Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Kodansha ics?”
Meng Fan didn’t know much Japanese, but he could read most of the words on the business card Goro Takahashi gave him. Mr. Takahashi was an editor at Kodansha ics. Given the style of the business card, he wasn’t an average editor either.
This was a pleasant surprise for Meng Fan!
Before and after he was reborn, his sisters sponsored him with many gifts on this trip. Before the rebirth, he was most interested in CV concerts and “meet and greets.” Now, he was more interested in visiting Shueisha ics and meeting the ic artist Eiichiro Oda.
Of course, before the rebirth, he also loved manga and would have liked to visit Shueisha ics and meet Eiichiro Oda. The visit, however, would just have been a regular visit.
Now, the purpose of his visit would be different.
If he was rewriting his life, what would he need?
Manga would undoubtedly be a big part of his new life!
He didn’t realize one of the hostages was an editor, and a senior one at that, from a ics publisher. This was fantastic news for Meng Fan.
Perhaps it was Good Luck 1 in effect? It was a big coincidence.
Kodansha ics was one of Japan’s three largest ic publishers. The other two are Shueisha ics and Shogakukan ics. Together, the three manga publishers are known as the Gosanke.
Most of the Japanese ics popular with fans worldwide came from these three manga publishers.
Kodansha ics is known as an advancing giant in the industry.
The publisher with the longest history, Kodansha ics, is regarded as the boss of publishers (not just ics) in Japan. It has serialized “Attack on Titan,””GetBackers,””Fairy Tail,””Initial D,””Legend of the Dragon’s Son,””Vagabond,””Ghost in the Shell,””The Three-Eyed One,””SM,””Card Captor,””The Tales of Genji,””Parasyte,” and other well-known mangas.
Shogakukan ics is a publisher known for ics for kids and teens.
As one of the largest prehensive publishers in Japan, Shogakukan ics focused on elementary school students as its audience early on. Based on the names of its ics, it’s obvious that it has published many children’s classics, some of which had even mesmerized grown ups, including: “Case Closed,””Pokémon,””Doraemon,””Urusei Yatsura,””Ranma ½,””Inuyasha,” and many more.
Shueisha ics is a publisher with some of the most talented ic artists in the industry.
Shueisha ics publishes many ic magazines for teens, the most well-known of which is Weekly Shōnen Jump, which has the highest circulation in Japan’s serialized ics. The magazine has released plenty of hits such as “One Piece,””Naruto,””Bleach,””Gin Tama,””Dragon Ball,””Yu-Gi-Oh!””Saint Seiya,””Slam Dunk,””Chibi Maruko-chan,””Food Wars!” and so on.
Other ic houses within Shueisha ics have released legendary ics including: “To Love Ru,””One Punch Man,””Tokyo Ghoul,””The Prince of Tennis,””NANA,” and more.
The number of ic classics published and serialized by Shueisha ics is simply countless.
Shueisha ics was founded last among the three legendary publishers. In the beginning, it was an entertainment magazine under Shogakukan ics; now, it holds its own in the industry.
Most ic artists hope to have a chance to serialize their work in a Shueisha ics magazine, including many Chinese ic artists, Meng Fan among them. This is true despite the shrinking ics market in Japan in recent years.
This is just like how, for most actors, their dream is to be a movie star in Hollywood — including most Chinese actors such as Meng Caiwei — even though China is now the world’s largest movie market.
That’s not to say that without being serialized in Japan or entering Hollywood, one would give up on the Chinese market.
Meng Fan put away the business card, his face showing happiness. He smiled at Goro Takahashi. “To be honest, I’m a college student majoring in ics. I actually have a series right now. One of my goals for this trip has to do with ics. I can’t believe I get to meet one of the trailblazers of the industry today, I’m so honored.”
Goro Takahashi looked surprised after he heard the translation from En’en’s dad. The reason he introduced himself: young people like Meng Fan were usually ic fans, so he figured maybe he could thank Meng Fan in this way. He had no idea Meng Fan was studying ics and a ic artist as well.
After Goro Takahashi shook hands again with Meng Fan, he said, “M-san, please, allow me to take you on a tour of Kodansha ics.”
“Absolutely. It would be my honor.”
The two of them exchanged their contact information and made a date to meet again.
As he walked out, Meng Fan received at least fifty more business cards!
There were maybe even more than fifty, as they all came from the passengers on the flight, mixed in with numbers from several flight attendants.
While people knew it was unlikely Meng Fan would keep in touch with them, they clamored to leave him their contact information. It wasn’t because they wanted to copy others, they just really wanted to befriend a legendary person like Meng Fan.
Based on the names on the business cards, most of them were Japanese, some were expats in Japan, and a few were Chinese. It was not an exaggeration to say that if Meng Fan had thick skin, he could eat and play for free for the next three to six months in Japan. He would have a great time too, since people traveling from Singapore to Japan were usually pretty successful.
Just like En’en’s dad, after Meng Fan chatted with him after they got in the car leaving the airport, he learned the older man dealt in real estate, red wine, and soy sauce, but he wasn’t a real estate developer.
The biggest coincidence was when Meng Fan realized they were from Hangzhou, too. He almost swore when he heard their home was near his school!
It was a good thing they weren’t from the same district, just a nearby one; otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence.
When En’en learned Meng Fan studied near her house, she was even more excited. She wanted to go back to China with him, leaving her parents chagrined.
When their car entered the financial district of Otemachi, it stopped briefly at the Aman Kyoto Hotel, part of Otemachi-Tower.
Meng Fan and En’en made sure to meet again, then he left under En’en’s reluctant gaze, carrying his suitcase.
The Aman Kyoto Hotel wasn’t an entire building; it was in fact located on the top six floors of the Otemachi-Tower. The hotel lobby was on the 33rd floor, making the hotel rooms even higher. Because of this, the Aman Kyoto Hotel was known as “a luxury above the city.”
As soon as Meng Fan entered the elevator, his phone rang. It was from Wu Tong.
“Are you in Japan?”
“Yes, I just got to the hotel.”
“How long are you staying?”
“Two or three days?”
“You’re not ing back earlier?”
“If I got everything done with the manga, I would go back earlier. Why, you miss me or worry about me?”
“So you do know!”
Wu Tong did sound a little displeased, but it was mostly worrying. Then she said, “Seventh Bro is taking his team to Kyoto today. When he gets there, you can head out and have him follow you, or have someone follow you.”
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