"Obayashi, how is it? With you coming forward, Mr. Higashino should also be willing to join our new Iwazuki Publishing House, right? ”

Faced with his colleague's questioning, Obayashi Kazumasa could only laugh dryly and apologized:

"No, I'm sorry, Editor Nakatani, it's me who doesn't have the ability to pull Higashino-sensei over."

"Huh?"

Listening to Obayashi Kazumasa's words, the editor of Nakatani, who was asking him next to him, turned his head and was a little surprised.

"Our manga magazine of the New Iwatsuki Publishing House will definitely squeeze the sales of "Bad Cold", and the sales of Higashino-sensei will definitely be squeezed at that time, so logically speaking, shouldn't Higashino-sensei take the initiative to join our side?"

Editing Nakatani was a little unexpected.

Now that the two publishing houses have merged, there is definitely no shortage of excellent authors, after all, the two publishing houses must have a lot more authors than the Urashima publishing house.

And the excellent quality of the work will inevitably lead to an increase in magazine sales.

Magazine sales on their side are rising, and sales on the side of "Bad Cold" will inevitably be affected, and "Bad Cold" will be affected, and of course Tsukasa Higashino's new work will also be implicated.

But... Tsukasa Higashino was unmoved by their invitation.

It's really...

"Maybe Higashino-sensei is confident in the quality of his work." Obayashi Kazumasa recalled the expression of Tsukasa Higashino just now, and subconsciously replied.

"It's not a matter of whether you have confidence in the quality of the work.,I'll say something inappropriate.,Even if Higashino-sensei's new work is really good... But the overall decline in sales of "Bad Chill" magazine will definitely still affect his... This has nothing to do with the quality of the work, it is simply a matter of the publishing house. ”

Hearing this, Dalin Yizheng just nodded silently.

Oh, yes.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the work. It's simply a matter of the publisher's heritage.

To use an inappropriate analogy, Higashino Tsukahara World's weekly magazine "JUMP" and Shogakukan have teamed up with both sides-

Do you dare to imagine? "Detective Conan", "Doraemon" and "Naruto", "One Piece", "Dragon Ball" were serialized in the same magazine...

This situation is simply a crowd of demons, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the comics in other magazines.

It's simply a matter of competition.

After all... No matter how strong you are, can you compare to such a large group of excellent authors?

The sheer number of good works can drown your manga magazine.

Unless the quality of Tsukasa Higashino's work can really crush all the comics in their magazine.

But... Does Tsukasa Higashino have this ability?

Editing Nakatani finally understood why Kazumasa Obayashi said that Higashino was confident.

If you weren't confident, you wouldn't have made this choice.

"Higashino-sensei is the only ceiling in the Japanese manga industry today, not to mention anything else, just this confident momentum... It can already be said to be terrifying. ”

The editor sighed.

But self-confidence is self-confidence.

Nakatani doesn't think much will change by then—unless Higashino draws another dominating manga similar to Unnatural Death.

As for Obayashi Kazumasa didn't pull over Tsukasa Higashino... The editor-in-chief probably won't blame him for this.

After all, who would have known that Tsukasa Higashino was so confident about his new work?

And if you can't pull it in, Higashino Tsukasa won't be a loss.

Compared to that, their editorial office, which has now doubled in size, should think carefully about the name of the new publication and the situation of the comics.

At the same time, the other side.

Tsukasa Higashino came to the front desk of the restaurant according to the address given by Osawa Tsukichi, and under the guidance of the waiter, he successfully met each other in a private room.

But he was a little surprised by another person who was present, the editor-in-chief of Fuji Publishing Furuta.

How did he end up here?

It stands to reason that Furuta Shinji shouldn't be regarded as half an enemy of Urashima Publishing House?

After all, it was he who poached Suzuki Yu back then and took away the author of the pillar of Urashima Publishing House in "The Man Reflected in the Camera", which caused difficulties in the operation of the comic department of Urashima Publishing House later...

But...

Higashino subconsciously raised his eyebrows, and then looked at Osawa Yokichi on the other side, and probably knew it in his heart.

"Higashino-sensei, hello." Furuta Shinji stood up and took the initiative to reach out and shake Tsukasa Higashino.

"Hello, Editor-in-Chief Furuta."

After shaking hands with Shinji Furuta, Tsukasa Higashino took a seat under the greeting of Yokichi Osawa.

Tsukasa Higashino's face did not change on this side, and Shinji Furuta on the other side smiled: "I thought Higashino-sensei would be surprised that I was here... I didn't expect Mr. Higashino to be so calm. ”

"It's not calm." Tsukasa Higashino smiled sideways.

"Today, Iwakaku Publishing House merged with Mozhu Bookstore, and I was actually thinking about how Urashima Publishing House would make a move... I didn't expect President Osawa to think of teaming up with Fuji Press. ”

Yes, Furuta Shinji must have been invited by Yokichi Osawa here, and the reason why the other party invited Furuta Shinji, an 'outsider', must have wanted to discuss the issue of the now merged Iwazuki Publishing House.

After all, the three major manga publishing houses, such as Urashima Press, may not be able to withstand the squeeze of each other.

Not to mention Fuji Press, a manga publishing house that has risen to prominence in recent years.

At that time, the comic department of their publishing house is estimated to be eaten by Iwazuki Publishing House, and there will be no scum left.

In other words, the current Urashima Publishing and Fuji Publishing have the same interests.

"It's worthy of Mr. Higashino, and being able to understand the situation so quickly also makes it easier for us to talk here."

Osawa Yokichi nodded with a smile, took a sip of sake, and continued happily: "Don't hide it from Higashino-sensei, our two publishing houses actually have plans to merge..."

Well?

As soon as Osawa Heji's words came out, Higashino Tsukasa couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

He expected that Osawa would cooperate with Fuji Press, but he did not expect that he would take the same approach as Iwakaku and Mozuki.

But that's too hasty, isn't it...? Mergers between publishers are not just decided.

It seems that he saw Tsukasa Higashino's thoughts clearly, and Furuta Shinji of Fuji Publishing next to him explained:

"Actually, we have known more or less about the movements of Rock Point and Mozhu Publishing House for a long time, and similarly, we have been discussing the merger for a long time... It was probably October last year. Two of our publishers have received the message. ”

When he said this, Higashino Tsukasa couldn't help but sigh slightly.

Should I say that it is worthy of being an old fritter mixed with the apex of the publishing industry?

I have already guessed about today's situation, and I am ready to backhand...

Sure enough, few people who can get to this point are fools.

An incompetent and furious villain like that... In reality, it's still quite difficult to appear.

But...

This situation, Higashino Tsukasa actually vaguely guessed.

He put his hands on the table and thoughtfully said:

"When I heard the editor-in-chief of Gutian say this, I probably had a bottom in my heart, no wonder some time ago, someone from the New Century Art Association took the initiative to invite me to join."

Yes.

Before going to Aomori Prefecture, the vice president of the New Century Art Association came to the door and wanted to pull Tsukasa Higashino to become the honorary vice president... At that time, Higashino was still a little puzzled.

After all, he did have a good reputation in Tokyo, but he was the honorary vice president from the beginning, which was more or less a bit hasty.

Later, Higashino looked up some information about the New Century Art Association on the Internet, and found that the publishing houses standing behind the New Century Art Association were actually Urashima and Fuji, two competing publishing houses.

In addition, Higashino also discovered that the new association entered by the group of painters who maliciously left the New Century Art Association happened to be behind the two major publishing houses of Mozhu and Iwajiao.

This can be described as-for-tat.

I guess Fuji and Urashima Publishing House already had the idea of merging at that time, right?

However, they did not rush to make a move, but waited.

Osawa Yokichi and Furuta Shinji were a little surprised by Higashino's eyesight, but they didn't expect him to even notice such a detail.

"The New Century Art Association is a springboard for our publishing house to enter the traditional art world, and it is a good place to generate profits, but when Yanjiao and Mozhu Publishing House found out, they poached many painters."

Furuta Shinji explained on the side.

At the same time, he was also a little helpless: "Not only the New Century Art Association, but also many excellent manga authors under our Fuji Publishing House have been poached. ”

At the beginning, he was digging the author of the three major publishing houses of comics, but now the times have completely changed.

The new Iwazhu Publishing House came backhand and poached a lot of his authors.

If this continues, his family's weekly magazine "Trembling" is about to have an author fault.

In desperation, Fuji Publishing thought of seeking cooperation with their old rival, Urashima Publishing House.

However, only the editors-in-chief and the president of the two companies knew about this matter, and they did not notify the editors below.

"But I still didn't expect it." Osawa Heji let out a breath, shook his head and said, "I didn't expect the other party to be so decisive, and today suddenly merged, and I didn't give us time to react at all." ”

Furuta Shinji also nodded with a solemn expression on the side.

This sudden merger really caught them off guard.

"According to the information I have received, Iwakaku and Mozhu Publishing House will be renamed as New Iwazhu Publishing House, and they are already planning to launch a new magazine 'Chiyo' next week."

Furuta Shinji explained, "Chiyo is a manga magazine that combines their two previous signature manga magazines, "Hitaru" and "Hanakura". ”

The two major weekly manga magazines, "Hitaharu" by the former Iwakaku Publishing House and "Hanakura" by the former Mozuki Shoten, have led the trend of Japanese manga for a period of time, and are known as the three major manga magazines in Japan along with "Bad Cold".

is only the author of the comic book of Taizhu and Xiaotaizhu, and the two major comic weeklies add up to eight or nine.

And the new manga magazine "Chiyo" after the merger of the two publishing houses is the stage for these eight or nine authors, just think about it to know how much competitive pressure this manga magazine has...

It is estimated that at that time, authors who are not at the level of small pillars (the average volume sells 500,000 to 600,000 copies) will not be qualified to serialize on it at all.

The competitive pressure is high, and at the same time, it also brings an ultra-high level of quality.

Urashima and Fuji Press, which are now scattered, will never be able to defeat each other.

"So we've decided to launch a new weekly comic magazine."

Without hesitation, Yokichi Osawa spoke: "Combining the power of Urashima Press's "Bad Cold" and Fuji Press's "Trembling"... Only in this way can the market be preserved. ”

He did have a point.

If Urashima Press and Fuji Press merge, the situation should improve dramatically.

After all, the general comic quality of "Bad Cold" can only be said to be medium to high, and the quality of the last few comic works in the reader's survey can only be said to be medium to low.

If there is a work from Fuji Press... It can indeed fight with the new Iwatsuki Publishing House.

"That's why I called Higashino-sensei."

Just as Tsukasa Higashino was thinking, Yokichi Osawa over there explained his thoughts:

"We're going to have Higashino-sensei, your new manga work be upgraded to the first issue of the new manga weekly... In other words, the cover and frontispiece of the first issue of this magazine will be dominated by Mr. Higashino's comics. ”

"The first issue...?"

Tsukasa Higashino subconsciously tapped his fingers on the table.

He had thought before that the stage of "Naoki Hanzawa" would be very large.

But I didn't expect it to be this big.

It's not just a wrestling between comic magazines.

It's a competition between publishers.

It's also a competition between the top publishing houses in the industry.

It's like two armies fighting, and Tsukasa Higashino's manga is chosen as a general and is tasked with the main task of killing the enemy.

"I know Higashino-sensei may feel a lot of pressure." Osawa looked at Tsukasa Higashino and put forward his own conditions: "But if Higashino-sensei is willing to take on this responsibility, Urashima Publishing House and Fuji Publishing are willing to assist you in establishing a platform for reading webtoons." ”

Well?

When Osawa said this, Higashino finally showed a look of surprise.

Higashino Studio is currently busy building an illustration exchange website and a webtoon reading platform, and only internal staff should know about it.

Why did this matter reach Osawa Yokichi directly?

"Higashino-sensei, the Japanese publishing industry isn't as big as you think... If you want to create a comic reading platform for online media, many people actually know about it. ”

Furuta Shinji interjected next to him.

It's also true...

Tsukasa Higashino nodded.

The whole of Japan is the size of a palm, and it is not surprising that Furuta Shinji and other publishing house bigwigs will know about it in a few hours by plane.

But looking at their appearance, it's obvious that they don't care much about online media reading.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have known the news, and he would have given this opportunity to Tsukasa Higashino for nothing.

And of course.

Who would have thought that in a few years, paper comic magazines would gradually decline, and at the same time, online media comics would take off?

In that case, let's take advantage of the fact that Urashima Publishing House and Fuji Publishing House don't know... Make good use of their resources and expand the influence of the webtoon reading platform!