Great Mangaka

Yuki is a 20-year-old who has appeared in several series in Weekly Shōnen.

A year after his debut, he drew four short manga, three of which had poor results in reader surveys, and only one became a serialized manga. However, this serialized manga was discontinued after two months due to declining performance.

Weekly Shōnen may just be a playground for manga geniuses, but for Yuki, it is a difficult cliff to climb. There is a big difference between his manga and those of conventional artists. He stands out for his skill in modern warfare and the depiction of weapons like tanks and battleships, which also results in a very small number of readers.

Yukifirmly believes that the overall strength of his manga is not inferior to others, but the small number of readers prevents him from maintaining long-term serialization. He wanted to abandon the war theme on several occasions, but was rejected by the editor-in-chief, Kento.

"If you give up what you're good at, how can you compete with others?"

Kento's words still resonated in his ears, which disheartened Yuki for a while and made him want to escape. He felt that it would be difficult for him to make a name for himself in the manga industry.

However, in despair, Mirai-sensei, unattainable to him, came up with a new theme: Gundam, a huge war robot. As soon as Yuki saw this robot, his hope of success was rekindled.

No one else in Weekly Shōnen drew robots as well as him. He studied all night and didn't sleep for several days. Together with Kento, he rushed to publish the first manuscript. And, as expected, this manuscript was approved.

Upon receiving the news, Yuki even cried.

"I did it, I did it!"

He hugged Kento and cried. Kento, aware of the pressure he had endured this year, invited him to eat barbecue after he finished crying. The two talked about manga and imagined the future at the barbecue restaurant. Yuki collapsed on the table, drunk. He was too tired. He had hardly slept since the Gundam theme came out.

Kento carried him home. Yuki vaguely remembered the effort of this weak-looking editor. He sweated and it took him almost an hour to get him home and then hand him over to his mother.

That night, Yuki swore he would succeed. He loved drawing manga and appreciated the editors and all his colleagues who worked hard for manga.

On Wednesday, Weekly Shōnen was published. Yuki woke up early and went out. Although he passed Mirai-sensei's review, he still had to face the cruel reader survey.

This survey was more terrifying than ever. Before, if short manga ranked among the top ten, they had a chance to be serialized, but this time they had to be among the top three. And one of the top three spots was occupied by Mirai-sensei's Detective Conan!

"Will he make it?"

Yuki was a little nervous. He went into the bookstore to observe. Although it was early, people were already buying Weekly Shōnen. Its sales gradually increased with Mirai-sensei's popularity.

"Why is this issue of the magazine thicker than before? Boss, has the price gone up again? Why is Hinotori Publishing like this? Originally, this magazine only had Detective Conan. Aren't they deliberately swindling us?" a reader complained when paying.

"Don't worry." The bookseller scanned the barcode and explained with a smile: "The price is still the same, and this week we've added a section called Mirai-sensei's Guidance Room, which will feature short manga drawn by other artists guided by Mirai-sensei."

"Is there any manga guided by Mirai-sensei?"

The reader immediately became interested: "Mirai-sensei is really incredible. I remember he debuted only half a year ago. In the blink of an eye, he can guide others. But of course, if other artists had one-third of Mirai-sensei's ability, we wouldn't hear bad things about Weekly Shōnen Magazine everywhere."

"By the way, what kind of manga is that?"

"A science fiction manga, I think it's called Gundam or something like that, it looks really good!" The bookseller's eyes lit up and he said excitedly: "They say this theme was provided by Mirai-sensei, and a series of stories will be launched in the coming weeks. You have to check it out, it's really good."

"That good?" The reader paid, picked up Weekly Shōnen Magazine and looked at the introduction on the cover: "The new story is called Gundam First Century, and the artist is Yuki... How come I've never heard of this artist?"

"I didn't know him either. It doesn't matter. His Gundam drawings are very good. This theme is unprecedented." The boss gave a thumbs up: "After reading it this morning, I couldn't stop thinking about fighting robots. It turns out that Iron War is a boys' manga. It's really masculine!"

Hearing this, Yuki praised Mirai-sensei in his heart. 'It's true that genius artists don't exaggerate. Simply providing a theme can win over readers. Yuki failed before because the theme was niche and not many people read it.'

But Mirai-sensei waved his hand and turned the niche into something popular out of nowhere. It's truly admirable.

Although Gundam is science fiction, it's a robot piloted by a person. The battle scenes are amazing, which excites and encourages readers. It's completely different from those tanks and iron battleships. Tanks and battleships are war when they fire projectiles without thinking. How can Gundam rush in and defeat them with real punches and bullets?

"It can succeed!" exclaimed Yuki, enthusiastically. He observed the bookseller's reaction and thought that the research had a high success rate.

As expected, the next day Weekly Shōnen's bulletin was published, and Gundam: The First Century ranked second. The editorial department effusively praised Mirai-sensei and the new theme. Yuki had the opportunity to serialize a new work and became the most anticipated artist under Mirai-sensei's direction. It is foreseeable that Gundam: The First Century will be a long-term serialized manga.

The other artists were shocked. The Gundam theme had a good start, and everyone felt envy and jealousy. While congratulating Yuki, these artists began to prepare more frantically for the submission of the Gundam series. There will be opportunities in the coming weeks. If they achieve serialization status, they will be the veterans of the Gundam series in the future.

The next day, the Weekly Shōjo Manga bulletin was also published. A new work from the magical girl series, "I am a High School Girl and a Magical Girl," by the artist Ichiro, ranked second, only surpassed by Inuyasha.

Gundam, Magical Girl: in just one week, Takumi fulfilled half of his promise to Tsukimoto Genji. Not only did all of Hinotori Publishing applaud, but even Tsukimoto Genji, upon hearing the news, couldn't calm down and burned his hand while preparing tea.

And Takumi...

When Alice excitedly told Takumi the result, he was surprisingly calm.

"Really? I almost have it..."

Takumi murmured with dark circles under his eyes. After a busy week, his new manga would be released soon. It was called "Five Centimeters Per Second"!

- - - -

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