Cartoonists and their assistants

"Uh."

His footwork became faster.

In front of the bedroom door on the second floor.

"Boom boom boom..."

He knocked on the door to announce his arrival.

"Come in... Machi, you're here so early?"

Eriri was practicing painting in front of the canvas when she turned around and asked in surprise.

"Aren't you already impatient?"

Kanzuki Masashi laughed.

"Then let's start formulating our grand plan now!"

The girl quickly put down her paintbrush and walked over from the balcony, her excitement evident.

"Before that, I'd like to ask, how long do you think Eriri plans to take to debut?"

At that moment, he suddenly asked a question.

"Of course, the sooner the better! Ideally, this year!"

The girl answered without hesitation.

"However, Eriri's drawing talent can barely be considered genius, but it doesn't mean much as a manga artist, let alone debuting at such a young age... Although I have heard of legends of junior high school students debuting, those are very rare. Most of the time it's just hype from ordinary manga magazines. In fact, those people don't meet the requirements at all in well-known manga magazines in the industry."

He immediately poured a bucket of cold water on it.

No matter how much enthusiasm you have, the objective difficulties are there for all to see.

Optimism is a good thing, but it's best to know yourself well; otherwise, the disillusionment will only hurt you more.

"I know it's difficult, but I believe we can do it."

Eriri bit her lip, then revealed her unruly little tiger teeth.

"Us..."

"I really mean it," Mizuki said meaningfully.

"Indeed, Eriri alone cannot do it, but as long as I am here, anything is possible."

The source of all this confidence was naturally his memories of the ACG industry from his previous life.

April issue of Shonen Gangan

"Don't say such hurtful things! Even without the help of true knowledge, I can debut on my own, it just takes a little more time..."

Eriri puffed up her cheeks and retorted with a haughty air.

The girl is very confident because she quickly gained popularity by drawing comics.

She really felt that way.

Mizuki Machi also believed that way.

However, given Eriri's individual abilities, she can only become a bottom-tier manga artist at best, with a future far less promising than becoming 'Eri Kashiwagi-sensei'.

The girl's talent in this area is clearly superior.

"Yes Yes Yes."

He brushed it off and changed the subject.

"Let's make a plan. First, let's talk about our submission targets. Eriri, which one do you think would be most suitable?"

There are three major manga magazines in the industry today: Weekly Shonen Jump, Weekly Shonen Magazine, and Weekly Shonen Sunday. Among them, Weekly Shonen Jump stands out from the crowd, and the difficulty of serializing in it is naturally very different.

"Is it going to be this difficult right from the start?! Can we switch to something easier...?"

Eriri's eyes widened in surprise.

Her biggest goal right now is simply to debut, but knowing how difficult that is, she doesn't intend to achieve it overnight.

"It seems Eriri hasn't been blinded by her so-called dreams."

Mizuki Machi saw through her thoughts and nodded approvingly.

With friendship, effort, and victory as its core themes, JUMP mainly features themes such as hot-blooded fighting and sports competitions. Although it has gradually diversified in recent years, it is still just so-so. Magazine and Sunday also have their own strengths, but at present, neither seems to be very suitable for the style of girls. Moreover, the intensity of weekly serialization is too great, which is too much for the delicate girls to bear.

Therefore, he set his sights on monthly comic magazines from the very beginning.

"How about Monthly Shonen Gangan?"

"Monthly Shonen Gangan?"

Eriri thought about it for a moment.

Japan has a well-developed manga industry, and there are quite a few well-known monthly manga magazines under the weekly manga magazine category. Monthly Shonen Gangan, although relatively young, is quite famous because it was originally a manga monthly published by a well-known video game company. It has serialized many manga adapted from famous video games and has also produced some masterpieces.

After some development, although GANGAN still mainly features a youthful style, its beautiful art style and lively stories also appeal to female readers.

In addition, the combination of original work and comics is quite common in GANGAN, unlike other magazines where most comics are created by one person.

"Then let's aim for Monthly Shonen Gangan!"

Her eyes lit up.

However, the middle school girl didn't actually show much of her own opinion; without thinking too much, she chose to trust his judgment.

"Alright, let's set a small goal first: to debut and serialize our work on GANGAN."

Mizuki Machi raised his arm.

"it is good!"

Eriri did the same.

"Snapped!"

The young boy and girl clapped their hands together.

After deciding which magazine to submit their work to, the two began to think about how to make their debut.

Normally, one would recommend themselves to the editor, and if approved, they would be recommended to the serialization meeting, where a vote would be held to decide who would be involved.

Or when the magazine has a specific project need, such as adapting a novel, movie or game, or needs the original author to designate an illustrator, or for a series of serialized works on certain themes, they will select a group of newcomers to audition. However, the newcomers auditioning must have published their debut work in the magazine at least before.

Of course, theoretically the fastest way is to get authorization from the editor-in-chief and the magazine's chief editor. Since the publishing house is a company, the editor-in-chief and the magazine's chief editor have the final say. If they authorize it directly, the serialization can begin.

In reality, most comic artists debut by participating in a magazine's newcomer award.

"So, what does Eriri plan to do?"

He was guiding the girl forward.

If Eriri wants to become a manga artist, she still needs to grow in many ways.

"We'd love to recommend ourselves to the editors!"

"why."

"If you're an editor, you should be able to offer valuable suggestions, right?"

"What a naive thought..."

He smiled slightly and continued.

"However, I agree with Eriri's idea. Anyway, even if the submission fails, there's no loss. We can also see from the editor's reaction how well our collaborative work can be performed... More importantly, it can show the editor that we are still young. Youth is a great asset and a symbol of potential. It can not only make the editor pay attention to us, but also serve as a promotional title when we debut in the future, reducing obstacles."

This approach is more pragmatic and realistic.

"Is that right?"

Eriri only half understood what she was hearing, and her eyes were full of doubt.

"In short, the plan to submit the manuscript has been decided. Next, we need to prepare a manuscript for submission. My story and my original work are definitely fine, but Eriri, are you really ready?"

Guan Yuezhenzhi's gaze was fixed on the moon.

Although drawing skills are not the most important thing in comics, they are a very important bonus, and it is perfectly normal for readers to judge by appearance.

"Of course! After these six months of honing my skills, I feel that my painting has met the requirements. The only problem might be with your original work... Don't let me down."

Eriri crossed her arms, looking haughty, with one eye open and the other closed, glancing at him sideways.

Actually, the girl was a little guilty.

Because her comic drawing skills still have many shortcomings, and moreover, in order to become a 'real comic artist', she plans to abandon the graphics tablet that she is more used to and draw entirely by hand.

This painful transition period also affected the stability of her painting.

The boy gazed at the girl, then suddenly smiled and sighed softly.

"Oh, what a pity."

"What's a pity?"

"It's a pity that Ms. Kashiwagi Eri, who was about to shine brightly in the underworld and become a highly sought-after figure, has fallen..."

"...So what if we perish! It's better to be on land than at sea!"

The girl scoffed.

So quickly betraying their origins!?

The corner of his mouth twitched.

5NAME

What kind of manga does Eriri want to draw?

Mizuki Shinji asked.

Since the two people have become a team, they need to have sufficient compatibility to maximize their performance.

A story that someone isn't good at drawing cannot be well expressed.

He doesn't have the obsession to become famous and make a name for himself. It would be too boring to just copy the most famous long-running comics from his previous life and draw them for ten or twenty years.

He didn't care much about making money or fame; he had simply promised the girl he would fulfill her dream.

"I prefer something youthful and healing..."

Eriri paused for a moment, then added, "Or romance-themed manga."

"Otome-oriented? I can't do that."

He said with a stern face.

"No way! I don't watch that kind of stuff!"

The girl emphasized loudly.

Do you have any more specific comic book recommendations?

He continued without changing his expression.

"Uh, um... like Cardcaptor Sakura, Chibi Maruko-chan, Ao Yori Ao, Chobits, Minami-ke, and the like."

The girl pondered for a moment, then quickly rattled off a bunch of comic book names.

"Oh? These are all older works that I didn't recommend. Eriri, your experience with manga is much greater than I thought."

His eyes showed a slight surprise.

"Ugh, this is so annoying! Masashi is the original author, right? You just need to come up with a good story, and then I'll draw it, isn't that enough?"

The girl pouted and said.

"Alright, I'll come up with a story tailor-made for Eriri. Then you can draw it, and we can prepare to submit it..."

"It's not just the story, it's also the name!"

He was speaking when the girl suddenly interrupted him.

“NAME?”