Eiichiro Oda arrived at the Tezuka Award ceremony.
He was no stranger to this place. Five years ago, he'd received his semi-finalist certificate for the Tezuka Award right here in this very room.
Back then, he was just a high school student, and his first attempt had been a massive success.
His blood was pumping. He was certain he'd become a manga artist in no time.
Unfortunately, after five years of grinding and polishing his craft, the One Piece he'd poured everything into had hit a wall. It failed to pass the serialization meeting twice in a row.
Editor-in-Chief Kazuhiko Torishima didn't think highly of it, which infuriated him.
'One day, I will create a work that rivals Disney.'
His confidence in himself hadn't wavered. He was revising his manuscript and quietly waiting for the third serialization meeting.
But yesterday, when his editor invited him to the Tezuka Award ceremony, the man had casually dropped something.
"Heishi really struck gold. Death Note is genuinely interesting... It should be getting serialized soon. Even the Editor-in-Chief thinks highly of it."
Serialization was a sore spot for Oda, and he was extremely sensitive about it.
Someone his own age could get serialized right after winning a newcomer award? Then what did that make him? Just how interesting was Death Note?
He had to see for himself.
...
'What is this? It's interesting, but it's not better than One Piece.'
In the exhibition area, he found Death Note.
The mystery plotting was solid, but there was a ceiling on serious-themed works.
No matter how Oda looked at it, he believed its potential couldn't match One Piece, with its Devil Fruits, pirates, and the promise of the great treasure.
'The art is pretty average too, but the realistic character designs are probably more popular than my style.'
He understood that his unique art style was one of the main reasons the Editor-in-Chief kept rejecting him. But that was something he couldn't change.
To capture the cartoonish, fantastical spirit of One Piece, you needed highly expressive, highly imaginative drawing techniques.
He didn't think he was wrong.
'This is so frustrating.' Oda started grinding his teeth while staring at the name Ryuji Kanzaki.
"Beat my 'True Friends'... Who exactly is Kanzaki?"
Someone about his age was muttering nearby.
Oda heard it and asked curiously, "Did you enter the Tezuka Award too? 'True Friends'... I don't remember seeing that manga."
"No, you've got the wrong idea," the person explained. "I'm talking about Akamaru Jump. My manga and Death Note were both published in the Golden Week issue. Unfortunately, True Friends only came in third. Death Note took first place by a mile."
The editorial department judged a manga's performance through reader surveys.
This was a key part of Torishima's reforms. He'd increased the weight of reader surveys significantly.
Low-ranking manga got axed. High-ranking ones received more promotion and better placement.
The future of a work was left entirely in the readers' hands.
Death Note taking first place proved that the market loved it.
"I see." Oda nodded.
So it wasn't just him. Other manga artists had also been beaten by Kanzaki.
He felt a sudden sense of camaraderie.
"I'm Eiichiro Oda. And you are?"
"Me?" The person scratched his hair and flashed a wide grin. "I'm Masashi Kishimoto. From Okayama Prefecture."
...
Before the awards ceremony officially kicked off, Kai finally tracked down Kazuki Takahashi.
Takahashi turned out to be an incredibly kind person. The moment he heard that Rika was a fan, he gave her the full experience. He leaned against the buffet table, sketched something out, wrote a short message, signed it, and presented it to Rika with both hands.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Takahashi-sensei!"
Rika was beside herself. She bowed over and over, practically vibrating with excitement. The character Takahashi had drawn was none other than her all-time favorite: Seto Kaiba.
Aloof. Relentless. And impossibly cool.
Takahashi seemed a little caught off guard by her enthusiasm.
Yu-Gi-Oh!'s numbers had been pretty average lately, and its popularity was slipping. It couldn't hold a spot in the top six anymore.
He rarely ran into die-hard readers like Rika these days.
"I'm really glad you enjoy my manga."
Takahashi, who hadn't created Yu-Gi-Oh! until he was in his thirties, was a textbook late bloomer.
He'd been through setback after setback but still kept going. Knowing that people genuinely loved his work was probably the thing that kept him moving forward the most.
"I'm a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! too."
Kai said it with real feeling.
He'd watched plenty of Yugi's dramatic monologues and Joey Wheeler's over-the-top reaction faces in his past life.
"Oh, really?" Takahashi looked at Kai with a warm smile. "Would you like to visit my studio sometime?"
"Is... is that okay?" Kai's eyes went wide.
Manga artists worked punishing schedules. Would Takahashi actually have time for a visitor?
But the temptation was massive. He could learn so much, and it would lay a solid foundation for Death Note's serialization down the road.
Running a studio was no joke. How to divide the work among assistants was a whole skill in itself.
"Then come," Takahashi said, not giving Kai the chance to refuse. "When are you free?"
"Pretty much anytime."
"Then the 8th. May 8th."
"I'll be there!"
The ceremony officially began, and the Fujin siblings headed toward the front of the crowd.
Takahashi watched Kai's retreating figure and let out a quiet sigh.
So this was the newcomer that Heishi thought so highly of.
He should do what he could to help.
Besides, nurturing newcomers was genuinely fulfilling.
He had a feeling this young man named Kai Fujin was going to shine.
...
Just as Heishi had predicted, Kai was the only one to receive the Selected award.
The four Honorable Mention winners collected their certificates together, and when it was Kai's turn to take the stage, only the host, Hisashi Sasaki, and the presenter, Kazuhiko Torishima, were standing up there.
"Two million yen in prize money." Torishima said to him. "It's already sitting in your bank account. Now, serve Jump."
"If you don't draw for at least ten or fifteen years, I won't forgive you."
He winked at Kai, clearly joking.
In the audience, Oda watched the scene with his jaw clenched. 'One day. One day! One day, I will make that Editor-in-Chief apologize to me!'
He refused to believe he'd lose to Kanzaki. The fact that the Editor-in-Chief valued Kanzaki but looked down on him was depressing.
Masashi Kishimoto, standing nearby, just looked envious.
He hadn't gotten this kind of treatment when he won his newcomer award.
'I want to be like Kanzaki.'
...
Laughter filled the room, and Kai accepted the Tezuka Cup and the certificate with both hands.
He turned to face the audience, bowed, and delivered the speech he'd been thinking about for a long time.
"I'm a very ordinary person. From childhood until now, I've never had any real achievements."
"I went to school like everyone else. I grew up like everyone else."
"Being able to stand here and receive this award today is the most glorious moment of my life."
Under the spotlight, he raised the trophy. He thought of his past life and his present one. He had never, in either of them, stood this high.
"Thank you, everyone."
_______________________
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