Takumi's new manga studio was set up in the Hinotori Building.
Initially, he wanted to set it up at home, and indeed, there was enough space there, but Genji thought he should work regularly and that it would be more comfortable to draw at the company, in addition to having editors to guide him, which would be very beneficial for other mangaka.
Takumi gladly accepted.
The Hinotori Building cleared out two rooms for Takumi and his assistants. First, the female manga department. After deciding to let go of the seven employees, the female editorial department selected two of the most promising mangaka, while the candidates for the male editorial department had not yet been decided.
Only two assistants were needed for one manga. Takumi planned for the rest of the staff to focus on the video game opening. After discussing it, he moved Mirai-sensei's House to the company and set up a simple video game studio, led by Miyuki.
The candidates for the boys' editorial department had not been selected, and the animation studio would need a few days to gather enough staff, so the first thing Takumi did was prepare new manga for Weekly Shōjo Manga.
He thought about it for a long time. Although he hadn't read many girls' manga, he had seen some animations. He decided to adapt the animation into manga, and some of them were original manga.
The manga he chose was "Ouran High School Host Club," a high-quality shōjo manga.
The story takes place at the "Host Club" of the prestigious "Private Ouran Academy High School," where wealthy young people attend. Six handsome, rich, and idle boys founded the "Host Club" to entertain equally bored young women and enjoy a brief moment of elegance and sophistication.
One day, the civilian female protagonist accidentally entered the "Host Club" activity room because she wanted to find a quiet place to study. She was forced to join the club due to an unexpected incident. She became a member of the "Host Club." And then it went like this and that again...
For Hinotori Publishing to counterattack. Takumi didn't care about his moral integrity, and although this work features a female protagonist and many men, the love is very pure; at least that's how it appeared in the animation he saw. As for the original manga version, Takumi didn't know what had happened.
"Mirai-sensei, do you really think this is appropriate?"
After accepting Takumi's mission, a mangaka with glasses swallowed: "I see a lot of gay plots in this...".
Gay, yes. This is the hidden strength of Ouran High School Host Club. The difference between this work and common manga with one woman and many men is that there are many "friendships" between the handsome boys.
But, in general, Ouran High School Host Club is still a metaphor. There are reverse harem elements, but the story is pure. There are gay elements, but it can be understood as friendship.
Pure people will be very pure when reading this manga, and impure people may not be so impure. It is a very provocative work. Needless to say, girls will love it.
"Do you think these plots are inappropriate?" Takumi asked the mangaka. She quickly shook her head: "No, how could it be! It's appropriate, too appropriate!"
Another mangaka looked at Takumi strangely. 'Mirai-sensei is so familiar with girls' hobbies; could it be that he...?'
Takumi turned his head and looked at her.
"No, not yet". The mangaka immediately blushed and lowered her head: "When do we start working?"
"Now."
Takumi told the two mangaka the story of the Ouran High School Host Club. He knew the animation's plot, so it was easy to talk about it. It took them three hours, and the mangaka took long notes and were almost fascinated.
"I like this story."
"Mirai-sensei, please draw it for us."
Takumi made some sketches for them, and then the two mangaka began to draw based on them. To Takumi's surprise, these two mangaka's illustrations were better than his own.
Of course, this excellence does not refer to the image. Takumi is a very skilled mangaka. But he only remembered the animation's plot. If you want to adapt it into a manga, you need to add many details. The details created by the mangaka, including the characters' small movements, expressions, and eyes, are full of a feminine atmosphere.
"He's worthy of being a professional...",
Takumi smiled bitterly. He discovered a big difference between himself and the mangaka. This difference was not in drawing skill, but in the gender bias of some manga skills, as well as in understanding female readers' preferences.
"These flowers are very well drawn...",
he praised. When the male characters of Ouran High School Host Club, drawn by the mangaka, appeared or smiled, there were always flowers blooming on the screen as a background. Takumi couldn't do it alone.
A smile, a bouquet of flowers, a handsome man, now even more handsome, to make female readers scream.
If Takumi did it himself, he would not be willing to dedicate so much time and effort to describing a man's smile. After all, he is also a man, and he always feels that he cannot be too seductive, and female manga techniques are not his strong suit.
"We usually draw like this. Female manga are based on images."
"That's right, Mirai-sensei, do you think this is up to par?"
The two mangaka looked nervous. They really liked the story, but as long as Takumi said it wasn't up to par, they could lose this opportunity.
"Up to par."
Takumi nodded. More than up to par, he felt that Ouran High School Host Club could be entrusted to these two mangaka. They could draw it themselves, and the result could be better than Takumi's.
This made Takumi happy. With the help of his assistants, his workload was reduced. He drew a simple storyboard and left the rest of the work to them. The storyboard was like a rough draft. Takumi didn't even need two hours to draw for Ouran High School Host Club.
He signed an agreement with the assistants to assign them 60% of the economic benefits of the Ouran High School Host Club, and he only wanted 40%. This remuneration surprised the two assistants, as it didn't seem like assistant remuneration, but rather remuneration for three people for their cooperation.
As the creator and guide of the story, Takumi only enjoyed 40%, and the two mangaka considered him a great man.
They accepted without hesitation and, after the cut, voluntarily gave up their fixed salary to dedicate themselves to drawing the Ouran High School Host Club. Since the work is done at Hinotori Publishing's headquarters, this manga can receive supervision from the Female Editorial Department and will become a popular manga without even needing to be reviewed.
The manga's owner is still Mirai-sensei, and the names of the two mangaka are listed under his pseudonym.
In just half a day, Takumi finished the Ouran High School Host Club manga, so quickly that even he was surprised, and he also found a way to improve efficiency.
If he finds the theme that assistants are good at, their effectiveness can be improved. If the mangaka can share most of the work of the Ouran High School Host Club, the mangaka can do the same.
What Takumi lacked most was time. He thought about the themes that other young mangaka were better at and came up with a manga: "Bakuman."
"Bakuman" is a very interesting manga. It tells the story of drawing manga. It tells the story of two boys who debuted, became famous, and had successful careers drawing manga together. It is also an inspirational manga.
There are no fights in this manga. It is simply a story of mangaka, a manga with simple content. However, it has all the elements of popular manga: passion, struggle, friendship, love, and career.
When Takumi thought of this manga, his heart filled with enthusiasm.
'Why hadn't he brought it?' Manga in this world had just developed. If he brought it, the impact it would cause could be beneficial for Hinotori Publishing.
"Okay, I'll go with this one."
Takumi made the decision immediately. Bakuman's plot is relatively long, and the backgrounds of both worlds are very different. It took him a long time to organize it into written text.
The story remains the same, but the background is replaced with that of Japan, becoming a similar future with a "developed manga market."
The next day, Takumi took the improved version of Bakuman's story and some character settings to Weekly Shōnen's editorial department.
At that moment, Weekly Shōnen's editorial department was still discussing which two mangaka, who had been discarded, would be Mirai-sensei's assistants. When Takumi took over Bakuman, the entire editorial office was furious.
"This story is incredible!"
"A manga about drawing manga, Mirai-sensei, you are simply incredible! You can draw such boring content in such an interesting way!"
"Struggle, passion, youth... these settings are really good, and what's even more wonderful is its setting. The manga awards and systems it contains are the same as in reality. I believe that the future manga market will develop in this direction!"
What surprised Takumi even more was that the Bakuman he brought caused a sensation. The company called an emergency meeting to study the value of this collection of settings.
Hinotori Publishing's management believed that the importance of this manga was no longer limited to economic benefits, but also had the effect of promoting manga, and even influenced those who didn't know about manga to familiarize themselves with it, so that thousands of teenagers would follow this path.
"How exaggerated!"
Takumi exclaimed, stunned in the meeting.
"Not at all, not at all!"
Genji slammed the table in front of everyone, his face excited: "Our Hinotori Publishing needs a manga like this, it is our hope, Takumi, this manga, the editorial department will help you complete it!"
"No matter what happens, you must turn it into a masterpiece!"
Genji made up his mind. Such a manga, centered on a mangaka, is simply unique. Others would not be able to write best-selling content even if they wanted to, but Mirai-sensei, he can!
- - - - - -
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