manga artist Kirito

Page 148

Perhaps, the character Sayuka is very special to Kasumigaoka Utaha.

But for creators, it is perfectly normal to project an alter ego into the stories they create. The characters in the books are often projections of certain personality fragments of the creator, more or less mixed with the creator's emotions and thoughts.

In addition, when creators are creating, they often need to put themselves in the character's shoes to think about and determine the dialogue content and what attitude to show. However, creators certainly cannot completely put themselves in the character's shoes, otherwise, mental breakdown is no joke. If the character being put in is the creator's projection in the story, then it may result in the creator not thinking from the character's perspective, but from the creator's own perspective.

If we consider what Kiritani-kun said earlier, we should be able to understand it now, right?

For Kasumigaoka Utaha, Sayuka is her.

Kasumigaoka Utaha poured a lot of emotion into the characters, even to the point of being excessive, resulting in some plot points that shouldn't have appeared.

However, this naturally leads to intense conflict and disharmony.

...I'm getting a little curious. Is this male protagonist the perfect male protagonist in Kasumigaoka Utaha's mind, or is he based on someone else's character in real life?

There were even plot points that caused the female lead's character to break down.

Kasumigaoka Utaha pursed her lips, hesitating whether she should say something, but she didn't know what to say.

After all... it was just by accident that I poured some things that were hard to express into it.

Is it...too early?

No! This isn't the ending I wanted, is it? Sayuka shouldn't have this kind of ending either.

Then... the girl gradually drifted into deep thought.

For some reason, I'm starting to feel a bit irritable.

"So, Kasumigaoka, let me ask you, are you sure this part of the story doesn't need to be changed?"

Kirito took a sip of the now-cold red tea, then looked up at the girl whose expression was slightly bewildered.

Should we...modify it?

Is that necessary?

The girl pursed her lips, feeling the boy's expectant gaze. After a brief internal struggle, she finally sighed, feeling somewhat helpless, but also somewhat... indifferent.

"I know how to change it."

"Yeah……"

"Ah, yes, the changes won't affect either the beginning or the later parts of the story, so you can rest assured, teacher."

"That's good."

P.S.: I think this chapter has a lot of information... but I'm so damn sleepy!

330

[NO.326 Forget it, those kinds of titles are hard to come up with anyway.]

"Now that we've confirmed it won't affect the subsequent plot, we can put this illustration aside for now and start preparing from the later illustrations."

My recent schedule is all set, and everything is quite packed. Kirito arranged all of this, so I shouldn't waste any time that I can.

Putting aside the initial illustration for now, preparing for the next one, and then returning to it after the revisions are complete is undoubtedly the most time-efficient approach.

However, I'm still a little worried. Will it really be okay to make the changes?

Kiritani-kun has doubts about this.

Furthermore, Kiritani-kun also felt that this plot was... a bit special. After all, it was a character created by Kasumigaoka Utaha, and Kasumigaoka Utaha would undoubtedly be the one most aware of where the character went wrong.

However, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't notice... Kiritani-kun wouldn't believe it.

It is certain that Kasumigaoka Utaha must have reviewed the manuscript before it was completed, since proofreading is very important for creators. But how could Kasumigaoka Utaha not have noticed this obviously excessive problem?

"Ok."

Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded slightly and said softly, "But I'm really sorry, I've wasted a lot of your time and haven't done anything right yet."

It's kind of strange when I think about it. How did I end up writing this part of the story like this out of nowhere?

—By the way, this is a plot that Kasumigaoka Utaha came up with when Kirito went to her house, cooked for her, and forced her to clean.

Of course, I wrote it down... after Kiritani-kun had already gone home.

"That's nothing. Not many illustrators can meet the requirements of light novel creators in one go, otherwise there wouldn't be so many revision incidents."

The problem clearly lies with me...

Kasumigaoka Utaha rubbed her forehead, trying to make it seem like the problem was with the artwork.

In short, let's continue with the rest of the story.

Kiritani picked up his paintbrush again, "Could you please analyze the plot, scenes, and characters' feelings in the later illustrations..."

…………

"I'm gonna start now!"

As is customary, the announcement to start the meal was made, at which point the atmosphere at the table became slightly awkward.

However, Kiritani-kun seemed oblivious and calmly served food to Asuna and Shiina Mashiro, but this action made Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri's eyebrows twitch.

...Would it kill you to just calm down a little?

"Hmm, Asuna is indeed very good at cooking."

With her cheeks bulging, Kasumigaoka Utaha chewed on the tempura, her eyes slightly open. The food tasted quite good, no less than the skills of chefs in other restaurants. But it was a little strange. What was going on with the young lady of the Yuuki family being so good at cooking? She was clearly a master of romance light novels. Putting the two professions together was really incongruous, wasn't it?

Uh, a housewife...?

It seems there's nothing wrong with it?

"indeed."

Eriri nodded in agreement; even her own chef's cooking couldn't compare.

"Isn't this... just a matter of course?"

Shiina Mashiro also had chubby cheeks, but chewing her food did not affect her speech at all.

...Well, it looks a bit like a hamster.

"Well, I used to make lunchboxes for people, so my cooking skills gradually improved."

Asuna looked away a little embarrassedly. "Besides, things like bridal training also include cooking skills, so being able to cook is a must."

"..."

Oh dear, I'm so sorry I can't cook!

With their heads bowed instantly, neither Utaha Kasumigaoka nor Eriri wanted to look up again.

But seriously, what's with this "bride training" thing? Asuna, you're only a first-year high school student...

"Suddenly I feel like this guy is really guilty of some heinous crime."

Eriri swallowed the food in her mouth and stared intently at Kiritani-kun. "May I call the police?"

Kiritani calmly placed the onion into Eriri's bowl, saying, "Are you an idiot?"

"No, don't give it to me, I don't want it!"

Looking at the onions in the bowl, Eriri's face didn't show any unusual expression, but her ears started to burn slightly.

Is this guy always this casual?

They'd eaten together before, but most of the time Kirito would only serve food to Asuna and Shiina Mashiro. This was the first time he'd ever served food to Eriri... So, Eriri felt inexplicably guilty, especially since it was in front of Asuna.

However, Asuna didn't care about such things, and just rolled her eyes at Kiritani-kun, saying, "Being picky about food is bad."

Kiritani looked at the onions that had reappeared in the bowl, then glanced silently at his eldest daughter, Shiina Mashiro, who looked back at him with a naive and innocent expression, seemingly unaware of what was going on.

...Very good, that's how reincarnation works.

Kasumigaoka Utaha trembled her long, black-stockinged legs as she watched with interest as the onion was being passed around, finding it inexplicably amusing.

…………

Inside the JUMP magazine office in Tokyo, the editors were also having a troubling discussion, the meeting room filled with a mist that resembled the prelude to a battle.

...In reality, it was just that the editors were struggling with the top three in the JUMP Awards' Newcomer Award. When they were in a dilemma, some of them would subconsciously light a cigarette to relieve their frustration.

Shonen Jump has always been primarily known for its classic shonen manga, but with the advent of the information age, the decline of print media, and the emergence of the so-called "wall of masterpieces," most works nowadays rely on beautiful character designs, fanservice, and cuteness to gain popularity and even... achieve explosive sales.

The focus is no longer on exciting stories, but on how arrogant and charming the male lead is, and any slightly pretty female character is practically guaranteed to be the female lead...

Yes, they forgot that the story is the core and soul of comics.

Looking back at those comics with less-than-beautiful art styles, some even featuring mainly muscles, the art style wasn't what readers cared about most back then. What they valued was the fun the story brought... For example, a certain inhuman comic clearly focused on the story rather than selling fanservice or cuteness, and the art style wasn't exactly beautiful either.

However, most readers find the art style of this work to have a unique and captivating charm.

However, nowadays... it seems that not many people are still sticking to the path of righteous heroism and passion.

With the decline of print media, it's really hard to find a comic that can get your blood pumping these days.

Meanwhile, the editors sitting in the conference room were also troubled by this.

...This grand prize seems to have been a failure, but...it was also somewhat unexpected.

P.S.: I was writing until the early hours of the morning last night... and because the meaning was a bit unclear, I accidentally posted a chapter from the new book here. Sorry.

What a shame...

You can call me Stupid Cat, just this once.

331

【NO.327 Grand Prize Ranking】

The pressure is undoubtedly immense, especially for Shonen Jump, whose sales are declining day by day.

Even so, Shonen Jump remains a top-tier manga magazine.

But times have changed. It's no longer the era of countless great artists. Especially after the emergence of the so-called "wall of masterpieces," even fewer people can draw good shonen manga anymore.

Under such pressure, Weekly Shonen Jump urgently needs to find powerful manga artists who can serve as pillars, preferably the kind of top-tier manga artists who can be the backbone of the company. However, things are not as simple as they seem. There's no such thing as a hidden master. If it were really that easy to find a top-tier manga artist, then Jump's editors would definitely be willing to stake out the streets every day to see when they can catch one.

The most we can catch right now are newbies. While it's true that newbies are often monsters, it takes a lot of time to nurture them into pillars of Shonen Jump. And... it's not surprising that some of them die during the nurturing process, especially in this era where most people like cute things.

The so-called grand prize is actually to find better new talents to cultivate. The winning comic artist is undoubtedly someone who can survive the fierce competition, grow in the end, and has the potential to become a master.

But what's most embarrassing is that this year's awards seem to be a bit worse than in the past, with not many newcomers worth paying attention to.

As a result, the editorial department even postponed the announcement of the award rankings.

Because, arranging the top three is a bit difficult.

As mentioned before, this year's awards ceremony seems to have been somewhat of a failure, but... it was also a bit unexpected.

There aren't many good works, in fact, they're pitifully few.

Of course, there will also be many works with great potential among them.

For example, the work that will win the championship this time has already been decided... Of course, it's not because of any behind-the-scenes manipulation, but simply because this kind of classic shonen manga is more suitable for the atmosphere of Shonen Jump, and the story itself is quite interesting.

It might be a bit formulaic, but... it still gets people's blood pumping!

—My Hero Academia

Actually, the author of this work had previously serialized a manga in Weekly Shonen Jump. Generally speaking, even if someone is participating in a newcomer award, they should change their name or something. However, this award can hardly be considered a newcomer award in a sense.

Of course, most veteran creators don't participate in these awards anyway, since established artists can't possibly compete with newbies for their prizes.

Moreover, the creator didn't have high expectations, so he submitted the work casually.

Surprisingly, this passionate story and its core elements are very much in line with JUMP's formula. Moreover, based on the communication between the editor and the creator, the editor-in-chief later suggested that this work might have the potential to become a pillar of JUMP in the future!

However, while the champion has been decided, the rankings for second and third... or rather, excluding the top five, are all a bit difficult to determine.

Since Editor-in-Chief Yoshihisa Pingzi took over, sales have continued to decline as before, without any upward trend. Therefore, he always looks forward to the Newcomer Award or other major awards... Well, he was the one who decided on the champion this time.

Flicking the cigarette between his fingers and letting the ash fall into the ashtray, Bottle tapped the table with a headache. "Phew! I think we should review it again. No matter what, we must list the second to fifth rankings this time."

Selecting the top five from a terrifyingly large number of submissions was not as easy as it seemed. After reluctantly eliminating many excellent works, the five most promising works were finally listed. However, apart from the designated champion, the other four works... all seemed to be of very good quality, and the differences were not that significant.

This is precisely why ranking has become more difficult.

Amano Touko, the current deputy editor-in-chief of JUMP, is also the editor who arranged the meeting with Asuna, Eriri, and Kasumigaoka Utaha last time.

At that moment, she was sitting next to the editor-in-chief, covering her nose with her hand, looking disgusted... If you're going to smoke, get out of here!

"Let's re-examine them... Then let's put the works with weaker visuals and storylines in the fifth place first."