I just want to quietly draw manga Chapter 343

Tuesday

Haruki, starting from this week, had started to focus back on manga which he had neglected for the past few months. He had decided to draw manga until the training finished at Evermark for the animators. After that, he would have to go back to the studio, but this time, he promised himself to make more time for manga instead of only working on outlines.

His renewed effort was already showing. After Haruki began drawing alongside Kenta, Noya, and Hayato, their already increasing speed picked up even more. Now they had an entire chapter’s worth of content ready ahead of schedule, and the gap would continue to grow until Haruki went back to the studio for Code Geass Season 2.

Haruka was also coming by today to pick up next week’s manga chapter.

At 11 AM, she rang the bell and stepped into Haruki’s apartment, where he was making coffee.

“Haruka, would you like a coffee?”

“Make it black, no sugar, and no milk,” Haruka said.

“How can you drink that? It’s so bitter,” Haruki said while pouring her cup.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Haruka replied.

“So now that you’ve gotten free from Code Geass production, what have you done? Did you do anything, or did you just waste time doing nothing?” Haruka asked.

Haruki, while bringing her coffee, said, “I was pretty bored. When I’m free, none of them are free, so in the end, I was helping out Kotone with manga.”

Haruka raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so do you help out frequently?”

Haruki quickly shook his head. “No, no. Even when I had gone Saturday and Sunday, she said she wanted to do everything herself, so I just helped her here and there.”

Haruka nodded. “She is very talented in terms of drawing manga. I dare say, in the new generation, she is the best, if not one of the best. And she has quite mature storytelling. Her work reached 11th place. She isn’t climbing like you did, but by normal industry standards, she has quite good growth.”

Haruki said, “Yes, I know she is very talented. So, how was the production for Fullmetal going? I have some interviews to attend, and after that, I was thinking of visiting.”

“I went last week,” Haruka said. “They’ve completed half of the episodes, and Fullmetal will start airing on October 1st, so ten days from now. Which reminds me, you need to post the Fullmetal premiere announcement. The studio already did all the promotion, but your fans will expect it. And now that your international fanbase has grown, this will be a good starting point for Fullmetal.”

Haruki nodded. “I will post the announcement today, but I won’t be able to do it just before the first episode airs.”

Haruka narrowed her eyes. “What have you done this time? If I remember correctly, Fullmetal premieres the day after the Code Geass final episode, right?”

Haruki scratched his cheek. “Let’s just say I will be going underground for at least six months to give people time to calm down.”

Haruka sighed. “But you are going to attend the party, right? The date decided is October 4th. Don’t worry, it’s private. People know Echo Shroud is holding a party, but no one will come other than some other companies and editors, mostly industry people. So don’t worry about that.”

Haruki said, “That’s good.”

Haruka continued, “I came from Echo Shroud to here, and I saw many posters for you and the Evermark crew interview this week on Friday. Anime Direct did quite the promotion. I saw so many ads about your interview on multiple websites and billboards. This will be your first big international interview. Have you prepared anything?”

Haruki said, “I haven’t. They will ask me some questions and make some jokes, and we will all laugh. What needs to be prepared?”

Haruka stared at him. “You still have so many things to learn. You are stepping on the global stage. In Japan, you can do anything, and people will accept it as your weird quirk. But internationally, you have to have a certain image. You are representing Japan. I think you should hire a manager. You really need one. And this will be your first time doing an interview on an international stage, so first impressions also matter.”

Haruki said, “What can I do in four days? Where will I find a manager?”

Haruka said, “You should ask your Evermark PR manager. They will be able to help you for a short time. But next time you need your personal manager. Now that you are stepping into the international stage, that’s why I kept saying for the past year that you need a manager to handle things. If you had listened to me, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Haruki bowed his head slightly. “Sorry about that. I will call Reina right now.”

Haruka picked up the draft. “And don’t forget about the party, 4th October,” she said as she left the apartment.

After she left, Haruki immediately called Reina, their manager at Evermark.

“Hello, Muzishiro-sensei,” Reina said.

“Reina, I need help. I need you to help me prepare for an interview I have this Saturday.”

“Don’t worry. I will tell the marketing manager. They will have people who can give you the basics before your interview. And after that, I will look for a permanent manager,” Reina said.

“Thank you, Reina.”

“It’s my job, Muzishiro-sensei,” she said.

As he put his phone down, Haruki thought:

Maybe I should ask if they have any advice for handling emotional fans.