Parallel world Manga Artist-Chapter 205: New Work

In the early morning, Rei woke from his slumber.

The fragments of memories from his past life that he had recalled the night before gradually became clear.

After transmigrating, Rei’s memories of his previous life were like those of someone trying to recall what they had eaten for breakfast a month ago.

He knew for certain that he had eaten, but as for what it was or how it tasted, the details were completely blurred.

Rei knew which works from his past life had been popular, those were general facts, but when it came to specific plot details, everything was shrouded in fog. He always felt as though he was on the verge of remembering something, yet whenever he tried to force it, nothing surfaced.

However, these periodic memory flashbacks were different.

They were like watching a recorded video of his past. As long as a memory appeared in his dreams, even if it was a book he had only glanced at for a single second in his previous life, it would surge into his mind with astonishing clarity, word for word.

And this time...

Rei’s eyes first sharpened, then widened in surprise, before finally settling into a solemn expression tinged with pressure.

Because the work he had remembered was "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba."

In Rei’s past life, within the Japan region alone, with a population exceeding one hundred million, the manga’s collected volumes had sold 170 million copies. Worldwide sales reached 220 million copies, with an average of over nine million copies per volume.

Many people had no real sense of what such figures meant.

In terms of average sales per volume, Demon Slayer sold twice as much as One Piece, eight to nine times as much as Hunter, four times as much as Fullmetal Alchemist, and three times as much as Naruto.

Although there were more than a dozen manga in Japan whose average volume sales exceeded ten million, those achievements were built upon Japan’s massive population base of over a billion.

"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba..."

Rei recalled piece after piece of information about the work from his past life.

After a long while, he finally let out a slow breath.

This was likely the most heavyweight work he had recalled since transmigrating to Japan. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The commercial value of Demon Slayer alone surpassed that of all the works Rei had previously remembered combined.

In his past life, anime IPs were evaluated using a relatively simple standard: the total revenue generated by all derivative products since the work’s inception, manga, anime, figures, films, mobile games, and every other related commercial product.

By that metric, Demon Slayer’s IP value towered over other popular works of the same era, such as Aot, Jujutsu Kaisen, and even the much-hyped My Hero Academia. Its total IP value exceeded ten billion US dollars.

Most importantly...

This work did not explode in popularity because of the manga itself.

Rather, it was the exceptional quality of the anime adaptation that caused the initial surge in popularity. That explosion then drove manga sales, which in turn fueled IP expansion, eventually turning it into a global phenomenon.

In Rei’s past life, the highest-grossing film in Japan’s box office history was Demon Slayer: Mugen Train.

Second place was Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – Part One.

Third was the Japan’s classic Spirited Away.

Only after those came Makoto Shinkai’s works such as Your Name and Suzume.

Rei took a deep breath.

A work capable of cultivating hundreds of millions of fans worldwide in his past life would be extraordinarily difficult to fail if produced in this Japan. The market had already proven its adaptability and appeal.

He got up, washed his face, and then glanced at the Hunter × Hunter manuscript spread across his desk.

After a long moment, his emotions finally settled.

After recalling this title, his first thought was naturally how to produce it within this version of Japan, and more importantly...

How to fully restore, and even maximize, its commercial value.

For works like Hunter × Hunter and Hikaru no Go, Rei had relied heavily on the influence of the Hoshimori Group for marketing and promotion, which meant sharing a significant portion of copyright interests with the publishing group.

That kind of arrangement, Rei could accept.

But Demon Slayer was completely different.

In Rei’s past life, the manga’s popularity had been sluggish at the start. It survived only because Yoshihiro Togashi suddenly recommended it, giving it a new lease on life and narrowly preventing its cancellation. Its popularity only began to rise the following year, and it truly exploded after the anime started airing.

So in this world, it would most likely follow the same trajectory.

There was little value in Rei collaborating with the Hoshimori Group on this manga from the beginning; doing so would amount to giving away copyright interests for nothing.

Instead, this work should begin with anime production first, replicating the path where the anime’s popularity drove the manga’s success.

However...

"If I only request that the Hoshimori Group allow Demon Slayer to be serialized in Dream Comic without ceding any manga copyrights, sharing only the profits from tankōbon sales... would the Hoshimori Group accept such a proposal?"

Rei pondered silently, the pen in his hand spinning without pause.

Judging from his past life’s experience, the serialization of the Demon Slayer manga contributed very little to the IP’s popularity on its own.

But once the anime became a hit, it drove manga tankōbon sales to an absurd level. If one truly calculated the numbers, the profits were staggering. Given Japan’s market size, if this world could replicate Demon Slayer’s past-life popularity, the royalties from tankōbon sales alone could easily exceed ten figures. Rei could not possibly give that up.

Even if the Hoshimori Group failed to secure other copyrights for Demon Slayer, they would still earn more than Rei from tankōbon sales alone, not less. All they would need to contribute were their global manga distribution channels, they would lose nothing.

But...

Would anyone actually believe Rei when he was essentially "drawing a pie in the sky"?

"Yeah... there’s no way the Hoshimori Group would believe this."

Rei leaned back in his chair and smiled wryly.

"Still, it’s worth trying. I also need to think through the details carefully."

Three days later, Rei personally visited Misaki with the latest Hunter × Hunter manuscripts.

He deliberately brought two gifts with him.

Global limited-edition figures of Jinx and Vi, each limited to one hundred pieces.

"What wind blew you here today? A busy man like you actually came to my place in person?"

Miyu said this casually, but the moment she received the Jinx figure, her eyes curved into delighted crescents.

By now, the January winter anime season had essentially ended. Her dream of Touch of Glass skyrocketing in popularity, punching Arcane and kicking One-Punch Man had never materialized. Touch of Glass had performed well, but only well. It ranked ninth in quarterly viewership and boosted the original manga to eighth place in magazine rankings.

She no longer muttered those delusional ambitions.

Instead, like thousands of anime fans across Japan, she had become a loyal Arcane follower.

"After all," Rei said with a smile, turning toward Misaki, who was examining the Vi figure closely,

"I have something important to discuss with Editor Misaki."

Miyu looked up.

Misaki also raised her gaze.

Rei had come for more than just delivering manuscripts?