Tokyo: The Manga Begins with the Funeral of Frilian

On Monday of the following week, a light drizzle began to fall from the Tokyo sky.

In an apartment in Itabashi Honmachi.

Shiori Shirakawa woke up 30 minutes earlier than usual.

When she pushed open the bedroom door, Yuma Kamiya was already sitting down at the drawing table.

What time did you go to bed last night?

She asked.

"It's exactly twelve o'clock, following the schedule exactly."

Kamiya Yuma answered, and Shirakawa Shiori approached the drawing table.

Looking over there, I saw that there were no extra crumpled pieces of paper in the wastepaper basket.

The dip pen was neatly placed on the pen holder.

Even the ink cartridge lid was properly closed.

She nodded, then turned and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

As the sweet aroma of tamagoyaki wafted into the master bedroom, the phone suddenly rang. Kamiya Yuma put down his pen, went to the living room, and answered the phone.

"it's me."

The voice of Ryota Onodera came from the other end of the phone, and it was a little different from usual. Usually, when he called, his first words were either to urge me to finish the manuscript or to chat about gossip, but today he just called Yuma Kamiya by name.

Then there was a two-second pause.

"Onodera-senpai?"

"I can't believe it," Kamiya Yuma asked, puzzled.

"The results of the first week's survey are in."

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Ryota Onodera said.

Yuma Kamiya held the receiver, waiting quietly.

"Eighth place."

Ryota Onodera mentioned this number separately.

"Ranking eighth out of fifteen serialized works is actually not bad. It's already quite good for a newcomer to make it into the top ten in their first week. But if you look at it by Jump's standards for promoting newcomers, it's not that great either."

"What's Yoshikawa's side of the story?"

"Kamiya Yuuma asked."

"What do you think he could say? At the morning meeting this morning, his deputy editor-in-chief, Takahashi, made ten copies of the survey form and gave one to everyone. He said that the first-week performance of the author who won the Newcomer Award was not as good as that of another new gag manga serialization at the same time. The author of that manga has never even won a Newcomer Award."

Ryota Onodera paused for a moment, then said, "But that's what Takahashi said, not what I said."

"Is there anything else?"

Yuma Kamiya then asked.

"And we also need to meet."

Ryota Onodera said.

"Shall we meet at the editorial office?"

"Kamiya Yuuma asked."

"No need, I'll go to your place, which is where you live now."

Ryota Onodera gave a time and then hung up the phone.

Shiori Shirakawa came out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of miso soup. She glanced at Yuuma Kamiya's expression but didn't ask anything. She simply placed the bowls on the low table and said, "Let's eat breakfast first."

After sitting down, Kamiya Yuma picked up his chopsticks and said, "The survey order is eighth."

"What does that mean?"

Shiori Shirakawa said.

"This refers to the reader vote. Of the 15 works serialized in this Jump series, Frillian is ranked eighth."

Kamiya Yuma said that Shirakawa Shiori put a piece of tamagoyaki into her own bowl.

After taking a bite, he said, "Eighth place, doesn't sound like it's the end of the world."

"It doesn't look that way."

Yuma Kamiya lowered his head and drank his soup.

The doorbell rang at ten o'clock in the morning.

Ryota Onodera stood at the door.

He was holding a bulging briefcase.

He changed his shoes and came in, sitting down at the low table in the living room.

"The new house is great, much better than I imagined."

Ryota Onodera glanced around the living room.

A layer of damp mist hung over the streets of Banqiao.

"This place has good natural light and ventilation, so renting this location is well worth it."

Ryota Onodera took out a stack of papers and placed them on the table.

"This is a summary table of this week's reader survey results, which includes a lot of data and brief comments."

The number one spot goes to Dragon Ball, no doubt about that. Count down to the eighth line.

The book is titled "The Burial of Frilian".

The reviews from readers in grades one through three are mostly positive.

"I don't understand it," "There's no fighting"...

For students in middle school and above, the evaluations were divided into two camps.

Ryota Onodera pushed the summary sheet in front of Yuuma Kamiya.

"Yoshikawa and others only focused on the data from grades one to six. They thought it was very simple: Jump's core readers are elementary and middle school students. Elementary and middle school students can't understand this manga, so this manga failed."

"Frilian wasn't meant for them in the first place."

Kamiya Yuuma's tone was very firm.

"That's what I said too. Let's wait and see. It's not shameful for a newcomer to rank eighth in the first week. Many later hit works were ranked lower in the first week. But then that old guy Takahashi immediately brought up Dragon Ball for comparison."

"I really want to smash an ashtray in his face."

"So, you've come here today to complain?"

Yuma Kamiya looked at him.

"Of course not!"

He emptied his briefcase; it contained a stack of envelopes.

The colors and sizes are different.

The only thing they have in common is that the recipient field is "Kamiya Yuma".

"Is this a letter from a reader?"

"I asked Kamiya Yuuma."

"Yes, the recovery rate isn't very high; we only received this many in a week."

"Most Jump readers send their letters directly to the editorial department, and the editors then distribute them to the corresponding authors. Yoshikawa only had someone else count the box of letters from elementary and middle school students, and this pile was left aside."

Ryota Onodera pushed the letter in front of him and said, "Read it yourself."

Yuma Kamiya opened the envelope.

There was a convenience store note inside.

The above is marked with a blue horizontal line.

The contents of the letter:

"Mr. Kamiya, I am 31 years old and work in sales in Tokyo."

To be honest, I haven't bought Jump in a long time. Last week, when I was working the night shift at the convenience store, I saw a color cover featuring a new manga artist and flipped through it on a whim.

When I turned to the page about the flower crown, I was stunned. I recognized the expression on Simmel's face as she looked at Frilian.

Five years ago, I liked a girl in college. After graduation, I didn't tell her and went to Tokyo. She stayed in Nagoya and is probably married by now.

That night I missed the last tram.

I stood in the convenience store for twenty minutes, reading those twenty pages over and over again three times, and then I cried like an idiot in front of the shelf.

My colleagues asked me what was wrong, and I said I got dust in my eyes. Thank you, Kamiya-sensei, your comic reminded me of someone.

Although I'm a little sad, I still want to thank you.

Yuma Kamiya put down the letter.

Shiori Shirakawa took the letter paper over.

After reading it bit by bit, I put it into an envelope.

"There are more than forty letters like this, mostly from office workers, college students, and housewives who have just given birth. They are not in Jump's 'core readership,' but they all bought this issue of Jump and took the time to write back."