Rei knew the Serialization Meeting for his manga submission was being held today, but he also understood that the results wouldn't be announced until the following day, when the senior editors at the manga magazine would make their decision.
He couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and anxiety.
He was confident in the quality of 5 Centimeters Per Second.
But he was also nervous about the judgment of the senior editors at Hoshimori Publishing Group.
He knew all too well from his past life that even works with both the artist's and editors' confidence could be buried if the higher-ups had a whim.
For example, Attack on Titan was initially submitted to Weekly Shonen JUP, but the editorial department rejected it, leading to its submission to another publishing company.
"No matter what, the results will be out tomorrow."
Before going to bed, Rei cleared his mind of all distractions.
In his dream, 5 Centimeters Per Second was rejected by Hoshimori Publishing Group. He repeatedly submitted it to other manga magazines, only to face rejection each time. Eventually, he abandoned his dream of becoming a manga artist in this world and instead focused on his studies, pursuing a different path in life.
He woke up early the next morning, the dream still vivid in his mind.
Another uneventful day passed. By the time school let out in the afternoon, Miyu, whom Rei hadn't seen for two days, was waiting at the classroom door, just as before.
When she peeked inside and waved at Rei, several classmates turned to stare at him again.
Could it be true? they wondered. Rumors had been circulating that Rei and Miyu from Class 1 had an unusually close relationship, possibly even a secret romance.
Is it actually true?
What kind of normal friends would come to someone's classroom door every day or two, especially to wait after school?
A few minutes later, Rei's class was dismissed.
"Your teacher really loves to keep you late," Miyu said with a smile.
But Rei had no interest in continuing the conversation.
"Miyu-san, have the results of the Serialization Meeting been released yet?"
"You've forgotten what I told you before," Miyu said, smiling.
"Miyu, have the results of the Serialization Meeting been released yet?" Rei immediately corrected himself.
"Yes. Since you don't have a phone, my sister texted me around 4 PM. She wants me to bring you to see her after school. I only saw the message after class ended," Miyu explained.
"Although she didn't explicitly state the outcome of the Serialization Meeting in her message, if it hadn't been approved, there would have been no need for her to go to the trouble of having me bring you to meet her. She could have simply told me to inform you verbally."
"Congratulations, Rei."
Miyu's smile seemed especially radiant in the orange glow of the setting sun.
"Thank you," Rei said, pausing before adding those two words.
It was no exaggeration to say that Miyu had played a crucial role in this entire affair.
Otherwise, Rei might still be fretting over which company to submit his 5 Centimeters Per Second manga manuscript to. The scenario he'd dreamed of last night—submitting to another manga publisher and having it become reality—might very well have come true.
An hour later, Rei and Miyu arrived at her villa district again.
On this second visit to Miyu's home, Rei felt less awkward than before. And this time, he saw Misaki smiling for the first time.
Though her personality was reserved, she wasn't naturally inclined to wear a stern expression. She would smile when appropriate, especially for Rei, the manga artist who had helped her gain a victory at the Serialization Meeting.
After all, before this meeting, her manga submissions had already lost twice to Takeda Jun's works.
"Congratulations, Rei-sensei! Your work has been approved at the Serialization Meeting. I've invited you here today to discuss the contract," Misaki said, handing Rei a standard contract.
A contract.
Rei felt a weight lift from his chest as he took the document and began to read.
The dense text was filled with legal jargon he couldn't understand.
Fortunately, Misaki provided a brief explanation.
In essence, it concerned royalties.
Manga royalties were calculated per page. The standard rate at Sakura Weekly was 370 Yen per page, but this was just the base rate.
If a manga chapter achieved a higher ranking in Sakura Weekly's serialization lineup, the royalties would be adjusted based on its performance in that issue. However, even a top-ranked chapter wouldn't exceed three times the base rate.
Assuming a standard manga chapter is 20 pages long and four chapters are serialized per month, a manga artist's minimum monthly earnings at Sakura Weekly would be around 30,000 Yen.
Similarly, Rei's 5 Centimeters Per Second was already fully drawn, totaling over 100 pages. Even if every serialized chapter ranked last, the guaranteed minimum royalties would still be nearly 40,000 Yen.
With this money, Rei felt confident, even if the court immediately seized his current house to settle his deceased parents' debts.
Of course, now that he was a manga artist, the bulk of his income didn't come from manuscript fees at all.
The royalties from single-volume manga sales were usually the main source of revenue.
This was already the industry's lowest royalty rate. It wasn't that capitalists didn't want to go lower, but Japanese law stipulated this as the minimum standard for literary works.
Similarly, this was the standard treatment for rookie manga artists like Rei.
If a work became popular enough to sell merchandise, the profits from those items were also calculated using a very complex formula.
But generally speaking, until a manga gained market recognition and was adapted into an anime, it was best not to even think about merchandise.
Rei's head was spinning from all this. His legal knowledge was weak, especially regarding Japanese law.
He glanced at Miyu beside him.
"Don't look at me," Miyu said with a smile. "The contract I signed is exactly the same as yours."
Capitalists are universally greedy.
The contracts offered by Japanese manga companies were undoubtedly exploitative, especially after a creator's work became famous. Some artists would discover that their anime merchandise had generated hundreds of millions in sales, while they themselves had only received a one-time copyright buyout fee. The profits made by others had little bearing on their own compensation.
However, Rei couldn't afford to dwell on these issues at the moment.
As a rookie manga artist, he had no choice but to accept these contractual terms for now. Once he achieved fame, he would naturally gain the leverage to negotiate better terms for future collaborations.
After only a moment's hesitation, Rei took the pen from Misaki and began signing his personal information.
Ten minutes later, after confirming all the details were correct, Misaki nodded slightly and said, "With this, Rei-sensei, our collaboration has officially begun."
"I have a question," Rei asked. "Now that 5 Centimeters Per Second has been approved for serialization, when will it start?"
"In three weeks, on Friday, June 13th, 5 Centimeters Per Second will be officially published in the next issue of Sakura Weekly. The cover will feature the two new series being launched that issue: 5 Centimeters Per Second and Love Blooms Like Fireworks, prominently displayed to promote the new works. Additionally, Rei-sensei, we would like to request that you color the first five pages of the first chapter to create a full-color manga introduction." Misaki looked at Rei.
Cover promotion and color page spreads?
That's standard practice for most manga magazines when launching a new series.
But there's another new manga debuting in the same issue!
"Oh, Rei-sensei, have you considered using a pen name? Like my sister Miyu, who goes by 'Saki.' Using a pen name would prevent your daily life from being affected by the fame of your serialized work," Misaki suggested.
"In that case, let's go with Shirogane," Rei replied.
This was the pen name Rei had used in his previous life as a struggling manga artist.
Since he couldn't use his former name in this world, letting his pen name become known here would serve as a kind of spiritual anchor to his past life after reincarnation.
Misaki considered it and nodded in approval, then extended her hand to Rei.
"Then let's work together harmoniously, Shirogane-sensei!"
"Shirogane-sensei hasn't eaten yet, has he? Miyu and I haven't either. Why don't we all eat together? I also wanted to discuss some details about our manga collaboration while we're at it," Misaki added, following her usual practice.
She typically treated the manga artists she worked with to meals or visited them at home to build rapport. This made it easier to request revisions or critique their work later without causing offense.
After all, you can't bite the hand that feeds you!
"Hey, Sis," Miyu protested, "you call Rei 'Sensei,' but why not me? I'm one of your serialized manga artists too!"
"We'll talk when your manga gets serialized in Hoshimori Publishing," Misaki sneered. "Right now, you're not qualified."
That night, Rei returned home, his heart lighter after confirming the serialization. Lying in bed, he began to imagine all the possibilities and scenarios that might unfold after 5 Centimeters Per Second began its run.
"Finally, I've taken the first step!" Rei murmured before drifting off to sleep.
In his dream, he relived a memory from his past life. Late at night, he was watching a film, completely absorbed in its story. The same sorrow he had felt watching it before washed over him again.
After the film ended, he couldn't resist seeking out the original novel to read.
The plot, themes, and title of that work remained etched in Rei's sleeping mind, carried by the currents of memory.
…
Waking up early, Rei felt the sorrow that had accumulated in his dreams about his new work flood back, twisting his expression into a grimace and reddening the rims of his eyes.
After all, he was an emotional person, deeply immersed in the stories he read.
At the same moment, the title of the work surfaced in his mind:
"Tonight, Even If This Love Disappears from the World!"
Rei recalled the plot of this Sakurajima romance novel from his past life, as well as its film adaptation.
It told the story of a girl whose memories reset each night due to a rare illness, and a boy who met her, fell in love, and ultimately forgot her.
Thus, the title itself was the premise—the catalyst for the protagonists' love and the root of the tragedy that unfolded.
Tonight, Even If This Love Disappears from the World!
Several works explored similar themes, such as the anime Ef and One Week Friends, where the female lead also suffered from memory loss. Yet none left as deep an impression on Rei as this particular story.
His stomach began to ache again.
Why do I keep remembering these depressing, emotionally torturous stories I used to read?!
"Remind me of the specific plot of Gintama. Can't I just draw some gag manga?"
Rei's expression was speechless.
He hadn't experienced the double humor, but instead, after being tormented in his previous life, he was now facing one depressing work after another in this one.
Truth be told, this work was no less emotionally devastating than 5 Centimeters Per Second. It belonged to that genre of romance literature that starts sweet before turning utterly heartbreaking.
However, the novel had only been adapted into a live-action film, not an anime, so its popularity in the anime community remained relatively low.
"Hmm," Rei murmured, recalling the memories in his mind as he fell into deep thought.
"Since 5 Centimeters Per Second is only five chapters long and will conclude its serialization within a month, dreaming about this work's memories couldn't have come at a better time."
"If I want to capitalize on the momentum after 5 Centimeters Per Second ends and start serializing a new manga while the buzz is still high, I really need to start preparing the new manga now."
The fact that the original work was a novel wouldn't pose much of a problem.
The adaptation of stories between novels, manga, and anime is standard practice in the industry. As long as the core narrative is strong enough, the medium used to present the story doesn't matter.