Great Mangaka

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"The second route,

Unlimited Blade Works strategy, has been released!"

With the publication of the strategy, Mirai-sensei's home forum was once again in an uproar.

"Hey, hurry up and give us the spoiler! What's this route about?"

"I just finished the first route, and the guide is already out. Great! I wouldn't dare to play without it!"

The post was flooded with comments in just a few minutes. Seeing it, Guo Letong, deputy director of Osaka Television, laughed: "I've been waiting all night, and it's finally out!"

He copied the guide to the notepad with the mouse, leaving Guo Letong speechless: "Director, could you please not play during working hours?"

"What does it matter?" Guo Letong didn't take it seriously. His eyes were bloodshot, after-effects of playing last night: "Letong, let me tell you, this game by Mirai-sensei is really good. It's a shame not to be able to play it."

Guo Letong hesitated between laughing and crying: "How old are you and you're still playing these kinds of games?"

"Huh?" This made Guo Letong a little annoyed: "Don't interrupt me if you haven't played it. Although I only played one route, it's definitely not a game just for young people. The worldview it hides is enormous. I'm really eager to know what the theme is."

Fate/Stay Night might be just any game for many young people, but Guo Letong sees that this game's worldview is excellent. Heroic spirits, mages, the Holy Grail War, etc.—these independent elements fill him with satisfaction.

"But you shouldn't play at work." Guo Letong kept complaining.

"Did you say I'm not doing my job?" Guo Letong snorted coldly: "This isn't a simple game. Mirai-sensei has other intentions. I'm not just playing, I want to see what he's thinking."

As someone who knows the inside story. Guo Letong places great importance on Mirai-sensei. He believes that discovering the mangaka's ideas will be beneficial for the television station's future development.

"And what did you see?" he asked. Of course. Guo Letong wouldn't easily believe it.

"Something...". Unexpectedly, Guo Letong didn't deny it. He nodded: "I've discovered that players who like this game are very fanatical. Come take a look...".

He went back to the previous page and let Guo Letong see the forum interface on the screen. In addition to the new sections of

Castle in the Sky and Fate/Stay Night, there was also an "Order of Knights".

"Order of Knights?" Guo Letong asked, puzzled.

"Yes, the Knights. This is the forum created last night, the Knight King's fan forum". Guo Letong explained: "The Knight King is Saber, who has been popular lately. Her identity is King Arthur, from English legend. This Knights forum is a new forum created by readers who appreciate her. It currently has 20,000 members...".

It's not easy to create a new forum on Mirai-sensei's home forum. Without official permission, it requires the participation and consent of 5,000 people. The game "

Fate/Stay Night" has only been on the market for two days, and its characters have their own forum.

The 20,000 members of the

Order of Knights are enough to demonstrate the readers' enthusiasm.

"It's incredible...", Guo Letong murmured to himself, and Guo Letong also sighed: "Last night I saw the birth of the

Order of Knights. That's why I played. Now it seems that Saber is a perfect character. Those who haven't played it find it hard to understand their enthusiasm for Saber. Look...".

He opened the

Order of Knights forum, and Guo Letong found that the discussion was very intense, and a new post appeared every few seconds.

"I decided to order Saber's clothes tomorrow. Do you think they fit her? This is my picture...".

"Long live the King! Look at the Excalibur model I made!"

"Newbie, tell me who Saber's voice actress is. She's anonymous in the game. I really want to know who she is!"

Guo Letong was a little surprised to see the titles of the posts.

"How is that possible!" Why are these readers so obsessed? Guo Letong's heart twinged as he read them. He felt like playing. He wanted to see what kind of person Saber was.

"Is that female character really that good?" Guo Letong asked in doubt.

"I think she's very good. She might be Mirai-sensei's most perfect character to date." Guo Letong nodded, but then frowned: "So... doesn't it seem strange?"

"The worldview of this game is enormous and the settings are complex. Mirai-sensei has put a lot of energy into it. It's just a game. What good is it to him?"

"Strange...", Guo Letong thought. What's strange about it? After thinking for a while, he saw the key, clapped his hands, and said: "Ah, yes, why does Mirai-sensei want to make a game?"

Although "

Fate/Stay Night" has received a lot of praise, its structure is destined to be just a niche game. It would be best if it sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Although Hinotori Publishing invested less, the game's profits were only tens of millions at most, and Mirai-sensei could only obtain a few.

However, how could a mangaka of Mirai-sensei's level be interested in millions of yen? He earned 40 million yen in royalties for a manga, and Hinotori Publishing earned hundreds of millions from the sale of one of their own. That's where the real money is.

For a game called "

Fate/Stay Night," which could only raise a few million, Mirai-sensei wrote stories, drew illustrations, and took charge of music and supervision. He dedicated much more energy to it than to manga. It was a thankless job. Why was he so foolish?

"Director, what is Mirai-sensei thinking?"

Guo Letong's attitude gradually changed. The director is the director, and his vision is completely different from hers. Guo Letong noticed what he didn't think of.

"What is he thinking... who knows!" Guo Letong shook his head and said: "But I'm sure Mirai-sensei is leading Hinotori Publishing down a different path than in the past..."

Hinotori Publishing used to publish only manga, but now it's not only publishing manga but also gradually entering other industries. Guo Letong heard that Genji was a cautious person. Hinotori Publishing's strategic move. Obviously, it was under Mirai-sensei's direction.

Mirai-sensei already had substantial control over Hinotori Publishing.

"What a terrible boy!" thought Guo Letong, narrowing his eyes. Mirai-sensei was only sixteen years old, but he actually led Hinotori Publishing's development direction. He's a truly formidable young man! And he did it very successfully. Not to mention that Mirai-sensei's anime, his home forum, and his games also increased reader cohesion...

"Cohesion?" Guo Letong was stunned, then looked back at the computer screen, taking his gaze away from the

Order of Knights title, and suddenly, he frowned slightly...

"Could it be that Mirai-sensei's goal is cohesion?"

To increase cohesion and retain readers, that is, to consolidate Hinotori Publishing's authority. Does Mirai-sensei want to turn Hinotori Publishing into a brand?

"No, it's more than that!" Guo Letong suddenly stood up. He looked at the post on the screen and saw readers customizing clothes and creating models for a character... In an instant, everything became clear.

Mirai-sensei dedicated so much effort to describing Saber, just so readers would pursue her, because that scene represents the future of the manga industry...

Thinking about the mysterious

Castle in the Sky section, Guo Letong came to his senses. Mirai-sensei wanted to gather and capture readers from multiple facets of manga, anime, and video games, and then enter a new consumer market.

"That boy...", Guo Letong laughed: "Without a doubt, young people's ambition is greater. He actually wants to expand the manga market."

"Director, what are you talking about?" Guo Letong didn't understand what Guo Letong was referring to.

"Letong. We only have the broadcast rights to 'Pokémon', right?" Guo Letong asked with a smile.

"Ah, yes." Guo Letong as well. When he commissioned the Pikachu doll, he specifically informed Hinotori Publishing in advance, as he didn't have the copyright for the merchandise.

"That's right."

Guo Letong nodded. He had a very clear picture of the market in Japan. A film's box office revenue represents three levels of total revenue, and subsequent adaptations, merchandise, and other complex copyright expansions represent seven levels...

When a cultural industry matures, its market expansion develops rapidly. In the past, the novel industry prospered, and corresponding television and film adaptations emerged endlessly, and even manga were born to further explore value.

But Mirai-sensei wanted to skip this process. When the manga market isn't fully mature yet, he has already started planning.

With the deepening of the planning, Hinotori Publishing will transform into a large-scale enterprise. It will focus on manga and will be able to rely on its own channels to manage multiple copyrights.

Even if Mirai-sensei's publishing house succeeds, Hinotori Publishing's position in the fan world will be unique...

Guo Letong told Guo Letong about this process. In fact, it's not complicated. Manga companies will reach that point sooner or later, but Guo Letong still finds it incredible after hearing it...

"This is too far ahead of its time. Will it succeed?"

Yes, it's too far ahead of its time. Kanto Manga Company's manga now sell more, but they still haven't dared to do it. Because the market isn't mature enough...

"There is hope."

Guo Letong sighed: "Look at the situation of '

Fate/Stay Night': others can't succeed, but Mirai-sensei has a lot of hope. He has great prestige among readers and his works are good enough...".

Just like derivative products, other manga cannot be sold, but Mirai-sensei could. Saber could be a test product, and now the results show that... Mirai-sensei is good enough, and readers are crazy enough.

"But..."

Guo Letong shook his head again and sighed: "Hinotori Publishing has very little capital, which is Mirai-sensei's biggest limitation."

"What a shame!"

That day, in Tokyo, at Kanto Manga Company, Hiroshi Kawakami looked grim.

He looked at the enthusiastic readers on Mirai-sensei's home forum and sighed with regret: "If Mirai-sensei comes to our company, who will be able to stop the development of the manga industry?"

The strongest manga company, the strongest mangaka... If both manage to merge, the Japanese manga industry will immediately enter its golden age!