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Chapter 638 Pleasant Surprise for Hakushensha.
🕑 Added 2025-09-11 02:16:30 +0000 UTCFriday 8 January 1995 Morning.
Zaboru was scheduled to meet with Tomi Bakurou, the CEO of Hakushensha — a manga publishing company that was acquired by ZAGE and now operating as its official manga division.
Currently, most of the ongoing manga in Weekly Shonen Shock, Monthly Shonen Shock, Monthly Seinen Shock, and Monthly Shojo Shock are nearing their final chapters. In response, Tomi is presenting a list of promising new manga titles being considered for serialization under Hakushensha’s banner in the near future. At the moment, the flagship titles driving Weekly Shonen Shock’s popularity are Hokuto no Ken, Dragon Ball, and Saint Seiya, while Iron Fist Chinmi continues to lead in the Monthly Shonen lineup.
Zaboru and Tomizawa were now seated in one of the conference rooms at Hakushensha headquarters, a stack of folders and documents neatly arranged on the table between them.
“Here you go, Zaboru-san,” Tomizawa said, sliding a thick file across the table. “This is the list of manga we believe will interest you. Many of these titles can already be released spanning every major genre.”
Zaboru nodded and opened the file casually — only to freeze halfway through his first glance. His eyes widened in disbelief. The titles listed on the document were manga he distinctly remembered from his previous life — series that, as far as he knew, hadn’t been published yet in this world. Some were from the future, others from a couple of years ago and yet here they were, ready to be fully published and serialized under Hakushensha’s label.
“How is this possible…?” he thought, flipping through the pages. There were familiar names, iconic art styles, and even sample chapters attached. It was like stumbling into a time paradox disguised as a publishing deal.
Tomizawa, unaware of Zaboru’s internal shock, simply smiled and continued, “These titles span all categories — shonen, seinen, shojo — and we believe they have tremendous potential. We filtered them specifically for you. Honestly, we only removed the ones that lacked quality or originality. If a manga stood out as unique or had any creative spark, we kept it on the list and brought it to your attention.”
Weekly Shonen
Hajime No Ippo (1989)
Detective Conan (1994)
Slam Dunk (1990)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (1987)
City Hunter (1985)
Sakigake!! Otokojuku (1985)
Monthly Shonen
Crows (1990)
Bastard!! (1988)
Ushio to Tora (1990)
Monthly Seinen
Akira (1982)
Ghost in the Shell (1989)
Berserk (1989)
Golden Boy (1992)
Monthly Shojo
Ranma ½ (1987)
Magic Knight Rayearth (1993)
Fushigi Yûgi (1992)
Boys Over Flowers (1992)
Zaboru was stunned — these series weren’t supposed to be out yet. According to the pattern he had observed in this world, the entertainment industry was roughly ten years behind compared to his previous life. So even though the calendar year here was 1996, the manga and anime landscape should have still been stuck in 1986. And yet, here they were — a flood of iconic titles that, in his past life, had been released steadily between 1983 and 1996, now all appearing at once as if the timeline had suddenly accelerated. It was a complete anomaly, a jump forward that defied the slow drift he had come to expect from this world’s entertainment evolution.
Zaboru grinned. “I’ll be damned... How is this even possible?” It was true—he had never taken the time to research the famous mangaka of this world, aside from Akira Toriyama. But now wasn’t the time to overthink it. He shook off the thought and flipped through the manga sample in front of him. It contained a full copy of the first chapter.
As he scanned the pages, a sense of déjà vu washed over him. The art, the pacing, even the panel layouts—it was all strikingly familiar. Zaboru grinned again. He remembered every single one of these stories. They were exactly like the versions he had read in his previous life. Somehow, they had manifested in this world just as he remembered them.
After a moment of flipping through the titles, Zaboru grinned and looked up at Tomizawa. “Approve all of them, Tomizawa-san.”
Tomizawa let out a small sigh, though it carried no surprise. He had expected Zaboru to say that from the start. Still, he nodded in agreement. After all, the lineup was filled with top-tier manga — every title was high-quality, with strong potential to captivate readers across genres.
As for the financial side, Tomizawa wasn’t too concerned — that responsibility rested with Zaboru. He had said that even if the new titles didn’t immediately bring in profits, it wasn’t a major issue. What mattered more was the long-term vision and building a strong content foundation. Fortunately, Hakushensha’s published manga had consistently performed well in sales, offering reassurance that these new additions would likely follow the same successful trajectory.
Shortly afterward, Zaboru returned to the ZAGE offices, still deep in thought about the unexpected windfall of content. His mind was already racing with ideas on how to integrate this into ZAGE’s broader media strategy.
“Damn, the manga scene is a total mess right now. I know nothing about it,” Zaboru muttered with a chuckle. This world’s timeline was drastically different from his old one, with only a few familiar threads tying them together. Still, it was a pleasant surprise.
He let out a sigh. “Thank God it’s only the entertainment sector that got replicated.”
Zaboru felt a quiet wave of relief. The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 — which had devastated Kobe in his previous world — hadn’t occurred here. He was truly grateful. If it had, he knew he would’ve been emotionally wrecked.
“If an earthquake or tsunami ever strikes Japan… ZAGE might need a fleet of helicopters to deliver supplies to the victims. I can’t just sit back and do nothing. ZAGE is a big company, and I have the resources — I’ll help however I can.”
With that thought lingering, Zaboru knew he had to speak with Zanichi and Sayuri soon. ZAGE needed to begin preparations — acquiring helicopters and putting a disaster response plan in place. Even if it felt premature, he believed it was necessary.
Little did he know, while the disasters in this world didn’t mirror those of his past exactly, the unexpected was still on the horizon — and he would soon come to understand that firsthand.
To be continue
AN : Sorry if this sudden but it is what it is.
