Chapter 305: Pride and Arrogance

“I really didn’t expect Oda-san to chat with Meng-san for more than an hour!”

After Hiroji Wada came out, he seemed very surprised. Just now Meng Fan and Oda-san had been talking, and he felt too shy to join them. However, he could see that Meng Fan took out some sketches for Oda. Naturally, by this he concluded that Meng Fan was a manga artist. Also seeing Oda’s recommendation letter, he asked: “Meng-san, is your visit to Shueisha related to manga submission?”

Meng Fan nodded and asked with a smile:

“Wada-san, could you recommend me to a good editor?”

“If you didn’t have Oda-san’s recommendation letter, of course I would be happy to help you. But with Oda-san’s recommendation, mine has no use,” Hiroji Wada laughed. “Although I also know some people in charge of Shueisha, it is really not as good as Oda-san’s recommendation letter.”

Half in Chinese, half in Japanese — Meng Fan barely understood the sentence.

Oda’s pirates made the old Shueisha come back to life and shine again. Naturally, the impact of his recommendation letter should be obvious.

However, Meng Fan got to understand the requirements and process of serialization in Shueisha beforehand. He also knew that having a recommendation letter did not mean that his manga can surely be serialized in a magazine published by Shueisha. The recommendation letter only increased his chances to bargain or to meet face-to-face with an editor. The later outcome depended on whether the terms were acceptable to both sides.

It also did not mean that if he can get serialized by Shueisha, Meng Fan would agree to any conditions.

As for his work, Meng Fan felt quite confident about its quality. Otherwise, he wouldn’t get this recommendation letter from Oda!

Shueisha was located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, facing another manga publishing company, Shogakukan. Originally, Shueisha was separated from Shogakukan.

After a long period of competition and cooperation, nowadays the three Japanese manga publishers — Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Hakusensha, which had been separated from Shueisha — form the “Hitotsubashi Group,” a rival of the “Otawa Group” led by Kodansha.

— Shueisha Inc.!

After getting off the car and seeing the words hanging on the office building, Meng Fan couldn’t help but break into a smile.

Formerly, he didn’t understand what this “Inc.” meant. He’s always thought that this company was superb and wondered, what the hell is it?

These three letters could be very frequently seen on food, drinks and products made in Japan, as well as on various mangas, animes, TV series, movies, and the like.

People couldn’t help but think of Japan as a lawful society. Those three letters looked like a mark of a gang, as if these companies were controlled by some mafia boss.

Later, he learned that “Inc.” is equivalent to China’s “shared company”!

The so-called Shueisha Inc., which meant Shueisha Shared Company, simply put forward the words meaning “shared company”!

“Meng-san.”

After getting off the car, Hiroji Wada said to Meng Fan: “One of the staff members will take you in. I still have some matters I need to take care of. I’ll have the driver wait here for you, and if you’re free tonight, Meng-san, I would like to treat you to dinner.”

Meng Fan answered equally politely to Hiroji Wada’s courtesy.

“There’s no need for anyone to wait for me. After I finish here, I can go back by myself; it’s alright. As for the dinner, I’ve already made plans. If we meet again in Huaxia, I will gladly eat with you, Wada-san.”

Hiroji Wada was really polite. He naturally agreed with a smile to everything that Meng Fan said. However, he still insisted that the driver should wait to pick up Meng Fan.

A staff member of Shueisha came out, and Hiroji Wada left after telling her a few words.

“Please come in.”

The staff member led Meng Fan inside. Simultaneously walking and introducing new places in Shueisha, she showed him around the company, telling Meng Fan about areas he will get to visit. The core area was definitely closed off to visitors. The places he can enter were…

Barbara was spitting the words, speaking not Chinese or Japanese but English. As for the fact that Meng Fan didn’t understand it, he also didn’t seem to mind; his thoughts wandered uncontrolled. Anyway, when they came in, he was basically stunned.

“Wait a moment.”

Meng Fan took out the recommendation letter and his phone. The translation app read out loud the input: “This is a recommendation letter from Oda-san. He also made an appointment with Mr. Muto Kentaro for me.”

“Oda?”

The staff member curiously took Meng Fan’s recommendation and gave it a look but didn’t open it. Then she looked outside, gave Meng Fan one more attentive look, and said at last:

“Wait here for a moment, I’ll help you.”

She left Meng Fan in a resting area and quickly went towards the office of Shueisha’s senior editor, Muto Kentaro. Not long after, she came back just as hurriedly. The change in attitude was obvious, and the words were all honorifics. She very respectfully led Meng Fan to the office. As for the recommendation letter, she had already given it to Muto Kentaro.

Japanese society was characterized by a relatively clear hierarchy, and the authority of a senior editor was huge. Unlike first-review editors, they get submissions and applications all the time.

If Meng Fan submitted his work in accordance with usual procedures, who knew when it would get reviewed. If you wanted to see someone who made decisions, you would have to go through several layers.

“Please sit.”

The staff member led Meng Fan inside and left, very quietly closing the door behind her. At that moment, a skinny man sitting at the back of the office slightly nodded towards Meng Fan and asked him to sit down.

Meng Fan didn’t engage in small talk. He handed the drafts, outline, and some of his drawings to Muto Kentaro.

Muto Kentaro seemed like a man who didn’t like to speak. He looked at the received draft, and it took him no less than an hour to read it all. Even when he looked at the outline and the sketches, there was no expression on his face. But Meng Fan was able to catch astonishment and shock in his eyes, and then the slow return to calmness.

Even though Meng Fan had had some doubts, seeing these expressions calmed him down.

“Although there are some flaws, the problems aren’t big. In short, it is a very good comic,” Kentaro Muto finally spoke, using Japanese.

When he saw Meng Fan record it on his mobile phone and translate it, he frowned.

“Meng-san, you don’t speak Japanese?”, he asked.

“A little bit, but not proficiently.”

Meng Fan answered truthfully, and then used the mobile phone to translate it.

“Then the dialogues in your comics were all translated by someone?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t easy for Meng Fan to say that he translated it with the use of a smartphone. After all, the dialogues were succinct. Generally the app translators are unreliable and imprecise.

“So, you’ll need a Japanese assistant.”

Muto Kentaro then proceeded to ask Meng Fan a lot of questions. The first few questions were about his comics, and the latter ones were all related to Meng Fan himself.

“Meng-san, your work can be serialized in Shueisha. Whether it will be published in a weekly or monthly magazine, we will discuss later. Now we need to solve a few problems.”

Muto Kentaro tapped his fingers on the table a few times and said: “Firstly, it’s not a problem that you are Chinese. We’ve worked with several Chinese artists now and then in Shueisha. But if you are in China, it’s a problem, therefore you need to move from China to Tokyo. Even if you drop out of school, we can arrange for you to take the entrance exams for universities here in Tokyo, including accommodation. This way, it will be convenient for submitting and discussing the plot.”

“Secondly, the contracts we sign in Shueisha are exclusive contracts, so your comic serialized in China needs to be suspended or finished.”

“Thirdly, there are many comic artists lining up in each and every of Shueisha’s magazines. Although the quality of your work is good, you will not get the opportunity of serialization immediately. Of course, we will adjust your position on the ranking as much as possible, so that you can get a chance to serialize in half a year. And within these six months, I will recommend you as an assistant to a well-known mangaka, in order to increase your experience and understanding of Japanese comic industry.”

“Fourthly…”

“Regarding the contract’s contents — because you are recommended by Oda-san, and the quality of your comic is indeed high — we will sign you with the conditions and salary offered to the strongest newcomers.”

Meng Fan had come to understand Shueisha or the so-called Japanese comic industry before. He knew that terms for signing contracts were very harsh, but it was precisely because he knew that he was also aware these terms were unreasonable with the quality of his comics.

Moreover, thanks to his current Observation +6, Meng Fan could also capture the arrogance hidden in the eyes of Muto Kentaro as he was listing the conditions.

He entered the words into his mobile phone, and the translation was read:

“Firstly, now that the information is developed, whether it is for manga submission or plot discussion — there’s no need for me to move from China to Tokyo.”

Meng Fan liked manga and seiyuu, but it didn’t mean he liked Japanese people or the country. It was impossible for him to move from China to Japan.

“Secondly, if I remember correctly, Shueisha should still have a contract for cooperation.”

Muto Kentaro raised his hand to stop him and said with a smile:

“Since Meng-san knows about the cooperation agreement, do you also know the requirements for it? First of all, in case of the cooperation agreement, our publisher will not give your manga good serialization, moreover you might get dropped at any time. Next, the cooperation agreement requires the comic author himself to have a great reputation in the industry, and Meng-san is a newcomer.”

Meng Fan didn’t even discuss the remaining conditions, as they were impossible to agree on. After thinking carefully, he said to Kentaro Muto: “Muto-san, the next words may come off as arrogant, but I still want to say something. I, myself, have high hopes and great confidence in my manga. I believe it can become a classic. I want to sign a cooperation agreement with your company to give the copyright of the comic in Japan wholly to your noble firm.”

“Meng-san, I know that every mangaka is extremely confident in their work.” Muto Kentaro had seen too many such arrogant authors. His face remained expressionless, only in his eyes was there a hint of disdain. Very calmly, he continued: “Considering that your work is really not bad, and Oda-san recommended you, I am willing to move the ranking forward for you. I promise serialization within three months. If you draw fast and the quality can be guaranteed, it’s likely that you will be on ‘Weekly Shōnen Jump’.”

“Weekly Shōnen Jump” is Shueisha’s best-seller publishing manga. It could also be said to be the most famous comic publication magazine in the world. It was a deadly temptation for any mangaka.

“According to the regulations, the newcomers can only sign exclusive contracts. As for other conditions, we can talk them over.”

Muto Kentaro had been observing Meng Fan’s expression, examining his intentions, and said:

“Meng-san, if your work is able to land on ‘Weekly Shōnen Jump,’ it will surely let you become the most famous Chinese mangaka in no time.”

Promising Meng Fan publication in three months wasn’t a lie, but it was impossible to promise “Weekly Shōnen Jump.”

Indeed, there were many manga artists who lined up to be serialized in Shueisha, and most of them weren’t able to get on “Weekly Shōnen Jump,” but were rather published by other manga magazines such as “Jump Square,””Weekly Young Jump,””Ultra Jump,” and others. Nonetheless, promising the manga could be serialized in three months, even though the mangaka was Chinese, showed that Muto Kentaro really valued this comic.

Otherwise, he would give up on signing a contract and let Meng Fan go.

A lot of artists would die to get serialized by Shueisha. What difference does one Chinese person make?

“Muto-san, give me time to think it over”, Meng Fan said.

“Of course. You have two days. This is my business card. Call me anytime.”

Muto Kentaro nodded with a smile, gave Meng Fan a business card, and called the staff to see Meng Fan off. He was very confident that Meng Fan would come back and not in two days. He will likely give him a call in two or three hours!

Meng Fan walked out of Shueisha and sighed. Perfect day, just as expected!

But regardless of whether Shueisha was too harsh, or he was too arrogant, he still followed his own intent. He took out his mobile phone and called Goro Takahashi. If Kodansha also didn’t want to negotiate, then forget it.

After becoming a famous comic artist on his own, he would come back to arm-wrestle with Japanese manga industry.

And how to arm-wrestle?

By conducting sales in the same region, of course!

Meng Fan liked Japanese mangas, and he hoped that one day, Chinese comics may land in Japan and sweep it!