"Come in, please..."
Takumi opened the door and invited two newcomers.
Mach and Haruna, the two assistants he prepared for "One Piece". Let's not talk about Mach for now, he's a veteran mangaka with more talent than Tomato.
And Haruna, this girl who is just starting, should also have considerable talent; otherwise, it would be impossible to succeed with a single submission.
Haruna's arrival is also a request from the Weekly Shōjo Manga Editorial Department. This girl has just started her mangaka career and has great plasticity. The editors hope that she can train here with Takumi and have better development in the future.
"Excuse me."
Mach and Haruna were very nervous when they first arrived at Takumi's house. They changed their shoes and carefully entered, but found that the living room was full of other assistants.
"Welcome, Master Mach..."
Tomato greeted Mach, and Haruna, seeing Sakura getting nervous, went over to greet her respectfully.
"Alright, from now on, your status here with Mirai-sensei is the same as mine. Don't be so polite. When you're asked to show off, do it when you work for me."
Sakura smiled and touched Haruna's head. This girl hasn't officially debuted yet, but she has two assistant jobs. It's stressful, but also fortunate.
"This is the assistant who works with Mirai-sensei. He..."
Tomato began to introduce Kenji, Mach, and Haruna. Takumi smiled and left the room. These assistants need to have a good conversation. In the future, Mach and Haruna will have to receive guidance from the other three for the serialization of "One Piece".
Takumi calculated the time for the three manga. "Detective Conan" doesn't need too much interference. But the pressure of the other two is still somewhat high. But he believes that the mutual guidance of the assistants will make Mach and Haruna familiar with the work faster.
Half an hour later, when Takumi came out again, several assistants were already chatting animatedly, and the unfamiliar atmosphere disappeared.
"Alright, it's time to work!"
he clapped with satisfaction and led the assistants to the studio.
Takumi didn't add an extra study room for One Piece. It was more fun to have everyone together. The room was large enough, with a desk for each person. Now there were only six people, so two rows would be enough if they sat together.
As work began, Takumi and Sakura sat together, and Tomato on the other side of Sakura. Haruna, Mach, and Kenji sat across from the three. This arrangement left Tomato and Kenji at the back, so Takumi and Sakura could be in closer contact.
Since Mach and Haruna had just started working, they were very slow. While Takumi guided them, he focused all his attention on Inuyasha with Sakura.
However, although Mach and Haruna were slow, by carefully painting the background and dots on the sketches Takumi had drawn, the results were unexpectedly good.
"Have you practiced drawing in One Piece's style at home?"
Takumi picked up the sketch, reviewed it again, and then asked Mach.
"Yes..."
Mach nodded, relieved. He's not Mirai-sensei's assistant yet, and he could be fired at any time. How could he feel at ease without preparing in advance?
It's a great honor to be Mirai-sensei's assistant. No mangaka dares to take it lightly. Not only him, but many mangaka from Hinotori Publishing have practiced One Piece's style.
"Seeing Mirai-sensei's expression, he must have passed the test...",
Mach thought. The attitude on Mirai-sensei's face excited him. It was a good start. Perhaps there would be no problem transferring him to a formal assistant in the future.
"Well, you'll be responsible for One Piece's background work and special effects in the future."
Takumi nodded with satisfaction. He was very happy. It was quite rare for Mach to draw the background, and his special effects were also very good. One Piece's comedic style tends to be funny and exaggerated. It's difficult for those who don't understand it to draw all kinds of effects.
Then he turned his head to look at Haruna on the other side and praised her.
"Haruna, you'll first be responsible for the blacking and halftones. You're doing very well with those two things. Don't be impatient. I'll teach you more substantial work in the future...".
Takumi also asked Haruna to draw the background and effects. This young mangaka possesses excellent drawing skills. Although she's not very good at it, she has great potential.
However, as a beginner, Haruna's understanding of One Piece is obviously not as deep as professional mangaka's. There's a sense of stiffness in her paintings, drawn specifically for coordination.
Relatively speaking, Mach's paintings are more natural. Years of novel adaptations make him more suitable for imitating and collaborating with Takumi's original works, and his drawings are completely consistent.
This is an experience gap that is difficult to bridge in a short time, but with so many assistants, Haruna should progress quickly.
What reassured Takumi was that, although Haruna couldn't handle the background, she did very well in other aspects, especially in blacking and halftones, which require patience and detail. She showed the delicacy inherent to girls and did it perfectly.
"Mirai-sensei, don't we use computers?"
Sakura suddenly asked.
They usually use computers when they work. If they use them, dots and blacking are very simple and don't need to be done manually.
"Keep using it, and Haruna won't use it for now." Takumi smiled and replied: "It's better for her to practice more. If she doesn't have time, she can use the computer for post-production."
The computer is a very convenient tool, but a mangaka's skills still require practice. Even drawing on a computer is useless if the skill isn't good enough. Takumi believes that new mangaka don't need to use computers.
In addition, they can now keep up and One Piece's pressure isn't very great.
Mirai Manga has been on sale for two months, and its battle with Weekly Boutique is over. Takumi plans to reduce the number of One Piece episodes next month, so he doesn't have to continue working at such an intense pace.
In addition, Mach and Sakura are more capable than Haruna expected. With their help, the work pressure has also been reduced.
Time flew by, and it was
mid-June. Takumi lived quietly at home, as always. However, outside, The Detective's Son and Detective Conan's individual volumes were about to be released.
These two volumes, launched on the same day, attracted the attention of many media. The victory or defeat between Mirai-sensei and Aika, or between Mirai-sensei and Kanto Manga Company, would be decided by these two volumes.
In previous sales statistics, One Piece sales soared before everyone's eyes, raising Mirai-sensei's lead to over 3 million.
However, these 3 million are not an insurmountable figure.
Early in the morning, after the first volume's publication, Akemi, a reporter from Osaka TV, and a photographer were the first to arrive at Shinsei Books Bookstore, the largest bookstore in the city. Although it was not yet dawn, some readers had already arrived at the plaza.
"Sir, there doesn't seem to be many people,"
Akemi said, looking around.
"Quite a few... Since the plaza is large, there doesn't seem to be many people." The photographer next to her prepared the camera and said with a smile: "Besides, it's not yet dawn, most readers haven't arrived yet."
There was another reason he didn't say it: Shinsei Books Bookstore is the largest in Osaka. There's always a lot of material. Experienced readers don't queue; anyway, they can buy it in the end.
"Oh," Akemi replied. She had just become a reporter and didn't understand many things: "Ma'am, why did the television station record the launch of the single volume this time, but ignored the launch of the previous magazine? Are individual volumes more popular than magazines?"
"Of course..."
The photographer raised his eyebrows and looked at Akemi: "Isn't it obvious? Manga serialized in magazines have a before and after, and readers who buy magazines need to be cultivated. Of course, the sales volume is lower than that of individual volumes."
The difference between magazines and individual volumes lies in the fact that each issue of manga has no beginning or end. A new reader who only buys the magazine once or twice may not understand anything, which limits its circulation.
Hinotori Publishing's channel disadvantage also comes from this. Its sales model requires bookstores in various regions to take the initiative to place orders. However, magazines require a stable long-term consumer group, which is risky. Bookstores will be very cautious when ordering magazines.
However, individual volumes are different. Individual volumes can be considered books. For example, the first two volumes of Detective Conan are very popular, and booksellers are delighted to order the following ones.
"But... if there's a connection between the front and back covers, this isn't right... Shouldn't a volume also be connected?"
Akemi asked, puzzled. Aren't volumes the same as magazines? If you don't read the previous plot, how can you sell the next ones?
The photographer laughed.
"Volumes must be connected, but when they are published, previous issues will be reprinted. Bookstores can choose the order proportion based on regional readers."
He gave an example: "Some bookstores in mainland Japan have never published Detective Conan, so they order a large quantity of the first two volumes to sell them together; and in Osaka, most readers have already read it, so the bookstore's order volume for the first two volumes will be very small, and the main volume will be the third."
Akemi is not foolish; she now understands that magazines are rarely reprinted, usually once a week, and once they sell out, they sell out, and it's difficult to buy old ones.
Individual volumes can be reprinted, and each time a new volume is released, previous ones are updated. This is the biggest difference between magazines and individual volumes.
Magazines are a comprehensive platform, and individual volumes can be considered true manga. However, magazines are very important. Without their promotion and advertising, it's difficult for a manga to sell in large quantities if sold directly as a single volume.
However, this is not definitive. Mirai-sensei's "Five Centimeters Per Second" broke the limitations of magazines and sold individual volumes directly; it seems only Mirai-sensei can do it.
"Mirai-sensei is so strong..."
Thinking about this, Akemi understood that Mirai-sensei is truly strong. No wonder Kanto paid so much attention to Mirai-sensei, nor that the television station was so concerned about this volume's sale.
The final sales competition, who will win and who will lose, depends on now...
- - - - - - - -
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