Teppei Sasaki/Synopsis

## History

While attending a manga focused art school, Teppei submitted his work for consideration in the rookie award, in which he managed to get second place with a one shot called "Robo-Nishi". After he graduated from the art school he moved to Tokyo, where he took up jobs as an assistant to several pro mangaka, which he's been doing for the past 4 years.

## Synopsis

As Teppei reaches for a child's balloon which had been entangled in the branches of a tree. He thinks about the fact that only very few people are able to stretch their hands out and reach for their dreams, and even fewer are able to actually catch those dreams. Teppei grabs the balloon's hanging string and turns to the child and his mother, exclaiming that he caught it, then loses his balance and falls out of the tree. The pair run over and ask him if he's okay and Teppei shows them the unharmed balloon which the child happily takes back. His mother asks Teppei if there's anything she can do to repay him, but Teppei just says it's no problem as it will make for a great manga idea.

Sometime later, in Shueisha's editorial department, Kikuse, Teppei's editor, is reading over the mangaka's newest storyboard as he sits nervously across from him. Kikuse quickly finishes reading and explains to Teppei that the storyboard is bland and terrible. He goes onto say that he's rejecting it, much to Teppei's disappointment. As Kikuse gets up to leave the building for a smoke break, he tells the mangaka that the reason he hasn't had a one-shot run yet is due to the fact that his manga is too normal, to which Teppei asks him if that's all the time and response he's getting for his storyboard. Kikuse says that he's busy and turns away, causing Teppei to stand up glare angrily at him from behind the glass door of the room, upset that Kikuse seems to value a smoke break over his manga. The editor asks him what his problem is, and Teppei responds by asking him to read another storyboard tomorrow. After some persuasion, Kikuse agrees to meet him at one o'clock, and Teppei thanks him and runs out of the building.

Now in his apartment, Teppei begins drawing his new storyboard as he thinks about the fact that he's spent over 10 years of his life drawing manga with nothing to show for it, knowing that he needs to properly start his career soon if he's to keep up with the friends he made at school. He finishes the next day at 5 minutes to 12, exclaiming that this storyboard is great and will definitely pass the test. Realizing that he'll be late, Teppei rushes to the meeting space, actually ending up waiting for three hours before Kikuse shows up. Kikuse reads the storyboard more slowly than usual, then putting it down and telling Teppei that it feels completely empty. He asks what Teppei finds interesting about his storyboard, the mangaka replying that he focused on making the characters quirky since they were bland last time, and Kikuse tells him that he's seen characters like them hundreds of times before and that he himself could've made something like this storyboard himself. He says that authors have to have a vision, then asking Teppei if he even has one of those, to which the mangaka replies that he just wants to make a manga that many people will like. Kikuse says that he should narrow his audience if he can only make manga as bland as at current, but Teppei shouts that he wants to draw something that *everyone* can enjoy.

Teppei arrives back at his apartment, immediately collapsing onto the floor as a storm rages outside. He reflects about his life so far, his request to attend a manga school and his friends getting to the finals in manga competitions. As he walks home in the rain during which he refused to buy an umbrella because it would cost 5 days' worth of his food budget, then to Kikuse's harsh advice and the time that his entry into a competition won runner-up. Teppei decides that if he says "I quit" now, he really will quit, and then, as he's halfway through the sentence, a bolt of lightning strikes his kitchen. Surprised, Teppei gets up to investigate the damage, throwing a bucket of water over the flames and expressing his disappointment over his damaged fridge, microwave and robot doll named Mirai that Okano gave to him.

Teppei's microwave suddenly dings, and the mangaka, confused, goes to investigate. He finds a volume of *Shonen Jump* inside and wonders to himself if he was so tired during his all nighter that he accidentally left a copy in there, but then realizes that the volume's date says it's from 2030, 10 years ahead of the current date, 2020. Teppei hysterically wonders if it's Mirai's mirai (future) power or a hidden camera prank, then opens the book and realizes that it can't be, as he genuinely doesn't recognize any of the manga inside. Noticing the cover illustration, Teppei flips to the copy's chapter of *White Knight* by an author he's never heard of, Itsuki Aino, and is immediately blown away by the content of the manga.

Returning the *Shonen Jump* volume to his open microwave, Teppei trudges out of the apartment and onto his balcony, then stands and screams "It's amazing!" into the storm at the top of his lungs. He excitedly lists all the manga's pros aloud and states how in awe he is of its author for managing to write a manga so great, then decides he has to read it again and runs back inside his house. However, the volume isn't where he left it, and, after a desperate search of his apartment, Teppei decides that it must all have been a dream that his sleep-deprived brain came up with. The mangaka then realizes that, even if it was a dream, *White Knight* was an absolute masterpiece of a manga which came out of his head, and then begins frantically drawing it all up. He cuts a few characters a details to make it closer to a one-shot than a chapter one.

The next day, as Teppei stands outside of Shueisha's editorial department, he realizes that he hasn't organized a meeting with Kikuse that day and calls him to ask him to look at his new storyboard. Kikuse sharply declines, and Teppei then opts to run inside the building himself, ignoring the security guard asking to see his entry pass, thinking to himself that *White Knight* will truly change the world if just given a chance. After arriving in Kikuse's office, he bows low in front of his editor and begs him to read his one last miracle storyboard, but an overwhelmed and irritated Kikuse swipes the storyboard aside and tells Teppei that there's no miracle; he's talent-less and won't ever become a real mangaka, and then tells him that he doesn't want to see him anymore. The editor in chief then walks into the room and picks up the pages of Teppei's storyboard, smiling and telling Kikuse that it's impressive that he seems to have talent all figured out. Kikuse apologizes for getting carried away, and the editor in chief then turns to Teppei and tells him that he's also at fault for barging into the office without permission. Teppei apologizes as well, explaining that he doesn't think it's worth trying tomorrow if he can't do it today. The editor in chief says that a crime is a crime, but that the manga isn't responsible for trespassing and says he'll give it a read since he liked Teppei's award winner from 4 years ago, much to Teppei's delight.

The editor in chief finishes reading Teppei's storyboard and tells the mangaka that he can't run it in a special issue, which starts to crush Teppei, but then adds that he thinks it's absolutely astounding and it should go straight into *Shonen Jump*. Teppei stands in shock as the entire editorial office scrambles to read and then compliment his *White Knight*, smiling tearfully when Kikuse finishes his read through and asks Teppei if he really wrote it. He replies that he did, and the office begins to discuss reader response and Teppei's new editor. It's decided that it will be Muneoka, who then goes to greet Teppei. As Teppei shakes his new editor's hand, he begins to faint, falling to the floor as he smiles and mutters to himself that he really made his debut.

Teppei travels back home to work on his manga with the help of his classmates, and his *White Knight* one-shot comes first in reader surveys by a mile. He celebrates his success with his friends, unaware that it wasn't a dream at all.

After returning to his apartment in Tokyo, Teppei finds that his microwave is still barfing out volumes of *Shonen Jump* from 2030, and realizes that that must mean he's been plagiarizing someone's manga from the future. He wonders what he should do, and then comes to the realization that, since it's a time machine, he may have effectively changed the future. Panicking, Teppei thinks to himself that that can't be the case, since the microwave is still creating volumes that include Itsuki's *White Knight*, and guesses what he's actually done is created a paradox and a separate parallel timeline in which the series is his own rather than Itsuki's. Teppei falls to the floor as he considers the fact that he still isn't talented, since his hit series isn't even his own, and then decides to put a stop to the whole thing as he reaches a pair of scissors towards the microwave's power chord.

As he's about to cut the cable, he suddenly receives a call from Muneoka, who asks him how his storyboards are coming along now that he's back in Tokyo. Teppei replies that they're not done at all and his editor says that that's okay as he has plenty more time, then reminds him of the restaurant meeting scheduled for six o'clock. Caught off-guard, Teppei stammers that he's looking forward to it, hanging the phone up and wondering what his excuse will be for dropping the *White Knight* series. He glances at the microwave and thinks to himself that he can still destroy it later, then exits the apartment to head to his meeting.

At the restaurant, Muneoka congratulates him, Teppei receiving the compliment guiltily and then deciding to tell him that he has no plans to make the one-shot into a series. Muneoka strongly tells him that it *must* become a series, saying that the one-shot was so well made that he could just reuse it as chapter 1. Teppei thinks to himself that it isn't a surprise the editor is pushing back, as *White Knight* is really just that good, but persists, telling Muneoka that he just doesn't have any desire to draw it. The editor replies by asking him what happens to all the characters' unfulfilled dreams if the series is dropped, saying that they're alive in every reader's heart and producing a wad of fan mail that Teppei received for his one-shot. Taken aback, Teppei thinks about all the fans who are waiting for his series to air, and Muneoka pushes further by telling him the choice to draw it is his, but that everyone will be waiting their whole lives for the rest of the *White Knight* series.

Back at his apartment, Teppei reads through all the chapters of Itsuki's *White Knight* that have piled up in his microwave, once again in awe of how amazing the series is, then, after finishing, lies down and cries. After some time has passed, Teppei, with a new determination, sits up and decides that he has to draw it.

Teppei turns the first three chapters into storyboards which he then delivers to Muneoka, who cries and falls backwards out of his seat after reading them because of how good they are. The mangaka has determinedly decided that, since he robbed the world of a future in which Itsuki's *White Knight* serializes, the responsibility is now his to bring the series into the world. Now at a meeting in Shueisha, it's unanimously decided that the series will be serialized, and Teppei is once again reminded of Itsuki's talent and how much of a disservice he's done to "him" as he exits the building.

As Teppei walks away, a schoolgirl calls out to him and asks him if he's Teppei Sasaki, to which he replies he is and wonders who the girl is. She introduces herself as Itsuki Aino, which shocks Teppei to the point at which he can only stammer "buh" as he stares at the girl, who sarcastically asks him what he means by "buh."

## References

1. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 10)
2. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 5-7)
3. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 8-14)
4. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 15-21)
5. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 21-31)
6. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 32-36)
7. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 37-41)
8. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 42-48)
9. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 49-51)
10. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 1 (p. 52-57)
11. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 2 (p. 1-8)
12. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 2 (p. 9-10)
13. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 2 (p. 11-17)
14. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 2 (p. 18-20)
15. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 2 (p. 21-23)
16. ↑ *Time Paradox Ghostwriter* Manga: Chapter 2 (p. 24-27)