[Anime Crossover] Becoming Mangaka in Anime World

Five days flew by in the blink of an eye.

With the curtains tightly drawn, the white light in the room felt like an old oil lamp that had been burning forever.

"Ha..."

Akifumi Mugiho, hunched over his desk working tirelessly, let out a long sigh, stretched, and grinned excitedly.

"Finally done!!"

Storyboards, line art, base colors, shading effects, background textures...

Five straight days—aside from eating, drinking, and taking care of basic needs—he poured all his energy into his work.

Having been used to such intense work in his past life, Akifumi Mugiho didn't feel the exhaustion. If anything, he kind of missed it.

And the result? It was definitely worth it.

The first chapter of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, 29 pages in total, was finished!

When you think of magical girls, you usually picture a beautiful girl full of love and courage, who gains special powers through a contract and fights evil forces.

Since the concept first appeared, it became super popular in the 2D fan community.

Sure, as people got older and the industry evolved, the theme might've seemed a little childish, but as long as kids liked it, it stayed hot!

Even in Akifumi Mugiho's past life, it was the same.

But it wasn't until Puella Magi Madoka Magica came along that people started to change their views on magical girls.

It started as an anime, then later became a manga.

At first glance, the first few episodes seemed just like any other magical girl anime.

Cute characters, beautiful transformation outfits, a transfer student, and Kyubey, who looked like a doll.

And the magical girls, as symbols of hope, fight witches born from despair—pretty normal, right?

But then, by episode three, when the graceful and heroic senior gets her head chopped off, you start to feel uneasy. Things clearly weren't as simple as they seemed.

As the story unfolded, it became clear that the witches were actually former magical girls who had fallen into despair.

From then on, the term "magical girl" didn't seem so one-dimensional or childish anymore.

More and more conspiracy theories popped up.

Of course, the formulaic tropes started to get old, and by the end, viewers found themselves missing the pure, beautiful magical girl image from the beginning.

But as the groundbreaking work that changed the genre, Puella Magi Madoka Magica would definitely be remembered.

Coincidentally, in this world, magical girls were still developing as they did in Akifumi Mugiho's past life, and there was no Puella Magi Madoka Magica yet.

That was a good thing, but it also left Akifumi Mugiho in a bit of a bind.

The indecision from five days ago returned.

"So... who should I send this to now?"

Shogakukan?

Akifumi Mugiho worried that if he sent the third chapter to the editor, it would get rejected, and such a great piece might get canceled.

Kodansha? That didn't seem like a good fit either.

"So... Shueisha!?"

Akifumi Mugiho sighed, feeling a little conflicted.

Though he'd thought about this before, his art style leaned more mature this time around, more like the manga version from Houbunsha in his past life, rather than the cute, round-faced style from the anime.

But...

"The public's still stuck on their old perceptions."

A slight change in art style wouldn't be enough to change people's biases about magical girls.

"Well, whatever. I'll send it out and see what happens."

Even if everything's planned, things rarely go exactly as expected. Plans are never perfect.

Do your best, and leave the rest to fate.

If Shueisha rejects it, then I'll just send it to other publishers one by one.

If the big three don't bite, there are smaller publishers.

If that doesn't work, I'll make a personal website and publish it online for free.

There's always a way.

Akifumi Mugiho opened Shueisha's official website, found the listed email, and stared at it.

"Hm? The Tezuka Award!?"

"Well, maybe I'll give it a shot."

He read the details carefully: if selected, the prize was 1 million yen, 500,000 yen for being shortlisted, and 200,000 yen for honorable mentions.

And unlike the Tezuka Award in his past life, this one didn't require original manuscripts—scanned copies were fine, as long as they didn't exceed 31 pages, with no restrictions on the story's length.

Of course, for a work like this, entering with a short story made the most sense.

"Well, since I'm sending it to Shueisha anyway, what's the harm in trying?"

With that thought, Akifumi Mugiho scanned the 29 pages, packaged them, and sent them off.

"Ha."

With the work finished, he let out a deep breath and glanced at the time in the corner of his screen.

4:28 PM.

"Tomorrow's Monday already, huh? After resting for so many days, I think my parents are going to call and check on me soon."

Akifumi Mugiho scratched his messy hair, looking helpless. His youthful face seemed a little worn from the intense work.

Taking a few days off was fine, but any longer and people might start worrying if he was okay.

To avoid that, he knew he had to return to school on time tomorrow.

"At least I still have most of the afternoon to relax. Should I read a novel, catch up on some manga, or play a game?!"

It's funny—sometimes having too many options isn't all that great.