In the manga industry, artists and editors are more like comrades than coworkers, partners who march together on the sa battlefield.
A "veteran" or "renowned" editor isn’t defined by how many years they’ve stayed in the industry, but by how many exceptional works the artists they’ve guided have created.
And by that standard, Misaki was undeniably one of the standouts in the Hoshimori Group.
Setting aside Rei’s Five Centiters per Second, even the manga she had edited before that were stronger than the works handled by editors with seven or eight years more experience.
Sakura-iro Weekly may have been considered a third-tier magazine, but it still sold 800,000 copies each week. Many magazines in Japan barely reached tens of thousands, so even just a few thousand.
Lant, which Misaki had overseen, had average sales of 400,000 copies per volu. Five Centiters per Second had already exceeded 550,000 copies since release, and reaching a million this year was almost guaranteed.
But the mont she stepped into the conference room, a chill ran through Misaki’s body.
Including herself, nine people were present, aning nine works were entered into today’s Mirage Weekly serialization eting.
Stacks of thick manuscripts lay in front of each seat, the entries for this round of review.
Every editor present was formidable.
Two had even been responsible for long-running series in Dream Comics.
Against editors like these, Misaki’s accomplishnts gave her no real advantage.
Then;
A knock ca, and Ryouichirō Shidō, one of Hoshimori Group’s editorial directors and the editor-in-chief of Mirage Weekly, entered.
His editorial authority applied specifically to Mirage Weekly.
He scanned the room, and his gaze paused briefly on Misaki.
Everyone here knew him well, they had all worked in the sa editorial departnt for years. Their positions varied, but their relationships were close.
He also knew Misaki. She had joined the company only two years ago but already had strong results, and she had previously worked under Kaito at Sakura-iro Weekly.
"Alright, let’s begin," Shidō said after clearing his throat.
Serialization etings for all Hoshimori Group magazines followed the sa format:
Editors quickly skimd the submitted manuscripts, then shared their opinions.
Of course, the opinions of ordinary editors carried little weight, it was rely a way for the editor-in-chief to understand the general sentint.
In the end, only the editor-in-chief of each publication decided what would be serialized.
At Sakura-iro Weekly, that decision belonged to Director Yanagida.At Mirage Weekly, it belonged to Director Shidō.
Following his cue, the editors picked up the first manuscript and began reading.
Five minutes later, they set it down.
A short round of comnts followed.
Then, at Shidō’s instruction, they moved on to the second manuscript.
As ti passed, Misaki’s expression grew more serious.
The submissions were incredibly diverse: Fantasy adventure, Suspense, Horror, Survival, Psychological strategy, Romance.
It was exactly what one expected from a magazine whose weekly sales were more than triple those of Sakura-iro Weekly.
The quality of works eligible for Mirage Weekly’s serialization eting was undeniably higher.
However;
Misaki took a deep breath.
She had complete confidence in Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World.
In terms of both artwork and storytelling, she firmly believed Rei’s manuscript would not lose to any other entry.
An hour passed.
When the editors reached the seventh submission, subtle reactions appeared on their faces.
"Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World..."
The length of the title wasn’t the issue, it was the artwork.
Wasn’t this quality far too high?
Just how many nights had this artist sacrificed to produce these few Chapters?
They continued reading.
Because of ti constraints, only the first three Chapters had been submitted.
Five minutes later, several editors reluctantly lowered the pages, clearly wanting more.
"Shirogane?" Director Shidō asked, turning to look at Misaki.
"Soone I’ve never heard of, Is he a veteran using a new pen na?"
"No," Misaki replied. "He’s a completely new manga artist. Still a high school student. This is only his second work."
But the mont she finished speaking, she noticed the slight crease in Director Shidō’s brow.
At the sa ti, several of the other editors joined in.
"He’s the author of that ultra-short manga, Five Centiters per Second, isn’t he?"
"Oh, right. That one ended after just five Chapters."
"Sure, its collected volu is performing well, honestly, it’ll almost certainly break a million copies. But still, this Shirogane has been in the industry for less than half a year. He’s a complete newcor."
The tone of their comnts sounded casual, but everyone in the room knew exactly what they were doing.
They were feeding Director Shidō every weakness they could find about Shirogane, the author of Tonight, because, everyone had already realized the sa thing:
The manga "Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World" was too good.
The art was polished and mature. The story, tightly written.
The quality was so high that the only angle left to attack was the author’s lack of experience.
Listening to these jabs, Misaki’s fingers tightened slightly, and she responded with a calm but cutting remark:
"Didn’t mangaka Aira serialize in Monogatari Comic while she was still in high school? And Jian started his hit series in his second year. Nichiya debuted during his first year of university. All of them were serialized in the big six magazines, and all achieved excellent results."
"Do you really think a newcor like Shirogane can compare to those three?" one editor asked with a polite but mocking smile.
"Why not?" Misaki smiled back.
"Doesn’t our group always talk about supporting promising newcors? Don’t we hope to cultivate our own industry stars?"
"Alright, that’s enough discussion," Director Shidō interrupted.
"Let’s move on to the next entry."
Misaki glanced at him, and in her chest, sothing quietly tightened.
Another hour passed.
The editors left the eting room.
Misaki returned to her office and imdiately began ssaging her contacts inside the editorial departnt.
By the afternoon, she had learned everything.
Within Hoshimori Group, the two second-tier magazines, Amakage and Mirage Weekly, normally had a gap of several hundred thousand in weekly sales, Mirage Weekly being the stronger.
But recently, two popular series in Mirage Weekly had ended with extrely poor conclusions, triggering massive fan backlash.
Mirage Weekly’s sales had fallen from 2.6 million copies per week to 2.3 million.
anwhile, Amakage’s sales had risen to 1.9 million, thanks to several series entering peak arcs.
And from this information, Misaki could guess Director Shidō’s mindset perfectly.
He wasn’t looking for brilliance, he wasn’t looking for talent.
He was trying to avoid risk.
As the one responsible for Mirage Weekly, Shidō clearly didn’t believe that a newcor like Shirogane, soone who had debuted only months ago and whose entire track record consisted of a five-Chapter short, could support a long serialization.
Even though Five Centiters per Second was almost guaranteed to exceed a million in sales, Shidō didn’t value short-story performance.
Short stories were unpredictable. Their popularity was too volatile.
Who knew what would happen with a long-running series?
Mirage Weekly’s sales were already faltering.
If they serialized Rei’s work and Shirogane proved unable to sustain a mid-to-long serialization, if the story collapsed again, it could deal yet another blow to the magazine’s already falling numbers.
"What a short-sighted man." Misaki muttered, irritation quietly intensifying.
Capable leaders welcod the rise of promising newcors.
Incapable leaders cared only about avoiding mistakes.
"Fine. Be ’stable,’ then," she thought bitterly.
"In this industry, if you don’t move forward, you fall behind. Keep clinging to stability... and see what happens when Amakage surpasses your numbers."
Misaki let out a soft sigh.
Even if she understood the situation now, she still had to wait for the results of tomorrow’s serialization eting.
...
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