July 18th marked the official start of Sobu High School's 40-day summer vacation. Although the school offered many training activities to enrich students' summer lives, these were irrelevant to Hikigaya Hachiman, who was about to enter the busiest time of his year.
Just yesterday, he had accepted the invitation from Chiba University's Mystery Fiction Research Society and decided to attend an exchange event the following Monday. According to his ideas, there might be more than one such event during the summer break.
However, before that, he had another important task: negotiating the manga serialization contract for The Jukakukan Incident with Kodansha. What made this different was that he had to bring Sawamura Eriri along. Because it was a two-person collaboration, Kodansha had provided separate contracts for each of them.
Kodansha had already sent over some of the contract details. Today, Hachiman was taking Eriri to the Weekly Young Magazine editorial office to sign the formal agreement.
"By the way, Sakamachi," Hachiman asked from the back seat, "did Kodansha only send me the contract for the magazine serialization?" His previous collaborations with Sakuraba had typically included contracts for both magazine serialization and book publication simultaneously, so this felt a little unusual.
"Well, how should I put it, Mr. Hachiman?" his assistant, Sakamachi Kinjiro, answered carefully. "You should know that the internal competition within these manga magazines is very fierce. If a comic receives poor reader feedback rankings for several consecutive weeks, it will be canceled. Therefore, not all manga are guaranteed a standalone volume (tankōbon) release when they first begin serialization."
"...Okay, I understand what you mean," Hachiman replied. "Although it's a bit annoying, they're just following the rules. I don't have much to say. As for the price, the contract says 40,000 yen per page. What does that mean, roughly?" While Hachiman enjoyed reading manga, he didn't know much about the industry itself.
"Well, the price Kodansha offered you is absolutely overwhelming compared to the royalties of other manga artists. Most authors in the industry are paid around 10,000 yen per page," Sakamachi explained carefully. "But we can't compare them directly. You, Mr. Hachiman, were 'invited' by Kodansha to serialize with them, unlike other authors who are selected after submitting their work. So the money Kodansha is paying you can be understood as a reward or a thank-you fee, not a standard royalty payment. This is reflected in the contract."
"I see. So the contract given to Ms. Kashiwagi is just an ordinary manga artist contract, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Hachiman. Ms. Kashiwagi will receive about 10,000 yen per page, which is good treatment for an artist serializing in a, uh, mainstream comic magazine for the first time."
"By the way," Hachiman asked suddenly, curious, "for the comics like the ones Ms. Kashiwagi drew before, wouldn't the royalties be higher?"
"Uh... actually, that's not the case, Mr. Hachiman," Sakamachi explained, somewhat embarrassed. He knew these things simply because he had a wide range of interests; as a married man, he had stopped reading that kind of manga long ago. "For magazines that specialize in serializing works like hers, the royalties are often no different from mainstream magazines, and might even be lower. I suspect Ms. Kashiwagi's main source of income is from self-publishing (doujinshi). Printing the volumes herself and selling them directly at events like Comiket earns much more than serializing in a magazine."
During the rest of the trip, Hachiman and Sakamachi, two seemingly successful men, talked at length about the intricacies of the Japanese manga industry. After the conversation ended, Hachiman couldn't help but sigh at the long history and magnificent development of this industry in Japan.
The car arrived at the villa area where the Sawamura house was located. Eriri and her mother, Ms. Sayuri Sawamura, were already waiting at the door.
"Writer Hachiman, I'm sorry to trouble you today," Sayuri said with a bright smile, patting Eriri's head as her daughter practically boiled with embarrassment. "This is the first time Eriri is signing a contract with a comic magazine all by herself. It's time for me, Kashiwagi Eri's 'shadow warrior' (kagemusha), to retire, hahaha."
"Mom! Don't say those things in front of Writer Hachiman! It's so embarrassing!" Eriri covered her face, not wanting him to see her extremely shy expression.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Sawamura," Hachiman reassured her. "We have an excellent lawyer accompanying us. He will help review all the contract details and ensure Sawamura won't suffer any loss." He had already informed Yagami Takayuki about the signing. Normally, a manga serialization contract didn't require a lawyer's presence, but since this was Eriri's first time, Hachiman was taking it very seriously.
"I feel relieved hearing you say that, Mr. Hachiman," Sayuri said, her tone becoming more solemn. "Eriri is still just a girl, and my husband and I have protected her too much. This is her first step out of the ivory tower. In the future, Mr. Hachiman, please give her more guidance so she can avoid taking detours." In the past, Eriri only needed to focus on creating; her parents handled everything else. But from today on, she would be appearing in the public eye as a formal cartoonist and would have to do many things herself. The thought made Sayuri a little worried, but knowing Hachiman would be her guide brought some comfort.
"Sawamura and I are the same age, so there's really no need for me to give pointers," Hachiman said modestly. "We'll make progress together."
"Mom, I have a clear understanding of what I'm about to face," Eriri declared with full confidence. "Please keep your eyes open in the coming days and wait for the day when your daughter dominates the manga world!"
"Good, very energetic," her mother replied, before inadvertently delivering a critical hit that sank Eriri's confidence. "But you'll have to practice writing your own scripts first. After all, Mr. Hachiman can't always provide you with material, especially not for... those kinds of plots."
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