Cartoonists and their assistants

You should ask Eriri directly about this, right?

Of course, Mizuki Machi didn't say this out loud, as a joke.

If word gets out, it's guaranteed to hit someone's sore spot.

"Because the consequences of being obsessed with otaku culture, through the promotion by people with ulterior motives, citing certain examples, and through continuous dissemination, have solidified into stereotypes, eventually forming a certain trend in society, which has become what it is now... Many things in this world are like this. After all, for most people, they just need to follow the trend and don't need to understand it carefully at all."

He shared his insights.

Whether it's games or otaku culture, becoming obsessed with them can certainly have negative effects, but judging a specific person solely based on that is rather biased.

However, in this unique social atmosphere, once a person is labeled, everyone will have a preconceived impression, and people who are used to "reading the air" will naturally not dare to express their preferences.

"Mitsuki-kun really has unique insights."

A thoughtful glint flashed in Takasago Chie's eyes.

For a middle school student to offer such insightful opinions was refreshing, even for a well-informed young woman.

"If everyone could be a little less prejudiced, maybe I could get a few more customers..."

She exclaimed.

At this point, the girl's expression suddenly turned serious, and she stared at him, saying:

"Eh... It seems like Mizuki hasn't come to my bookstore to restock for a while. Could it be that he's saving up to buy some notebooks? Well, I can understand. After all, he's a boy in his adolescence."

"Don't you know? I've been busy dealing with NAME lately, I haven't had time to read comics."

Mizuki Machi's expression was somewhat strained.

Young people these days are so precocious, making such jokes as if nothing's wrong.

However, when I think of Eromanga, the teacher who died halfway through his career, it suddenly seems quite reasonable.

"Alright then, Mizuki-san. Come back to Takasago Bookstore and do some more shopping when you have time!"

Chie Takasago tilted her head to the side, sighed as if helpless, and then turned and left.

......

Machi Mizuki and Eriri made a promise to submit their work before the end of summer vacation.

It's late July now, and the second semester starts on September 1st, which means they only have thirty days left to prepare.

This was undoubtedly a challenging task for the two submitting their work for the first time.

So he didn't delay and went to the Sawamura family home on the first day of summer vacation with his notebook.

"Do it faster, do it faster!"

The moment the villa door opened, Eriri couldn't wait to hurry up and stared intently at the NAME in his hand, looking like she wanted to snatch it.

"More haste less speed."

He said this as he changed his shoes.

"I'll treat you to Mapo Tofu for lunch today, okay?"

The girl snorted.

The two went to the living room and sat down next to each other.

"Is this the NAME that Masashi prepared?"

Eriri's voice couldn't hide her excitement.

"Give."

He simply said one word.

Eriri quickly reached out and took the notebook, her hands trembling slightly as she gripped both ends.

Perhaps their journey as cartoonists will begin with turning the page of this story.

"Wow."

The girl gently picked up the pages with her delicate white fingers, and the first thing she saw was the story's outline.

Six children who grew up together drifted apart after entering high school. Jinta Yadomi, a reclusive shut-in; Naruko Anjou, somewhat influenced by delinquent girls; Atsushi Matsuyuki and Chiriko Tsurumi, who entered a prestigious high school; and Tetsudo Hisakawa, who skipped high school to travel… Only Meiko Honma, who died young (a spirit only Jinta could see), remained as innocent as ever. One day, Meiko said to Jinta, “Please grant me a wish.” Although hesitant, Jinta agreed. This became the catalyst for the reunion of the scattered children to fulfill Meiko’s wish…

And below it is written the name of this work—

We still don't know the name of the flower we saw that day.

10. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

In my past life memories, "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day" was a well-known heartwarming anime. It focuses on depicting the youthful stories of boys and girls facing love, friendship, and entanglements, with both joyful smiles and heartbreaking tears. It is perfectly suitable as a work to be submitted to "Monthly Shonen Gangan".

In addition, the story is short and simple in structure, making it suitable for a newcomer's debut work as a comic.

In Mizuki Machi's plan, the two will use this work to adapt to the daily rhythm of professional manga artists and students.

Even if you can't make it halfway, you can stop the loss in time.

"A story about humans and ghosts? Primarily about friendship? The character designs are also very otaku-esque, is that to appeal to readers..."

Eriri gleaned a lot from these few lines of description.

As a young girl aspiring to debut in the entertainment industry, her extensive reading experience is quite remarkable among her peers.

Therefore, she quickly grasped the core of the story.

As for the book title, she still lacked some insight, so she asked about it.

"Zhenzhi, why did you choose this name?"

"This is a metaphor and a double entendre. 'Flowers' represent lost childhood friendships, unfulfilled promises, and irretrievable regrets in the passage of time. 'Unheard' refers to the superficial 'not knowing' and 'never truly understanding its deeper meaning,' expressing the loss and acceptance in the process of growing up..."

Are you doing a reading comprehension exercise?!

The girl felt dizzy from listening.

"In short, it's about childhood memories and bonds."

The true knowledge of moon-gazing can be summarized in a few words.

"Hmm...this title is alright, I like it."

The girl can't fully understand it yet, but she still finds it very charming.

Her judgment was right!

True knowledge is the most important piece of the puzzle on her path to becoming a cartoonist.

Eriri continued turning the page and saw some simple character designs and appearances.

"The drawing is still as bad as ever, but it's enough for true knowledge."

Compared to her previous works that resembled stick figures, the characters drawn by Mizuki Machi now have distinct personalities, and at least the genders can be distinguished.

"The point of drawing is to be bad... If I drew that well, wouldn't Eriri be useless?"

He teased.

Just like the collaboration between ONE and Murata in the previous life, if these two had similar drawing skills, would anyone still watch Murata's remake?

The girl was so embarrassed that she was speechless. She could only lower her head and silently continue turning the pages until she reached the beginning of the story.

......

"Jinta, wake up~"

"Jinta is such a lazybones. Uncle has already gone out to work."

The boy, who was sleeping in, seemed to hear a familiar voice.

"It's noisy."

After a moment of internal monologue, Jinta Yakumi woke up rubbing his sleepy eyes. He looked in the direction of the sound and was immediately stunned.

On the wooden railing of the balcony, a dreamlike young girl in a pure white dress smiled gently at him, softly calling his name—

"Jinta, good morning."

......

"A good start."

Eriri revealed a delighted smile.

While not exactly surprising, it's a fairly mature way to start a comic book, leaving suspense and piquing the reader's interest to continue reading.

"of course."

Mizuki Machi also revealed a hint of smugness in response.

During this period, he also studied it carefully and has gained a good understanding of some basic creative techniques.

Based on the original work, the story itself is not problematic; it's just a matter of adjusting some narration and dialogue. What he focuses on learning is comic paneling, which is the most direct factor that can influence the evaluation of a comic.

However, as a newcomer, he still chooses to be cautious and use simple and appropriate storyboards.

"But this level is nothing special; anyone who knows a little about comics can do it."

Eriri immediately put on airs and, as someone with experience, offered a condescending and sharp critique.

"really."

Mizuki Machi smiled.

The girl pouted, realizing she had punched a cotton ball.

Next, Eriri read the rest of the content very carefully.

The story concludes with Jinta Yadomi and Tetsudo Hisakawa's reunion at the secret base.

Upon seeing this, the girl remained lost in thought for a long time, as if immersed in the lingering aftertaste of the story.

"Eriri? How did it go? Did you pass?"

Mizuki Machi was very curious about her opinion.

"Passed."

Eriri said, pretending to be expressionless.

In reality, a storm was raging inside her.

It's more than just passing!

This was completely beyond her expectations.

Because they grew up together since elementary school, she believed she knew her childhood sweetheart well enough. Although he usually seemed lazy and unwilling to show off, he actually had outstanding abilities and could often say thought-provoking things and come up with novel stories.

That's why she thought of using the help of her childhood sweetheart to fulfill that originally unattainable dream.

But what she didn't expect was that she still underestimated true knowledge.

Machi, who was able to draw a name of such high quality on his first attempt, is undoubtedly a terrifying genius!

As a reader, the beginning of this story wasn't particularly amazing, but for a middle school student, compared to their own somewhat accomplished paintings, it was an incredibly impressive achievement.

While experiencing a sense of disappointment, the girl was also filled with anticipation at this moment.

I never imagined we'd have such a wonderful start!

She has already seen the path to becoming a professional cartoonist open up for her.

"Let's start drawing now!"

Eriri looked excited.

"Have you decided how many pages to draw? It seems the word count for the Newcomer Award is 31 or 45 pages."

"Just start drawing it! We'll decide on the exact number of pages later! After all, we might be able to skip the newcomer award serialization!"

"Oh?"

Mizuki Machi was somewhat surprised, not expecting her to be so confident in this NAME.

If that's the case, then my performance was pretty good.

"Alright, leave the rest to me. As for Zhenzhi... do as you please."

Eriri stood up.