That's weird...
Mayu Nagisa. Second-year employee in the editorial department.
Where could it have gone?
I've always had a dream in my heart.
I want to work with my favorite author,
and create a book readers will cherish for their whole lives.
I can't find it...
A book that moves them so deeply, they'll want to hug it.
What's this? Whom?
Crawl'! u Inuguzllll fllllf nulls flnrlllflldlll Tn llccnlllpllsh 'Hurt, I I I I I I I I“ Ilacnllun llllfor-III-clilaf by 'Illa 'Iilnl I'll! 30 flat-I old! l2 ylllrl Ilfll.
Crawl'! u magazine 'Illllf sell-I wnrlllwldlll Tn llccnlllpllsh 'I I I I I I, I I I I I I I I“ become llllfor-In-clllaf lay 'IIII 'Illnl I'I|'| 30 fears ollll l2 fault: llfll. "Create a magazine that sells worldwide. For example, Newsweek or Life.'
Crawl'! u Inuguzllll fllllf nulls flnrlllflldlll Tn llccnlllpllsh 'Hurt, I I I I I I I I“ Ilacnllun llllfor-III-clilaf by 'Illa 'Iilnl I'll! 30 flat-I old! l2 ylllrl Ilfll.
Crawl'! u Inuguzllll that nulls flnrlllflldlll Tn llccnlllpllsh 'I I I I I I, I Inuit Ilacnllun lllltor-III-clilaf by 'Illa 'Iilnl I'll! 30 flat-I old! l2 ylllrl Ilfll. "To accomplish that, I must become the editor-in-chief
Crawl'! u Inuguzllll fllllf nulls flnrlllflldlll Tn llccnlllpllsh 'Hurt, I I I I I I I I“ Ilacnllun llllfor-III-clilaf by 'Illa 'Iilnl I'll! 30 flat-I old! l2 ylllrl Ilfll. by the time I turn 30 years old [2 years left}.'
Crawl'! u Inuguzllll fllllf nulls flnrlllflldlll Tn llccnlllpllsh 'Hurt, I I I I I I I I“ Ilacnllun llllfor-III-clilaf by 'Illa 'Iilnl I'll! 30 flat-I old! l2 ylllrl Ilfll.
This person is so bold and ambitious that it's almost embarrassing!
And they wrote it in such big letters on the back of a piece of junk mail...
I bet they just couldn't help themselves.
Someone who could write something so bold yet just leave it lying around here...
There's only one possibility in this office!
Shigoto dekiru otoko sore ga kanojo no konomi
Kai 'wake tsukumeka m Gaga
lsogashii wa tsuman nai wa
lrna no kaisha kanari level takai hou dashi
Oyaji garami no kone mo aru Kara
Yameru wakya nai shi
“sumo buku wa hikufl kifl
Furo ni haitte neru dake
Nagameru koto sae dekinai
Kimi no kami cl aruku sugata cl
Nerukoto shika dekinai
Semete yume no naka de demo
Kimi ni aitai
Double Back Man
"Double Back Man."
Double Back Man
I just don't know what to do...
Hey, Matsukata.
Will you take the lead on Natsume-sensels new serial that will start publication next month'?
Sure thing.
Ah, but if you do that... we'll be overworking you.
One of the articles you're working on now... let a newbie have it.
HUH?!
The next installment of "Working Minds Meet" will cover those lacquerware artisans I love so much!
Particularly ltayama-san!
The pension issue has mostly dropped off the radar,
so now is the perfect time to investigate it thoroughly!
And I don't want to give up dibs on former Minister Hoshikawa
since he's been sneaking around lately...
I don't want to give any of them up!
All of them will be fun to work on!
This isn't good...
I can't decide.
Yes?
What's this? Why the business cards?
Don't ask, just pick one you like.
Hmm... I'm not sure.
You don't have to think so hard.
I don't like any of them.
No, I mean, just ignore the names and pick one.
What are you trying to get me to decide for you, anyway?
I have to cut one of my current articles, but I don't want to give any of them up, so... decide for me!
That's so aimless...
You think?
Natsume-sensei wrote "No More Aimless Love For Me,"
so maybe that's why I became lead on her new serial.
What's wrong?
That's...
I was...
I was supposed to be in charge of that...
Ah, sorry, sorry. I did it in the wrong order.
I should have told you first. We made a staff change.
But...
Natsume-sensePs publication was just barely announced...
You did a great job going out and convincing her to work with us.
But before you take the lead on a serial,
there's other work that we need to have you get accustomed to.
Boss!
Your next assignment is the Stakeout Squad. You can move your desk anytime this afternoon.
So cruel...
The first thing I decided after I joined a publishing company
was to come and meet you, Natsume-sensei!
"No More Aimless Love For Me"... Every night I fell asleep with it in my arms!
Fl-U1I-BGEfl-PH QEQQI-DN Iii?" I-UTIIE HWQDCII'! NQTQIIIIE "No More Aimless Love For Me'... Every night I fell asleep with it in my arms!
fl-U1I-BGEﬂ-PH QEQQI-BN WI?“ JUTIIE Illﬂﬂﬁlifl NﬁTQl-IIIE Th-thank you very much...
mmmuw enema vmu mmlm: 001mm vmmms I'm sorry, I'm getting ovetemofmna“!
Gutilllilli Publishing "IIKII JlDﬂl Editor I I I I I I "IﬂiII
GIGIIIIIII Publishin- Qoohly Jlllfll Editor I believe the depictions of love in your work have the potential to resonate with male audiences also!
If you could just write something for us in the same style! You don't have to worry about anything!
I'll protect your work!
Ah... then, let's talk later.
There are still people waiting in line.
Please consider it!
I know it will sell!
We'll also gain female readership!
From then on, I literally just kept pushing it on them.
And I finally got the publication accepted, but now...
Two years of experience isn't enough to be lead on a serial?
I could still do it even while working on other projects!
Are you gorging on those sweet rolls again?
What is this, a bakery?
Your face is only going to get fatter.
Please leave me alone.
I get that you're frustrated, but pouting won't change anything.
This project only moved forward because you talked with the editor-in-chief directly, right?
If it bothers you that much, why don't you go talk with him again?
Maybe not right now, but down the line, he might give it back to you.
Senpai...!
There's never been a more fitting moment to call me that!
Well, for the time being, I'll have to keep the position and meet with Natsume-sensei.
The serial will start soon.
Can you set up an appointment with her?
Uh... well I... That's...
You lost the piece of paper she wrote her contact info on'?!
Yeah...
That's actually what I've been looking for all morning.
You didn't copy it down in your phone or on the computer'?
Just that piece of paper?
Sh-she wrote... she hand-wrote it for me personally!
If I digitalized it, then it would lose value as an original work!
You... you're just a huge fan!
In the end I was able to get the info from a friend working at another publisher, but...
Is that girl really cut out for this?
She's a well-intentioned and passionate girl.
You know, well-intentioned and passionate are different from capable and professional.
But I would definitely agree she's looking for opportunities in the right place.
But I would definitely agree she's looking for opportunities in the right place. Look.
Yeah.
Miyoshi Natsume.
Her debut book instantly sells in the tens of thousands, then barely dips in the following weeks.
But she's bound to peak sooner or later.
Of course, there's always repeat customers, but for now we have no plans to publish her.
She's clearly talented, so if her work evolves in the right way, readers will eat it up, but...
Every time I look it over I just feel her work is... so childish!
Then you just need to polish her up.
And if she makes bank, then I'm taking her from you.
Greetings! I'm your new editor, Matsukata.
I'm so very sorry!
Before the serial has even begun,
my lack of experience has caused so many problems for you, Sensei!
"Problems"...'?
Not at all. This serial only happened because of you, Nagisa-san.
lg
Sensei!
|-| don't consider myself removed from this project yet!
Ah... okay.
Gutansha Publishing
Working Minds Meet
You do this much research... just for one article?
Well, I leave the rest to you!
Urn, Matsukata-san?
Is this really a series that has to be done weekly?
That fucking idiot, Tanaka!
I'm so pissed! SO PISSED!
DUMB-
Dumbass!
Were you asleep when the target came outside?
No. I was fully awake.
Then that just makes it worse.
I'm sorry.
Massage Spat Relaxokifl'!
Massage S pa: Helaxology Welcome!
Massage Spat Relaxokifl'!
What should I do...?
Good evening, Matsukata-san.
It's been a week, but Mayu hasn't even tried to take the stakeout job seriously and that's a problem.
You wanted the 30-minute course again today, right?
What's on your mind?
I encouraged her to take the job back from me, but I've decided not to let her have it for now.
They say if you overwork your brain, then your big toe here...
Ouch! Ow, ow, ow, ow! That really hurts!
Matsukata-san, your chest... is showing.
Oh, excuse me...
A female customer and female masseuse...
Everyone who comes and works here is female, so it's relaxing, but...
I don't think novels work quite the same way.
Mahjong... you said?
It's just an example.
Maybe even golf or horse racing, anything in that vein.
When I spoke with Nagisa-san, she said I would be writing a love story, but...
You definitely have a strong fan base of women built up from your work in the romance genre.
But Weekly J|DA|'s main readership is almost entirely male.
Looks like a "No"...
I can't blame her. For a writer already established in that market, moving away from it is risky...
Senpai!
What did you say to Natsume-sensei?
When I went to her home page and saw an update on her blog,
she confessed about being torn over something.
Any writer would be torn about deciding... the direction of a new story.
You're not a fan of Natsume-sensei, Senpai, so I know you don't understand her appeal.
Look, it's fine if you want to be a big fan and protect her work.
But isn't it an editor's job to tear it all down sometimes?
Natsume-sensei's appeal comes from how she uses sorrow to make your heart flutter!
I can't believe you'd make her write a golf or mahjong story that's just fodder for old men!
That's it!
I've got it! Make the heart flutter!
Senpai!
Coming!
Please write a love story about an older man!
They say that men are also real romanticists, right?
Make his hobby pachinko... and at work he's facing big layoffs.
An old man like that, make him fall in love through a pain that makes the readers writhe and cry!
I think our readers are waiting for a love story just like that!
U-um...
Please just come inside for now.
Even if you were to continue writing gentle love stories for women,
excuse my bluntness, but your readership will just keep shrinking.
That's why you need to breach into an entirely new market of readers.
You... certainly aren't afraid of being presumptuous.
Ah, I'm sorry.
Urn...
But... it's just as you said.
Why is it...'?
You just recently became my editor and don't seem to have any background in literature.
Nor are you even a reader of my work, but despite all that...
Anyone can figure it out if they focus and consider the aspects of your situation.
Huh?
And actually, I am a reader of your work.
I like to think of myself as... your number one reader.
Urn, should I...'?
It's better you don't come.
Becoming the editor for her favorite author.
No' M”: Aimliaii LIV:- Fvr Jl-{a Miqrsfi-i Huntsman-e. Becoming the editor for her favorite author.
No More Aimlcss Lnh. 'for M: M61106»; Nahum
No' Mora Aim-Ian LIV:- Fvr Jl-{a Miqrsfi-i Huntsman-e. It was that girl's dream... or perhaps her goal...
So I think having it taken away from her must've been a serious shock.
You can't assume that's how she feels.
But, hey, if she does a really good job on her current project,
then she might get placed as the lead again.
Being separated from a place they thought they belonged
is a feeling only the individual understands.
In that situation not everyone can be as optimistic as you are, Hiro.
Why not?!
I mean, there are numerous other jobs here that you have yet to fully complete, right?
If you want the lead again, come back in 10 years.
But I was the one who submitted the pitch to publish Natsume-sensei in the first place!
I already have a great relationship with her, and I can even keep working with the Stakeout Squad if-
It doesn't look like you're working to me.
If you were actually doing your work over there, you'd have no energy to come complain to me.
"Working Minds Meet" Research Materials
"VVO rkirl lUIirldS Meet' Research Materials Matsukata started the popular "Working Minds Meet' series by herself.
"Working Minds Meet" Research Materials And she gave it all up to Tanaka.
Now she's focused solely on that new serial.
There's no time to double back in this business.
You have to be completely focused at all times.
Everything starts from the job already in front of you.
"Pure" Idol Goes on Overnight Date
'P|.|re' Idol Goes on Overnight Date The job already in front of me...
The job already in front of me...
I don't want to work on it!
I...
What should I do...?
One Munch Later
Sari-ml I
What's this? A new serial?
Sari-ml I
Miyoshi Natsume?
At the age of 54... despite being past It's peak... the taste of true love...
At the age of 54... despite being past It's peak... the taste of true love... Who's that'?
At the age of 54... despite being past It's peak... the taste of true love...
L-oYe! ImYe! Thinking of her... looked up to the sky and... '54 years 0ld'...'?
L-oYe! ImYe! Thinking of her... looked up to the sky and...
m: She laughcdl! For fllc fllini lime he... jumped on (he m1 um...
Yes! She laughedl! 'For the third tilne he... jumped on the rail but... The title is the age of the main character?
M: She laughcdl! For fllc fllini lime he... jumped on (he m1 um...
This is great!
What's that?
Whoa! He's just an old dude, but this is so sad!
Have you read the story being published in JIDAI'?
Oh yeah, I heard it's a huge hit with all the older guys!
Th5 aditnrimchiaf is totally if tin ii
A 54 year-old man named Tatsuso lives his life with a callous family
and no passion for his dead-end job.
He visits Shin-Okubo town after his wife asks him to pick up some popular South Korean products.
There he meets a beautiful Korean woman and falls deeply in love.
At first, Tatsuo is treated as no more than a common stalker.
I feel your pain, Tatsuo...
"ivflfilli HBESIIIIIE'S "54" The I-lil: Ha-I Illllllicatilln! But he continues to pour his pure heart out, as she slowly realizes...
Miyullli Nllzlume': "54" The m: u“ Puhlicalzinn! |-it's so sad...
"ivflfilli HBESIIIIIE'S "54" The I-lil: Ha-I Illllllicatilln! Tatsucfs wife sure is cold all the time, but she still cooks for him.
I get that you're frustrated, but pouting won't change anything.
There's no time to double back in this business.
See any movement?
Uh... no.
That's enough. You can go home now.
But I want you here first thing tomorrow morning.
Uh... right.
Keep it together, seriously.
Sorry...
Oh yeah
I'm hoarding the night train now
I'm leaving this town of memories
I don't have any goal in mind
I just entrusted myself to this swaying train
Murusm minim": '50' m, m n“ Publmahnrfl I just entrusted myself to this swaying train
Miyoshi Natsume's "54" The Hit New Publication! I just entrusted myself to this swaying train
Miyoshi Natsume's "54" The Hit New Publication!
Miyoshi Natsume's "54" The Hit New Publication! Words like "I don't know" or "|'m worried about tomorrow"
Words like "I don't know" or "|'m worried about tomorrow"
Up until now, we've huth hurt each other with them
But if a night like this was looming,
We should've skipped those conversations
We should have spent that time laughing together,
This isn't the place that I belong. We should have spent that time laughing together,
This isn't the place that I belong. The two of us
How... did I get stuck on an idol stakeout?
When this swaying train starts moving,
Not here! When this swaying train starts moving,
I hear from beyond the window
I can't stay like this! I hear from beyond the window
Oh yeah, that cherished sung
Ah, excuse me'? Is this Natsume-sensei? Oh yeah, that cherished sung
Ah, excuse me'? Is this Natsume-sensei?
This is Nagisa. It's been a long time.
When the dawn breaks,
I hear from far away in the sky between the clouds
Sorry for butting in on your work. I hear from far away in the sky between the clouds
Oh, it's fine. I hear from far away in the sky between the clouds
Oh, it's fine. Oh yeah, a sweet voice
I just reached a good place to stop. Oh yeah, a sweet voice
It must be you, baby
Memories ride the night train
Here you are. Memories ride the night train
Urn...
"54" is... really interesting.
Everyone's talking about it... even at the office.
I stay awake until morning
Really? Thanks! I stay awake until morning
To be honest... it's frustrating. I stay awake until morning
To be honest... it's frustrating.
Just gazing at the light of the stars
Huh? Just gazing at the light of the stars
As your fan, Sensei... I know I couldn't have helped to create something like that. Just gazing at the light of the stars
As your fan, Sensei... I know I couldn't have helped to create something like that.
There was no particular reason
I was happy that you wanted to continue being my editor, Nagisa-san. There was no particular reason
I was happy that you wanted to continue being my editor, Nagisa-san.
I was happy that you wanted to continue being my editor, Nagisa-san. I just mindlessly wiped away my tears
I just mindlessly wiped away my tears
But... after I met Matsukata-san, I put in a request to the editor-in-chief. I just mindlessly wiped away my tears
But... after I met Matsukata-san, I put in a request to the editor-in-chief.
But... after I met Matsukata-san, I put in a request to the editor-in-chief. Words like "I don't believe" or "lt doesn't matter what you do"
I told him that I wanted to work with her. Words like "I don't believe" or "lt doesn't matter what you do"
You and I... we were both trapped in our past work. Words like "I don't believe" or "lt doesn't matter what you do"
You and I... we were both trapped in our past work.
Up until now, we've hath hurt each other with them
Up until now, we've huth hurt each other with them
Ah, please don't cry, Nagisa-san!
But if this is how it ends, we shuuld've been more fearless
I'm sorry, please don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean to imply you were a problem... But if this is how it ends, we shuuld've been more fearless
No... it's okay! I'm sorry. But if this is how it ends, we shuuld've been more fearless
No... it's okay! I'm sorry.
We should have spent all that time laughing together,
I'm going to work hard! We should have spent all that time laughing together,
Huh? We should have spent all that time laughing together,
Work hard... and focus everything on the job in front of me right now! We should have spent all that time laughing together,
Work hard... and focus everything on the job in front of me right now! The two of us
The two of us
When this swaying train starts moving,
Then after that...! When this swaying train starts moving,
Then after that... someday, once again, I'll become your editor. When this swaying train starts moving,
Then after that... someday, once again, I'll become your editor.
Then after that... someday, once again, I'll become your editor. I hear from beyond the window
Gnhansha Publishing
Mayu!
This is the paper you were looking for, isn't it?
Senpai, please hold on to it for me.
Huh?
In exchange... I'll be holding on to this for you.
What's that?
WAIT! IS THAT...'.7!
You sure have some BIG aspirations!
Ah! Wait! Give it back!
No way!
Nagisa! How embarrassing!
Quit horsing around. We're going.
Yessir!
Hold on, Mayu!
Well then, Senpai, I've got work to do.
Hey! That...
Don't show it to anybody!
Someday...
Until I reach my goal...
To inspire me to become the best at accomplishing the job in front of me...
Hurry UP-
I'll hold on to this as a good luck charm!
Shangri-la
Yuma no naka cle sae umaku waraenai kimi no kulu
Dame “a Nnutke shikavi nagava aishikeikai
Kimi o omouto kyou mo nemurenai
Bokura duke he mukaouka
Ahh... ahh...
Shangri-la
Shiawasedatte sakende kureyo
ljippari na kimi no nakigao misete kureyo
Shangri-la
Kimi o omouto kyou mo nemurenai boku no koto
Dame “a Nnutke shikafumgava asfinekuve
mm u“, vmnm, Hm WWI BWL bull flmfl ill! mm M sum}, Dame “a Nnutke shikafumgava asfinekuve
Shinji Nice Wrk Tday D gur besl. bu! dn'! wear y-ursell ul. -Shinji
Next Episode: Princess Man
Next episode: "Princess Man."
Next Episode: Princess Man