far. As an emerging and rapidly developing industry, only a few local television networks have opened manga shows, and these are mainly adaptations of novels.

In a world where intellectual property rights are strictly protected, mangas are still a niche, while novels have become a popular culture that can compete with television and film...

Mirai-sensei's Legend of Wukong will hit mainstream media in a few days. Not that it's much better than manga, but the novel itself has the advantage of promotion.

If you find a powerful publisher, you won't have to worry about promotion or advertising, and this promotion will inevitably attract more readers to read mangas.

Kaya Hoshino proved it. The novelist launched a manga and the sales were a resounding success. Apart from some original manga readers, there are also many people who buy manga for Kaya Hoshino. They tend to have the habit of buying books, and buying a manga is not a pressure...

"But to whom should the publishing rights be assigned?"

Takumi reflected on this problem. In the morning, Tomato suddenly asked him during work:

"Mirai-sensei, won't you leave the manga industry?"

Tomato thought about it for a long time before daring to ask. Now that people have seen Mirai-sensei's talent for novels, many are wondering if she will leave the manga industry.

"No."

Takumi smiled slightly and said, "The manga industry in the future will definitely not lag behind the novel industry. Why should I leave?"