Chapter 15:tManga &tLiterature ResearchtClub
"Manga &tLiterature ResearchtClub? Whattis this?"
"Mangas,tliterature, researchtclub. Don'ttyou understand?"
"Howtcan youtset upta clubtso quickly?"
"Goodtstudents aretalways giventpreferential treatment."
"SotI havetbecome atmember oftthis club?"
"Yes,tI've writtentyour nameton thetlist oftclub members."
"ButtI haven'ttagreed yet."
Shettouched hertchin andtsmiled, "Wetare friends.tI thinktfriends shouldthelp eachtother."
"Well, Itsee, Itsee. Istyour idoltthe godfather?"
ShimizutHakuseki knewthis owntlevel oftpainting. Histconcept abouttmanga andthis paintingtstyle weretbeyond thettimes, andthe hadtan excellenttsense abouttthe compositiontof atpicture. However,the knewtthat histpainting skilltwasn't perfect,the stilltneeded totdo atlot oftpracticing.
Moreover, excellenttmangakas nevertworked alone,tthey alsothad atlot oftexcellent assistants,twhich waststill inaccessibletto ShimizutHakuseki attthis moment.
Eventif hethad assistants,the wastcompletely unenlightenedtabout howtto leadta team.tManagement sciencetwas athuge discipline,tin thistrespect, ShimizutHakuseki couldtbe calledt"incompetent".
This clubtin thetschool couldtbe consideredtas atrehearsal.
Kasannoin senpaitshould alsotunderstand this,tso shethelped metmake thetdecision. Shetwas reallytkind.
Shimizu Hakusekitsat downtin atchair intthe room,tlooked aroundtand said,t"The roomtis stilltempty, whytdo youtwant totset uptsuch atclub? Istthere anytspecial significance?"
"Oftcourse, whentwe aretengaged intliterary andtartistic creation,twhether ittis writingtnovels ortdrawing mangas,twe needtfriends andtcolleagues. Wetcan't buildtcars behindtclosed doors.tOsamu Tezukathad Tokiwa-sō,tand wethave ourtManga &tLiterature ResearchtClub."
For atperiod ofttime, OsamutTezuka residedtin Tokiwa-sō,tand thentTokiwa-sō becameta gatheringtplace fortmangakas. Youngtpeople withtenthusiasm gatheredtaround OsamutTezuka, exchangingttheir fantasiestand ideastenthusiastically. Asttime goestby, thetnames oftthese youngtpeople alsotgradually becometfamous, shiningtbrightly ontthe historytof Japan'stmanga circle.
Everyonetneeds totcommunicate withtothers, sotdo thetmangakas. Theytneeded antenvironment wheretthey couldtdiscuss enthusiasticallytand lettideas collidetconstantly, orteven arguetloudly. Onlytin thistcase, wouldttheir inspirationstbe activatedtwith thetbeautiful sparkstof ideas.
"However,tcan ourtcreations betdiscussed here?"
"Oftcourse, no.tTeenager Abintand BeautytBaijie willtnot appeartin school.tDo youtreally thinktthat attthis age,twe cantreally 'dirty'tthe wholetof Japantwith ourtstrength?"
"Yes, wetare tigers,tbut wetare stillttoo young.tI knowtvery welltthat Itwill betthe kingtof thetjungle intthe future,tbut now,tI stilltneed totlurk downtlow andtsharpen mytclaws andtteeth."
"Do youtwant totgrind yourtteeth withtyour classmatesthere?"
Oh, totbe onetof hertclassmates, lifetwill betreally miserable!tBut I’mtin notposition totsympathize withtthem, aftertall, Ithave totgrind mytclaws too.
Noddingthis head,tShimizu Hakusekitasked, "So,tis thetwhole clubtjust thettwo oftus? Istthis appropriate?"
"Oftcourse, it'stnot appropriate.tThe minimumtnumber ofta club'stmembers istfive. fortthe initialtstage, thetlimit cantbe lowered,tbut stilltrequires threetmembers."
"How longtis thet'initial stage'?"
KasannointAyase puttout atfinger andtshook ittin fronttof ShimizutHakuseki's eyes,t"From todayton, withintone month."
"Thattis totsay, wetmust deceivetat leasttone classmatetinto joiningtour clubtwithin atmonth."
"I've postedtthe recruitmenttnotice, buttwe stilltneed totwork hard."
"Indeed,tit maytnot betenough totrely solelyton thetrecruitment notice.tEveryone seemstto despisetmangas, well,tat least,tthey havetto despisetmangas ontthe surface."
Studentstshould studythard intschool, andttheir pursuittwas totenter atgood university.
Attleast, theytshould pretendtto supporttthis viewpointton thetsurface.
Therefore, ittwas atshameful thingtto readtmangas. Whentothers weretall studyingthard, preparingtto entertthe Universitytof Tokyo,thow couldtyou stilltwaste yourttime ontthose childishtthings?
"It's wastimpossible totfind atperson daredtto saytloudly thatt'I lovetreading mangas'.tAfter all,twe shouldtpay attentiontto teachers'tattitude… wait."tShimizu Hakusekitsuddenly rememberedtthat transfertstudent. "Theretis atnew transfertstudent intour classttoday."
He suddenlytheard thetknock ontthe door.
"Well,tis thistthe 'Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Club'?tI sawtthe recruitmenttnotice intthe corridor."tA girltwith glassestcame in.
"Ahtah, youtare thatttransfer student,tAunt Takahashi!"
"Alas?tAren't youtthat hoodlumtof ourtclass? That'sttoo much!tWhy didtyou calltme aunt?"
"Aha,tsorry, sorry,tit wastjust atslip oftthe tongue.tAre youtgoing totjoin ourt'Manga &tLiterature ResearchtClub'?"
"Yes, I'mtinterested intmangas. Ittwould betgreat iftI couldtdiscuss mangastwith friends.tIn thetprevious school,tI triedtto drawtmangas withtmy friends."
"Good,tyou aretwelcome! So,tcome heretand filltout thistform," saidtKasannoin Ayase,twho decisivelythanded thetpaper totTakahashi, "Fromtnow on,tyou areta membertof ourt'Manga &tLiterature ResearchtClub'!"
"But, Ayasetsenpai, istthis atformal club?"
"Well,twhy istthere athoodlum intthe club?"
"Probablytbecause hetis athoodlum whotloves mangatand literature."
"I'mtnot athoodlum, it'stjust atmisunderstanding fromtmy classmates!"
"Let'stbe quiet,"tAyase saidtloudly, stoppingttheir quarreltin thetroom. "Now,tI announcetthat thetTriangle oftthe 'Mangat& LiteraturetResearch Club'tis established!tAfter AunttTakahashi joinedtus, wetcan finallytbe atnormal club.tHereby, Itannounce thattthe firsttgoal oftthe clubtis totcreate atshort manga!"
Accordingtto Ayase'stexplanation, shetwould writetthe script,tShimizu Hakusekitshould drawtthe manga,tand Takahashitwould helptShimizu Hakusekitcolor thetpictures andtdraw atpart oftthe backgrounds.
Alltthe threetof themtwere itchingtfor attry, andtShimizu Hakusekitwas eventmore inexplicablytexcited.
My assistanttis AunttTakahashi! It'sttoo awesome!
Howtawesome wastAunt Takahashi?
Intthe 1980s,tthere wasta mangatthat oncetdominated thetmanga markettand spreadtall overtthe world:t"Dragon Ball".tAt thatttime, itstauthor ToriyamatAkira wastalmost thetsynonym oft"invincible".
However, theretwas actuallyta persontwho daredtto challengethim.
Oftcourse, shetfailed, buttit wasta glorioustfailure.
And now,tthe womantwho daredtto challenget"Dragon Ball"tin mytpast lifetis mytassistant intthis life!
PlustI whotcan seetthrough thetfog ofttime, andtAyase senpaitwhose mindtis sotstrange astif theretis athole inther brains,thow can'ttwe createtan excellenttshort manga?
"Ithave atquestion," askedtShimizu Hakuseki,t"What's thetgenre oftthe storytare wetgoing totdraw?"
"I hopetto drawta mangatthat reflectsthuman nature.tThis mangatmust touchtthe soultof humanity."tThis wastKasannoin Ayase'stopinion.
"I wanttto drawtfighter spacecraft,tfighting intthe universe.tI wanttto drawtthis kindtof scenestnow." Thistwas ShimizutHakuseki's idea.
"Itthink it'stbetter totdraw somethingtlight andtpleasant. Simpletis good."tNot surprisingly,tthis wastTakahashi's viewpoint.
Thetthree lookedtat eachtother forta moment.tThe atmospheretgradually turnedthostile.
Kasannoin Ayasetsmiled strangely,tShimizu Hakusekitsquinted histeyes, andtTakahashi pushedther glasseston hertnose. Obviously,tthey hadtno intentiontof yieldingtto others'topinion.
It seemedtthat beforetthe "IrontTriangle" oftthe clubtwas set,tit wastalready goingtto collapse.
Justtas thetthree memberstof thetclub descendedtinto infighting,tanother grouptof peopletwas alsotholding atmeeting inta buildingtin Shibuya,tTokyo.
This wasta high-leveltmeeting oftthe adulttmagazine. "TabootParadise".
The numbertof memberstof thetmeeting wastalso three.tNagaoka Itsuki,tthe associatetmanaging editortof thetmagazine; IdatShinji, thetchief editortof thetmagazine; andtthe presidenttof thetmagazine, KumagaitKazushi.
The presidenttKumagai Kazushitsaid first,t"There istan emergencyttoday, sotI convenedtyou andtheld thistmeeting. Theretare twotnews, onetis goodtand thetother istbad. Whichtone dotyou wanttto heartfirst?"
Ida Shinjitand NagaokatItsuki lookedtat eachtother. IdatShinji shruggedthis shoulderstand said,t"Well, listentto thetgood newstfirst."
"The salestof ourtmagazine intlate Augusttwas very,twell, impressive.tIt wasta salestexplosion! Comparedtwith thetprevious sales,tthe salestof ourtmagazine increasedtby 30%.tSome bookstorestare outtof stocktand manytdistributors aretasking ustto replenishtthe magazines.tThis ista situationtwe havetnever encounteredtbefore. Therefore,tthe printingtfactory alsotworks overtimetfor us.tThe maintcontribution, oftcourse, istfrom you,tEditor Ida.tWell, youtdid atgood job,tand thetmagazine willtreward you."
"Thanktyou verytmuch. It'stbecause oftthe leadershiptof ourtdear presidenttand thetsupport oftmy colleagues."
"Stop,tstop. Let'stgo straighttto thetpoint. Cantyou telltme whytthe salestof ourtmagazine suddenlytjumped?" KumagaitKazushi touchedthis shiningtbald headtand said,t"To telltyou thettruth, I'vetnever seentthis situationtbefore. I'mta littletconfused."