"Looks like everyone's finished reading. What do you think?"
"Out of this world, beyond imagination!"
"It completely breaks our usual understanding of magical girl genre."
"The first time I read it, I thought the lines and expressions were too dark in some places. I thought it was a mistake from a rookie author. But then I realizedthose were all foreshadowing clues!"
"This rookie is like a monster."
"This development could completely redefine the magical girl genre. If the rest of the story is just as stunning, it might even be a 'masterpiece'!"
"Really? Even though it's a magical girl story, calling it a 'masterpiece' seems a bit much!"
"I said it depends on how the rest of the story goes. But honestly, even if it's not a 'masterpiece,' finding a new way to interpret magical girls genre is already incredible. Can a high school student really do this?"
"A high school student? What were you doing back in high school?"
"Studying hard."
"Going shopping, karaoke, and hanging out at arcades."
"Man, at this age, I feel like I've lived more than a dog!"
"Don't compare yourself to these monsters, or you'll cry!"
The conversation grew loud and chaotic, like a market.
The Editor-in-Chief didn't intervene immediately. He waited until the noise settled before continuing:
"So, what's your opinion on the ranking for this work?"
"I think it deserves 'Candidate Selection.'"
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
After hearing unanimous agreement from everyone except Minano, Torishima turned to her:
"Minano, what's your opinion?"
Minano shook her head. "I have no objections."
Torishima chuckled, shaking his head in exasperation.
"The young ones really love putting me, the old guy, in a tough spot. You all make me decide on something so important on my own."
"But I can't deny itthis work is too good to miss. If I just gave it a random ranking, people might start thinking I've lost the ability to understand manga."
"'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'let's award it the 'Candidate Selection' prize. Does anyone have any objections?"
Everyone instinctively held their breath, eyes wide in disbelief.
They actually gave it the 'Candidate Selection' prize!?
Torishima looked around at everyone's faces:
"What? Do you think it doesn't deserve it just because it's a magical girl story?"
"If we couldn't see where the story was going, or if we didn't give it a fair ranking, I could understand the doubt."
"But if we choose to ignore it now, knowing the story will take a turn, that's our mistake!"
"The Tezuka Award has always been about 'the story' as the criteria! A new direction for an entire genrejust that alone is enough to deserve 'Candidate Selection.' And this work also excels in every other area too."
"But readers won't know that until the story unfolds. Before that point in the serialization, they won't understand why we gave it 'Candidate Selection.' And other companies might be keeping a close eye on us..."
"You're right. But those doubts are temporary. Why worry about them?"
"Once the rest of the story is out, they'll understand why 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' deserves the 'Candidate Selection.'"
Torishima smiled.
"Remember, Shueisha didn't get to where it is today by listening to outside opinions. We've always stuck to the principle of 'strength is king!'"
"Anyone else have an opinion?"
[026] Announcement of the Award! "Madoka" Receives the "Selected" Award!!
A month had passed in the blink of an eye.
In that time, the new transfer student, Shiina Mahiru, was no longer the 'new girl.' She had fully integrated into the class.
With her doll-like beauty, gentle personality, and top ten grades in her year... it didn't take long for her to become incredibly popular at school!
She easily earned the title of "The Fourth Flower of Toyogasaki Academy."
As for the benefits of this title?
Well, it seemed that the boys in her class could only look at her from some distance, and too shy to approach her.
It was just one of those things that comes with the territory in adolescenceboys are often too intimidated to get too close to someone they perceive as way out of their league.
On the other hand, Akifumi Mugiho's life hadn't changed much.
He went to school, chatted with his two classmates, then came home and worked on his manga. The only real change was that he had a certain Eriri occasionally disturbing him now.
Money was a bit tight this month, but he'd managed to get through it.
It was 7:48 PM on June 7th.
It had been seven days since the second-round evaluation list had been released.
At Akifumi's apartment
"I swear, summer's just around the corner, and you're still not done?!" Eriri nagged, her voice growing impatient.
"Have you even drawn more than five pages?"
"We still have more than a month, right?" Akifumi replied, shrugging.
Eriri looked away awkwardly before muttering, frustrated, "It's crunch time! Don't bring up annoying topics like that!"
Akifumi couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"You didn't even participate in the Tezuka Award, so the list has nothing to do with you, right?"
"Of course it does!" Eriri replied confidently.
"I'm a spiritual investor! Plus, this event only happens twice a yearit's a big deal for anyone aspiring to be a manga artist!"
"The winners are definitely worthy of being my role models!" she added.
"Instead of trying to mimic their style, maybe you should start by not missing deadlines. I heard manga is published weekly... with your speed, you're practically asking for trouble."
Eriri pretended not to hear him and muttered to herself, "I wonder if there will be any 'Selected' Awards this time."
Akifumi raised an eyebrow. "When was the last 'Selected' Award?"
"Eight years ago!" Eriri answered without hesitation.
It was clear she followed the Tezuka Award closely, and she could reel off these details without missing a beat.
"Wow, that's harsh," Akifumi said, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of anticipation.
"I wonder what kind of award Madoka will get this time."
Getting a chance to be serialized meant at least receiving some kind of award. What it would bewhether "Selected," "Provisional Selected," or "Honorable Mention"he wasn't sure.
In theory, the additional pages of original content he had submitted could improve his chances.
But if the evaluation was based solely on the required pages for entry, there was nothing he could do. That would be within the rules.
He was nervous, but the clock kept ticking.
20:00, time to refresh.
"Come on, come on! Refresh! Refresh!" Eriri urged, practically bouncing in her seat.
Akifumi rolled his eyes. Here she was, getting more worked up than him even though she wasn't even a participant. Was he too laid-back, or was she just... a bit much?
With that thought in mind, Akifumi quickly refreshed the webpage.
He felt a soft touch on his armEriri had leaned in, her face now only a few centimeters away from his.
Her body was pressed up against his, and Akifumi couldn't help but notice the soft feel of her small chest.
"It's here! It's here!!" Eriri's excitement was palpable as she clapped Akifumi on the shoulder.
"Hurry up and open it!"
"Okay, okay." Akifumi clicked the link, but the page didn't load immediately, likely due to the high volume of people refreshing at the same time.
"Come on, Shueisha, you've got the resources! Spend some money on better website maintenance!" Eriri grumbled, clearly not a stranger to this situation.
She then muttered to herself, "I guess the magic girl manga won't be passing the list this year, right?"
Akifumi chuckled, "What's your problem with Madoka? Why so petty about it?"
"I'm not petty!" Eriri defended herself. "I just think a theme with no potential shouldn't even make it past the editors."
"Isn't the Tezuka Award all about the story? Does a magical girl story even have a decent plot?"
Akifumi wasn't familiar with other magical girl works, but Madoka certainly had a solid story. After all, it was his story!
"Well, I think Madoka might still be on the list, you know?" Akifumi teased.
"Impossible!" Eriri shot him a skeptical glance but was interrupted as her eyes widened in shock.
"It's out!"
Akifumi's heart raced. He quickly looked back at the screen, his heart pounding uncontrollably.
As the mouse wheel scrolled down, large red characters appeared on the screen.
Neither of them was prepared for this moment. They both stared, stunned.
"Are you kidding me? This isn't a dream, right?" Akifumi asked, his voice in disbelief.
Eriri gasped, her blue eyes wide, then turned to Akifumi, glaring. "Why'd you pinch me?!"
Akifumi, looking completely innocent, replied, "Just checking if you were dreaming."
"Well, clearly not!" Eriri retorted. "But seriously, look!"
The screen displayed in bold red:
"Selected: Magical Girl Madoka by Warrior of Love and Hope's"
"Unbelievable! It's got chosen to be the Selected Award!" Akifumi said, unable to hold back his excitement.
Eriri stared at the screen, her expression mixed.
"I can't believe Madoka made it. It really got Selected!"
The words still seemed surreal, but the prize money1 million yenwas very real. That amount, converted to 50,000 U.S. dollars, was a huge sum, especially for a high school student with no income.
Best of all, with the award came serialization, which meant more small paychecks rolling in. That was the cherry on top.
Life was about to get a lot better.
[027] Enlightened and Real: Eriri!
Looking at Eriri, who was sprawled across the bed in a comical "big-character" shape, Akifumi Mugiho couldn't help but tease her.
"What's wrong? Did the 'Selected Works' award for a magical girl story crush your spirit?"
"No way!"
Eriri sat up, glaring at him, clearly annoyed. "I'm not an idiot!"
"'Selected Works' is chosen by all the chief editors and the main editor of Shueisha!"
"Whatever the genre is, any work that gets this award must have something special about it."
"I remember last year at the Tezuka Award, that 'Crimson Sea' work deserved to be a 'Selected Works' winner in my opinion. Many readers agreed, feeling that it deserved a better rating than 'Honorable Mention.' But after the results came out, Shueisha confirmed that while 'Crimson Sea' was indeed good, it was still a little far from 'Selected Works.'"
"They'd rather leave the category blank for 8 years than lower their standards. They won't tarnish their own reputation by picking something unworthy."
"Had they done that, 'Crimson Sea' wouldn't have just gotten 'Honorable Mention' either."
Akifumi Mugiho was a bit taken aback by Eriri's calm and clear reasoning.
"Wait, something's off... Where's that idiot Eriri who failed her midterms?!"
Eriri blushed, flustered. "That... that was just an accident!"
"You know, during those days, I was staying up late thinking about my Summer CM project! I didn't have time to study!"
[TL Note CM is Comicon]
"Right, right, right."
Her manga wasn't even five pages in, and she flunked her exams!
"Eriri is just too hardworking!"
"Hmph, you finally get it!"
Eriri puffed up her chest, acting like she didn't catch the sarcasm.
But then her face clouded with worry.
"But, even though I know the awards are legit, I still can't help but care. How should I break through this magical girl theme?"
Seeing Eriri lost in thought, Akifumi couldn't help but smirk. "Who knows?"
"Plus, if you figure it out, doesn't that mean you're capable of winning the 'Selected Works' yourself?"
Eriri gave him a curious look.
"If you're so curious, you can just wait and see when the work comes out."
"Well, even though you're right, I'm still curious!!"
"Then instead of worrying about other people's work, how about improving your own? Or at least finish the stuff you're working on for the Summer CM?"
So, she was just trying to get me to do the work, huh? This devil!
Eriri sighed, sitting up from the bed. "Fine, fine."
"I'll get to drawing."
Two hours later, after dropping Eriri off at home, Akifumi Mugiho returned to his apartment.
"Hope she actually gets to work on the drafts at home."
Though he didn't have to help with the drafts now, what worried him more was that Eriri would leave everything to pile up until the deadline.
"30 days to complete 20 pages is way easier than doing it in 10 days," Akifumi thought.
'Eriri's got such a stubborn head'
She could easily attract a ton of people if her artwork was flashy enough.
Plus, with the name "Kashiwagi Eri" behind her, it should have been a no-brainer. But no, she insisted on thinking about storylines, backgrounds, dialogues...
If she'd just gone with a recent popular trope, she'd have had enough time to finish sketches by now.
But...
"Well... that's Eriri for you!"
Her silly ways were part of what made her endearing.
With a sigh, Akifumi grabbed his phone from the living room to check. He had several missed calls.
All from the ever-dedicated The Great Hiratsuka-sensei.
"Great."
With that many miss calls, he could already guess what her mood was like.
It had to be because of "Madoka Magica" winning the 'Selected Works' award.
Even now, he still remembered how she'd called him to her office the moment the second round results came out, her face filled with disbelief.
"Maybe... I'll pretend I'm asleep, and that I didn't see the calls?"
Just as he thought that, his phone buzzed again.
It was on silent mode from class, and he had forgotten to turn it back on.
Realizing there was no escaping the inevitable "office chat" on Monday, Akifumi reluctantly answered.
"Kid, feeling all accomplished now, huh? You think you're beyond my reach, right?"
"Sensei, don't overthink it. After being your student for so long, don't you know what kind of person I am?"
"I don't know anymore. You've changed so much lately, I can't even keep up."
Hiratsuka thought to herself, but decided to just chalk it up to Akifumi being affected by recent events.
"Alright, I'll hear your excuse."
"I was drawing comics in my room, and my phone was charging outside, so I didn't hear it ring."
A little creative wording made his excuse sound pretty solid. At least Hiratsuka's tone softened after hearing it.
"You really don't care, do you? Even I, as an amateur reader, knew today was the day the Tezuka Award results were announced."
Akifumi chuckled, lying back on the couch in a comfortable position.
