Dream Comic sells over 10 million copies weekly, with distribution channels spanning dozens of prefectures across Japan. There were plenty of people like Kiki, who had nothing to do in the morning and bought magazines simply to pass time.
Most of these readers had their own favorite works among the twenty titles serialized in Dream Comic, but all of them would at least take a glance at the brand-new series, Hikaru no Go, debuting this week.
What if this new manga actually turned out to be interesting?
Because of that mindset, the moment the official Dream Comic forum opened that morning, threads discussing Hikaru no Go were already piled up in the "Trending" section.
A huge part of the audience knew absolutely nothing about Go, but they were still getting sucked in by the story.
And when people don't understand something, they naturally turn to the forum to ask.
Strawberry_Milk77: "So this manga is literally just about playing Go? No romance in Shirogane-sensei's new work?"
CatEars_OnTuesday: " If Tōya Akira were a girl, that would be perfect! Then the male and female leads would basically be confirmed in chapter one."
Blushing_Shoujo_Fan: "I'm just saying, if Tōya Akira were a girl, the OTP would already be locked in chapter 1."
OhMyGodYouGuys: "Shirogane…who's Shirogane? Aren't we supposed to be talking about the manga?"
TapWaterExpert: "Shirogane is the AUTHOR. He's a 2nd-year at XX High School in Tokyo. And he's actually a guy. And good-looking too."
HeyThatsMyHighSchool: "?Wait. THAT high school? It's literally under my apartment. You're telling me a kid from there serialized in Dream Comic? This better not be a joke."
LoreLover999: "Search it yourself! Shirogane's info is everywhere. His parents went bankrupt, he started submitting manga in the first year of high school… it's an inspirational story."
GoIsHardPlsHelp: "But he's sixteen. Can he really draw a Go manga? Does he even KNOW Go?"
QiRuonanFan42: "The official Hoshimori website literally announced this! Hikaru no Go is co-created by Shirogane and professional Go player Rika. Shirogane writes the story, Rika handles the Go moves."
ShockedPotato88: "Rika?? I've watched her matches! She's one of Japan's top female pros! How did I not know this was a collaboration?!"
ForumMom_Official: "Focus on the story, children! Why are you all gossiping about the author?!"
SimpForSai: "Excuse you, Sai is too handsome not to discuss. And Tōya Akira is ALSO too handsome not to discuss."
YesPls: "Sorry but Shirogane-sensei is handsome in real life too. If he joined a teen idol drama, I swear he could play the third male lead without breaking immersion. Why should I simp for Sai when I can simp for the creator?"
RealisticReader: "Anyway, chapter 1 is all setup. Let's wait for more plot."
NewbieWantsHelp: "Okay I'm a total Go beginner. Can someone explain the game between Sai and Akira? I came here for enlightenment."
Amateur7Dan_Slays: "What's there to explain? The skill gap is absurd. But wait, I'll open a separate thread. I'm amateur 7-dan and even I barely understood that match."
UpdateFasterPls: "Shirogane-sensei, PLEASE update. I need Sai vs Akira round 2."
OldManGoSoul: "I'm a Go fan of 30 years… and I finally get to see a Japanese Go manga again. I don't care what anyone says, I'm a fan of this kid Shirogane."
In all these threads, whether discussing Go, analyzing the characters, or gossiping about the author, everyone collectively built up massive momentum for Hikaru no Go. And after discussing, a huge number of readers voted for the manga and even left ratings on the magazine's official vote page.
Dream Comic didn't just judge series by votes.
They also evaluated reader ratings.
Because votes only showed popularity, not quality.
A violent, chaotic, brainless-but-fun manga might get tons of casual votes from people who enjoyed the stupidity, but its value as an IP would be nearly zero.
People would watch such an anime on TV to kill time. But no one would buy merchandise.
A true long-term commercial IP, one that can sell figures, artbooks, games, and adaptations, always has high reader ratings, not just high votes.
This was why Dream Comic's editorial department judged series based on BOTH numbers:
Votes → popularity
Ratings → quality
Only works that performed well on both axes were given extra support.
A work with low votes but high ratings might just be a slow-burn story, but a work that has both low votes and low ratings?There's nothing left to say. The magazine will immediately start preparing for cancellation.
So from early morning onward, Misaki had been sitting at her workstation, furiously refreshing the Dream Comic forum, keeping an eye on reader reviews for Hikaru no Go.
After searching almost the entire day, she still couldn't find many negative reviews, barely a handful of lukewarm comments at most.A small part of her tightly clenched heart finally relaxed.
"Judging from this situation… when the popularity rankings come out tomorrow, at least it won't be dead last," Misaki exhaled deeply.
In her view, Shirogane didn't understand the internal realities of the manga industry at all.
He always had this inexplicable, almost outrageous confidence in his own work, like no matter who the competitors were in the magazine, his manga would always stand a chance.
But reality was much harsher.
Every manga serialized in Dream Comic had terrifying fanbases. Which series didn't have millions of supporters?
Which manga didn't start with at least two million copies per volume?
And all of them had built up loyal readerships over many years.
Even with all the promotional boosts Dream Comic gave to new series, realistically, for Hikaru no Go, the best-case scenario for its debut chapter was simply not placing at the bottom of the 20 serialized works.
Still, because she had read ahead in the manuscript and knew how good the later chapters were, she believed the popularity could slowly climb.
Her greatest hope was modest but realistic: If Hikaru no Go could eventually stabilize within the top ten, that alone would be enough for anime and live-action adaptations.
Because among the manga currently serialized in Dream Comic that consistently ranked top ten:
7 already had full anime adaptations
5 had theatrical movies
4 had dedicated console/mobile games, selling millions to tens of millions
Several mobile games brought in hundreds of millions in monthly revenue
And that didn't even include novels, artbooks, merchandise, figures, etc.
Those authors, every single one, were basically billionaires.
However…
"A Go series…" Misaki sighed under her breath.
If Hikaru no Go could someday squeeze into the top ten, that would already be an unbelievably good outcome.
But realistically, could a Go-themed manga ever fight head-to-head with the hot-blooded battle manga dominating the upper rankings?
She honestly had no confidence at all.
...
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