Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

"You have the potential to create a hit comic."

Whether it's a pep talk or a white lie, it can indeed help cartoonists.

Looking at Noguchi Masakyu, Tezuka Osamu was furious at his lack of ambition:

“If you continue to hold this view, I will request Mirai Publishing to replace the editor.”

Osamu Tezuka's rage frightened even Makoto Tezuka, who was usually joking around in front of him, let alone Masakyu Noguchi, the person in question.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Tezuka-sensei," Noguchi Masakyu apologized repeatedly, almost instinctively.

But he was unable to stop Osamu Tezuka from leaving.

Dejected, Noguchi Masakyu left the Tezuka residence. The sun was still the same sun, but under its scorching rays, he felt a chill run through his body.

His mind went blank, and he lost his ability to judge.

I had no choice but to rely on my experience and head to the subway entrance.

Looking at his retreating figure from the window, Osamu Tezuka's eyes were filled with fire.

Even the screenwriter thought he couldn't win?

This completely enraged Osamu Tezuka.

No matter what, he was determined to bring Oikawa down!

……

Back in the editorial department, Noguchi Masakyu approached the editor-in-chief, Kamei Osamu, and began to devise a plan to tell him about how he had angered Tezuka-sensei.

Kamei Osamu is on the phone.

"Adachi-sensei, you're a genius! You created 'Touch' so early in your career. Among the entire younger generation, only you have the potential to surpass Oikawa-sensei, so please keep up the good work!"

After hanging up the phone, Kamei Osamu breathed a sigh of relief.

“Although Adachi-sensei didn’t show any signs of disappointment, we editors have to pay attention to the manga artists’ emotions at all times and cheer them on,” Kamei Osamu explained, looking at Noguchi Masakuni.

After hearing his words, Noguchi Masakyu's face turned even paler.

"Congratulations on helping Tezuka-sensei secure second place. But don't get too excited yet, Adachi-sensei and I will fight back."

He clenched his hands in front and behind him, and swung his arms, making a swinging motion.

Looking into the distance, Kamei Osamu smiled and said, "It'll be a home run. Even Oikawa-sensei will lose to this ball."

“Oikawa-sensei…” Noguchi Masakyu’s pupils flickered. “Kamei-senpai, do you really think that Touch can beat Naruto?”

“Once or twice is fine, but what work never fails? When a comic is building up its story, when it's building up to a climax, it will always fail to satisfy the readers’ needs and they will give up voting. But when it comes to the average annual ranking…” Kamei Osamu smiled helplessly, “it’s still very difficult, almost impossible to achieve.”

"By the way, don't say things like that to the cartoonist, just keep it to yourself."

"But..." Noguchi Masakyu was on the verge of tears, "I've already... said even worse things..."

"What!" Kamei Osamu slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

……

Fushimikawa was unaware of the chaos within the editorial department.

He no longer had the energy to pay attention to those things.

For a while, he was able to attend plenary meetings and offer suggestions, but now, Fushimikawa's entire focus is on Naruto and Parasyte.

Even the Doraemon story was created using a previously saved manuscript.

It was a sunny day in early August 1973.

However, sensational content appeared in Weekly Shonen Future.

"Someone died in a sports comic strip!"

"Isn't this normal? It's a sports-themed anime that emphasizes perseverance and training to the point of death, so it's only natural that some people die. I've always been surprised, though. It's described as so dangerous, yet no main character dies. Except for 'Ashita no Joe'."

"I'm not talking about those sports manga, I'm talking about Touch!"

"Touch? What's so special about Touch? Wait, what did you just say? You mean that Touch anime that's all about youthful romance? Adachi Mitsuru must be crazy!"

……

"Has Mitsuru Adachi gone mad?!"

While looking at the contents of Weekly Shonen Future in the editorial department of Weekly Shonen Sunday, Keizo Inoue had this idea.

He hadn't expected that Future would become a competitor to Sunday.

Who would have thought that the hottest youth romance comics right now would appear in Future magazine?

A newly established publication acquired the work he had been searching for.

Most importantly, Mitsuru Adachi had been working for Sunday, but due to Shizuo Watanabe's wrongdoing, he indirectly followed Toshiki Takei to Mirai-sha, causing Sunday to lose a key member.

If there were a Touch manga in Sunday magazine, why would he need to curry favor with Oikawa and beg him to change his mind and resume the Doraemon serialization?

"Idiot Watanabe!"

When watching "Touch," he would occasionally mutter curses under his breath.

But now, Keizo Inoue discovers that Kazuya Uesugi, who was preparing to participate in his last match before Koshien, died in a car accident while saving a child who had run into the road.

"He committed suicide?" Inoue Keizo found it unbelievable.

"He" refers to Mitsuru Adachi, who killed off a popular character, which ruined the positive situation the manga was trying to create. No matter how you look at it, this was a bad move.

"What was Takei Toshiki thinking? Letting Adachi Mitsuru draw such content?"

But no matter what, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Chapter 135 The Ultimate Beneficiary

The most satisfying thing in life is when your rival suddenly commits suicide.

Inoue suddenly felt like having a drink to celebrate this good day.

"Mitsuru Adachi actually killed off Kazuya in the drawing."

"Won't the popularity of Touch be ruined?"

In Fujiko Studio, Jiro Suzuki was quite incredulous.

He was somewhat taken aback when he recalled the shy young man who had once visited his studio.

"Didn't A-Mian try to persuade his brother? This is completely going against the market."

Fujiko Fujio was also surprised. He looked out the window and suddenly wondered what his disciple, Oikawa Ji, was thinking.

Do you feel relaxed? Or are you feeling stressed?

……

Kazuya's death had a huge impact. The next day, Eiko Ueda was listless at work and lacked her usual passion for painting.

She has always been the most lively one in the studio, but now she's cosplaying the taciturn Katsuhiro Otomo.

Fushimikawa couldn't stand it anymore and gestured to Asano Megumi, but the childhood friend, who was always on the same wavelength, didn't notice his movement this time.

Having no other choice, Fushimikawa had to make a cup of black coffee for Ueda Eiko himself.

"Drink this to perk yourself up first."

"Hmm," Ueda Eiko said listlessly, taking a sip of black coffee before turning her head away in disgust and making a "tsk" sound.

This reminded Fushimikawa of Kenji Hirokane, who was in the same situation, forced to drink his least favorite black coffee in order to have more time to draw manga.

"Haha."

Fushimikawa couldn't help but laugh.

“Mr. Oikawa,” Eiko Ueda suddenly asked, “Would Mr. Adachi…senpai be willing to change the plot of Touch? For example, let Kazuya only suffer a serious injury and go abroad to recuperate for a year.”

This approach is very pleasing; it solves the problem of the protagonist Tatsuya not being prominent and also leaves room for Kazuya to return.

However, the impact of the work was less.

“Of course not,” Fushimikawa said firmly.

Eiko Ueda sighed, "Ah~"

"Don't let his easygoing and cheerful demeanor fool you, he's actually..." Fushimi looked into the distance and said nostalgically, "He's the kind of person who would rather go out of print than change the direction of an independent storyline."

"That's very decisive." Taking a deep breath, Eiko Ueda patted her cheeks. "I'm sorry to have troubled you. I'll get back to work now."

Don't force yourself.

He patted her on the shoulder and continued drawing the battle between Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga.

……

There are many readers like Eiko Ueda.

Many people are surprised to find that their colleagues, friends, classmates, or teachers suddenly become depressed, lose their appetite, become distracted at work or in class, and fall into a slump.

Suddenly, Mitsuru Adachi's paintbrush created a small-scale social phenomenon.

Because of him, the entire city of Tokyo has become gloomy.

"I didn't know there were comics with such a huge influence."

Some people, influenced by Kazuya's death, developed a strong interest in Weekly Shonen Future, wanting to see what was really going on.

It's just a character's death, why does it feel like a remake of the legendary story of "Tetsu Rikiishi" from "Ashita no Joe"?

……

The fourth CM Comic Con broke attendance records again, but the atmosphere was different from previous years. Both vendors and visitors seemed somewhat subdued.

"As expected, there was no sign of Oikawa-sensei this time."

Looking around the entire venue, but not seeing the person she wanted to see, Higashino Yuka sighed.

Although she had prepared herself mentally for this situation, she still couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed that a miracle didn't happen.

She managed to buy the individual volumes of "Try to Say Goodbye" in the first year, "Confession" in the second year, and "Parasyte" in the third year, but this time she's going to go home empty-handed.

"Didn't you say it was lively here?" Looking around, Miyuki Nagai asked curiously, "Why does it seem like everyone's not very enthusiastic?"