Chapter 270: Parasyte
"Chainsaw Man is also over..." said Sakura with some emotion.
"Sakura... you're wrong. To be more precise, it's on hiatus."
Ren, looking at her, said sternly, "I will be back to serialize the second part... maybe even the third!"
With the end of Chainsaw Man, Sakura had the rare opportunity to gather for dinner at Ren's house with Ayumi and Ren.
Over the past year, the careers of the three have flourished, so their dinners together have become less and less frequent.
With the arrival of Ren as her mentor, Ayumi has become a high-level manga editor in the industry, with many more manga artists working under her.
Unlike Ren, Ayumi often participates in the creation and plot design of her other manga artists, which keeps her increasingly busy lately.
B Station, the anime video website founded by Sakura, is also gaining popularity.
B Station now has over 20 million daily active users, and its total registered users have surpassed 50 million! The rise of bullet comment culture has made netizens obsessed with B Station, the only website with this feature.
Its popularity is even approaching that of Youdou.com, the dominant video site.
While the content of B Station is arguably inferior to that of Youdou.com in terms of the number of anime, series, and movies it offers, its bullet comment feature has already threatened Youdou.
Its potential is evident.
This has also generated distrust in Youdou.com, and there are even rumors that it plans to develop an interactive bullet comment feature.
This has also generated distrust in Sakura and other team members.
However, Ren does not believe that Youdou.com's strategy is necessarily effective. After all, when it comes to bullet comment websites, it's not always clear who will take the lead and succeed.
For example, Station A, in its previous stage, ultimately lost to B Station.
This was due to Station A's erroneous approach. Initially focused on anime and manga, it gradually shifted towards video games, entertainment, and gossip, which weakened its anime theme.
B Station, however, has remained focused on anime and manga, constantly attracting a large number of fans.
B Station followed this path before going public. The key was that, despite the criticism surrounding its premium membership, it was undoubtedly effective, at least accumulating certain operating costs.
The most important thing is that B Station's original content incentives were very solid and also gave rise to many star content creators.
Although the original content incentives were later cut, the original mechanism and its ability to generate traffic were impeccable.
Sakura's current B Station has continued on the same path, maintaining its absolutely stable development trajectory.
Once the mobile software is successfully developed this year and the platform directly adopts the short video model of AhDou, it will be practically undisputed.
Sakura, however, remains busy, especially during the first half of the year, when she was practically confined to the studio.
Now, with B Station back on track and the studio team expanding, she has finally had some free time.
As for Ren... his manga career, needless to say, is already in full swing, and he is widely recognized in the industry as one of the most outstanding newcomers of the last decade.
However, he is not particularly busy.
After all, with three assistants, he doesn't have to think about the plot, and he has the extremely fast, stable, and high-quality drawing ability granted by the system.
So, what else could he be busy with? So he is the most idle.
"Alright..."
Sakura smiled and said, "I'm very excited. Ren, you've finished another manga, and then... it's time to draw the fourth."
She was also quite excited. In the three years she has known Ren, Ren has finished three manga. It was by chance that she got to know manga and Ren.
"Yes... the sensei has been very hardworking these last few years..."
Ayumi, on the side, couldn't help but praise, "Drawing three manga in three years is also a great effort in the industry."
"I just want everyone to see more and better manga!" said Ren, a little embarrassed. "Don't praise me so much."
"By the way, it seems Sakura is about to graduate this year, right?".
Suddenly, he asked this and said.
"Yes...".
Sakura nodded and said, "But I signed up for the graduate entrance exam while working."
Although the management work of B Station is also very important, she still signed up for the graduate entrance exam while working.
The most important thing is... She looked at Ren.
Ren... is a doctor with a double degree, so she must have at least a higher degree.
It was with this idea in mind that Sakura signed up for the graduate entrance exam while working.
"Awesome..." said Ayumi with envy. "By the way, Sakura, are you going to settle in Tokyo after you graduate?".
"Well, I'm looking for a house lately and I'll be sharing it with a friend," said Sakura.
She didn't mention that they moved out of the residence soon and have been living in a hotel lately.
"Really?".
Ren's eyes lit up and he said, "It seems my landlord, Uncle Dong, has some apartments for rent nearby. Sakura, do you want me to ask for you?".
Sakura thought for a moment and said, "Alright... it would be better if it were closer to the studio."
...
Weekend.
After the new weekend arrived, the new issues of several magazines reappeared at the newsstand.
"Will Ren's new manga series be released?".
Kenji Tanaka was returning home from work when he stopped at a newsstand. He observed the cover of the latest issue of Manga World Gogo and asked with curiosity.
"Hey, young man, are you here again?".
The newsstand owner, who also knew Kenji Tanaka, smiled and said, "Do you still want this manga magazine?".
"Alright...".
Kenji Tanaka thought about it and decided to buy it to take a look at Ren's new manga.
Then he saw another manga on the other side, with a red-haired girl on the cover.
It didn't seem particularly special, but he noticed something...
the words "Ren Amamiya" on the cover, along with: "The horror manga by the popular mangaka Ren is here! We bring you a unique horror experience!".
The manga was titled Vortex.
"It's also by Ren, the old rogue. When did Ren, the old rogue, start drawing horror manga?" asked Kenji Tanaka, instantly curious.
Not all manga fans knew Ren; he had also serialized Vortex in a new magazine, Manga Horror Night.
It was obvious that Kenji Tanaka didn't know.
Still, he was excited to try Ren's manga.
"Boss... let's take a look together," he said, holding the magazine and the volume of Uzumaki.
"Alright... total...".
After paying, Kenji Tanaka returned home with the magazine and the volume.
He took off his shoes and collapsed comfortably in his computer chair for a while before picking up the manga from his desk.
"Chainsaw Man is over..." sighed Kenji Tanaka, still a little uncomfortable.
For manga fans, Chainsaw Man went on hiatus after the first part, which meant it was over.
But... luckily, Ren wasn't taking a break, but starting a new manga.
Kenji Tanaka looked at the cover of the current issue. It showed a high school student with glasses, of normal appearance, even a little shy.
But in his right hand, an eye had appeared, and... two fingers had transformed into blades? The magazine cover even said:
"Chainsaw Man's mangaka, Ren, debuts his new work, Parasyte! Ready for the attack of a humanoid monster?".
It was a truly impressive display, a privilege granted to popular mangakas.
Of course, this was not exclusive to Ren.
Any popular mangaka who published a new work received an exclusive cover.
For example, Yusuke Sato also received this privilege if he published a new work.
"Parasyte..."
Kenji Tanaka had known the name for a long time, but it didn't mean much to him.
"It seems that old rogue, Ren, enjoys using parasites as a theme," he said with curiosity.
In a previous interview, Ren had mentioned that Makima was based on a parasitic trematode called Leucochloridium.
So, upon seeing the name Parasyte, Kenji Tanaka couldn't help but think of him.
But he had to check for himself the true story of the manga.
So he opened the magazine directly... and first read the latest installment of The Gods.
After all, The Gods is in its third installment and is still being serialized.
Parasyte is a newly published manga, and while it has attracted a lot of attention thanks to Ren's fame, its true success remains to be seen.
Therefore, Kenji Tanaka naturally prioritized reading the manga of The Gods.
However, the plot of the third installment of The Gods focuses on the Snake Family in Japan.
The newcomer head of the Minamoto family pursues an out-of-control hybrid.
The plot does not focus on the protagonist, but on several supporting characters, but this does not convince the fans.
Only The Gods could achieve this.
The newcomer head of the Minamoto family is also full of charisma, giving the impression that the mangaka of The Gods, Yusuke Sato, is about to give this character a serious twist.
After finishing The Gods, Kenji Tanaka considered that this week's installment of The Gods was quite good.
Then, he turned to the page where Parasyte was serialized and began to read.
The first episode of Parasyte is titled "Parasites."
But the opening scene shows an image of the Earth, a blue image of the Earth.
Then a box with a narration appears on the screen:
"A certain human on Earth suddenly thought of...".
The next scene changes to an ordinary family, where a wife and her husband are face to face.
However, the next scene is...
The husband's head suddenly opens like a flower... and turns into a terrifying monster. Then, before his wife's horrified eyes... he directly devours his wife's head!
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