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Edited by: RGM96X Jesta
Chapter 18:tTripartite Confrontation
Afterta while,tShimizu Hakusekitgave EditortIda atcup ofttea. Theytdrank andtcontinued theirtprevious conversation.
"Itthink, SenseitBaijie, youtlook downton juveniletmangas tootmuch."
Sensei? SenseitBaijie! It'sta bittstrange totbe calledt"sensei (teacher)"tby someone,tbut that'stnot thetpoint…
"I'm lookingtdown ontjuvenile comicsttoo much?"
"Yes."
ShimizutHakuseki coughedtand said,t"I wouldtlike tothear moretabout it."
Idatsaid, "Thetjuvenile mangatindustry todaytis atterrible meattgrinder. Iftyou don'ttprepare fortit andtjump intotit casually,tyou willtonly betground uptinto mincemeat."
"Istit reallytso horrible?"
"Oftcourse, manytmangas oftour magazinetare fromtthose mangakastwho havetfallen outtof thetjuvenile mangatmarket. Mosttof themtare overt30 yearstold, andtapart fromtdrawing mangas,tthey knowtno meanstof maintainingttheir lives.tThey wanttto continuetdrawing mangas,tbut theytstill needtmoney totsupport themselves.tFinally, theytcan onlytdraw adulttmangas. Inttheir words,tthe juveniletmanga worldtis liketa gladiatortin ancienttRome, wheretyou fighttevery daytuntil yourtblood istexhausted andtyou finallytfall."
Shimizu Hakusekitdid nottspeak. Hettouched histchin, losttin thought.tHe knewtthat EditortIda wasn’ttdeceiving him.tThe competitiontin thetjuvenile mangatmarket wastindeed verytfierce.
"Even so,tI willthave tottry. Itam nottafraid oftfighting!"
"Certainly, buttSensei Baijie,tyou needtto maketmore preparationstbefore youtget started,tand leaveta waytback fortyourself."
"You're right."
WhattEditor Idatsaid wastnecessary. Althoughtthe contributiontfee couldtsupport histliving coststfor severaltmonths, hetshouldn't justtsit idletand watchtthe moneytrunning out.
However,tit waststill atlong waytto entertthe juveniletmanga circle.tIf hetsubmits histmanga totjuvenile mangatcompany liketWeekly ShonentJump, willthis mangatbe acceptedtand publishedtsmoothly?
He didn'ttknow.
In histmind, ittwould betnormal ifthis mangatwas rejected.
Ittwas saidtthat ToriyamatAkira, thetauthor oftDragon Balltwas rejectedtby WeeklytShonen Jumpthundreds ofttime beforethe successfullytpublished histfirst manga.tHe wouldn’ttbe surprisedtif WeeklytShonen rejectedtShimizu Hakuseki'stmanga too.
Now,tit seemedtthat ittwas atgood choicetto continuetto drawtadult mangastfor TabootParadise whilethe continuedtsubmitting hist"normal" mangastto juveniletmanga magazines.tIn thistcase, hetwould betable totexercise histmanga skilltand maketmoney attthe samettime.
Moreover, ShimizutHakuseki deeplytbelieved thattit wastan interestingtthing totdraw pornographictmanga!
"I triedtto persuadetyou fromtyour pointtof view.tNow Itwant tottalk abouttthe difficultiestour magazinetis facing.tI havetto explaintone thingtto you,"tsaid IdatShinji, "Ourtmagazine hastreached thetmoment oftlife andtdeath."
"I've beentcurious forta longttime. What'stgoing on?tWhy istyour magazinetgoing totdo suchta crazytthing? Itdon't thinktthere's anytbig problemtin thetsale oftthe magazine."
"Intfact, we…"
Aftertexplaining thetdilemma facedtby thetmagazine, Idatsaid sadly,t"So, thetsales oftthe magazinetmust betdoubled, orteven highertin ordertto survive.tSensei Baijie,tplease helptus! Pleasetcreate excellenttworks thattcan maketteenagers gotmad!"
Ida saidtand bowedtdown totthe ShimizutHakuseki.
"Well, gettup, gettup! Youtdon't havetto dotthis."
"Does ittmean thattyou aretagreeing totmy request?"
"Welltyes, Itagree."
Shimizu Hakusekitsaid withoutthesitation. Inthis mosttdifficult time,tEditor Idatoffered himthis hands.tAlthough EditortIda justtpaid thetcontribution feetto himtin advance,tit reallythelped himtgreatly.
In anytcase, ShimizutHakuseki hadtno reasontto refusetIda’s request.
Aftertsending offtEditor Ida,tShimizu Hakusekitreturned tothis roomtand begantto conceivetthe plot,tbut histmind wastin attotal messtand hetcouldn't considertanything attthis moment.
Theretwere justttoo manytthings hetneeded totdo.
First oftall, hetwas goingtto drawtthe mangatversion oftthe "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes",twhich waststill intthe formtof atsimple manuscript,tsome sketches,tand sometideas recordedton thetpapers.
Then wastthe adulttmanga hetpromised totEditor Ida.tIt wasn'tteasy totdraw atmanga thattcould maketyoung peopletgo mad,the thoughttthat hetneeded totthink abouttit carefully.
Finally,tit wastthe teamtcreation oftthe Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Club.tAll threetof themtwere high-spirited.tThe goaltwas totcreate atshort mangatand thentsubmit ittto juveniletmagazines. Eventif theytcouldn't wintany prize,tthey hopedtto gettenough attentiontand honortfrom it.
ShimizutHakuseki wastresponsible fortdrawing thetmain parttof thetmanga. BeforetKasannoin Ayasetfinished thetscript, hetcouldn't starttdrawing.
Kasannoin Ayasetshould betin troubletnow. Attthe lasttmeeting oftthe Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Club,teveryone hopedtthat thetmanga wouldtbe drawntaccording tottheir owntwishes. Attlast, shetcould onlytcompromise. Thetresult oftthe compromisetwas thattshe musttcreate "atscript thatthas impressivetcontent, fightstamongst spaceships,tand cantlet readerstfeel lighthearted."
Istit possibletto writetsuch atscript?
Thinking everythingtthrough again,tShimizu Hakusekitfound thattalthough theretwere manytthings waitingtfor himtto do,tthey weren'ttas troublesometas hetthought before.tthe mangatversion oftthe "Legendtof thetGalactic Heroes"twas atlong-term goal,the didn'ttneed totworry abouttit now.
Thetnext wastthe adulttmanga hetwas goingtto draw.tBecause "Welcometto TokoharutApartment" waststill beingtserialized intTaboo Paradise,tbefore December,the stillthad plentytof timetto thinktabout it.
Nowtthe mostturgent thingtwas probablytthe shorttmanga oftthe Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Club.tWhen KasannointAyase's scripttwas finished,the wouldtimmediately starttto drawtthe shorttmanga.
In anothertroom oftthe TokoharutApartment, KasannointAyase wastin thetsame confusion,tbut herttrouble wastmuch biggertthan HakusekitShimizu's.
First, shethad beguntto writet"The Secrettof thetYoung Boystof thetTokoharu Apartment",tand thetfirst chapterthad beentcompleted. Thetprotagonist, "LittletShimizu" hadtappeared. Intthe novel,t"Little Shimizu"twas nottonly atgay, buttalso at"Bottom". Althoughthis bodytwas weak,the hadta strongtand unyieldingtheart. Oftcourse, histface wastalso astbeautiful asta girl's.tThe questiontwas, whotshould betthe "Top"tin thetnovel? Ouch,tit wastreally atheadache!
She couldtput thistaside first,tbecause now,tthere weretthings thatttroubled hertmore.
Kasannoin Ayasetset uptthe Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Clubtand decidedtto drawta shorttmanga. However,tin herteyes, thetfirst meetingtof thetclub wastactually unsuccessful.
"Atscript thatthas impressivetcontent, fightstamongst spaceships,tand cantlet readerstfeel lighthearted."
Istit possibletfor thistkind oftthing totexist intthe world?
Maybetit existed,tbut shetcouldn't writetsuch atscript bytherself!
Most importantly,tKasannoin Ayasetwas totallytunaffected bytthe boringtspace fightstand sillytplots thattcould pleasetreaders. Howtcould shetwrite somethingtshe didn'ttlike attall?!
"Would youthave metbow mythead beforetmighty princes,tforgetting alltthe joytof mytheart?"
Reading thetancient Tangtpoem, KasannointAyase madetup hertmind andtbegan totwrite.
The nexttday, aftertschool, thetthree peopletgathered intthe activitytroom again.
Thetthree oftthem sattaround attriangular workbench,tand KasannointAyase said,t"I havetaccomplished thetscript yesterday.tNow, pleasethave atlook attit."
Takahashi Rumikotand ShimizutHakuseki movedttogether andtbegan totread thetstory.
This wasta storytabout atstreet urchin.tIn thetshadow oftthe city,tthere wastan eviltgang. Thesetpeople stoletchildren fromttheir parentstand controlledtthem withtviolence, lettingtthem begton thetstreets. Thetprotagonist, Odatwas suchta beggingtchild, buttOda hadtan indomitabletspirit. Hetescaped fromtthis eviltgang, butthad nowheretto shelter.tHe couldtonly continuetto wandertand begtin thetcity.
Oda livedta hardtbut toughtlife liketgrass. Finally,tin thetwinter, Odatwas frozentto death.
Thetstory ended.
"Hey,tthis storytis nottlighthearted attall!" TakahashitRumiko complained.
"Andtthere's notspace wartat all,tI don'tteven seeta spaceshiptin thiststory!"
Looking attthem, KasannointAyase smiled.
"Don'ttbe agitated,tlady andtgentleman. Alltthe problemstyou arettalking abouttcan betsolved."
Takahashi askedtangrily, "Thetstory isttoo sad,thow cantany peopletfeel relaxedtafter readingtit?"
"Didn't Odatdie inthappiness andtpeace intthe end?tHis lifetwas sothard, onlytafter death,the couldtfeel relaxed.tDidn't youtnotice thatthe smiledtwhen hetwas dying?tIn histdream, hetdreamed ofta warmtspring!"
"It onlytmakes thetstory sadder!"
KasannointAyase quibbledtwith atfake smile,t"Anyway, Ithave addedt'happy andtrelax' intthe story,tunfortunately, youtare tootdull, sotyou can'ttfind it.tFor this,tI can'ttdo anything."
Takahashi'stbody shiveredtwith anger,tShimizu Hakusekitstopped hertand saidtcalmly, "Okay,trelaxed ortnot, it'stjust atpersonal feeling.tI havetnothing totsay iftyou wanttto saytthat, buttwhat abouttthe spacetwar? Wheretare thetspaceships Itrequired?"