"What if we post it online?"
Takumi and Alice were discussing possible strategies, and she came up with the idea:
"We could serialize Detective Conan online, so readers who don't buy the magazine could follow it as well. Wouldn't that help the spread?"
Magazines limited access to the public, but on the internet there was no such barrier.
Takumi thought it was a good idea... but Alice immediately rejected it:
"Impossible. Posting online would do more harm than good. Best-selling manga can't be released like that."
He explained that in Japan, no strong manga is published digitally from the beginning. Serializing online requires loyalty, but that's difficult with weekly stories.
In this world, with a rich publishing culture and strong protection of rights, the most valuable thing is still the physical format. And, especially in Japan, collecting manga is part of the enjoyment.
Takumi, influenced by his previous life, believed that the popularity of the internet made him natural... But that was a distorted market. There, where access to physical books was scarce, digital consumption was confused with real success.
"But it's different here," Alice said calmly. "Bookstores are everywhere. People can buy what they like at any time. Why settle for looking at a screen if you can't touch it?"
Of course, there was digital serialization. Its history was long, and its quality even higher than that of emerging markets, but it was still a niche. Many authors started there and, as they gained notoriety, they were absorbed by conventional publishers.
Takumi had set out on the right path. If I had started with digital serialization, I would probably still struggle to get noticed.
Kurosawa also rejected the idea of posting online from his mobile phone. If it didn't work, it would hurt both the sales of the magazine and those of the compilation volume. In the long run, it would do more harm than good.
Of course, once the physical format was exhausted, some popular series could be relaunched digitally in special editions. But as long as Detective Conan continued to sell, the possibility was remote.
All this discouraged Takumi a bit, and he had to look for another solution.
On September 2, Osaka No. 1 High School kicked off a new school year.
Summer had barely left, and the sun was still beating down. The students, in navy blue and white uniforms, returned to the classrooms after the opening speech, sweating from the heat.
"Pa!!"
Takumi felt a pat on the shoulder. He turned.
It was Shiori, a big smile blooming between the tired faces.
"Takumi, I finally find you!"
"It's been a long time since I've seen you," he replied, with a half-smile.
He saw that two girls were following Shiori and shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"You've been quick making friends."
—"They are my roommates. She's Hanano, and she's Rika."
Shiori introduced them. Takumi greeted them politely, but didn't really make an effort to memorize them. I was just going to school to get the textbook. He hardly saw his classmates during the year. There was no need to feign closeness.
"What about you?" Shiori asked. "Don't you have a roommate? How antisocial!"
"I don't live in the residence. We rent nearby."
Takumi smiled.
"I'm in my second year, you look like you're from another group."
Shiori frowned, as if she didn't understand either. "I'm in the special class. I don't know why they separated us."
The special class was for students with excellent performance. The standard second year, like the one Takumi was in, was more relaxed.
But he had official permission for absences and special deliveries. If he had been put in the advanced class, there would have been complaints.
And he was not looking for conflicts.
Only room to grow.
Takumi understood, so he didn't think much of it.
He was happy to see that Shiori made friends easily. Because of his personality and attitude, he was still the center of the small group. The other two girls seemed more reserved.
Takumi was no longer worried about how his emotional prepaid partner was adjusting.
He chatted with Shiori for a few minutes, picked up his textbooks, and headed home.
On the way, he bought a translated Japanese edition of the novel Sherlock Holmes. "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will be victorious in a hundred battles," he thought. He wanted to see with his own eyes the quality of the work.
He spent the whole afternoon reading.
The novel impressed him. It narrated the cases solved by a prodigious young detective. Each one was brimming with suspense. The protagonist was almost superhuman: he mastered literature, philosophy, medicine, music, fencing... all.
Solving impossible puzzles one after another, with overwhelming logic, Sherlock Holmes shone like a symbol of pure intelligence.
After finishing it, Takumi even felt the urge to collect it. If it was a question of criminal method and pure deduction, Sherlock Holmes was unbeatable.
But he also detected weaknesses.
On the one hand, the setting was Western and ancient; perhaps it would not connect with young readers. On the other, the protagonist was so perfect that he bordered on the inhuman. He was not interested in anyone, nor in any woman. A computer with a face.
Very different from Detective Conan, where emotion, personal relationships and everyday moments were central.
Sherlock prioritized logic and enigma. But it hardly showed any life. That's where Detective Conan had the upper hand.
Even so... The gap was still huge. How to reduce it?
The digital option was already ruled out. Traditional promotion could not compete. Takumi had only one card: to improve the content.
He thought of creating a new case, something more shocking.
But... even if he succeeded, he wasn't sure he could eclipse Sherlock.
Maybe I should try something else. Something unexpected. Trust that "air mass" inside your head.
It had been a long time since he had focused on her. As he concentrated, he noticed that he had grown. It was being restored. Just enough for a single image.
But what if that image was enough?
Takumi had an idea.
He couldn't guarantee that would make Detective Conan beat Detective Sherlock, but what he was sure of was that... it would increase sales.
He took out his cell phone and called Alice.
"Have you already sent the compilation volume to the printer?"
"Not yet! It comes out next week." Alice's voice sounded hurried. "I'm closing the review of episode nine. It has to be sent tonight."
"Wait! Don't send it yet."
Takumi straightened up. His tone was urgent.
"I want to redraw episode nine. Please talk to Kurosawa and ask him if he can delay the publication of Weekly Shonen by a week."
"Redraw it?"
—"Yes... I want to add a new character."