Regarding Hisashi's sudden request for a manuscript, Akira asked skeptically, "Is Shonen Jump really short on short-story manga?"
You have to understand that aside from the twenty or so long-running manga serialized in Shonen Jump, everyone else—whether a newcomer or a veteran—can only submit short-story manga.
Shonen Jump might receive thousands of short-story submissions from newcomers alone every year, yet less than one percent are actually published, which just goes to show how fierce the competition is.
Given that, why would they still need to ask him for a short-story manga manuscript?
Good question! However, Hisashi had already anticipated this question.
He pretended to sigh and explained, "We certainly don't lack standard short-story manga. What the editorial department lacks are short-story manga that are actually good enough to be published in Shonen Jump."
He then explained the reason to Akira.
Generally speaking, apart from combined issues, authors with long-running series in Shonen Jump don't get vacations.
However, due to various real-world factors, it's inevitable that authors occasionally have to take leave, and sometimes several authors might even be on leave simultaneously.
This means the current issue of Shonen Jump would end up with a gap of one or more chapters, which then needs to be filled with short stories to make up for the missing content.
In the past, however, this was relatively rare.
In any given year, the total number of times all serialized authors took leave in Shonen Jump usually didn't exceed twenty, and even in exceptional years, it wouldn't exceed thirty.
Therefore, when it did happen, we could just find a halfway decent short-story manga to fill the gap.
However, this year, the situation has changed drastically due to one man.
That person is the renowned and popular Manga Artist—Togashi Yoshihiro.
His work, "YuYu Hakusho," was one of the three giants of Shonen Jump's golden age, alongside "Dragon Ball" and "slam dunk." His talent and fame are beyond question.
In 1998, thanks to the excellent performance of "One Piece" and "rurouni kenshin," the situation at Shonen Jump had gradually improved, but it was still in a somewhat awkward position.
Because aside from those two works, the performance of the other manga was not ideal.
Not only that, but at one point, Shonen Jump had as few as fourteen works being serialized simultaneously.
To resolve this, Kazuhiko approached Togashi Yoshihiro once again. After agreeing to a series of preferential terms, he finally convinced him to start serializing "hunter x hunter" in the 14th issue of 1998.
Everything was fine at the beginning, and he was quite diligent with his serialization, until the end of December, when he suddenly started taking frequent breaks.
Up to that point, the editorial department could actually understand.
In January 1999, he married another popular Manga Artist, Takeuchi Naoko, the author of "Sailor Moon."
Therefore, the breaks during this period could be understood as him preparing for the wedding.
But they soon realized they were wrong.
After Togashi Yoshihiro got married, the situation with his leave not only didn't improve, but actually got worse.
As of the 35th issue, he had already taken 13 breaks, single-handedly matching the total amount of leave taken by all authors in previous years combined!
It was insane!
But there was nothing to be done, as this was one of the preferential terms Kazuhiko had promised him.
So, they could only curse Kazuhiko in their hearts while trying to find ways to fill the gaps.
"But because he takes breaks so frequently, if we just use average-quality short stories to fill the gaps like we used to, it's easy for readers to criticize us."
Hisashi said helplessly, "That's why we thought of requesting manuscripts from our serialized authors."
With the exception of monsters like Akira, the vast majority of serialized Manga Artists started out with short-story manga, fought their way through the competition of countless peers, and finally earned the opportunity for long-term serialization.
The quality of the short-story manga they draw is naturally guaranteed.
Furthermore, for serialized Manga Artists who already have some name recognition, the short-story manga they draw also serve as an extra treat for their fans.
"I see."
Akira nodded in understanding. Seeing this, Hisashi continued with a smile, "Of course, considering the workload of our serialized authors, this request for short-story manga doesn't have any restrictions on subject matter or submission deadlines."
"Whether you want to experiment with some of your own ideas or draw a different subject to refresh your mind, that's perfectly fine."
"Just try to create something when you have some free time."
It must be said that they went to great lengths to deal with Akira this time.
What he had just said—whether it was about using short stories to fill content or Togashi Yoshihiro's frequent breaks—wasn't exactly false; it was just that the situation wasn't quite as dire as he had made it out to be.
More importantly, this was originally just an excuse he had fabricated to give Akira something to do. But as he kept going, he realized that this excuse could actually be developed into a decent project.
So, after consulting with Kazuhiko, he decided to promote it to all serialized authors.
Therefore, what he was saying now was not a lie, but a project that genuinely existed.
However, considering that other serialized authors barely have any free time—let alone enough to be thankful if they can even submit their manuscripts on time—this project was currently still a "special attack" aimed at Akira.
"I see..."
Akira was unaware of the underlying schemes.
However, upon learning that this request was not mandatory, he relaxed and replied with a smile, "I understand. I'll give it a try if I have the time."
Honestly, he didn't really want to try, because he didn't read many short-story manga.
If he absolutely had to draw one, one or two would be fine, but any more than that, and he'd have to pick and choose from other fields and then adapt them himself, which was quite a hassle.
For instance, if he were to choose from the Type-Moon Series, he felt that only light novels with an episodic structure, like "Lord El-Melloi II Case Files," would be suitable for adaptation.
But instead of adapting it into a short-story manga, why wouldn't he just copy the light novel directly?
That would be like taking off your pants just to fart.
On the other side, hearing his reply, Hisashi couldn't help but inwardly scoff, 'What do you mean, "if I have the time"? Is there ever a week where you don't have the time?'
...Wait. No!
He instantly realized something, his expression shifted slightly, and he demanded in a low voice, "Mochizuki-sensei, you aren't writing a new light novel again, are you?"
Sensing an ominous undertone in the other man's voice, Akira hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Of course not! How would I have that much time?"
"Is that so? That's good."
Hisashi gave him a suspicious look, only half-believing him.
But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, the next moment, he saw Akira put on an embarrassed expression, scratch his head, and chuckle, "It's just that..."
"I signed with a record company with a friend, and I've been recording a single recently, so I'm a little busy."
"...Huh?"
Hisashi's gaze went blank instantly.
What do you mean,'signed with a record company'? And what the hell do you mean, 'recording a single recently'?!