Tokyo 2010, Shueisha's office building. We got out of the elevator on the Ribbon Editorial Office floor, and editor Y-san led us all the way up to the Editor-in-chief! This felt like a surreal dream, as we all bowed to him. (Later, I analysed this situation and I think the fact that I sent them a manga published in Sweden by a publisher, with a barcode on the back, made them feel like I was a respected mangaka in my home country, perhaps?) He then stood up, took out a folder from his top desk drawer, opened it up and handed over to me a pile of manga original pages from one of their top artists in the magazine!! I stood their, held them and said "Kakoii desu" or something similar (yes, my Japanese was not the best, but I made an effort to show my utter amazement over the situation, without seeming weird). I carefully returned the artworks to the Editor-in-chief.
After bowing and thanking, editor Y-san and one of her colleagues showed us to a meeting room where we sat down to talk. Thanks to my interpreter friend M, I could show them a manga I had with me, that I had translated with the help from some other friends back home in Sweden. The manga's name is Walpurgis and it is about a girl meeting her secret crush at the Swedish traditional Spring bon fire. They read it through (only 13 pages) and gave me feedback on the spot on what they though was lacking in the work. It still felt surreal, everything, but I enjoyed every moment of it, knowing that this feedback is invaluable coming from people who've worked in the Japanese manga industry for many years.
At the end of the meeting, the editors suggested that Y-san would become my editor via email, and that I could start making manga one shots for their monthly rookie contest Ribon Manga School! It was surprising and we all left the meeting with a feeling of amazement. I had a Japanese editor!!!
More in part 4...