Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 28 A Glimpse

Generally speaking, comic book artists start by conceiving a storyline.

Then, using rough lines, design the storyboard content on the manuscript paper, roughly showing the characters, actions, and background of each panel, and then mark the lines next to them.

One of the most important tasks of an editor is to work with the writer to refine the storyboard draft repeatedly until it is finalized before proceeding to the next step.

Some writers use very abstract storyboards, so editors also need to be able to adapt to the style of their writers.

(Above image: Comparison of storyboard draft and final product, taken from the TV series "Juhan Shuttai!")
But Ken Sakamoto's creative process is not like that.

He could only recall carefully the comics he had read last week. Every page of the comics was right in front of him. If he had a piece of the original manuscript in front of him, it would be no different from copying it.

It's impossible to create a separate draft when you could simply draw a complete storyboard.

However, if this were told, probably no editor would believe it.

Seeing the confused look on Kaji's face, Ken Sakamoto said, "Editor-in-chief, could you please get me some manuscript paper and a pencil?"

Keiko Kaji nodded and said, "Wait a moment, I'll get it right away."

She got up quickly, walked out of the small room, and returned a few minutes later with a stack of blank manuscript paper and pencils.

"Sakamoto-sensei, are you going to create a storyboard draft on the spot?" Kaji Keiko thought for a moment and said, "That's great. We can discuss it right away after we finish drawing it. Just let me know if you need anything."

Ken Sakamoto shook his head and said, "I'm just introducing my creative process..."

Ken Sakamoto spread out a sheet of manuscript paper in front of him and picked up a pencil.

When actually creating, you also need various tools such as G-pen, round pen, and D-pen, since he draws the cost directly in one go, so all kinds of pens are prepared and can be replaced at any time.

But for now, we're just demonstrating the creative process, so a pencil will suffice.

“Kachi-san, do you remember the ending of episode seven?” Sakamoto Ken said.

“Of course,” Keiko Kaji said. “Denji and the Bat Demon's final battle begins... Huh?”

Before she could finish telling the story of the last part of episode seven, she saw Ken Sakamoto quickly sketching on the paper.

Denji cuts off the bat demon's wings in mid-air, and they fall to the ground together. The whole scene is extremely tense. The details of the background buildings, the speed lines on the characters, and even every shard of glass when the building breaks are quickly formed on the paper.

Page 1, Page 2, Page 3...

Ken Sakamoto completed the first four pages at an extremely fast pace. Apart from leaving blank areas for large areas to be filled in with black and for applying halftone paper, they were almost indistinguishable from the finished product.

Ken Sakamoto looked up and saw Keiko Kaji, noticing that her eyes were wide open.

Kaji Keiko watched the entire process without saying a word, and the four-page storyboard, which was of high quality, only took her twenty minutes.

In those twenty minutes, he didn't even use the eraser once!
Not a single line was drawn incorrectly.

Keiko Kaji picked up the manuscript paper with some disbelief and examined it closely.

"Sakamoto-sensei, is this... your creative method?" Kaji Keiko's lips trembled slightly.

Is this the terrifying power of a single person creating three episodes a week?

"The first seven chapters were drawn like this. I only have a pencil on hand now, so this is the best I can do. Otherwise, I could have used these four pages directly."

Ken Sakamoto shrugged and said, "To be honest, if Kaji-san insists that I provide storyboard drafts, I'll be in a bit of a dilemma."

"Ah...I see..." Keiko Kaji finally understood what Ken Sakamoto meant when he said there was no outline or draft.

For a moment, Keiko Kaji couldn't find the right words to describe how she felt.

This was beyond her comprehension as a comic book editor.

She has seen geniuses, she has seen authors whose writing seems divinely inspired.

Even they need to do a lot of brainstorming and sketching before they start writing.

But for Sakamoto-sensei, it was as if his mind was directly connected to a printer, printing the manuscript page by page onto paper. Seeing her shocked expression, Sakamoto Ken explained, "For me, before I even put pen to paper, the entire page's storyboard, composition, character movements, including light and shadow and details, have already formed a complete image in my mind."

"My job is simply to transfer the image in my mind onto the paper exactly as it appears."

Keiko Kaji clicked her tongue in admiration and said, "I'm sorry, Sakamoto-sensei, I underestimated your abilities before. Putting aside your creative speed, the visual tension of these four drafts that you completed in twenty minutes is also very good."

“Then, I’ll just hand over the finished manuscripts to you directly from now on,” Sakamoto Ken said.

"Let's do it the way Sakamoto-sensei does," Kaji Keiko said. "My only request is that you send me the chapter as soon as you finish it."

"No problem." Ken Sakamoto gave an OK sign.

Keiko Kaji tidied up her desk. At first, she was a little worried, but now her expression was much more relaxed.

"Given Sakamoto-sensei's abilities, you must already have some ideas about the color page design that I mentioned to you before, right?" Kaji Keiko asked.

Ken Sakamoto didn't say anything, and started drawing directly on the manuscript paper.

A few minutes later, a detailed line drawing appeared before Keiko Kaji's eyes.

"The draft is finished, Kaji-san, take a look." Sakamoto Ken pushed the draft paper toward Kaji Keiko.

“Draft…” Keiko Kaji’s eyes twitched slightly. What she was holding was the final draft-level line drawing, only it hadn’t been colored.

"It seems I was worrying too much."

Keiko Kaji took a long breath, as if she had made up her mind, and stared firmly at Ken Sakamoto, saying, "Sakamoto-sensei, no matter what, I will fight for this opportunity to serialize your work in this magazine!"

“Actually, if the opponent is really too strong… I mean, their background or connections, Kaji-san shouldn’t force it,” Sakamoto Ken said, shaking his head.

"It seems you guessed it too." Keiko Kaji looked around, lowered her voice, and said, "The author of 'Young Lady' probably has connections with high-ranking executives in the corporation, otherwise Sakamoto-sensei's serialization would definitely be a sure thing."

Ken Sakamoto simply maintained a polite smile and did not reveal any connection between him and the writer.

Keiko Kaji flipped through her small notebook and continued, "Okay, the two most important things today are storyboards and color pages. Also, Mr. Sakamoto, you should think about it some more and extract the famous scenes and lines from the work, preferably for each main character."

"Is this for advertising purposes?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

“That’s right,” Keiko Kaji explained. “In recent years, we have also been trying to promote through online media channels. If the popularity of Sakamoto-sensei’s works continues to rise, we can apply to produce a few minutes of animated comic videos. YouTube, Nico Nico, Twitter... are all platforms that Generation Z readers are keen on.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” Ken Sakamoto noted down the editor’s suggestion.

These are easy to handle. Ken Sakamoto's memories aren't limited to the Chainsaw Man manga; he's watched the anime countless times, and there are just too many iconic scenes in that series...

Of course, some of them might be called "the scene of the underworld".

The meeting with the editor ended there, and Kaji Keiko still had other work to catch up on.

She walked ahead and pushed open the door to the small conference room.

A bald, middle-aged man walked towards them, and Keiko Kaji quickly greeted him, "Editor-in-Chief."

Editor-in-Chief Tomohiro Ohno nodded slightly to her and continued walking forward.

Behind him followed a slender young girl.

Sakamoto Ken paused, his whole body stiffening for a moment, and he instinctively hid behind Kaji Keiko.

But he was a step too late. As the girl passed by, she turned her head toward him, and their eyes met briefly in the air.

She didn't seem to react much and continued walking forward with the editor-in-chief.

It wasn't until three seconds later that Mikazuki Haruna belatedly realized that she seemed to have seen a... extremely familiar figure.

She quickly stopped and turned to look in the direction she had come from.

But all I could see was the female editor walking towards me, and further away, a figure that disappeared around the corner in the next second.

(End of this chapter)