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In the latter half of April, the Naoki Awards, the most prestigious event in the light novel industry, officially commenced. Over a hundred novels born within the past year were entered into the selection pool.
However, how should one describe such an event?
Award selections of this nature essentially rely on a judging panel composed of senior industry titans from the seven major publishing houses, members of the Novelist Association, and representatives from official literary departments. They determine the winners through a complex and multi-layered evaluation mechanism.
While personal taste among the judges plays a role, a winning work must, generally speaking, be the most influential novel of the year when considered comprehensively.
This evaluation includes sales figures, reader ratings, and whether the work introduced any innovation, structural change, or developmental value to the light novel industry.
Naturally, the work that clinches the Gold Prize is almost always one of the top-tier popular hits among the year's new releases.
After all, concepts like "industry reform" are often abstract, whereas popularity is immediate and quantifiable.
The selection process lasts several weeks and is divided into two rounds. In the first round, twenty works are selected from the initial pool to move on to the second stage.
For many authors, simply breaking into the second round is enough to elevate their industry status, reputation, and professional resume. Once the final twenty are chosen, the judges conduct a second, more rigorous screening to determine the final rankings.
Over the past few days, Haruto had been cooperating with Kiyozawa Library to film promotional advertisements and video segments for the event.
After all, these would eventually be broadcast on television.
However, regarding a selection process over which he had zero control, Haruto could only do as the publishing house instructed and wait passively for the results to emerge.
Furthermore, while Parasyte enjoyed impressive popularity, it was limited by its genre.
Its elements of body horror and gore meant it wasn't a "mainstream" light novel in the traditional sense. Its growth had hit a natural bottleneck, and when compared to the other heavy hitters in this selection, it didn't hold a significant advantage.
Ranking in the top twenty would be a standard performance; the top fifteen would be considered excellent. If it somehow broke into the top ten, his agent Ms. Hime would likely throw him a massive victory party..
Lately, Tokyo TV's flagship channel has been airing daily programs dedicated to the Naoki Awards.
As a newcomer who had recently ascended to the first-tier ranks, Haruto received significant airtime. Consequently, the number of people turning their heads to look at him on campus or approaching him for autographs had risen noticeably.
---
Meanwhile, back at the Manga Research Club.
Haruto stared at the manuscript in his hands, his expression a mix of awe and bewilderment. The art style was explosive.
"Well? What do you think?"
Today, Shizuru was wearing a pale gray short skirt and a loose-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt. Her hair was tied into twin-tails, and her tall, elegant figure was perfectly complemented by her fair, beautiful features. At this moment, however, her large eyes were filled with visible nerves.
It had taken her over three weeks to complete just the first chapter of the Initial D manga.
She was acutely aware of her own weaknesses; she lacked innate storytelling talent and knew next to nothing about cars. She had poured an immense amount of time into this first chapter specifically to give the audience a breathtaking visual experience and to familiarize herself with the mechanics of drawing a racing manga. She expected the subsequent chapters to proceed much faster.
Personally, she felt her illustrations could still be improved, but since Haruto's deadline was looming, she had stopped obsessing over the minutiae. Even so, Haruto was stunned by what he saw. The original Initial D from the other world was an older work, after all.
The drawing techniques and aesthetic of that era felt slightly out of step with modern tastes.
But Shizuru's version...
She had successfully preserved the gritty, realistic style of the source material while vastly improving the lighting, shading, and overall refinement of the imagery.
Putting the black-and-white AE86 aside, as it was, by design, an ordinary-looking hatchback, the debut of Ryosuke's FC was a masterclass in visual impact.
Under the focus of her cinematic panels, the car looked sleek, powerful, and heavy. It looked like a true mechanical beast.
When he reached the end of the first chapter, the scene where the AE86 pulls off a brilliant inertial drift, Shizuru's artistic flair gave the moment such weight that Haruto's heart skipped a beat, even though he already knew the plot by heart. In a medium like manga, a significant upgrade in art can provide a completely different reading experience, even with an identical story.
"It is... quite good," Haruto said, letting out a long breath. He didn't want to overpraise her and risk her becoming complacent. But in truth, he was genuinely floored by how cool she had made the first chapter of Initial D look.
Hearing his words, the tension in Shizuru's face instantly dissolved. It was like a student waiting for a teacher to grade their work; the moment she received his approval, a wave of joy washed over her, and her cheeks flushed a soft pink.
"Then I will continue illustrating the rest of the story in this style," she said.
"That sounds perfect. However, you will need to pick up the pace. A rate of one chapter every two or three weeks likely won't meet the requirements of a major manga magazine," Haruto reminded her.
"I have already considered that," Shizuru replied confidently. "I only drew the first chapter with this level of extreme detail. For the future installments, I will prioritize certain elements over others to maintain a faster output."
"By the way... I wanted to ask if the workload is too much for you. Do you feel you need a couple of assistants to help you out?"
"I don't need them, at least not for now." Shizuru shook her head, her clear eyes meeting his as she smiled. "You haven't collaborated with me for long, so you don't know my work ethic yet. This was my first time touching a racing manga, and I spent a lot of time on the initial character designs and world-building. Now that the groundwork is finished, you'll see why I've stuck with the industry for so long. It isn't just that my art is good. Among the professionals I know, I have never met anyone who can draw faster than me. You won't regret choosing me as a partner."
"You're that confident?" Haruto asked, surprised.
"Hmph." Even though Haruto hadn't showered her with praise, she couldn't hide a look of pride and self-assurance.
It was now late April.
At Shizuru's projected speed, the first three chapters wouldn't be finished until May.
That was when the real headache would begin.
Haruto refused to let Initial D be serialized in a major magazine under nobody's name. However, given Shizuru's lack of professional standing, the major manga houses would likely ignore her if she submitted under her own name. He would have to see just how much weight his Shiori Takahashi pseudonym carried in the manga world.
Haruto began planning the finer details of the serialization and the overall strategy for the work.
---
Thursday, April 24th.
After another week of word-of-mouth, Madoka Magica had become a legitimate sensation among anime fans.
After all, in a genre defined by cuteness, having the nerve to kill off a popular character in such a gruesome manner by episode three made the screenwriter, "Warrior of Love," a singular figure in the industry. Many fans who hadn't tuned in yet were now hearing the name of the work everywhere.
For the past decade, magical girl shows had been so ubiquitous that people had become jaded, complaining about the genre being cliché. But in reality... what anime fan hasn't watched at least a few of them? As long as a work brings something fresh to the table, there is always an audience ready to embrace it.
Driven by this curiosity, even though the original broadcast of the third episode only pulled in about 1.95%, the Saturday rerun managed a staggering 2.01% on Tokyo TV's Channel 1, an incredible feat for such a late time slot. Unfortunately, the industry rankings only account for the premiere ratings; otherwise, Madoka would have ranked much higher among all new seasonal episodes broadcast.
But today was a new day.
Starting from 5:00 PM, the activity on the "Warrior of Love" fan boards and forums began to climb rapidly. Fans were busy flaming the screenwriter for being heartless, yet they made no effort to hide their obsession with the show.
The audience didn't hate the characters or the plot; quite the opposite. Mami's death had stunned them, and the revealed cruelty of the magical girl world had opened a door to a new kind of narrative experience.
They had convinced themselves to love the work, but they could not bring themselves to love its creator. To them, the characters were innocent victims, while the "Warrior of Love" was the god of malice who had orchestrated their suffering.
He was a liar.