The next day.
Tokyo.
Shōnen Publishing's manga studio.
There were countless manga magazine publishers in Japan. But among all the manga magazines, there were always those three that had the most weekly shōnen serializations.
Shōnen Publishing.
Shūkansha.
POO Studios.
And Shōnen Publishing had the highest sales volume.
Number one in Japan, number one in Asia, and number one in the industry.
In the editorial department.
Seto Kyoko was looking down at a manga manuscript with a conflicted look on her face. She had been thinking about it for several days now. Breakfast was placed next to her, but she had not eaten a single bite. It had already turned cold.
An editor beside her said, "Kyoko, what's the matter?"
Kyoko gave a wry smile. "I have a submission, but I don't know if I should submit it."
The editor said, "If you think it's good, then submit it. If you don't like it, then withdraw it."
Kyoko scratched her head and said, "The plot is alright, but this art style and character design … I've never seen such a strange one in all my years as an editor!"
"Oh? Let me have a look. "
"Look."
"Pfft!"
"Really? Really? "
"It's quite strange."
"Forget it, let's submit it and give it a try."
On the other side, someone shouted, "The chief editor's meeting is starting."
Someone in the editorial department quietly stood up and entered the innermost meeting room.
There were a total of 13 people seated around the long table. They were all the main leaders of Shōnen Publishing's editorial department.
The editor-in-chief said, "We'll be discussing the new issue's serialization today."
The deputy editor-in-chief adjusted his glasses and said, "There are two empty spots now. Sister's Daily Life has ended, and Monster's Revenge has been ranked last in the readers' surveys for three weeks in a row. We've decided to stop serialization, so we have to decide on the two spots today."
The editor-in-chief said, "Let's have a look then."
The works recommended by the various editors were placed on the table.
Everyone lowered their heads and flipped through them. As they read, the recommended editors introduced them.
"This one won't do."
"Yeah, it definitely won't do."
"The pace of the story is too slow."
"Next."
"This one is still alright."
"But we need to make some changes. The setting is not good."
"Next."
They went through the manuscripts one by one.
Finally, it was Seto Kyoko's recommended manuscript.
Kyoko said, "This is a submission by a newcomer. Her pen name is Aoi. I think the story and plot are very good, so I submitted it."
An editor frowned. "Has he debuted yet?"
Kyoko said, "No, I'm a pure rookie."
Another editor said, "In principle, the works of newcomers will not be serialized directly."
Seto Kyoko said, "I know, but the other party submitted ten chapters in one go. I've read all of them. They have a strong continuity and are very in line with our Shōnen Publishing's serialization style."
Everyone lowered their heads to look, and they were all dumbfounded.
What is this?
What kind of painting technique was this?
The Deputy Managing Editor looked at him. "What's with this character design?"
Another editor slapped his forehead. "This character design is too casual!"
A male editor said, "This won't do, right? Pirate background? "
A female editor said, "I think it's not bad. The plot is very attractive, but the character design is too simple. How did the eyes end up like this?"
Everyone argued heatedly.
Seto Kyoko said, "If you can't, then forget it."
The editor-in-chief said lightly, "Let's look at the next one."
In the end, after more than a dozen submissions had been read, only one had been unanimously approved by everyone. There was still one last serialization spot left, and no result could be reached no matter how much they discussed it.
"Do you have any more drafts?"
"No, that's all for this issue."
"There's still one more to go."
"Do any other editors have any recommendations?"
"No, it's all here."
"Then let's go through it from the beginning again."
The dozen or so drafts were sorted through again.
Half an hour.
An hour.
After an intense debate, there were no more good works left. The editor-in-chief picked up One Piece's draft again and read through it twice. "This one then."
"But this character design?"
"Even if this draft was serialized, it would still be axed."
"But there aren't any other works left."
"That's true."
"But there aren't many precedents for a newcomer's work to be serialized."
"We can only give it a try."
…
Elsewhere.
In the morning. Zhang Ye and the others were having breakfast.
At the dining table, Ha Qiqi asked, "Is there still no reply?"
Little Sun wiped his sweat away. "Not yet."
Zhang Ye asked, "Who submitted the draft?"
Little Sun said, "It was my sister."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Alright, I'll have to thank your sister properly later."
Little Sun hurriedly said, "There's no need for that, Director Zhang. My sister is a hardcore fan of yours. When she heard that it was submitted to you, it was like she was on steroids." With a pause, he said, "But it's already been three days since it was submitted, and there's still no reply from my sister. It must be because there's still no news from Shōnen Publishing."
Zhang Ye said, "Let's wait for a while. There's no hurry."
Little Wang said worriedly, "The comics industry here is too developed. Walking on the streets, there are people reading comics everywhere. Sister Ha and I even saw a few Japanese uncles and aunties reading comics yesterday. We don't know anything about it, so do you think that One Piece will work?"
They were starting to feel that Zhang Ye's decision was a little rash. Using a comic to break through the restraints of the restriction order? Using comics to break into the Japanese market? Or even extend into Asia? It sounded like a great idea. If it succeeded, their popularity would definitely soar. But they were still a bunch of amateurs, and they were even a bunch of complete amateurs. How were they supposed to compete with the local cartoonists? Just by relying on Zhang Ye's weird character design? His weird style? Would it really work? Their Zhang Ye's Studio had been smacking the faces of others all their lives. They didn't want to be the one getting smacked in the face by others. That would be so embarrassing!
However, Zhang Ye was as steady as a rock. He had not been idling around in the past few days at the Asakusa Hotel. He had briefly browsed through the most popular comics in Japan over the past few decades and analyzed them. He realized that the style of the comics in this world was not too different from the ones in his previous world. The theme, genre, and drawing style were all different, but the core content was more or less the same. The selling points were all the same, so there shouldn't be any problems.
At this moment, the cell phone rang.
Little Sun was taken aback. "It's from my sister."
Little Wang urged, "Quick, answer it."
The moment he answered, he heard Little Sun's sister shouting excitedly at the top of her lungs. Her voice could be heard from three meters away.
His sister roared, "It's passed! It's passed! "
Little Sun was stunned. "Sis, what passed?"
His sister said loudly, "The editor of Shōnen Publishing just called me! The manuscript has been passed! Shōnen Publishing's new weekly serialization, One Piece, will be published! "
Little Sun said in surprise, "That's great!"
Little Wang nearly jumped up. "Damn, it's really passed?"
Zhang Ye said in amusement, "What do you mean by that? Were you hoping that it wouldn't pass? "
Little Wang said repeatedly, "No, it's just that I didn't expect it!"
This news was too exciting. Although they didn't know how the serialization of One Piece would turn out, the first step had already been taken!
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