They had previously agreed that production of Kara no Kyoukai would only begin after the release of the first tankobon of Fsn.
Now that the first tankobon of Fsn had been successfully released, the production and publication of Kara no Kyoukai could finally be put on the agenda.
『Kara no Kyoukai was planned to be produced and released in three volumes, based on its content and chapters.』
『Volume 1: Overlooking View, Murder Speculation (Part 1), Remaining Sense of Pain;』
『Volume 2: Hollow Shrine, Boundary of Emptiness, Paradox Spiral;』
『Volume 3: Oblivion Recording, Boundary of Emptiness, Murder Speculation (Part 2), Kara no Kyoukai.』
In addition to the main three volumes, he had also written the side story Mirai Fukuin, which would also be produced and released as a single volume.
This meant there would be a total of four tankobon volumes.
At a conventional production speed, the first volume of Kara no Kyoukai should be released in one month.
However, considering market absorption capacity and sustained hype management, each subsequent volume would be released at two-month intervals, taking half a year to release them all.
Given the creative speed of light novel authors, the industry generally releases tankobon on a 3-4 month cycle, and it's even normal for some works to release one volume every six months.
In Akira's memory, the only case in the light novel industry of releasing tankobon consecutively every two months could only be traced back to Kamachi Kazuma and his A Certain Magical Index.
But according to the timeline of his previous life, A Certain Magical Index wouldn't be released until 2004.
So, was the release speed of Kara no Kyoukai a first for the industry?
Akira didn't care much about that; he actually admired Super Fantasy Bunko's courage in breaking industry conventions.
Of course, it was also possible they had been pushed to the point of having no other choice and could no longer afford to follow the rules.
In any case, as long as Kara no Kyoukai could be published smoothly, that was enough for him, so he had no objections to the decision.
"There's one more thing."
However, Hisashi was still speaking.
After finishing the discussion on the production of Kara no Kyoukai, he smiled and continued, "Congratulations, Mochizuki-sensei! Your one-shot manga, Emiya Kiritsugu, which you submitted for the Tezuka Award, has been successfully shortlisted!
"Shortlisted?"
Akira's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he didn't feel much surprise or joy.
The reason he had wanted to create Emiya Kiritsugu and submit it to the Tezuka Award was to prevent Fsn from being rejected after a direct submission.
It was a backup plan he had set for himself.
But now that the first path was going very smoothly, the second path didn't matter as much anymore.
Of course, winning an award was still something to be happy about.
So he asked, "What level of award did Emiya Kiritsugu receive?"
"That hasn't been decided yet."
To this, Hisashi explained, "This shortlisting only confirms which works are eligible for an award. Next, there will be another round of voting and deliberation to finally determine the specific award for each work."
The review meeting would be held this week, or rather, tomorrow.
Once the final list of winners was determined, the list of award-winning works would be publicized in Shonen Jump.
Finally, all award-winning works would be published in early December in Akamaru Jump, a special supplement of Shonen Jump.
If a certain one-shot manga received a particularly good response, it might even be adapted into a long-form serialization.
"I see."
Akira nodded in realization and then suggested somewhat helplessly, "In that case, Mr. Sasaki, I think you could have waited until the final results were out before notifying me."
"Well—"
Hearing this, Hisashi scratched his head in embarrassment.
He hadn't thought that much at first; he just wanted to share the good news with him as soon as possible.
After all, as Shonen Jump's most prestigious newcomer award, being shortlisted meant Shonen Jump recognized his potential as a Manga Artist.
But the current Akira didn't seem to need this award to prove himself anymore.
Not only that, as a serialized Manga Artist now, he would likely serve as a judge for the Tezuka Award next year, participating in the selection of newcomer works.
So Hisashi realized in hindsight that he might have indeed made a mountain out of a molehill regarding this matter.
However, although the Tezuka Award wasn't that important to Akira anymore, Hisashi's reminder made him think of something else.
"By the way,"
He asked Hisashi, "Actually, Emiya Kiritsugu has more content following it. Can I release it all together when the time comes?"
The follow-up content he mentioned was, of course, the classic matricide plot.
At the time, due to the Tezuka Award's length restrictions on submissions, he could only draw up to the patricide part, which was quite a pity.
In addition, as an important character who never appeared in FSN but was frequently mentioned, and also the protagonist of the future Fz, Emiya Kiritsugu's characterization definitely needed to be further supplemented and perfected.
"There's more content following it?"
Hisashi was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
He also understood the importance of Emiya Kiritsugu, so it wasn't surprising that there was more content.
However, he asked cautiously, "How much more content?"
He didn't want it to be another Weathering with You, or something even longer than Weathering with You, as that would be difficult to handle.
Fortunately, this time, Akira smiled and said, "Not much, it should be about the same amount of content as the original Emiya Kiritsugu one-shot."
So, about 50 pages?
Hisashi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Then there shouldn't be a problem. Just send it to me directly after you finish drawing it."
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Akira also smiled, "Alright, I'll finish it as soon as possible."
After the conversation with Hisashi ended, Akira immediately began working on the second half of Emiya Kiritsugu.
Thinking back to when he drew Emiya Kiritsugu before, he now had a better grasp of techniques like Storyboarding and pacing, making the drawing process much more effortless.
However, this time, he couldn't ask Rin for help.
Because she had been a bit busy lately.
After writing because of you, they recorded a simple demo and sent it to the animation production team.
One of the other songs prepared for the album, Marigold had also been recorded, and Rin had thus begun the recording process.
At the same time, the schedule for the second music variety show, MUSIC STATION, had been finalized, and she would enter the production team to start recording next week.
Compared to her first appearance on HEY!^3, as a popular newcomer now, Tsukirin had more segments to participate in within the variety show, making it more troublesome.
For this, he could only wish Rin good luck.
Fortunately, the content he had to draw this time was only a few dozen pages, so doing it alone wouldn't be a big problem.
Meanwhile—
The day after the conversation between Hisashi and Akira, the Tezuka Award review meeting was held as scheduled.
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