Back at the end of July, he'd been talking with the director of the project, Shinbo Akiyuki, about this very thing.
[TL Note Wait that guy exist too? For those who don't know Shinbo Akiyuki is the orginal director of Madoka Magica ]
Despite his initial hesitation toward the passionate and older male director, he'd gotten used to it over time.
In fact, he even started enjoying the attention a little.
Now, they were friends, though the age gap was noticeable.
"Of course I'd love to see it," Akifumi smiled.
"I'm also a fan of Shinbo-san too. How could I miss the chance to see his work?"
Mihari laughed.
"Isn't it because it's your own work being turned into an anime?"
"Well, that too," Akifumi chuckled.
Meanwhile, Eriri, who had been quietly listening, suddenly snapped back to attention.
"Wait a second!" she exclaimed.
"Did you just say Madoka Magica is getting an anime adaptation!? Does that mean Madoka Magica is becoming an anime!?"
Eriri was clearly excited.
Akifumi blinked in surprise.
"Didn't I mention that?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I thought I said Madoka Magica will be airing in October, alongside the new fall anime lineup," he explained.
Eriri frowned. "I never heard anything about this!"
Her eyes gleamed dangerously, and she grinned, showing off her little fangs.
She looked ready to pounce.
Akifumi turned away, a little embarrassed.
"Well, don't worry about the details. It's not too late to find out now. Want to watch it together?"
"Yes!" Eriri answered without hesitation.
Akifumi smiled, deciding to forgive her for not telling her earlier.
"Wait," he paused, "weren't you crying your eyes out over the ending? How can you still watch it?"
"I didn't cry my eyes out!" Eriri blushed, quickly defending herself.
"It was just a sad ending, okay? I wasn't crying!"
"Right, right," Akifumi teased.
Eriri frowned, a little flustered.
"But seriously, you wouldn't stop eating spicy snacks just because one of them was too hot, would you?"
"..."
Akifumi chuckled.
That actually makes sense.
Mihari, listening to the conversation, felt a little embarrassed.
'Ah, I'm really are a pro editor. No matter the work, I will never wavers!'
Mihari couldn't help but smile awkwardly as Eriri looked up to her.
[089] Countermeasure
Mihari suddenly froze.
'Speaking of which, I don't remember crying when I saw the original draft... Did I cry... that much!?'
"At times like this, shouldn't you be praising me? I was able to hold back my pain and finish drawing that heartbreaking conclusion!"
"Shut up, you heartless person!!"
As the two bickered, Mihari smiled and gestured for them to follow her.
Half an hour later...
"Just as expected from Shinbo-san, this is impressive!"
After watching the first episode of Madoka Magica, Eriri let out a satisfied sigh.
While the manga was already great and let her imagine everything, the animation brought a completely different feeling.
Even though she already knew the plot, she still couldn't help but feel excited.
"Yeah!" Akifumi nodded in agreement, remarking, "I'm really looking forward to the third episode, especially when Mami-chan turns to witch. I wonder how Shinbo-san will handle that scene."
"???"
"ARE YOU SERIUOS?!"
Eriri's mood shifted from happy to horrified as the fear of the Madoka Magica plot twisted in her mind.
"SHUT UP!!"
Her eyes narrowed, fuming.
Tsk.
It's truly painful to immerse yourself in the main characters' perspective.
But if you shift to the perspective of an outsider, seeing all those fans suffering, yet still eagerly waiting for the next update... that feeling is just... exquisite!
What? You want me to see things from Kyubey's perspective!? Even Satan would get a tattoo of you!
Mihari, who had been quietly listening, couldn't help but twitch at the exchange.
She pushed through the awkwardness and said, "As expected of Akifumi-san, you definitely look at things from a completely different perspective!"
"Ah, you're too kind, Otosuna-san," Akifumi smiled.
Is he really seeing things differently? No, he's just being a jerk! He just wants to see me suffer!
Hmph.
Eriri glared at the two, narrowing her eyes.
"By the way, Otosuna-san."
"Hmm?"
"I'm almost done with Anohana."
"??"
Mihari was confused for a moment before she couldn't help but voice her disbelief.
"Anohana only started serialization in July, right? Two months in, and you're telling me you're almost done!?"
"Well, well, calm down." Akifumi raised his hand, signaling for Mihari to relax, then innocently added, "I didn't say I'm done yet."
'I knew it! There's no way it's done this quickly!'
Akifumi explained further: "I said I'm almost done. If I push myself a little more tomorrow and the day after, I should be able to finish the last panel."
??
Mihari looked at him with dead fish eyes, coldly staring.
What's the difference between almost done and done? Oh, so you're just two days away from finishing.
So... you draw one panel a day, right!?
Shouldn't you see how fast other artists work!?
Inside, Mihari was already grinding her teeth, but she forced a smile and said, "So, Akifumi-sensei, what you're saying is...?"
"There's nothing special about it. I just happened to remember, so I mentioned it."
You really had to bring it up like this?
After working with Akifumi for so long, if Mihari still couldn't pick up on the hidden meaning behind his words, she'd be ashamed of her own intelligence.
She sighed, "I understand, I'll pass this along to Editor-in-Chief Minano later. But whether we can release the volume early will still depend on the meeting."
"Eh, you can do that?" Akifumi acted surprised, blinking innocently.
Come on, don't pretend with me.
"We all know each other too well," Mihari rolled her eyes.
"Since Madoka Magica is already a precedent, and the feedback seems pretty good, the company is considering this approach."
"I see!" Akifumi smiled.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Otosuna-san."
How to put it...
Right now, Akifumi isn't lacking in money.
Just from the royalties of Madoka Magica's first and second volumes, he's already surpassed 99% of people his age in wealth.
But
The world doesn't work that way.
Some people are born into positions of power that others can never reach, no matter how hard they try.
After the whole ordeal with the Shinomiya family sending him a "gift," Akifumi has been thinking hard.
As an ordinary person with no background, and no system to rely on, how should he deal with these conglomerates?
The answer is clear: build up power and work to become a financial force like them.
Of course...
It's unrealistic to think he could grow his own influence to rival the Shinomiya family by himself. However...
'At least, when facing these financial giants, I need to have the means to protect myself!'
Sure, the whole "gift" thing might just have been a joke.
But thinking about it differently, if something really were to happen, Akifumi has no way to defend himself.
In this world, a well-known manga artist with a few million yen to their name isn't much.
It's not paranoia; it's simply the harsh reality he's seen too many times before.
'Though I don't need to worry too much.'
He's just an ordinary manga artist. Unless something major happens, he's not in any real danger.
But after that thought, he can no longer just lie back on his wealth and waste away.
That's why, in August, he's been pushing himself to finish Anohana while maintaining quality.
He's almost finished before school starts.
'A manga artist with a bit of fame and a few million yen is nothing.'
But, if...
'If I become a top-tier manga artist with millions of fans, and my wealth is in the billions, then anyone who wants to make a move will have to think carefully.'
After all, anime is one of Japan's top three industries!
So for Akifumi, manga is no longer an optional career path, it's a business he must keep up with.
'Plus, my network is stronger than I originally thought.'
He's got ties with Shueisha, the biggest publishing house in Japan.
While they may not have the wealth of the Shinomiya family, they're definitely not poor.
For someone like Akifumi, a bestselling author, he makes at least 100 million yen a year from Madoka Magica.
The publisher is also reaping huge rewards from this.
Not to mention, Akifumi isn't just in the manga industry.
If he can keep proving his value, that's all he really needs.
Additionally, there's Eriri with her diplomat father, the wealthy Shiina well, forget about Shiina.
Her family's a bit... much.
But taking all that aside, his parents have built up a solid network over the years.
They've traveled around the world for their archaeological work, appearing in newspapers and meeting important figures regularly.
So, there's really no danger!
But this personal awareness of danger keeps creeping up, pushing him to prepare.
Plus, unlike the Shinomiya family's frivolous heiress, the real big players in the world aren't going to waste time targeting someone like him.
[090] Back to School [200 PS]
The last few days of the holiday passed by with the sound of cicadas chirping in the background.
This first holiday since Akifumi Mugiho regained his past life memories ended as expected, without any particularly notable events or extra memories.
'There are so many people,' Akifumi thought, sighing quietly as he stood in the packed train.
He was heading back to school, but he didn't feel too sad about the end of the break.
'Maybe it's because I spent all of August busy?'
'Going back to school almost felt like a relief, like I could finally take a breather.'
'Plus, my sleep schedule had been pretty good, and I didn't have any of those bad habits of lying in bed for too long.'
'So, no real sense of regret as the break came to an end.'
Soon, the train arrived at our stop.
Akifumi and Shiina Mahiru got off together.
As we walked side by side, Shiina couldn't help but comment with a bit of a sigh, "Even though we're such good friends, you haven't kept in touch with Kato-san this entire month!"
"I've been in touch," Akifumi replied.
"Eh?!" She seemed surprised and asked curiously, "When?"
"End of July, early August, mid-August. We've talked," Akifumi said.
"After all, Kato was my first friend at school."
Keeping in touch seemed like the natural thing to do.
Even if it was just sending a quick text, it was still contact!
She tilted her head, "Then why didn't you invite Kato to hang out, like at the amusement park, or the pool, or the summer festival?"
She blushed a bit and thought to herself,
'I kind of wanted to try going with you too, Akifumi-kun...'
'Although just being together with him was already enough to make me happy, there was still a small part of me that wished for a little more.'
'Unfortunately, though, I never found the chance to speak up, even until the holiday ended.'
Akifumi looked at her with a surprised expression.
"You don't want to go out in this heat, are you?"
She paused for a moment, then replied, "No, I don't."
Akifumi nodded knowingly.
"See? Even you don't want to go out in this heat. What makes you think Kato would want to?"
"Don't even need to think about itshe definitely wouldn't want to go out either!"
She seemed like she might disagree, but there was nothing she could say.
'If Kato were here, she probably think the same, right?'
Shiina felt a little guilty for not being fully honest, but she just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess staying home is more comfortable on such a hot day."
Akifumi gave a satisfied nod.
'I knew it.' Akifumi thought to himself how amusing it was that she was spending so much time with Eriri that her personality had rubbed off to Shiina.
She used to be more straightforward, but now...
'She's become more like her!'
He could tell she wasn't being entirely honest, though.
Not everyone can just stay home like Eriri and he do, but Akifumi wouldn't change that for anything.
Even if Akifumi were with someone he liked, he wouldn't let her change his habits.
He might compromise a bit, but not much.
Anyway, his relationship with Shiina wasn't quite at that stage yet.
Akifumi was just enjoying the way she took care of me.
But, before he could think too deeply about it, Shiina suddenly brought up something that had been on her mind since before the holiday.
"Akifumi-kun, you're really good at keeping things to yourself, huh?" She grinned a little.
"You've been thinking about something for an entire summer but never said anything about it. Why didn't you bring it up sooner?"
Akifumi was a little surprised but asked, "What is it?"
She took a deep breath and gave me a serious look. "Why do you always call Kato-san 'Kato'?"
"Huh?" Akifumi blinked, unsure of where this was going.
"Why not add the 'san'?" She frowned.
"Isn't it too informal?"
Akifumi couldn't help but laugh.
"Kato is a very common name around here, and it just sounds better that way."
She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"Then why do you still call me 'Shiina-san'? Isn't that a bit much?"
Akifumi froze for a second, genuinely stumped by the question.
Before he could come up with an answer, she added with a mischievous smile, "I think it's pretty annoying when you add 'san' after my name."
At that moment, it felt like she had set a trap for him, and waiting for him to fall in.
'So that's what this was about.'
She looked at Akifumi with a sly grin.
"Could you drop the 'san' from now on?"
This girl
Akifumi sighed in defeat.
"Shiina?"
For some reason, when he dropped the 'san', it felt like their relationship had just gotten a little closer.
'What is happening?'
Suddenly, his heart was racing, even though he knew it wasn't anything big.
He was no longer thinking like a person in their thirties.
And what was this weird sensation?
The closeness?
He could even smell the jasmine fragrance of her shampoo from here.
As I was processing all this, Shiina, seemingly unaware, raised her voice in a playful tone.
"You're not happy with that, Akifumi-kun~?"
Akifumi froze. 'She's way too cute!'
How does anyone resist this kind of charm?
"Long time no see, Kato-san~!" She greeted with a smile as Akifumi entered with Shiina.
