Shintaro Kawakubo, the editor-in-chief of Weekly Shonen Magazine, appeared at the Manga Book Report Contest Presents: The Four Major Shonen Magazine Editors’ Talk Session held in Tokyo on the 15th. During the event, he shared an emotional story about Makoto Raiku, the manga artist behind Zatch Bell! (Konjiki no Gash!!).

During the event, panelists answered questions from children in the audience. One of the questions asked was whether there were any editors or chief editors who resembled characters in a manga. In response, Kawakubo first confirmed, "Can it be a manga artist?" before sharing a behind-the-scenes story from Magazine's "name room," where drafts are created.

"In our magazine, we have a dedicated space for artists to create their storyboards (name drafts). There are about six to seven seats in a row, two rows in total, so around 10 to 15 artists can work there at the same time," he explained.

Kawakubo then revealed an emotional moment involving Makoto Raiku:
"Raiku-san, who was drawing Animal Land (Doubutsu no Kuni) at the time, was working on a very important scene in that room. As he was sketching, he suddenly started crying uncontrollably. Other artists in the room noticed and were genuinely concerned, wondering if something had happened to him personally. He was shedding tears so intensely that they thought it might be a private matter. But no—he was just so deeply immersed in his story that he couldn’t hold back his emotions."

The editor-in-chief emphasized Raiku’s deep passion, comparing him to a protagonist in a manga:
"He truly has the passion of a manga hero."

The event featured a panel discussion with the editors-in-chief of Japan’s four major shonen manga magazines. Weekly Shonen Sunday Editor-in-Chief Kazunori Oshima, Weekly Shonen Jump Editor-in-Chief Yu Saito, and Weekly Shonen Champion Editor-in-Chief Hideo Matsuyama participated in the session, which was moderated by Ciao Editor-in-Chief Ayano Hagiwara.

Source : ORICON NEWS