At this moment, an exclamation from an editor on the other side reached his ears, pulling Sasaki Hisashi back to reality.
The editor who spoke to him was Yahagi Kousuke; although he appeared quite young, he had already been working in the editorial department for several years.
Beside him was another young man, a rookie manga artist whom he was currently in charge of.
"Oh, it's Yahagi."
Regarding the other's remark, Sasaki Hisashi modestly waved his hand and smiled:
"Strongly recommending it? I just didn't want good work to be buried. Isn't that the responsibility of us editors?"
"Indeed."
Yahagi Kousuke nodded in agreement upon hearing this, then smiled:
"But since it can receive such high praise from Mr. Sasaki, it seems like something to really look forward to."
Although Sasaki Hisashi usually appeared kind and gentle, he was actually extremely strict when it came to manga requirements.
It was said that the rookie authors under him often ended up on the verge of a breakdown from having to redo their work.
Yet, this very same Sasaki Hisashi was now openly calling that new work a 'good work'; this attitude alone spoke volumes.
Could it be that another masterpiece was about to be born?
Sasaki Hisashi smiled without answering directly, nor did he deny the other's statement.
Although he was indeed very confident, there was no need for him to say such things himself.
He then looked at the young man beside Yahagi Kousuke, recalled for a moment, and smiled:
"You must be Kishimoto Masashi, who debuted a few years ago after winning the Hop Step Award for 'Robot', right?"
"You really are young!"
The Hop Step Award is the monthly rookie award for Shonen Jump, held once a month, aimed at discovering and training new manga artists, and it is also the standard debut path for Shonen Jump-affiliated manga artists.
Although it is a monthly award, the competition is equally fierce in Japan, where manga artists are in no short supply.
"Yes! My name is Kishimoto Masashi, please treat me well."
The young man, Kishimoto Masashi, nodded in a quick, slightly embarrassed response.
Debuting as a manga artist after winning the Hop Step Award for 'Robot' was indeed an achievement he was very proud of.
Moreover, he was only 20 at the time and still in college; he was indeed very young.
But that was back in 1995; four years had passed since then, and 1999 was already nearly halfway over.
And in these four years, he had hardly created any outstanding works.
Although he had serialized a short story in Shonen Jump's irregular supplementary issue 'Akamaru Jump' the year before last, and the results at the time were decent, did it really not leave as strong an impression as 'Robot'?
Sasaki Hisashi didn't know what the other was thinking; he only knew that the other had been staring at the color pages in his hand, looking very curious.
So he simply handed the color pages to him and smiled:
"If you want to see them, go ahead, just don't damage them."
"Really?! Thank you very much!"
Upon hearing this, Kishimoto Masashi showed an expression of surprise and delight, immediately casting his worries aside.
He bowed slightly to Sasaki Hisashi in gratitude, then carefully took the color pages with both hands and began to admire them closely.
The most eye-catching part of the color pages was, of course, their color, but compared to the color, what attracted him most about these two pages were the lines.
What amazing drawing skills!
He couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.
He considered himself not a talented type, but a hardworking type of manga artist, and the drawing skills he had painstakingly developed were one of the few specialties he prided himself on.
But compared to the line art of these two color pages, his drawing technique paled in comparison.
More importantly, the line art of these two drawings was clean to an exaggerated degree; this natural, seamless feeling was no longer a realm reachable by mere hard work, but overflowed with talent!
Additionally, he also noticed that the character art style drawn by the artist was unique and also very beautiful.
Even he, after seeing these characters in the drawing, couldn't help but want to witness the charm of the manga itself.
So amazing!
Exclaiming again, a hint of envy and respect flashed in his eyes, and at the same time, he developed a strong curiosity about the author of these two color pages.
So he looked at Sasaki Hisashi and asked somewhat embarrassedly:
"May I ask which artist created these two color pages?"
"Of course. His name is... uh..."
Halfway through his sentence, Sasaki Hisashi suddenly remembered something, smiled bitterly, patted his own forehead, and said:
"Goodness, how could I forget something like that?"
Then he said somewhat helplessly:
"I'm really sorry, because I haven't discussed the pen name issue with him yet, so I can't tell you his name for the time being."
"Eh, really?!"
Hearing Sasaki Hisashi's statement, Yahagi Kousuke, who was nearby, opened his eyes wide in shock, giving Kishimoto Masashi a start.
Although he didn't understand why Yahagi Kousuke's reaction was so big, he still nodded with some regret and said:
"I understand."
Sasaki Hisashi signaled for Yahagi Kousuke to calm down, while smilingly saying to him:
"But I believe you will get to know each other sooner or later."
"Also, I heard from Yahagi that you seem to be preparing a new work for serialization, right? Are you also participating in this serialization meeting?"
"...No,"
Kishimoto Masashi explained even more embarrassedly upon hearing this:
"Because there are still some issues that need to be discussed, so..."
He had come to the editorial department this time because he was called by Yahagi Kousuke to discuss issues regarding his manga.
Just then, Yahagi Kousuke suddenly interjected, patted Kishimoto Masashi on the shoulder, and smiled:
"Actually, if we are optimistic, I think Kishimoto Masashi's new work should be able to participate in the next serialization meeting."
"Really?!"
Kishimoto Masashi was both surprised and delighted for a moment; before this, the other hadn't mentioned any clear time to him.
Seeing this, Yahagi Kousuke's smile grew even wider, and he struck while the iron was hot:
"Of course, as long as this discussion goes smoothly..."
Saying this, he nodded to Sasaki Hisashi in farewell and smilingly led Kishimoto Masashi to the discussion room.
Watching Kishimoto Masashi being led away by the other, Sasaki Hisashi shook his head with a smile and refocused his attention on the work at hand.
The upcoming serialization meeting—that was the most important thing right now!
Ah, right.
I still have to confirm the pen name with Akira first.
...
"By the way,"
Just as they entered the discussion room, Kishimoto Masashi suddenly remembered something and asked Yahagi Kousuke in confusion:
"Just now, when the issue of the other's pen name was mentioned, why were you so surprised, Mr. Yahagi?"
"...The reason is simple,"
Mentioning this matter again, Yahagi Kousuke fell silent for a moment, then explained with a complicated tone:
"If even the pen name hasn't been decided yet, it means the other person is an absolute, pure rookie."
"A pure rookie?!"
Kishimoto Masashi's eyes widened instantly, showing an expression of disbelief, the same as Yahagi Kousuke's reaction just now.
A pure rookie's work, participating directly in the serialization meeting?
Thinking of this, he was also speechless for a moment.
...
...
"—Pen name?"
Receiving a call from Sasaki Hisashi, he thought there was something else; he didn't expect it to be about discussing a pen name.
Of course, this was indeed a matter.
"Hmm..."
However, he thought for a moment and quickly made a decision, saying to Sasaki Hisashi on the other end of the phone:
"Let's just use my real name."
When it comes to pen names, the first thing one usually thinks of is personal privacy, fears about life being disturbed by fans, and similar issues.
And mentioning this issue, I have to say, Japan does a really good job in protecting privacy.
Like Nasu Kinoko, for decades, one couldn't even find a single photo of him online, and for a long time, fans couldn't even be sure whether he was male or female.
Similar to Nasu Kinoko's situation, there are also the new generation's top diva Ado, as well as the author of 'Demon Slayer', Koyoharu Gotouge, and so on.
Especially Ado.
To hide her appearance, when holding concerts, she puts a large iron cage fifty meters away from the audience, turns off the lights, and encloses herself inside, basically only allowing people to see a black silhouette; it's a bit exaggerated.
But even setting aside the few extreme examples mentioned above, there are also manga artists like Eiichiro Oda and Kishimoto Masashi who use their real names.
They not only use their real names as pen names but also have public photos, yet they haven't had large-scale exposure, nor has it caused too much trouble for their lives.
And the reason they can achieve this level is actually the comprehensive result of efforts from many aspects, including law, the industry, the media, and even individuals; it's hard to explain in a few words.
In short, because Japan's protection of privacy is quite good, coupled with the fact that the public's attention to manga artists themselves is not that close, there's actually no need to worry too much about privacy issues.
As long as it doesn't become like entertainment celebrities, being surrounded and blocked wherever one goes, he felt that would be enough.
"Okay, I understand."
Sasaki Hisashi expressed his approval, and the pen name was easily confirmed just like that.
But having said that, in fact, when it comes to picking a pen name, not everyone can be as relaxed as Akira.
Because an author's pen name is also part of what attracts readers, if the pen name chosen is too poor, or if one wants to use a real name but the real name itself is too mediocre, it might be advised to change it.
Fortunately, the name 'Akira' is pleasant enough, so it was spared.
Having settled the pen name issue, Sasaki Hisashi prepared to hang up the phone.
But at this moment, suddenly thinking of the discussion during the day, he mentioned it casually and smiled:
"By the way, today someone happened to see the color pages you drew, and they seemed very interested in you, wanting to ask for your name."
"Unfortunately, because the pen name wasn't confirmed yet, I didn't tell them at the time."
"However, the other person's new work might participate in the next serialization meeting, and if everything goes smoothly, you might even become rivals for a while."
"Oh?"
After hearing Sasaki Hisashi's account, Akira also became interested and asked curiously:
"Do you know what the other person's name is?"
"Hmm. The other person is named Kishimoto Masashi, a rookie manga artist."
"But you might not have heard of this name."
Kishimoto Masashi?
Hearing this name, Akira instantly perked up, but hearing Sasaki Hisashi's subsequent statement, he almost couldn't keep a straight face.
might I not have heard of it?
Hilarious, I'm way too familiar with him!
And counting the time, the days of 'Naruto' being serialized are indeed approaching.
It's just that he really didn't expect to hear the name Kishimoto Masashi in this way.
A figure who was originally unreachable suddenly appeared in his ears; inexplicably, his mood also became a bit excited.
Shonen Jump, serialization meeting...
Since I'm already here, let me see what this so-called second golden age of Shonen Jump is all about!