Akira and Hisashi instinctively looked toward the small stage inside the banquet hall, where a host wearing a suit stood holding a microphone, though he seemed a bit nervous.
"Hello everyone, I am Hattori, the host in charge for today, uh—"
For such a large banquet, is the host they hired really this unprofessional?
Watching the host stuttering on stage, Akira felt a bit puzzled.
"Because he isn't a professional host."
Hisashi smiled and explained: "Hattori is an editor at Shonen Jump, just like me. He's working part-time as the host this time."
Having a Shonen Jump editor be responsible for hosting the New Years Party is one of the traditions of the Shonen Jump New Years Party.
—That sounds about the same as a company annual meeting where employees have to organize their own performances.
Akira's mood was a bit subtle.
Sigh, capitalism.
Fortunately, this hosting job wasn't too heavy. After a simple opening, the main speech was handed over to the Editor-in-Chief, Kazuhiko.
"Everyone has worked hard over the past year. Fortunately—"
While the other party was speaking, Akira curiously sized up this famous legendary editor on stage.
Although he had already had indirect contact with him through Hisashi due to light novel events and the like, this was his first time seeing him in reality.
As the prototype for Dr. Mashirito in "Dr. Slump," it is said that Kazuhiko also sported an afro when he was young, which was quite full of personality.
But now, as the Editor-in-Chief of Shonen Jump, the nearly fifty-year-old Kazuhiko looks more like a traditional high-level corporate leader, appearing completely like a mature and steady middle-aged man.
The content of the speech was quite routine, nothing more than reviewing the past year's achievements, thanking everyone for their efforts, and looking forward to the future.
However, Kazuhiko's speech was more concise and pragmatic, without too much messy nonsense, which was praiseworthy.
But what he didn't expect was that this speech actually involved him.
"—Although many works concluded last year, we also welcomed more fresh blood. Among them, new Manga Artist Mochizuki-sensei and others have brought new vitality to Shonen Jump."
"But this is just the beginning. Manga serialization is a marathon. I hope that in the coming year—"
When his name was mentioned, a slight commotion broke out in the audience.
Some people whispered to their companions, while others instinctively looked around, seemingly wanting to find him.
Taking in the reactions of the crowd, Akira said helplessly: "Representing everyone or something like that—isn't this just setting me up for a fall?"
"I actually don't think it's a problem."
Hisashi smiled: "At the very least, among all the new Manga Artists who started serialization last year, your performance is the most outstanding and unquestionable. You are the most suitable person to be this rookie representative."
Additionally, Kazuhiko deliberately mentioning Akira's name on such an occasion likely had the intention of stimulating and motivating the competitive spirit of other rookies.
However, given Akira's performance last year, he had likely long been a target for countless people to watch; Kazuhiko's speech was just emphasizing this fact once more.
"Well, that may be true—"
Akira rubbed his neck. He had long been aware of this, but now, in this setting where Manga Artists were gathered, he felt it clearly and tangibly for the first time.
Also— "—I get the feeling that things are going to be very troublesome from here on out."
Once Kazuhiko's speech ended, it was time for the raffle segment, and people could also begin to move around freely and socialize.
At this point, he also began to follow Hisashi to greet the various senseis present.
And this was the "trouble" he had spoken of.
Although he knew from the beginning that this process might be a bit troublesome, he didn't expect the actual process to be even more troublesome than he had imagined.
In fact, besides him, there were other rookies at the scene performing the same task, but by comparison, his progress was clearly much slower.
There was no other reason; as a super rookie with high popularity, and having just been named by the Editor-in-Chief again, most people couldn't help but say a few extra words to him upon learning he was Akira, so back and forth, his speed fell far behind.
And to be honest, although Shonen Jump is one of the giants of the Japanese manga industry, besides the well-known Manga Artists serializing in the magazine, he really knew nothing about the vast majority of the other Manga Artists.
Socializing in this situation felt a bit awkward and torturous.
Skipping over the boring parts, there were still some interesting moments during the process of greeting people, such as meeting the Manga Artists he was familiar with, like Araki Hirohiko, Takahashi Kazuki, Akimoto Osamu, Togashi Yoshihiro, and so on.
However, facing these famous big seniors in the industry, it was difficult to have deep conversations in any sense; most of it was just polite small talk, which was something he felt was a bit of a pity.
But even so, there was someone who left a quite deep impression on him, and that was Togashi Yoshihiro.
While most people were making polite, courteous remarks and occasionally chatting briefly, only this jerk Togashi Yoshihiro asked him if he knew how to play mahjong the moment he opened his mouth.
Who could keep a straight face at that?
He even doubted for a moment if the back pain was really just the other party's excuse, and if mahjong was the real truth behind the delayed updates?
Not only did he not keep a straight face, but Hisashi beside him looked even darker; he hurriedly ended the small talk with the other party and almost forcibly dragged him away, as if afraid he would pick up some bad habit.
One could only say that the other party's "glorious history" of frequent hiatuses last year did indeed bring a little shock to the editors.
Besides that, he also met the creative duo for "hikaru no go" that he had mentioned before: Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi.
"Hotta-sensei, Obata-sensei."
While politely greeting the two, Akira curiously sized them up.
In his previous life, he had seen photos of Obata Takeshi online—a middle-aged man with stubble, a lean build, and a shaved head. Today's Obata Takeshi looked a bit younger than in the photos, though his appearance was largely the same.
As for the name Obata Takeshi, people who understand Japanese manga shouldn't be unfamiliar with it.
Besides "hikaru no go" which is currently serializing, the other party later collaborated with Ohba Tsugumi to create two popular manga, "death note" and "bakuman," and is undoubtedly a top-tier Manga Artist.
Obata Takeshi was also a teenage prodigy. At 16, while in his first year of high school, he won a Selected at the Tezuka Award that year with "500 Light Years of Myth." In his second year of high school, he won a monthly award with a one-shot, and eventually made his official debut at 20.
Unfortunately, after his official debut, the several manga he created in succession had mediocre responses, as if he had faded into the crowd.
It wasn't until the end of 1998, after he collaborated with Hotta Yumi to create this "hikaru no go," that he truly entered the vision of mainstream manga readers and gradually became that top-tier Manga Artist.
However, the current Obata Takeshi is just a well-known industry senior who has just risen with "hikaru no go."
As for the other one—Akira looked at Hotta Yumi-sensei beside Obata Takeshi.
The other party was a bit more petite than Obata Takeshi, equally thin, looking intellectual and friendly. Her age seemed about the same as Obata Takeshi's, perhaps even a bit older.
Honestly, his impression of this sensei was only "hikaru no go," and he wasn't clear about her past or future resume.
But looking at her age, she had probably been in the industry for at least ten years, right?
Good grief, so they are a late-blooming duo?
"You must be Mochizuki-sensei!"
Meanwhile, upon learning his name, Obata Takeshi also showed unexpected enthusiasm. He smiled and said: "I've been following your works, 'Fate/stay night,' 'Emiya Kiritsugu,' and 'Weathering with You'."
"Especially 'Weathering with You'; not only is the story wonderful, but the artwork is also quite exquisite and delicate!"
While praising him, his tone was full of emotion.
He initially debuted as an independent Manga Artist, but couldn't produce results for several years in a row. It was only after an editor's suggestion that he tried collaborating with Hotta Yumi, and as a result, he immediately drew "hikaru no go."
It was also at that time that he had to admit that he indeed didn't seem to have the talent for creating long-form manga, so he decided to stop fantasizing and focus on the path of illustration.
And in this situation, the appearance of Akira indeed made him feel somewhat stunned, and a trace of jealousy—so there really are true geniuses in the world who are extremely powerful and highly talented in both creation and illustration?
Moreover, even looking at it from the perspective of illustration alone, he didn't dare to say that he was stronger than the other party now; even looking at it from the perspective of overall quality, the other party was still stronger.
Because Akira's artwork wasn't just powerful, his output was unbelievably stable!
If he remembered correctly, he seemed to have never discovered any obvious mistakes or low-quality scenes in the other party's manga artwork.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but wonder, is this really something a human can do?
Perhaps using the word "genius" to describe him was too biased; at least in terms of illustration, he was completely a monster, right?
"Indeed."
Hotta Yumi didn't know her partner's thoughts, just smiled and agreed: "In the studio, Obata-kun does indeed often mention Mochizuki-sensei."
"But I didn't expect Mochizuki-sensei to not only be young but also a handsome youth. Come to think of it, Mochizuki-sensei should be about the same age as my son, right?"
"Uh—"
What kind of conversational routine is this?
Akira was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to answer.
Fortunately, Hotta Yumi didn't care, and with Hisashi smoothing things over, they smoothly transitioned to the next topic.
The two sides chatted amicably for a while, and Obata Takeshi even said that if there was a chance in the future, they could discuss illustration techniques together, though he didn't know if that was just polite talk.
In short, another successful greeting.
However, afterward, compared to Obata Takeshi, he was actually more curious about the more mysterious Hotta Yumi, and asked Hisashi: "By the way, did that Hotta-sensei have any other works before 'hikaru no go'?"
"Well, about that—"
Hearing this question, Hisashi's expression became a bit strange, and he said with a subtle tone: "No, 'hikaru no go' was her first work."
Hotta Yumi was originally just an ordinary housewife. Until 1998, when she was 41, she happened to see the "Story King" competition hosted by Shueisha, had a sudden whim to submit an entry, and unexpectedly won an award.
The story she submitted was the prototype for "hikaru no go."
Because the story was indeed good, Shonen Jump decided to have Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi collaborate, and even specially hired a female Go player as a supervisor, eventually creating the manga "hikaru no go," which achieved quite excellent results as soon as it started serialization.
Over the past year, the survey rankings for "hikaru no go" were not only consistently near the top, but occasionally it could even compete for the top three or even the number one spot; it was a bona fide popular manga.
And Hotta Yumi also leaped from an ordinary housewife to become the original author of a currently hit manga.
After roughly introducing the other party's situation, Hisashi couldn't help but exclaim: "The birth of 'hikaru no go' might also be a miracle that is hard to replicate."
"Indeed."
Akira nodded in agreement.
He really didn't expect that Hotta Yumi's experience and the birth process of "hikaru no go" would be so bizarre; novels probably wouldn't dare to write it like this, right?
It really is a big world with all sorts of wonders.
Looking at it this way, Hotta Yumi-sensei is also quite a legendary, unconventional Manga Artist.
After finishing the gossip, Hisashi took out his small notebook, crossed something off, and smiled: "Good work. We've pretty much finished greeting the seniors. The rest are some rookie Manga Artists who started serialization in the same year as you. How about it, want to take a break?"
"Hmm—" Akira pondered for a moment.
He didn't know many of those seniors, let alone the rookie Manga Artists from the same period.
However, among this batch of contemporaries, there happened to be one Manga Artist he was quite interested in.
"In that case, then—"
"Mr. Sasaki!"
However, before he could make a decision, a voice calling out from not far away interrupted his speech.
The newcomers were also a duo of a Manga Artist and an editor; if nothing unexpected happened, they were a rookie duo from the same period as them.
Seeing the person greeting him, Hisashi also smiled and responded: "It's Yahagi."
While the two editors were talking, Akira looked at the young Manga Artist beside the other party, feeling that his appearance looked very familiar.
"Hm? Wait—"
"You must be Akira-sensei, right?"
On the other side, the young man took the initiative to come before him, bowed slightly to him somewhat nervously, and introduced himself: "My name is Masashi Kishimoto, the author of 'naruto,' which started serialization after you. Please treat me well!"
So it really is you, kid! Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Looking at the somewhat reserved, and seemingly inexplicably excited Masashi Kishimoto before him, Akira revealed a friendly smile and said: "It's Kishimoto-sensei, please treat me well."
"I am a loyal reader of 'naruto'."