"What genius manga artist?! This is how a ’genius’ makes manga?"
"Why did it have to be this sad? Wouldn’t it have been better to let the story stay gentle and peaceful?"
"My stomach literally hurts. I sat frozen on my sofa for ten minutes before rembering to open the official site."
"Shirogane-sensei, is your heart made of steel? 5cm/s was already painful, but tonight goes even further!"
"This Chapter made cry so hard."
"I feel sick from how sad it was."
"Shirogane-sensei, why did you write the plot like this?! Couldn’t it have been a warm family story?"
"But honestly, we can’t bla Shirogane-sensei completely. Looking back, the setup was there from Chapter 1. Even the title hinted at it. None of us wanted to think in that direction."
"Who would imagine sothing like this?! Tōru’s mother had congenital heart disease and it’s hereditary, who besides a d student would jump to that conclusion?"
"I am a d student, and yeah, I suspected it when Chapter 4 ntioned congenital heart disease. But since Shirogane-sensei is a high schooler, I assud she wouldn’t use a setup this complicated, so I kept quiet. Turns out she really planned it."
"It’s killing . I can’t even eat right now."
"Is there any chance of a twist later?"
"A twist? After a funeral Chapter? Be serious."
"Then what happens next? How do you continue a romance manga when the male lead is dead?"
"Who knows what Shirogane-sensei is thinking anymore."
"Hey, who was it that said 5cm/s would remain Shirogane-sensei’s saddest work forever? Whoever said that, co out."
"So next week the story goes back to Chapter 1’s tiline, right? Maori’s condition improves and she starts rembering?"
"Is the rest of the manga going to be about Maori slowly regaining mories of Tōru?"
"Oh no, that’s even more painful."
Since the Journal was released early this morning, the number of reader discussion posts about tonight on the official forum was significantly higher than for other manga.
Misaki kept scrolling through the forum
The thread count discussing tonight was several tis higher than any other series in the issue.
But as she scrolled;
"None."
"None."
"None..."
Dozens of posts. And not a single complaint aid at: the story, the pacing, Maori Hino, Tōru Kamiya, or the manga’s structure
Every bit of anger was directed only at the author, Shirogane.
Readers said the plot was sad, painful, heartbreaking...
But NOT that the manga was bad.
Which ant, readers accepted the story.
They were grieving, but they weren’t rejecting the work.
Misaki’s tension slowly faded.
This was good. Very good.
Tōru’s death had been foreshadowed everywhere: Chapter 1’s disappearance, hereditary illness, his mother’s identical fate, his pre-recorded ssage.
Readers weren’t angry because the plot was unreasonable, they were angry because it hurt them.
The best kind of anger a romance manga can generate.
All resentnt landed on Shirogane, not the manga.
Which ant: No popularity collapse.
In fact, emotional shock often increased reader votes.
That afternoon, after Rei returned from school, he refreshed the Atsukage Weekly forum.
Criticism of "Shirogane-sensei" filled the site from top to bottom.
He smiled faintly.
He had expected this.
Even in his previous life, when he read the original version of tonight, Even If the World Disappears Tomorrow, the author had been cursed online for this.
But what happened after the storm of criticism?
People still loved the work.
There are countless fans who curse Gen Urobuchi, yet who would ever hate Madoka Magica or Fate/Zero just because the writer is "cruel"?
Yoshihiro Togashi has been cursed for twenty years, but the mont Hunter × Hunter updates, every one of those people cos running back.
Rei understood this very well.
Those who scolded him the most fiercely were, in truth, the readers who cared the deepest. Their anger ant they were emotionally invested.
That was why Misaki feared a potential collapse in popularity after Chapter 8 of Even If This Love Disappears Tonight, while Rei remained completely calm.
Creating a "controversial" romance twist is always a gamble. A tightrope, with the abyss beneath.
But Rei wasn’t gambling blindly.
He already knew that in his previous world, this story had been accepted by audiences. He had big-data validation from another lifeti backing him up.
This was why Rei, a sixteen-year-old newcor, could remain calr than Misaki, a veteran editor.
And the results proved him right.
The new poll results of Even If This Love Disappears Tonight ca out.
And the number was even higher than last week’s nine thousand.
10,368 votes.
Still in 3rd place, but, only 700 votes behind Youth Rhythm (11,025 votes)
About 2,200 votes behind Labyrinth Detective Agency, the #1 series (12,652 votes)
It beca the third series in Atsukage Weekly to break 10,000 votes this year.
Once these results were posted internally, the entire editorial floor of Hoshimori Publishing Group was stirred.
Not because the result itself was world-shattering, but because of the author.
Most readers didn’t know who Shirogane was.
But everyone in the editorial departnt did:
Rei Kirishima.
Age: 16.
Second-year high school student.
A true "wild" newcor, not scouted, not trained, who had never even entered a rookie contest.
And his manga had held a top-three position for two straight weeks.
The editors suddenly started to whisper:
"Isn’t this insane for soone his age?"
"Give him ti, and he might surpass other young stars..."
"Hoshimori hasn’t produced a major young manga star in years, aybe this is it."
Indeed, Hoshimori Publishing had not developed a breakout young talent in a long ti. The industry had mocked them for years, calling them "a company living off its aging legends."
But now, with Rei’s results, that might change.
That afternoon, Han Esumi, the editor-in-chief of Hoshimori’s manga division, the sa man who worked with Misaki’s late mother for twelve years, called Misaki directly.
He skipped all pleasantries.
His deep, steady voice ca through the line:
"Misaki, this manga artist publishing as ’Shirogane’, what is his situation?"
...
Read 30 Chapters ahead at /c/Ashnoir
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