The next day, Haruka stepped into the office of editor-in-chief Amane, who gestured for her to sit.
"You said Muzushiro had a new idea for a manga."
"Yes," Haruka said, handing over a draft. "Technically, it's his first idea, the first manga he ever tried drawing. Part 1 isn't as strong as his recent works, so we thought of releasing it in volumes instead of serializing. Then we'd begin serializing Part 2 in Echo Shroud. I've read both, Part 1 is rough, but Part 2 is much more refined. Joseph Joestar, the new lead, is one of the most interesting characters he's written."
She added, "It's structured in separate parts, each with its own cast and story."
Amane skimmed the first chapters of Part 2. Even without all the backstory, the plot was easy to follow, and more importantly, it grabbed her. The pacing, energy, and tone had serious potential. Then she glanced through Part 1. The difference was obvious: flatter writing, weaker pull.
Still, with Natsume ending next month, they urgently needed a new anchor, ideally one that could pull in the shoujo demographic. Natsume had brought in a huge female readership, but that audience would likely shrink after it ended. In contrast, while Initial D had been a flagship, it hadn't brought many new readers since most were already reading other Shroud Line works.
She considered their options. Replacing Natsume with another female-oriented series was risky, since most top titles in that space went to Silent Parlour. Shifting to shōnen offered more possibilities, even with the dominance of the two biggest publishers. Shōnen works had a broader audience, and Echo Shroud's strength was flexibility; what might not fit elsewhere could thrive here. JoJo might be that bridge.
Unlike Fullmetal Alchemist, which balanced heavy themes and action, JoJo was unapologetically over-the-top, a pure action-comedy that fit the core shōnen audience. And with both Parts 1 and 2 already complete, it could smoothly fill Natsume's slot.
But there was a catch: Part 1 was six volumes. If they waited to finish releasing those monthly before starting Part 2, momentum would die.
"Why not start with Part 2?" Amane asked. "It's stronger. If Part 1's just backstory, we can skip ahead."
Haruka shook her head. "Muzushiro insists Part 1 be published first. That's why he suggested volumes."
Amane leaned back, thinking. "Then we release all of Part 1's volumes at once, then serialize Part 2. Fans who want the lore can buy the volume; everyone else can jump straight in."
She tapped the draft. "Normally I'd say it's too risky to go straight to volumes, but Muzushiro's fanbase can handle it. If Part 2 becomes a hit, people want to read part 1 for lore."
"Understood," Haruka said, but then added, "He also said this is a long-term project, but he doesn't want to spend too long on one series. After Part 2, he wants to continue only in volumes."
Amane's brows furrowed. "People spend decades on a single manga, and he's already planning the ending before starting?" She stopped herself, exhaled, and waved Haruka off. "Give me a few more days to think."
After Haruka left, Amane leaned back, knowing handling Muzushiro would be a headache. With his history, it was clear he wasn't the type to stay tied to a single project, and trying to fight that was pointless.
She skimmed the JoJo draft again, aware that keeping Muzushiro at Echo Shroud was crucial. The real challenge wasn't just holding onto him, but doing so without giving him too many slots. Two series seemed reasonable, maybe three at most, but four would be too much. She worried that if she didn't offer enough space, he might take his work elsewhere. Yet, she also didn't want him monopolizing the magazine. Finding the right incentives would be key.
But an even bigger concern was that after Part 2, releasing the series only in volumes wouldn't benefit anyone. A counter-offer would be necessary.
A few days later, the second episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica aired.
This time, the focus shifted to Mami, the veteran magical girl, introducing Madoka and Sayaka to the world they were being asked to join.
Mami explained the system: how the creature named Kyubey could grant any one wish, in exchange for a contract. Afterward, the recipient would become a magical girl and spend the rest of their life fighting witches, beings born from despair, invisible to ordinary humans.
To demonstrate the reality of it all, Mami brought the girls into a witch's labyrinth, letting them witness the surreal, disorienting world of magical combat. Her fight was graceful, tightly choreographed, and visually striking. But the stakes still felt distant.
Meanwhile, Homura remained an enigma. She continued to warn Madoka without explaining why.
Viewers found the idea of exchanging a wish for magical powers intriguing, but didn't dig too deep. On the surface, it looked like a familiar structure, a slightly more stylized magical girl show.
The following week, Haruka called Haruki to meet with editor-in-chief Amane to discuss how to serialize JoJo.
Haruki and Haruka sat on one side of the desk, with Amane opposite them.
Amane started the conversation.
"So, Muzishioro-san, you had some conditions for how to serialize JoJo?"
Haruki replied, "Ha, yes. This manga is a long one, and I don't want to be tied to one work for over a decade. I want to publish in volumes."
Amane said, "You know how the publishing house works, so I won't say much. But no one has done only volume releases. Even top works never did that. They stick with weekly, biweekly, or monthly. And if you've seen the pattern, when a series moves from weekly to biweekly, and then to monthly, it loses attention and engagement. Even if monthly chapters are longer, the engagement isn't as high. I know you think your fanbase is strong enough to change the industry norm, but I'll tell you plainly, you might succeed, but not as much as you deserve. It will be less than if you serialized weekly."
As Haruki listened to Amane, he'd already considered everything she said. Releasing more content meant more views, and more views meant more world points. She was right that it might not draw as many readers, but he could balance that with multiple works. For the system lottery, he planned to be number one at Echo Shroud. With Part 2 releasing, it would reach the top, so he wouldn't lose that chance. Still, there was no harm in getting more readers, as long as it didn't delay his original plan. He didn't mention his world point goal and instead picked a reason that fit the situation.
"Editor-in-chief, I understand what you're saying, and I've thought about it. But I have so many ideas in my head. I want to bring them all into the world."
Hearing this, Amane leaned forward, adjusting her tone.
"You don't have to worry about bringing your ideas to the world," Amane said. "If you want to finish quickly, I've already discussed it with the president, as well as the heads of sales and printing. We came up with a plan: we'll re-release Part 1 in volume format, and then begin serializing Part 2 weekly. If, by the end of Part 2, the series hits 2.5 million votes per issue, one million more than Initial D had when it ended, we'll cut one other title from Shroud Line and give that slot to JoJo for double-length chapters."
Not all of Echo Shroud's rules were disadvantages. In this case, no other publishing house could do double chapters in a weekly issue, only Echo Shroud. Every three months, they cut or downgrade the bottom three works. Most fans focus on the top 10 series, so losing bottom-tier works didn't affect readership much. And there was no pressure to prematurely replace long-running manga. If a series stayed popular, it remained; if not, it would transition to a sister magazine.
Amane had spent the past week thinking about how to keep Haruki at Echo Shroud without compromising the magazine. Echo Shroud had a unique advantage no other publisher could offer. She knew that once his popularity grew, he might be tempted to leave. In internal discussions, some doubted his next work would match the success of his last. Others argued that regular serialization could bring in more sales. But Amane pushed back. Shroud Line's bottom three titles barely impacted overall sales. Sometimes, they even filled those slots with weaker series just to maintain the schedule until the next quarterly cut. Strong new works were rare, so if giving Muzushiro this deal helped keep him on their side, it was worth it.
After careful discussion and checking all points in the meeting, they decided to give him the extra slot if it could bring in more votes than Initial D.
Shout out to Sehaj Sodhi for joining my p-atreon! your support means everything to me.
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