News of the One-Punch Man anime production did not only shock the outside world.
Even many mid- to high-level executives within Hoshimori Group were left bewildered.
What was going on?
A new anime project involving one of their top manga artists, and the Group had not even been informed?
Early that morning, Misaki was summoned for questioning by Han, the head of the editorial department, along with several other company executives.
Han was strictly businesslike. In truth, Misaki had already discussed this matter earlier with her mother's friend. At the time, she had made it clear that if the Group did not agree to allow Rei to serialize two manga simultaneously, then Rei would self-fund the other project and present it in a different format.
Therefore, Han's questioning this time was largely procedural.
The other three executives present, however, were rendered speechless by Misaki's explanation.
"Teacher Shirogane originally intended to submit One-Punch Man to our Group."
Silence filled the room.
"Didn't the executives decide during a meeting not to allow Teacher Shirogane to serialize two manga at the same time?"
More silence.
"Exactly. The two works Teacher Shirogane was preparing at the time were One-Punch Man and Hunter x Hunter."
"And how did Shirogane evaluate those two works?"
"He said that, in his view, both had the potential to become popular and were excellent works."
Misaki's answers ultimately caused the executives to withdraw in frustration.
She had not neglected her responsibilities, and Shirogane had indeed expressed his desire to serialize One-Punch Man under Hoshimori Group.
As for the current One-Punch Man anime, Rei was not an employee of Hoshimori Group. Their relationship was purely cooperative. If Rei chose to work on an animation project in his spare time while drawing manga, the Group had no authority to restrict or interfere.
Still, the situation left them feeling uncomfortable.
Forget it. A project like this would most likely flop after airing anyway. The Japanese animation market was notoriously brutal.
Without the initial popularity accumulated from an original manga or novel, and produced by a relatively small animation studio at that, an original anime succeeding would be nothing short of a miracle.
Let Shirogane indulge himself. If he lost money, perhaps he would return to focusing properly on manga.
After the brief turmoil within Hoshimori Group, news spread internally that One-Punch Man had originally been intended as a manga submission to Dream Illusion.
The manga industry was small. Before long, the other five of the six major manga companies also heard fragments of the rumor, but none of them paid it much attention.
More than eighty anime had already been confirmed for broadcast during the October autumn season. Even if One-Punch Man had a relatively high investment, money alone had never guaranteed success.
If throwing tens of millions of yen at a project were enough to create a hit, Japan would be overflowing with popular anime.
Most people simply believed Shirogane had earned some money and grown overconfident. At this stage, the prevailing sentiment was one of quiet schadenfreude.
Overall, the buzz surrounding the One-Punch Man anime only lasted a few days due to Shirogane's involvement. As time passed, many animation fans gradually lost interest, distracted by information about other upcoming works.
In reality, aside from Shirogane's most loyal fans, few people held high expectations for an anime produced by a relatively small studio like One-Punch Man.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was Wednesday again. The fifth chapter of Hunter x Hunter was serialized.
In this chapter, more of the worldbuilding was subtly revealed.
After encountering a pair of talking magical beasts, Gon relied on his keen, almost animal-like instincts to distinguish the subtle differences between them after their transformation. By doing so, he broke the stalemate and passed the test, ultimately earning the right for the magical beast couple to fly the three protagonists directly to the Hunter Exam venue.
The overall pacing of the chapter was calm, but the revealed details caused many readers to sense something unusual.
"Wait, I thought this was a world without superpowers. Magical beasts can talk? What is going on?"
"So there actually are superpowers. They just haven't been shown yet."
"This suddenly got me excited. I thought hunters were just a bunch of agents or mercenaries, and I was wondering how the plot could keep going. There are even magical beasts? It seems Teacher Shirogane is slowly expanding the worldbuilding."
"Honestly, whether there are superpowers or not isn't the point. This manga keeps you reading because of the characters, not the setting. It's only been five chapters, and several memorable characters have already appeared. The character portrayal is genuinely impressive."
"But so far, Gon hasn't had a real fight in the strict sense. It feels a bit strange."
"Pay closer attention to the details. This manga doesn't have battles where brute force solves everything. Every conflict so far has been resolved through intelligence. Gon's combat ability hasn't been revealed yet, but even though he seems naive, he's clearly very sharp and uses his brain every time."
"Naive? Heh. You've all been fooled by Shirogane. Gon is obviously naturally dark."
The following day, within Hoshimori Group, the latest Hunter x Hunter ranking results were announced.
It was still third place.
Hunter x Hunter remaining in third position for five consecutive weeks since its serialization made Misaki feel slightly anxious.
"Third again?"
That evening, Miyu spoke while still wearing her pajamas, her hands busy as she sketched drafts for a new manga idea.
"Mm. Hunter's popularity has been fluctuating around this range ever since serialization began." Misaki frowned. Objectively speaking, maintaining a top-three ranking throughout serialization would already be an excellent result.
But having once been responsible for a manga that topped the entire magazine, Misaki naturally hoped for something more.
"What about Rei?" Miyu asked, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
"What did he say?"
She had barely seen Rei since the college entrance exams and knew little about his current situation.
"He…" Misaki paused, recalling the moment.
"As calm as ever. The ranking hasn't changed at all, but he doesn't seem flustered in the slightest."
"That means he understands the market very well," Miyu said confidently.
"Shōnen manga is like this. Readers usually take longer to fully accept it compared to other genres. I feel that once the plot really enters the Hunter Exam next week, the ranking will start to move."
"It took five chapters just to obtain the qualification to enter the Hunter Exam, and the official assessment still hasn't even begun. On top of that, a bunch of people already died." Miyu smiled faintly.
"Rei has really whetted the readers' appetites."
"Right now, everyone reading this manga is waiting for the Hunter Exam to properly begin. If that part of the story is exciting, readers will immediately become loyal fans. But if it falls short, they'll abandon the manga just as quickly."
As she spoke, Miyu peeled an orange and glanced at Misaki.
"I haven't seen the later drafts of Hunter. Speaking honestly, do you have confidence in the upcoming plot and storyboards?"
"To be honest…" Misaki thought for a moment before answering in a firm voice.
"It's very exciting. But that's just my personal feeling. Once it's released to the market…"
"That's enough," Miyu interrupted with a smile.
"Sister, trust your judgment. If you like a work, then the vast majority of manga fans in Japan will like it too."
"After all, you're a hardcore manga reader yourself."
Soon, another week passed.
Wednesday, July 21st arrived.
The sixth chapter of Hunter x Hunter was serialized.
From this chapter onward, Hunter finally entered its main storyline.
The Hunter Exam.
The first stage of the Hunter Exam required candidates to follow the examiner through a dark underground tunnel without stopping. The examiner's pace was extremely fast. The assessment felt less like a test and more like a marathon, or rather, judging by the manga's portrayal, something even more brutal and relentless.
In this chapter, one of the most important supporting characters of the series finally appeared.
Killua.
This cool-looking boy riding a skateboard instantly made many female readers' eyes light up.
So cute.
At the same time, all the key characters who would participate in the Hunter Exam were introduced.
The seemingly simple-minded, overweight middle-aged man Tonpa.
The effeminate clown dressed in flamboyant attire, clearly a pervert, Hisoka.
The bald ninja.
The martial artist.
And finally, at the end of the chapter, the exhausted Leorio collapsed from the grueling run. He was advised by "Tonpa," a man Gon and the others had just met, to let Gon and the rest continue following the examiner while Tonpa helped escort Leorio to a safe place inside the cave to rest.
However, after Gon and the others left, the seemingly honest uncle revealed his true nature.
He dragged Leorio into an area of the cave filled with hallucinogenic plants.
The Rookie Killer.
Tonpa had participated in the Hunter Exam thirty-five times. His goal was not to pass, but to deliberately target first-time participants who did not know his true nature, causing them to lose their qualifications or even die.
Others took the exam to become Hunters.
Tonpa took it to crush other people's dreams of becoming one.
The sixth chapter ended at the moment Leorio, thrown into the hallucinogenic zone, began screaming in terror as hallucinations overwhelmed him.
After this chapter was released, many of Rei's fans felt a sense of shock and discomfort.
They had only followed Hikaru no Go, a series filled with friendship, rivalry, and relatively gentle competition.
They had never imagined that in Hunter, aside from Gon and a handful of genuinely kind companions, almost every other character would be more malicious than the last.