Tokyo Girlfriend Guide

When a cartoonist of the level of Hojo Kyosuke starts a new work, the magazine will pay 1.2 million attention to it, and the entire company from top to bottom will attach great importance to it.

Publicity will be promoted through various channels. In the past, posters were posted crazily on trams and buses to bombard people's eyes. There were so many advertisements on neon trams that it was insane. Many people working in the color industry would post advertisements themselves.

Moreover, major comic magazines themselves are the largest advertising outlets. For a quarter of the minimum hourly wage or even less, you can buy a comic book that is thicker and bigger than a dictionary. If you read it slowly, it is enough to kill a month's time. It is almost like doing charity.

In the Showa era, almost all IT men in Japan were buyers of comic magazines. Needless to say, their salaries were well-paid, and as long as they were not in a relationship, they were almost the best customer base. Therefore, the cost of advertising space in comic magazines was no lower than that of other media, and the quantity was large and sufficient.

Advertising has become simpler in the Internet age. One of the most influential advertisements is the advertisement on LINE. With the help of big data, it can be accurately delivered and linked to related consultations. Apart from being expensive, it has no disadvantages.

Although Hojo-sensei is a big name, he was not given too much resources at the beginning. It was not because of his low status, but because of risk considerations. After all, even the best writers will fail sometimes. Further promotional resources can only be invested after confirming that the new work has a bright future. Now, editor-in-chief Tetsuya Shimomura called to inform him of this.

"… The statistical results are out, and the vast majority of readers have given high praise. The nickname "Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei Era" has received a lot of praise. Sixty percent of readers said that using a football as a weapon is too unscientific. They believe that it is unreliable in terms of the difficulty of obtaining it, the accuracy of the attack, and the power of the attack.

A reader commented, "If you want to add corresponding skills to the protagonist, why not imitate Hojo Sensei's own kendo? Or just baseball. Whether it is throwing or hitting, it is a very reliable means of attack. The weapons are also very easy to obtain, and it can make everyone feel more involved."

During this period, the investigators in Toranoana also encountered a more extreme reader. The investigator was grabbed by the collar and kept questioning, "I ask you, kicking such a big globe out, does the drum washing machine hurt his feet?! Does his feet hurt?! I ask you, does his feet hurt!!!" The reader was very emotional, and no matter how much the investigator apologized, he could not get forgiveness. He had to promise that Mr. Hojo would give an answer at the end of the next serialization, and only then was he let go. "

Shimomura Tetsuya paused at this point, indicating that he was about to express his own opinion:
"Hojo, in fact, it's not just them. I'm curious too. In your first episode, the protagonist kicked such a big globe with one kick. The force was so strong that it knocked the criminal down instantly. Let's not talk about whether your foot hurts or not. With such a strong force, the globe was not destroyed. This means that the material of the globe should be very hard. In this case, the foot must be very painful, right?"

Hojo Kyosuke was speechless after hearing this, "...Aren't you still discussing whether your feet hurt? Why are you still paying attention to those messy things when you're already reading the comics? To be honest, it's unscientific for the criminals to run away without thinking when surrounded by the police, isn't it?"

Shimomura Tetsuya immediately raised his voice: "You know that too, asshole!"

"I know. If I were writing a mystery novel, I would never do that. But just like what you said before when you asked me to change Xiaolan into a cone-head and Conan into a big-headed doll, comics are different. It is inevitable to sacrifice some rationality for the sake of drama. If the criminal doesn't escape, how can the protagonist be cool? When you were investigating, you should have asked readers what they thought of the new protagonist, right?"

Hojo Kyosuke said with a very sure tone:
"I dare say that everyone will definitely ignore the protagonist's vigilante execution and incompetent patrol, and focus all attention on the protagonist's clean and neat landing on the prisoner."

With his invincible dynamic storyboards and Eriri's gorgeous painting style, Hojo Kyosuke is quite confident that readers will enter the love brain mode in advance, completely forgetting that this is a mystery comic. Just put your whole brain into it and follow the Bleach Elementary School Student into the world of science.

Shimomura Tetsuya said: "Well... that's true. There are a lot of controversies about the crime methods and other aspects, but everyone said, "As expected of Mr. Hojo, the characterization is still as good as ever."

"Haha, there's no need to say more about this kind of thing, we all..."

"but……"

Hojo Kyosuke was interrupted before he could finish his words, and Shimomura Tetsuya continued reading the investigation report:

"...But quite a few readers said, "Hojo-sensei's approach is really cunning. He always uses himself as a template to shape the protagonist. This is a choice that can never go wrong!" To be honest, Hojo, I also think that your trick is very good. You directly add your own popularity to the character, which saves your colleagues in the publicity department a lot of effort."

Shimomura Tetsuya's tone was very happy:
"One thing that made the company's top management very happy about this survey was that the number of female readers increased significantly. Although our Weekly Shonen High has always cultivated its own girls' comic writers to attract female readers, the results have not been ideal. However, in this survey, the number of female readers increased by 5 percentage points. The executive sent by the head office to monitor this release announced on the spot that they would conduct an in-depth study on the cause of this phenomenon, and the publicity and promotion expenses may increase significantly in the future..."

It's not surprising that the magazine company is so happy just by increasing the number of female readers by five percentage points. In the other world, many companies that rely on male customers are still trying to increase the diversity of their customer base. There are many reasons for this. For comic magazines, male readers are usually more reserved when they like a work and will generously buy related peripherals. Female readers will play a huge role in publicity, and the simplest thing is that the licking dog pursuers around her will also join in.

Hojo Kyosuke listened quietly, not surprised at all. For otome comics, the most important thing is the character design, whether it's beautiful, miserable, strong, etc. In short, as long as they are handsome, it's fine. No matter if they are the protagonist or the supporting role, as long as they are all handsome, they will buy it. The comics he created with Eriri will definitely not be like Conan in his previous life, where all the characters look the same. It is guaranteed that both men and women will be handsome to a new level.

"…20% of readers have high expectations for the Men in Black organization that makes the protagonist smaller, and hope to see a showdown between an excellent criminal gang and the protagonist in the future. And…"

Shimomura Tetsuya reported the investigation reports one by one. Most of these things would not be sent directly to Hojo Kyosuke because they were more or less confidential to the magazine. But the author could not be kept in the dark, so he, the editor-in-chief, had to communicate with the author.

The investigation report is very detailed, and is different from the voting letter collected by the magazine. This is because the magazine directly sent investigators to squat at the entrance of major bookstores and randomly select readers who have purchased the magazine for interviews one by one. If you accept the interview, you will receive gifts provided by the magazine. Hojo Kyosuke was required to provide 100 autographed single-volume comics. At the same time, these interviewees will also be recorded by the magazine, and will receive separate notifications for subsequent book signings... Because there are so many benefits, they are all happy to brag with the magazine's investigators.

Many years ago, Eikichi Onizuka was caught by an investigator in front of a bookstore. He then boasted wildly about how great his boss was, and was then invited to Wako City by Utaha Kasumigaoka.

"...Anyway, this is the current situation. Although there is no danger of a sudden death at the beginning, it is still a good situation. Tonight, the magazine will hold an editorial meeting to study the content of the next issue of "Detective Conan" and discuss the crime method and reasoning process of the protagonist in the next episode. Everyone will work together to make the content good.

Also, should we add a baseball master to the protagonist? After all, baseball is a national sport, so this is worth considering. Also, Hojo, didn’t you say you would make it to Koshien this year? If you really create a miracle, then you in real life will directly link up with Conan in the comics, and the readers will go crazy.”

There was an unconcealable excitement in Tetsuya Shimomura's tone; he felt like he was about to make history.

Even through the phone, Hojo Kyosuke could feel the enthusiasm of his editor. He gave the other party a thumbs up in his heart and thought, that's right, this is it. It turns out that a Showa man is still spirited. Just help me make money like this. Don't be like Xisaki who thinks about rest all day long.

"Thank you for your hard work, Editor Shimomura and everyone at the magazine. I will bring gifts to the magazine office to express my condolences to everyone after the holiday."

He promised in a good mood, and then said in a relaxed tone:

"It doesn't matter. Whether it's baseball or kendo, all of them can be added to the protagonist. Even though I gave the protagonist a title like the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era in the comics, in fact, Sherlock Holmes is not even worthy of carrying my Conan's shoes. In my expectation, Conan must master more than ten languages, including but not limited to Japanese, English, German, French, Latin, and Braille... As for sports, football must reach a semi-professional level, skateboarding, skiing, surfing, chess, diving... and so on. Knowing baseball and kendo is completely basic operations."

Hojo Kyosuke recalled the names one by one, and he almost couldn't hold it in, but he still suppressed his smile and said:

"Since he is the Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era, he must be able to play the violin. Absolute pitch is also a basic skill. With this, there is no need to say much about the piano and other instruments. They will all come in handy in future cases. Pistols, sniper rifles, bombs, etc. are also necessary skills, as are helicopters, military transport planes, and passenger planes..."

"Wait! Wait a minute!"

Shimomura Tetsuya's somewhat frightened voice sounded:
"Hojo! Do you know what you are talking about? Even in comics with a futuristic world view, where people can master various skills directly through technological means, it is absolutely impossible to design such an exaggerated character. Are you really talking about a high school detective instead of an omniscient and omnipotent God?"

"Forehead……"

Hojo Kyosuke was also stumped by the question for a moment, and after thinking for a while he said, "It's a comic, why do you bother with those things? Anyway, I will tell readers that the protagonists all learned in Hawaii. As for America, it's normal for her to have magical powers."

Hawaii represents a beautiful memory in the minds of Japanese. During the bubble era, it was the first choice for Japanese to go on vacation. At that time, the beaches in Hawaii were almost all filled with Japanese.

Shimomura Tetsuya said angrily: "Just because it's a comic, we have to follow basic logic! You bastard! If you fool the readers, we will be scolded to death!"

Someone thought about it and was not sure whether readers would still be so tolerant and easy to fool when the world changes, so he could only say:

"How about this, after the holiday is over, when the next promotion begins, I will cooperate with your last show, show my mastery of six foreign languages ​​and my genius brain, appease the readers, and let everyone accept the concept that "since there are such powerful people in real life, it is not unacceptable for the comics to be even more powerful."

Although his defense system is very weak, with his unremitting efforts, he can now be called a little superman. If necessary, it is not impossible for him to beat the first generation Captain America. After all, they are evenly matched.

Although Shimomura Tetsuya was frightened by someone's rumors, he still agreed. It was a great thing to get Hojo Kyousuke to cooperate in the promotion. After all, from the beginning, Tetsuta Kisaki used the concept of "idol cartoonist" for marketing, so unlike ordinary cartoonists, Hojo Kyousuke has a huge amount of traffic of his own.

The two discussed many things, and finally the editor Xiacun said in disgust:

"You'd better just focus on making comic printing machines and promotional tools. It's more reliable to leave these things to Xisaki."

Even though the two of them were having a very happy conversation, he knew that Hojo was a very rogue guy, and there was a high probability that he would cheat on his promises later. But Kisaki was different, he would balance the needs of both sides, squeezing the magazine while fooling his own elder brother to satisfy both sides.

"By the way, why can't I get through to Xisaki's phone? I remember he was still directing the network workers at six o'clock. Could he have died suddenly?"

Shimomura Tetsuya said worriedly.

Someone turned the tables and said, "Uh... Shimomura, do you still have any conscience? Xisaki has been working so hard, I couldn't stand it and forced him to take a vacation!"

Shimomura Tetsuya, who was standing outside the magazine's headquarters, looked at the brightly lit office and the busy subordinates. His face darkened and he cursed the Heisei loser for being useless. Then he hung up the phone with a curse. (End of this chapter)