"Thanking me?" Shiina blinked in confusion, too distracted to even react to the head pat.
"Think about it. With you as my 'shield,' most girls wouldn't dare confess to me."
"And only someone as brave and beautiful as you would even try. You're doing me a huge favor!"
"Akifumi-kun, you're so sneaky," Shiina pouted, giving him a playful glare.
"You always know just what to say."
"Huh? Wasn't I just stating the facts?" Akifumi feigned innocence.
"You were not! You're being sneaky, sneaky, sneaky!"
"Now you're just being unreasonable," Akifumi sighed, shaking his head.
As they chatted and laughed, they eventually reached the subway station.
"Well, I'll leave this to you, Shiina-san," Akifumi said, handing her his backpack.
Shiina waved it off. "It's just a backpack. I'm not that delicate, you know."
Since he had plans to meet up with his editor for dinner in Chiyoda later that evening, he decided not to go home first.
After saying goodbye to Shiina, Akifumi boarded the subway.
Even though both his school and the restaurant were in Chiyoda, that didn't mean they were close by.
......
Later that evening, at 6:30 PM:
The three of them were seated at their reserved table, led by a waiter.
"It's not some fancy restaurant, are you disappointed, Akifumi-sensei?" teased Mihari.
Akifumi chuckled.
"What even counts as fancy? Those overpriced restaurants that scream 'luxury'? If that's the case, couldn't I just throw money at them? Do I look like I'm short on cash?"
"It's these small, unassuming places that often hold the real treasures. That's what I call a true feast."
With his eight-figure bank account (even in yen), indulging in good food was no big deal.
But Mihari, who had brought it up, suddenly felt a pang of regret.
"Ugh, you rich people are the worst! I should've picked a fancier place!"
This was on the company's money, after all! She could've gone all out!
But no, she'd gone with this cozy little sukiyaki place.
Sure, it was delicious, but she could only afford to come here every week on her own salary!
"Next time, I'm not making this mistake again!"
Watching their banter, Minano Matome couldn't help but smile.
"I've heard so much about Akifumi-sensei. I expected someone more absorbed in their creative world. I didn't think you'd be this witty."
Akifumi grinned, "Just be honest 'Editor-in-Chief' and say that I'm an otaku. I don't mind."
Minano laughed.
"In that case, don't call me 'Editor-in-Chief.' Just call me Minano."
"Then why are you still calling me 'sensei'?"
The two of them shared a laugh.
"Alright then, I'll call you Akifumi-kun."
Mihari blinked, feeling a bit left out.
Wait, how did they get so familiar so quickly? Am I the third wheel here? To hide her awkwardness, she took a sip of water.
"Minano-san, thank you so much for your support. I should've been the one treating you tonight, but instead, you're the one paying."
Minano shook her head.
"If we don't take care of our talented authors, how can we expect to keep them? It's a mutual benefit, Akifumi-kun. No need to be so formal."
While that was true, not everyone acted on it.
Company policies were one thing, but a good leader made all the difference.
Akifumi decided to let it go, silently vowing to remember her kindness.
"Alright, I won't stand on ceremony anymore. Let's get to the main topic of the day, shall we?"
The discussion turned to the anime adaptation of Madoka Magica and its merchandise plans.
[069] Lazy Cat! [200 PS]
After leaving the restaurant, Akifumi Mugiho watched the two friends hop into a taxi and drive away, before turning his attention away.
As the summer breeze blew, the coolness he'd felt coming out of the air-conditioned room was quickly replaced by the hot, sticky air of the season.
Spotting an empty taxi, Akifumi quickly raised his hand to call it.
He told the driver his destination and leaned back, closing his eyes, pretending to take a nap.
Taxis in Tokyo are expensive.
For a regular family, even taking one once a month feels like a financial hit.
But for Akifumi , with his savings, it was nothing to worry about.
Plus, the taxi fare was reimbursed by Shueisha.
The dinner was nothing special.
It was mainly to strengthen relationships.
Along the way, they'd casually discussed animation and merchandise.
The main topic about the meeting was to get Akifumi opinion about getting the anime adaptation.
As the creator of Madoka Magica, even though the contract clearly laid out the details, they still prioritized his thoughts.
Of course, most creators would generally be open to animation.
After all, it's great publicity, especially for those who only watch anime and don't read manga or light novels.
Not to mention, animation brings in additional income.
The income from drawing manga, especially from magazine serialization, is just a small fraction.
Most of that income goes towards paying assistants, buying materials, renting space, and covering various other expenses.
Real money comes from sales of the manga, animation royalties, and merchandise.
When an anime is made, the revenue is split into two categories: first-use fees and second-use fees.
First-use fees are the money earned when the anime is first broadcast on TV.
Depending on the show, it can range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen per episode.
If it's on NHK, it can be even higher.
Since the publisher holds joint copyright, they take a cut of the fee, but it's much smaller compared to what they earn from selling the physical mangaonly about 20%-40%.
Second-use fees are paid when the work is used again after the initial broadcastlike when other TV stations air reruns, or when they sell DVDs or licenses to overseas companies.
The most common second-use scenario is the release of Blu-rays/DVDs. For these, creators typically receive a 10% fee.
However, the amount Akifumi actually gets is much smalleraround 2%-3%.
It doesn't sound like much, but when you do the math, it adds up.
For example, if Madoka Magica gets an anime adaptation and a BD/DVD is released, here's what happens:
Each BD set costs 7,000, with six volumes.
If each volume sells 4,000 copies, that's 24,000 copies total, generating 168 million in sales.
With a 3% royalty rate, Akifumi earns 5.04 million!
This is equivalent to printing an extra 56,700 copies of his manga.
On top of that, the DVD sales further increase his earnings, equivalent to printing more than 100,000 copies of his book.
Given such a lucrative opportunity, there's really no reason to turn it down.
Still, some creators do choose to reject animation deals, but that's not Akifumi 's concern.
He's got no reason to refuseespecially when he heard the person handling the project was Shinbo.
One word: solid. Two words: easy win. He couldn't see any way this would fail.
As for merchandise, the discussion was simpleaside from the character figurines, was there anything else Akifumi wanted to design?
To his surprise, he actually had an idea. He wanted to make doujinshi for one of his character, Mami-senpai!
When he suggested it, both Minano and Mihari looked at him like he was crazy.
They almost didn't want to respond, but after a few moments, they decided not to criticize him.
Minano agreed to pass the idea along.
Merchandise usually gives creators 1%-7% of the retail price.
As for directly buying out Madoka Magica? That's a no-go.
Given the series' success, Akifumi quickly secured the highest 7% royalty!
For the BD/DVD, Shueisha even gave him a surprise6%!
That was a pleasant shock.
It must be because they were handling production themselves and didn't mind sharing a bit more.
Akifumi was more than happy with the deal.
Even if it was only 3%, he wouldn't have turned it down, so 6% was fantastic.
As for doing things independently, Akifumi only briefly considered it before dismissing the idea.
Sure, he'd make more money doing it alone, but how much would he have to invest?
Starting an animation studio, building connectionsit'd take so much time and energy!
Not an option.
Most importantly, Akifumi wasn't interested in any of that.
Why work hard when you can just lie back and let the money roll in?
Even if it's a little less, everything will be handled by other people.
And he didn't need to worry about a thing.
How awesome is that? He just lies down and collects the rewards.
With those thoughts in mind, the taxi arrived at his destination.
He took the receipthad to keep that for the expense reportthen got out and headed home.
He turned on the air conditioning and fired up his PSP.
First day of vacation, and there's still work to do? Who's got that kind of self-punishing personality?
Living alone? It's means time to play until you can't anymore!
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice with a tone of mild exasperation.
"Akifumi-kun, even though it's vacation, you should at least get out of bed by now."
Then another voice joined in, more playful.
"I told you, there's no way you're waking him up like this!"
"Well then, what do we do?"
"Don't worry, I bought a can of herring today. Let's open it and put it in his room, then lock the door. There's no way he won't get up after that!"
[TL Note — For you who didn't know what can of herring is just a tin of herring fish that has been preserved and flavored, it's usually smell so bad that people rather die than eating eat.]
Huh? Did she had some kind of grudge with him?
He just wanted to sleep in, and now they're bringing out biochemical weapons!?
And locking the door too!? Are they really trying to make sure I can't escape?
Even though he was still tired, Akifumi couldn't keep his eyes shut anymore.
They snapped open in an instant.
And of course, he was greeted by the familiar faces of his two friends.
"I knew it was you, Eriri! You're trying to ruin my sleep!!"
He was still groggy, hungry, and annoyed, but he didn't have the energy to yell.
He muttered instead, "It's the first day of vacation, you know!"
"Why can't you just let me sleep in at home for once? Why torture me?"
When Eriri heard that, she just crossed her arms, snorting dismissively.
"As a manga creator with two series running in Weekly Shonen Jump, being lazy is just unacceptable!"
"I can't turn a blind eye to that, whether as a fan or a fellow creator!!"
Akifumi shot her a sarcastic look.
"Don't pretend to act like saint, you just want me to hurry up and teach you how to draw manga. Don't try to make it sound all noble!"
His words hit home so hard, he felt like he could hear her internal thoughts from across the universe.
Eriri groaned in defeat.
"Akifumi-kun, whatever her reasons, it's time to get up," said Shiina, her voice suddenly taking on a menacing tone.
She was smiling, but the deadly aura radiating from her made Akifumi think twice.
"Okay, okay, I'm up"
Akifumi chuckled nervously. "I guess I can't stay in bed forever, can I?"
Trying to change the subject, he asked, "So, what's for breakfast?"
"Miso soup, rice, and grilled fish," replied Mahiru.
"Ugh. Classic."
Even though he'd been living here for years, he still couldn't quite get used to this traditional breakfast.
"Next time, can we have soy milk, fried dough sticks, or buns with porridge instead?" Akifumi asked.
Eriri grumbled, "You should be thankful anyone's cooking for you. Stop being so picky!"
"By the way, Shiina-san"
"Hmm?"
"This girl here isn't my problem," Akifumi pointed at Eriri.
"Don't prepare anything for her next time."
Eriri immediately clasped her hands together, bowing her head with an exaggerated apology.
"I'm sorry!!"
Mahiru couldn't help but laugh.
The breakfast ended, and as Eriri rubbed her stomach, she said, "Mahiru's cooking is so amazing, but when I go back to eat mom's food again, it feels like i want to her with you!"
"You just exaggerating it to much~" Mahiru chuckled.
Akifumi shook his phone, "I have recorded it. I'll play it for Aunt Sayuri next time I visit."
"What... when did you even do that!?"
"Right before you said that line~"
"Ahhh, you bastard!!"
"Well, wasn't it Eriri being too much? Aunt Sayuri works hard every day making you food, and you still complain about it?"
Eriri groaned in defeat.
......
[TL Note]
Hey there! If you're enjoying this, be sure to check out
p-atreon.com/InsomniaTL
Please remove the hyphen to access the page normally! Just a heads-up, there will be new advanced chapters every week in there! And thank you so much for reading!
[070] Grovelling Eriri
Eriri lowered her head. "I'm sorry!"
"Please forgive me, Akifumi-sama!!"
"Well, that depends on how I'm feeling~"
Akifumi Mugiho smiled as he put his phone back into his bag.
This is what you get for trying to scare me with a can of herring in the morning.
It's payback time now!
After a short break, the three of them entered Akifumi's room once Shiina had finished cleaning up.
While his room wasn't exactly small, having three people in it made it feel a little cramped.
But there wasn't much that could be done.
With his eight-digit savings, he still couldn't afford a bigger house in the ultra-expensive central district.
"By the way, Eriri, aren't you interested?"
Eriri blinked.
"Interested in what?"
"The upcoming plotlines for Madoka Magica and Ano Hi no Namae Hana wo Bokutachi wa Mada ShiranaiI have all the drafts right here~"
Akifumi Mugiho's words were like the devil's whisper, tempting people to make mistakes...
Eriri hesitated, her curiosity piqued, but she forced herself to resist.
"No... I couldn't possibly be interested!"
"But as a fan, I can't give spoiler to myself on things like this!"
"I can't betray my own conviction!!"
It was almost like she was trying to reassure herself, repeating her words with determination.
Seeing that, Akifumi stopped teasing her, and then he flicked her forehead with his finger.
"Ow! What was that for!?" Eriri glared at him.
"I just wanted to wake you up. Even if you wanted to read it, I wouldn't even show you."
"Not even if we're childhood friends."
Even without anyone monitoring, the spirit of the contract must still be upheld!
Eriri pouted and mumbled under her breath, "Hmph, fine, I won't read it. It's not like I was planning to read it right now anyway."
