"Welcome to Manga Night Talk!"
At one in the morning, the living room was pitch black, lit only by the flickering of the television. Kai lay slumped on the sofa, savoring his rare moment of peace.
He was watching a manga talk show on NHK. The program was built around reviewing and discussing various manga.
The panel included a well-known otaku representing the reader's perspective, a professional manga artist, and a manga critic.
Equal parts entertaining and insightful.
"We're finally talking about Death Note today!" Okada said with barely contained excitement. "This is my favorite manga of the year!"
Kai shifted slightly on the sofa. That counted as a reaction.
After all, TV Tokyo and Fuji TV both ran similar programs, and Death Note had already been discussed at length on both. Whether the takes were positive or negative, he was long past caring.
"Death Note really is beloved by a lot of people." Takano, the manga artist, nodded. "In the latest Jump survey, Death Note took first place again."
"That's hardly surprising," said Natsume, the manga critic. "This manga has held the top spot for half its run. What shocked me is that in the Death Note character evaluations, Soichiro Yagami's average score is a perfect ten."
"That means every single one of the thousand respondents gave him a ten out of ten."
"A perfect ten!" Takano's jaw dropped. "That's absurd. I wouldn't even dare to dream of numbers like that."
Okada smiled. "Well, Takano-sensei is just a bottom-tier manga artist who got weeded out by the market."
"Hey! That's going too far!" Natsume gave Okada a light tap on the shoulder as a reprimand.
"Mm." Takano nodded, satisfied.
"You actually said what you really think," Natsume continued.
Takano froze, then threw up his hands in defeat.
It was a classic setup from Japanese variety shows, and Kai chuckled along out of respect for the craft.
"It makes sense, though." Okada mimed gripping a steering wheel. "Soichiro Yagami was clearly terrified, but he chose to investigate Kira anyway for the sake of justice. Even when he was hospitalized, he dragged his sick body to the scene the moment things went sideways."
"The scene where Soichiro threatens the Sakura TV producer at gunpoint to hand over Kira's master tape is an instant classic," Takano said.
"You could say he's the opposite of rigid," Natsume replied. "He's willing to act outside his jurisdiction when it matters. Brave, resourceful, righteous, decisive. A rare breed of cool police officer in manga."
"And on that note," Natsume raised a finger, "the close-up that Kanzaki-sensei designed is truly outstanding."
"Soichiro is hunched over, forehead drenched in sweat, but his eyes are unwavering. Compared to the clownish producer who wanted to exploit Kira for ratings, the gap is enormous."
"And the paneling that follows is just as strong. Inspired by Soichiro's actions, the rest of the police arrive on scene. Wearing masks, carrying riot shields, covering their faces, they form a human wall to block the cameras and escort Soichiro out."
"The police in Death Note are incredible. Kanzaki-sensei captured their devotion to justice perfectly. When I read that part, I got goosebumps all over."
Okada gave a thumbs-up. "Same here. For the first time, I actually wanted Light Yagami to get caught. The police make his evil so obvious that there's nowhere left to hide."
"This Kira probably isn't Light Yagami," Takano said, rubbing his chin, "but the contrast certainly exposes his hypocrisy."
"Kanzaki-sensei never intended to hide the fact that Light Yagami is evil," Natsume added.
He thought of something, and a grin spread across his face.
"I'm a little scared, actually."
"Scared?" Okada looked surprised. "Of what?"
"Kira killed a host who was live on air. That's exactly what we're doing right now." Natsume glanced around the studio. "If Kira really existed, the three of us would be in danger."
He leaned toward the camera and let out a strange chuckle. "Will we die?"
Kai yawned. He was getting bored.
He glanced at the clock, reluctant to give up this rare stretch of downtime.
"Stop messing around!" Takano shot to his feet and waved his hand sharply. "There's no such thing as a Death Note... Ah!"
Mid-sentence, he groaned. His body swayed, and he looked like he was about to hit the floor.
Natsume rushed to catch him, bracing Takano's back and easing him down gently.
Something had actually gone wrong.
Okada was paralyzed. He instinctively pressed his script against his face, trying to hide behind it.
The studio erupted into chaos. The director's voice could be heard in the background.
"Someone check on Takano! Now!"
Floor staff came running onto the set.
And then Natsume, still crouched beside Takano, slumped over sideways and went limp.
Kai sat bolt upright.
'This is too realistic. There's no way this is just a bit.'
He jumped to his feet, wanting to get closer to the screen, but his head swam and his vision blurred. He lay back down and spent a while catching his breath before he recovered.
"Oh. I see."
Kai patted his chest. "Natsume's brain was starved of oxygen too."
There were no Shinigami in this world.
...
The next day, "Manga Night Talk" became a sensation.
The production team clarified after Natsume regained consciousness that he'd simply fainted from oxygen deprivation. But people preferred the bizarre version.
Urban legends about the Death Note panelist who died of a heart attack on live television spread among readers like wildfire.
It added another layer of mystique to Death Note.
"Shinigami are real!"
"That's just Detective Conan."
"I'm not talking about Conan! I'm talking about Death Note! Someone had a heart attack on live TV!"
"What?!"
"It has to be a Shinigami's curse!"
...
"Since Death Note started serialization, the number of people dying from heart attacks has skyrocketed!"
...
"Official statistics say the cardiac arrest rate is several times higher than previous years!"
...
"Someone saw a Shinigami!"
...
"Kagami Taro used the Death Note to punish the wicked!"
...
"Wait. Kanzaki is Kagami Taro!"
The rumors brought Death Note even more discussion, controversy, and traffic.
But there was a downside, too.
"Don't vote for Death Note in the reader survey. I heard everyone who votes for it dies."
Sure enough, in the next reader rankings, Death Note dropped to third place.
Oda, who snuck into second, acted like he didn't care. In private, he was grinning from ear to ear.
...
Kai didn't pay attention to any of it.
Over the course of more than a month, he had finally finished drawing "Kenji Tachibana."
"Here."
He let out a long breath, then pulled out three envelopes he'd prepared in advance and handed them to the assistants who'd been grinding through overtime alongside him.
"New Year is coming up. This is your year-end bonus. Five hundred thousand yen each."
______________________
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