In fact, over this past week, Shonen Jump had already conducted preliminary negotiations with Super Fantasy Bunko regarding this collaborative project.
The other party's response was just as they had expected; not only was their attitude very positive, but they even proactively offered to make concessions regarding profits.
Therefore, it now mainly depends on Akira's own wishes.
"So,"
Hisashi asked him:
"Mochizuki-sensei, what do you think of this project?"
"Hmm..."
After thinking carefully for a moment, Akira couldn't help but ask a question:
"Do you really think that highly of Kara no Kyoukai? Why make such a big fuss about it?"
Hearing this, Hisashi laughed:
"What's wrong, Mochizuki-sensei? Do you lack confidence in your own work?"
"Of course not."
Akira shook his head and then frankly added:
"But the style of Kara no Kyoukai means its audience isn't that broad. I think its final sales might only be in the hundreds of thousands."
"'Might only be in the hundreds of thousands'?"
Upon hearing his words, Hisashi's expression became strange.
However, seeing his composed expression, as if he didn't think there was anything wrong with his statement, Hisashi was suddenly torn between laughter and tears:
"Mochizuki-sensei, do you know how many copies a volume of light novels usually needs to sell to reach the break-even point?"
"Uh..."
Akira was taken aback.
This question indeed touched upon a blind spot in his knowledge, so he honestly shook his head and said:
"I don't know."
In response, Hisashi gave a number that surprised him—
"8,000 copies!"
"As long as the sales of each light novel volume can reach around 8,000 copies, the publisher can break even."
At the same time, this is also the publisher's minimum requirement for sales.
In other words, if a light novel cannot even reach sales of 8,000 copies per volume, it faces the same fate of being canceled.
For a new writer, as long as they can publish 3 to 4 light novels a year and reach sales of 10,000 copies per volume, that is enough for them to survive in the industry.
And if the sales per volume can reach 100,000 copies, they can fully be called a best-selling light novelist.
"Are the requirements really that low?"
"...No, I think your expectations are just too high, right?"
Hearing Akira's muttering, Hisashi instantly had a black line on his forehead.
Hearing this, Akira thought about it and felt that might indeed be the case.
After all, in his previous life back home, works that could reach the eyes of most viewers through anime adaptations were basically light novels with sales of over a million, or even ten million.
Including those so-called 'isekai toilet paper' novels as well.
That's probably why he formed the perception that 'only a million in sales counts as passing, and a few hundred thousand is just average.'
In any case, after correcting his misconception, Hisashi smiled again:
"However, we are indeed confident in the performance of Kara no Kyoukai."
When negotiating with Super Fantasy Bunko, they also had a senior editor from their side look at Kara no Kyoukai, and it received high praise.
According to their conservative estimate, the sales of each volume of Kara no Kyoukai should be able to reach at least 100,000 copies.
By the standards of light novel volumes, the scope of Kara no Kyoukai can be split into 3 to 4 volumes, which means the total sales have a chance to reach 400,000 copies.
This is actually about the same as the sales figures Akira estimated himself.
But the difference is that they are already quite satisfied with this sales figure, whereas Akira himself feels that this result is just average.
In short, this conservative sales estimate is the foundation for both parties to reach a cooperation agreement.
After all, both parties are commercial institutions, and all actions are aimed at making a profit.
If this project couldn't make money, even if Akira is an author they prioritize, Shonen Jump couldn't lose money to support him, and the other party wouldn't agree to it either.
More importantly—
"We have a lot of confidence in you, Mochizuki-sensei."
By now, there is no need to elaborate on Akira's talent and ability.
The plot of Fate/stay night will become more and more exciting, its popularity will continue to rise, and the number of readers paying attention to him will gradually increase.
Under these circumstances, Kara no Kyoukai, personally created by Akira, will undoubtedly become a topic of conversation that is watched and discussed by many readers.
The quality of Kara no Kyoukai itself is excellent enough, and when combined with the promotion from Shonen Jump, as well as the hype surrounding Akira himself, there is a good chance that sales could double again, or even exceed 1 million copies!
If that goal can truly be achieved, that would of course be for the best.
Even if it doesn't reach that, sales of several hundred thousand would be enough for Super Fantasy Bunko to catch its breath, and for Shonen Jump, it would also be a nice "extra income."
Moreover, compared to money, Shonen Jump can also gain some intangible benefits and advantages from it.
Of course, this isn't referring to things like corruption or bribery.
"I understand."
After thoroughly understanding the ins and outs of this project, under Hisashi's nervous yet expectant gaze, Akira smiled:
"I think this project is great, and I don't see any problems with it."
"That's great."
Hearing the other party say this, Hisashi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
To be honest, this project was filled with commercialism in every aspect; to put it bluntly, one could even call it the stench of money.
And some creators, especially those with extraordinary talent, might not want their works to be tainted by too strong a commercial atmosphere.
If Akira had such thoughts, the situation would be a bit troublesome.
Fortunately, the other party was not that kind of person.
Not only was he not, but Akira even asked with a smile:
"So, is there anything on my end that I need to cooperate with?"
He was just an ordinary person, so naturally, he didn't have any of those messy complexes.
As long as the project didn't violate any fundamental principles, in his view, this was a win-win, or even a triple-win, successful collaboration.
Hisashi smiled upon hearing this:
"Nothing for now, at least not at the moment."
However, there is one more thing to note.
That is, this project will not start immediately, but will only launch after the first volume of Fate/stay night is released.
After all, Akira's primary job is as a Manga Artist, and if he hasn't even released a single volume of his manga, starting to release other, cross-field works would easily draw criticism.
"...Ah haha, that's true."
Akira nodded somewhat embarrassedly to show his understanding, and at the same time expressed his gratitude to Hisashi.
After all, the source of all this was that he wrote Kara no Kyoukai.
So, if you have any self-awareness, just draw your manga properly, you bastard!
Sigh.
Hisashi sighed.
What else could he do? Of course, he had to forgive him.
In short, having satisfactorily resolved this troublesome matter, Hisashi rested for a moment and drank the remaining coffee in his cup in one gulp.
And next, it was finally time to get to the real point.
"Actually, there is one more thing."
Hisashi smiled at Akira:
"Shonen Jump hopes to commission a short-form manga from you."
"Short-form manga? A commission?"