Finally took the manga to Tokyo today. The big appointment for Life of Death and it was very insightful. I have a lot to share and some is a bit disheartening. Starting on a good note they were very courteous and timely. They carefully read through the manga and gave the feedback on the art first. The paneling and angels weren't to their liking and they wanted more from the backgrounds and more interesting character designs. Nothing too hard to fix. Next came the story. This was a bit more difficult because he said the jokes were not 'japanese' and made it hard to follow the story. I understand the cultural bit there and was glad for the insight. Culture does have to be taken into consideration when dealing with JUMP. Also was told to simplify things and make it easier. The stories they want are easy reads with ACT123 simple plots. your basic introductions, nothing flashy. They even invite the 'narration' intro. Now the hard part here, and disheartening is what my translator told me after we were out. They had words with the editor that weren't immediately told to me. This was because the editor said 'americans should do american comics. Or someone on the team should be japanese to make it real manga'. Not sure if this view is shared with the rest of the editorial staff but it was upsetting to hear. To add salt to the wounds they said they specially want 'Japanese' working on their manga. Which begs the question, why even have a 'universal' contest? I'm still going to work with my team to make a new more 'shonen' entry but this was hard to hear. Internationals have a bigger disadvantage that just cultural and language gaps it appears.