Chapter 35: Editor-san’s Cartoon Socks

The old sliding door was slowly closing under the action of the spring. Sakamoto Ken and Kaji Keiko had already walked inside.

Natsume Mio quickly ran forward and held the sliding door before it closed.

Looking inside cautiously, Natsume Mio sideways entered the apartment building.

Because the soundproofing of the entire building was particularly poor, Natsume Mio could hear their footsteps. It was only after their footsteps stopped that she started to walk upstairs.

Tiptoeing to the front of Sakamoto Ken’s room, Natsume Mio leaned against the wall and gently pressed her ear against the door panel.

…

“Editor-san, the room is a bit messy, please don’t mind.” Sakamoto Ken walked into the room first.

“Excuse me.”

Kaji Keiko followed behind and took off her shallow-mouthed sports shoes at the entrance.

The Shueisha editorial department did not require employees to wear formal attire like the business department, and today was the weekend, so Kaji Keiko was dressed more casually.

She wore a cream-colored high-necked sweater on top and slim-fit casual trousers on the bottom.

As she took off her shoes, her slender feet wrapped in blue cotton socks stepped onto the old wooden floor.

The floor was a bit soft due to its age, and it made a slight “creak” sound when stepped on.

Sakamoto Ken subconsciously glanced at it.

It was actually a pair of socks with Doraemon’s head printed on them. They were completely invisible when she was wearing shoes, as the top of the socks was also covered by the cuffs of her trousers.

Now that she had taken off her shoes, the bright blue formed a particularly sharp contrast with her mature and simple attire.

Kaji Keiko didn’t seem to mind. She followed Sakamoto Ken into the inner room and quickly scanned her eyes around.

The room was indeed very small, and you could see the end at a glance. The furnishings were simple, even spartan.

A low table, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, and a few cardboard boxes piled in the corner were all the furniture.

On the desk were some drawings, a dip pen, an ink bottle, and a few manga books. The other places were quite tidy.

But as Sakamoto Ken said, it was just a little messy, not dirty.

“Editor-san, please sit anywhere.” Sakamoto Ken placed the thick stack of original manuscripts in his arms on the tatami mat next to the desk.

Kaji Keiko naturally sat down on the tatami mat in front of the low table.

She knelt down in a very formal posture, her legs together, her hips and ankles close together, and the weight of her body gracefully resting on her heels.

In this posture, the instep of her foot was straightened, and the blue Doraemon socks were also slightly stretched, outlining the exquisite contour of the side of her foot.

Sakamoto Ken just glanced at it politely and then looked away.

He actually didn’t expect that Editor Kaji would wear anime merchandise socks.

Could it be that her underwear and panties are also anime merchandise styles?

Of course, he just thought about it secretly and had no intention of investigating.

“Editor-san, this is all the original manuscript so far.” Sakamoto Ken pointed to the stack of manuscript paper.

Kaji Keiko leaned over, carefully picked up the top stack, and began to flip through it.

She had carefully reviewed the electronic scanned version of each chapter, so this time she looked at the original manuscript very quickly, mainly to confirm the details and texture of the paper manuscript.

“Hmm, very perfect.” She quickly finished reading and nodded with satisfaction. “Sakamoto-sensei’s storyboard design and visual tension really make people wonder if you’re an old manga artist who has been drawing for ten years.”

She reorganized the manuscript and said, “About the color pages, I mentioned it on the phone before. I wonder if Sakamoto-sensei has any ideas?”

“I’ve already drawn it.”

Sakamoto Ken pulled out a sheet from another stack of manuscript paper and handed it over.

On the picture, Denji, who had transformed into Chainsaw Man, had a Pochita jumping up next to him. The background was a chaotic mess of lines and splattered color blocks, full of visual impact.

Although in the setting, Pochita had already merged with Denji, as a promotional color page, there was no problem with displaying it like this.

After all, Pochita was the iconic mascot of the entire manga.

“Did you only draw Denji and Pochita?” Kaji Keiko said, “I thought you would choose Makima or Power.”

“The serialization has just begun, and the images of the other characters have not been fully established in the readers’ minds,” Sakamoto Ken explained. “Using the most representative protagonist and mascot as the first color page is the best choice in my opinion. As for the other characters, there will be many opportunities for color pages and covers later.”

Hearing this, Kaji Keiko nodded in agreement. “Sakamoto-sensei is very thoughtful. I think if it were another author, many would probably consider using a sexy scene for the first color page.”

“I’m a serious author,” Sakamoto Ken said.

Kaji Keiko covered her mouth and smiled, saying, “Denji-san is so focused on rubbing breasts, and you still call that serious?”

“What’s wrong with rubbing breasts?” Sakamoto Ken said with a straight face. “For Denji, this is the most important belief besides eating. It’s a belief.”

“Alright, alright, Sakamoto-sensei is very serious about his love for the characters,” Kaji Keiko said with a smile.

Then she sighed with emotion, “Ah… if only all author-senseis were as worry-free as you.”

She carefully collected all the manuscripts and neatly stacked them in a corner of the low table.

Then, she took out a small notebook from her shoulder bag, opened it, and looked at it.

“Alright, the matter of the original manuscript is over for now. Next, let’s talk about the video promotion.”

Kaji Keiko said, “This is a new model that the company has only recently started to try. As you know, video platforms like YouTube and niconico are very popular now. The company feels that shorter, more fragmented video formats may become the mainstream in the future.”

“So, we plan to try to produce animated manga of less than two minutes for some new works with potential, which is equivalent to a promotional video for the manga.”

Sakamoto Ken immediately understood what she meant. “Do I need to prepare an animation script?”

“No, no.” Kaji Keiko quickly waved her hand. “There will be a dedicated person in charge of production. What we need is for Sakamoto-sensei to select the most representative scenes and shots from the completed content, as well as the famous lines.”

She paused and said, “Why don’t we decide on it now?”

“Okay.” Sakamoto Ken nodded without hesitation.

The two were very familiar with the content of the manga and quickly reached a consensus and made a decision to adopt a fast-paced mixed-cut format.

The beginning of the video would be the first chapter of the manga, the battle between Denji and the zombie devil.

Denji and Pochita are dismembered, then merge together, transform into Chainsaw Man and stand up. After a battle with a blood explosion, Makima appears and hugs Denji tightly.

Then the scene quickly switches, and a set of scenes flashes.

Denji is taken away by Makima, eating the udon she feeds him. Finally, it’s Makima’s line.

「What type of guy do you like?」

「Hmm…」

「I like people like Denji-kun.」

Watching Kaji Keiko quickly record the plan in her notebook, Sakamoto Ken felt a faint sense of crisis in his heart, and a question popped into his mind.

After asking the question, Sakamoto Ken felt that this question was a bit redundant.

“Editor-san, for the dialogue part, do we need to hire voice actors to dub it?”

(End of Chapter)