At the most prominent spot in the bookstore, Satoshi Watanabe picked up a copy of Death Note.
He turned to his companion in surprise. "How many days has it been since Death Note went on sale?"
Noriyuki Abe tilted his head and thought. "Three weeks, I think?"
Watanabe couldn't help but marvel. "This manga is something else. Even now, people are still coming in nonstop to buy it."
"How so?"
"There are always popular manga volumes on sale in Japan. Takahashi-sensei's Inuyasha, Tatsuya Hiruta-sensei's Kung Fu Boy. They've both released volumes in the past few days, and neither of them has been able to dent the profits Death Note is pulling in."
Watanabe held up the volume, looked at Light Yagami on the cover, and made up his mind. "I have to lock this down."
After buying Death Note, they headed to the register. Just then, a bookstore employee walked over to restock the shelves, placing a fresh dozen copies of Death Note on display.
Watanabe checked the time. Noon.
Which meant that in just half a day since the store opened, a double-digit number of copies had already been sold.
"This year, the landscape of shonen manga has been shattered. Weekly Shonen Magazine surpassed Jump's 4.08 million circulation with a staggering 4.1 million."
"The gap looks narrow, but it's been widening."
"Magazine's circulation is still climbing, now at 4.15 million. Meanwhile, Jump has been sliding. It was sitting at 4.03 million not long ago."
Watanabe was muttering the numbers to himself.
Abe looked at him, confused.
"At this critical moment, Death Note appeared and finally broke the deadlock. It saved Weekly Shonen Jump."
"With circulation back up to 4.1 million, Jump has started closing the gap on Magazine. And that's entirely because of Death Note."
Abe stared at the self-narrating Watanabe. "Who are you talking to?"
Watanabe placed Death Note on the counter and glanced at him.
"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?"
Abe shook his head.
After paying, Watanabe picked up the volume and patted Abe on the shoulder with a look of pity.
"You just focus on the directing."
With that, he walked out of the bookstore.
Ever since Studio Pierrot produced Kimagure Orange Road, the studio had been in deep cooperation with Weekly Shonen Jump.
In recent years, they'd even produced Yu Yu Hakusho, the pillar series of Jump at the time.
The massive success of Yu Yu Hakusho had cemented Studio Pierrot's position as a top-tier anime production company.
Strengthening their bond with Jump had become the unified consensus of Pierrot's top management.
"Death Note has incredible popularity and an outstanding story. As long as we execute it well, the anime will be a guaranteed hit and become our studio's calling card."
"More importantly, it's an irreplaceable title on Jump right now. Once we produce the anime, Death Note's sales will climb even further. And out of gratitude, Jump will trust us with their future hit series."
"So." Watanabe turned back, looked at Abe hurrying to catch up, held up the Death Note volume, and repeated himself.
"I have to lock this down."
...
Carrying the collected volume and having also bought the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, Watanabe and Abe headed to the home of manga artist Ryuji Kanzaki.
This had been arranged in advance.
"I heard that quite a few people from animation studios have already visited Kanzaki-sensei," Abe said.
"That's to be expected. Everyone wants a piece of something this good." Watanabe nodded, eyes on the road. "Most of the production companies in Tokyo have come knocking."
"Not just Tokyo," Abe continued. "Kyoto Animation in Kyoto Prefecture is also interested. Last week, Yoko Hatta herself went to see Kanzaki-sensei."
"Mm. She wants to change the status quo where Kyoto Animation only does outsourcing work. Death Note would be the perfect showcase piece."
Just as Studio Pierrot had become an overnight sensation because of Urusei Yatsura back in the day.
"It's a shame that's never going to happen."
Abe asked curiously. "Why do you say that?"
"Weekly Shonen Jump won't hand Death Note to a studio with no independent production experience. Kanzaki-sensei probably feels the same way. If a deal had been made, we'd have heard about it by now."
"Then what about us? What are our odds?"
Watanabe glanced at him. "One hundred percent."
...
On Monday, Kai had finished his storyboards and was studying drawing techniques when Yoshihiro Togashi showed up at his door carrying a Famicom console.
Togashi looked around the house and asked with a grin. "Why are you living here?"
"Togashi-sensei." Kai stood up and went to welcome him.
After the Death Note signing event, Togashi's back pain had flared up badly, so they never got around to having dinner or a proper conversation. Now that his back was mostly recovered, he'd taken advantage of Kai's free time to come hang out.
Kai smiled. "It's pretty close to Shueisha. Makes it easy to communicate with my editor."
Togashi's expression turned to horror.
"How could you think that?!" He shook his head frantically. "Once your passion for drawing starts to cool off, having your editor constantly breathing down your neck for manuscripts is going to be absolute torture."
Kai's smile froze. He'd only been thinking about convenience at the time. He hadn't considered that angle at all.
He was really too young. He lacked the hard-won wisdom of the older generation.
"I was wondering why none of the senior artists lived nearby. So that's the reason..."
Seeing Kai's bitter face, Togashi patted his shoulder and offered comfort. "You're famous now too. You could always move somewhere else."
Kai glanced in the direction of his neighbor's house and nodded, hesitant.
"Forget about that." Togashi's eyes lit up. "Where's your TV? Let's play some Contra!"
Kai looked at his drafting desk, then at Togashi, and with total helplessness, gave in.
"For the record, I didn't want to play..." The cables were connected, the screen flickered to life, and the Contra title screen appeared.
Kai picked up the controller and selected two-player mode.
Watching Kai's character jump and shoot with precision, Togashi couldn't help but fire back. "You're clearly good at this! What are you acting reluctant for?"
With Togashi dragging him down, this run ended at the fifth stage.
"One more round!"
Kai gripped the controller, his eyes sharp with determination.
"You're completely hooked!"
After getting warmed up, Kai rediscovered the muscle memory from playing Contra a thousand times in his youth. He tore through to the eighth stage, and under his furious assault, the final boss's core was destroyed.
The game was cleared.
"Ahh..." Watching the protagonist fly off the island in a helicopter, Kai sat on the floor and stretched, radiating satisfaction.
"One more round?"
Togashi looked at those sparkling eyes and finally reached his limit. "Your gaming addiction is worse than mine!"
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