Parallel world Manga Artist-Chapter 208: Negotiations
"So the talks collapsed, huh..."
Rei wasn’t surprised when he heard the news from Misaki.
In fact, it would have been strange if they had succeeded.
After all, among the top six manga periodicals in all of Japan, no manga artist had ever dared to propose such conditions to a major conglomerate.
Even Jensen, the group’s CEO, wouldn’t dare agree to them.
If he did, and Demon Slayer became a massive hit, he would inevitably be held responsible. At that point, rivals on the board of directors would certainly seize the opportunity to attack him for incompetence, accusing him of failing to secure the Demon Slayer copyrights.
But if he refused...
Then continuing cooperation with Hoshimori Group under those harsh contracts would become extremely difficult for Rei.
"If we really can’t reach an agreement, then I’ll just have to find my own way," Rei said calmly but decisively.
"As for CEO Jensen’s request that I must not end Hunter × Hunter at the Ant Arc, I’ve taken note of it. Please convey this to the group’s senior management, Editor Misaki, this is my final decision, and it will not change."
Misaki froze for a moment, her mouth slightly open. In the end, she took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.
"You really aren’t afraid of offending people at all..."
"Out of the top six manga periodicals in Japan, executives from five are already hostile toward me," Rei laughed. "Within Hoshimori Group, one more person hating me doesn’t make much difference."
Rei understood very clearly that he could only remain on good terms with these groups if he stayed a mere tool for drawing manga. He had long since prepared himself mentally for this reality.
"I’m sorry for the trouble, Editor Misaki."
Rei’s first negotiation with Hoshimori Group had effectively fallen apart.
Since Hoshimori Group refused his proposal, Rei didn’t force the issue.
When the time came, he simply wouldn’t serialize the manga and would instead release the volumes directly. Given Rei’s current popularity in Japan, that wouldn’t be too difficult to achieve.
Of course, limitations in distribution channels would affect certain aspects of performance.
Moreover, even without owning the copyright, serializing Demon Slayer in Dream Comic would still significantly boost the magazine’s sales once the story reached its mid-stage. It wasn’t a losing deal for them.
But if the other party didn’t appreciate it, Rei had no intention of begging for their favor.
Even if manga revenue would skyrocket after the anime became a hit, it was still insignificant compared to the value of the Demon Slayer copyright itself. Rei wasn’t about to throw away a watermelon just to pick up a sesame seed.
Under these circumstances, by mid-April, the initial planning for the various animation production projects of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba officially began.
On Rei’s side, the storyboards and scripts for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba were being produced at an almost absurd pace.
As the number of completed storyboards grew, Himari, the company’s chairwoman, gradually began to grasp the core themes and substance of the work Rei was creating.
In truth, the early stages of the original Demon Slayer manga had many flaws. From the artwork to the plot structure, the story was fairly predictable, and during its serialization, many readers complained about its clichéd nature.
At one point, it even faced the threat of cancellation. It was only after a sudden public recommendation from Yoshihiro Togashi that it survived, eventually soaring in popularity following its anime adaptation.
But despite its shortcomings, the work also possessed a unique strength, its portrayal of "Demons."
Even knowing the plot was clichéd, readers couldn’t help but continue reading, gradually becoming emotionally invested and moved by the story.
Himari herself had been moved by the plot more than once.
Still...
Would an animation with such themes really be as popular in Japan as Arcane or One-Punch Man?
Creatures known as "Demons" that were essentially reimagined vampires, and a story that relentlessly delivered emotional blows.
Did Shirogane truly believe Demon Slayer could surpass Arcane and One-Punch Man on a global scale?
Despite these thoughts, Himari kept them to herself.
After all, having been proven wrong by Rei many times before, her instinct now was to trust him first and worry about everything else later.
The early to mid-April days passed quietly.
The plot of the Hunter × Hunter Ant Arc progressed to Kite leading Gon and Killua to a certain country, where they discovered terrifying, blood-soaked ants, ants that could even master Nen abilities by devouring Nen users.
Once the story fully entered the main arc, the popularity of the Hunter × Hunter manga began to rise steadily.
Complaints about the Ant Arc being dull gradually vanished. Instead, a new consensus formed among fans.
It was unimaginably creative.
The Greed Island Arc had already been imaginative enough.
An arc about fighting ants sounded boring on the surface.
But intelligent, humanoid ants capable of using Nen were an entirely different matter.
Around the same time, the broadcast of the first three episodes of Arcane Season 2 finally concluded.
Unlike the first season, Season 2’s plot progressed at a faster pace, as more than 90% of the characters had already been established.
The core narrative still revolved around the three main protagonists: Vi, Jinx, and Jayce.
At the end of the previous season, Jinx had fired a hextech rocket into the Council chamber, killing Caitlyn’s councilor mother.
Vi was consequently trapped between her sister Jinx and her friend Caitlyn.
On one side was her friend’s overwhelming resentment; on the other was her sister Jinx, now in hiding.
Meanwhile, Viktor, whose body had merged with hextech runes, had effectively severed ties with Jayce. His spirit and will seemingly corrupted, Viktor left Piltover and disappeared into the depths of Zaun.
The storyline surrounding Mel, foreshadowed since the first season, also began to erupt.
Her mother, Ambessa, seeking control over Piltover’s science and technology, pretended to aid Piltover in suppressing Zaun’s "thugs." She even pushed for Caitlyn’s appointment as commander, lending her own soldiers to support her.
The first three episodes of Arcane Season 2 perfectly captured the looming atmosphere of war.
Most importantly, Vander, who had died in the first season, was revealed in the second episode to have been transformed by the biochemical monster Singed into a bloodthirsty creature.
Delirious and obsessed with blood, he rampaged without reason.
The story had become even more complex than in the first season, with five or six plotlines unfolding simultaneously, intersecting and entangling with one another.
As the plot deepened, the viewership rating of Arcane continued to climb, reaching 6.89%, standing far ahead of every competitor this season.
At the same time, sales of various Arcane merchandise and spin-off products launched worldwide. The Arcane mobile game, which had been teased for more than half a year, began releasing pre-launch trailers at a high frequency and was very likely to be released before the second season finished airing.
While Rei was busy handling related work, his contact with Hoshimori Group increased significantly compared to before.
After all, Rei had already made his future development path perfectly clear.
The Hunter manga would end with the Ant Arc.
As for his next work, he would hold all copyrights. It could be serialized under Hoshimori Group, but he would only concede distribution rights for the collected volumes.
Either condition alone was unacceptable to Hoshimori Group’s executives, led by Jensen, let alone both at the same time.
They sent negotiation teams one after another to speak with Rei. Even Jensen personally visited him twice, yet the results were still unsatisfactory.
It wasn’t that Rei didn’t want to continue drawing Hunter. In his previous life, the work had never been completed, how could he possibly drag it on endlessly?
As for Demon Slayer, there was nothing to discuss.
If it could truly replicate its past-life popularity in Japan, the commercial value of Demon Slayer alone would far exceed the combined value of all Rei’s previous works. Rei wasn’t foolish enough to give that up. He had cooperated well with Hoshimori Group in the past, but that didn’t mean he would simply hand them money.
In the eyes of the other party, however, Rei’s stance appeared to be arrogance born from success, and a sign that he was turning his back on them.
Even so, Hoshimori Group did not completely fall out with Rei.
If Rei had merely been an ordinary popular manga artist, Hoshimori Group would likely have already spread negative rumors online, accusations of a bad temper, poor character, or hostility toward editors, and quietly prepared to blacklist him using their usual methods.
Just like what happened to the author of Slam Dunk after forcing its ending, or how the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho was sidelined for a long time following its rushed conclusion.
If Rei weren’t so famous now, the treatment he faced would have been even harsher.
But such tactics no longer worked.
The Hunter manga had boosted Dream Comic’s circulation from 18 million to 24 million copies, and Hoshimori Group’s stock price had risen by more than 35%.
They weren’t idiots. Falling out with Rei at this moment would be equivalent to throwing money away with their own hands.
So, "Hoshimori Group has no choice but to endure it!"
Within the Japanese manga industry, insiders who knew about the dispute between Rei and Hoshimori Group were utterly stunned.
Across decades of industry history, which manga artist had ever wielded this level of influence?
Especially after Rei’s words during his negotiation with Jensen spread quietly through professional circles:
"The manga adaptation of my new work will be released as standalone volumes simultaneously with the start of the anime broadcast. The relevant plans will be finalized within three months... so there really isn’t much time left for Hoshimori Group to consider."
It wasn’t Hoshimori Group allowing Rei time to think.
It was Rei giving Hoshimori Group time to decide whether they still wanted to cooperate on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
For Rei, finding another distributor to sell volumes through merchandise channels would certainly be inferior to Hoshimori Group’s established manga sales network.
Moreover, he would have to share profits with any new partner. From Rei’s perspective, continuing cooperation with Hoshimori, and even serializing Demon Slayer in Dream Comic alongside the anime broadcast, was undeniably the optimal choice.
This was an unprecedented case: a manga artist negotiating from an overwhelming position of strength against a major conglomerate.
Rei didn’t suffer any losses. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Instead, it was Jensen, the current helmsman of Hoshimori Group, who suffered setback after setback.
Although ordinary fans in Japan were unaware of the details, within the upper circles of the manga industry, professionals who learned of the situation through various channels were deeply shaken by Rei’s methods.
They had once thought he was merely a gentle, handsome young man based on interviews.
Of course, after several rounds of talks, Jensen eventually left Rei’s residence with a grim expression, only stating that the group needed time to deliberate and that a board meeting was required before making any final decision.
But Rei could already sense the hesitation on the other side.
At this point, only two paths remained for Hoshimori Group.
The first was to cease cooperation entirely. Relying on previously signed contracts, Hoshimori Group could prevent Rei from collaborating with competitors for four to five years. However, once that period ended, Rei would inevitably retaliate by joining a rival company.
But four or five years later... who could say what Rei’s situation would be? Perhaps his creative talent would have dried up.
Moreover, this approach held little threat for Rei, who was already flourishing in the animation industry. He could simply stop producing manga during those years and devote himself fully to animation.
The second path was to accept Rei’s conditions and maintain extremely limited cooperation.
In simple terms, Rei would use Hoshimori Group’s global channels to expand the influence of his work.
Hoshimori Group would rely on Rei’s popularity to stabilize Dream Comic’s sales, while Rei’s fans would continue supporting the group as before.
However, the era of treating Rei as a tool-like manga artist, or a cash cow, was over.
From now on, Rei would cooperate with Hoshimori Group on equal footing.
Throughout April, Rei expended enormous energy dealing with these miscellaneous matters, but by the end of the month, most issues had finally been settled.
And so, May arrived.
