Chapter 170: Ambitions for Cultural Export

Otherwise, if Xia Yu failed to acquire the comics that should have rightfully belonged to Japan in time, and they appeared as originally planned, Japan's comic industry would become stronger, causing significant trouble for him.

Those comics destined to be popular in the future were like heavy artillery pieces. Xia Yu wanted to seize them as much as possible and direct them against the Japanese comic industry to help him conquer new territories.

Ignoring these obvious gold mines waiting to be exploited would be akin to looking for trouble. If Xia Yu were to overlook them, he might as well find a block of tofu to smash his head against and give up on being a big shot!

Next, Xia Yu pondered how to arrange the flagship comics for the four main themes, ensuring they aligned with the themes, guaranteed success as much as possible, and paved the way for the rise of original comics.

There were many considerations, and he had to think carefully to avoid making mistakes later.

After much deliberation, Xia Yu continued writing.

For the "Cute" theme, which emphasizes feelings of love and a healthy, happy lifestyle, the flagship comic would be *Pokémon* (known in Japan as *Pocket Monsters*), which gained fame through its game and was later adapted into a popular manga.

For the "Fantasy" theme, which refers to imaginative and fantastical elements, the flagship comic would be *Soul Land* by Tang Jia San Shao, a representative work of Chinese fantasy comics.

For the "Sharp" theme, which symbolizes bravery and overcoming difficulties, the flagship comic would be *One Piece* (known in Japan as *One Piece*), which is considered one of Japan's top three popular manga.

For the "Burning" theme, symbolizing passion and the omnipresence of youthful zeal, the flagship comic would be *Dragon Ball* (known in Japan as *Dragon Ball*). This comic holds the record for the highest sales of a single-volume series and is hailed as a "national manga" in Japan.

With these four comics, Xia Yu was confident that *Zhiyin Manke* would become popular. After all, these were all genuinely popular comics!

Among them, *Dragon Ball* is one of the top three in terms of commercial value in Japanese comics. It began serialization in Shueisha's *Weekly Shōnen Jump* in 1984 and continued until 1995. Its presence significantly boosted the magazine's circulation, which reached a record 6.53 million copies per issue by 1995.

However, after *Dragon Ball* ended its serialization, the magazine's circulation rapidly decreased, and Shueisha started to decline until *One Piece* began serialization in 1997, which helped it recover slowly.

This illustrates the impact of *Dragon Ball*, as one comic sustained the top position of *Weekly Shōnen Jump*.

In addition, over the decades, *Dragon Ball* has generated a commercial value of at least 5 to 6 billion dollars through comic serialization, publishing, merchandise, and entertainment adaptations. It continues to create value even today.

Notably, *Dragon Ball* holds the Guinness World Record for the most video game adaptations.

Now, Xia Yu was seizing *Dragon Ball* before Shueisha could, knowing that its influence would make *Zhiyin Manke* a hit and severely impact Shueisha.

Xia Yu still remembered the great times when, after class, he and his friends would rush home to watch *Dragon Ball* on TV.

Since it was only 1978 and there were still six years until 1984, the creator Akira Toriyama had yet to come up with *Dragon Ball*. Xia Yu had no risk in copying it.

Apart from the above reasons, another significant reason for Xia Yu to acquire *Dragon Ball* was the cultural aspect.

*Dragon Ball*'s protagonist, Sun Wukong, is inspired by the Chinese classic *Journey to the West*. The Japanese adaptation draws on Chinese culture while making money from Chinese audiences. Xia Yu felt uncomfortable about this and had no qualms about acquiring *Dragon Ball*.

As for *One Piece*, it is a manga created by Japanese artist Eiichiro Oda, starting serialization in *Weekly Shōnen Jump* issue 34 of 1997, and is also a pillar of Shueisha.

The impact of *One Piece* is also substantial. By June 15, 2015, *One Piece* had sold 320.86 million copies in Japan alone and was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the "highest-selling series by a single author." On July 21, 2017, the Japanese Memorial Day Association designated July 22 as "One Piece Day."

In his previous life, *One Piece* was hugely popular in China, with its famous line "I'm gonna be the Pirate King!!!" inspiring countless young fans. Although its commercial value didn't surpass *Dragon Ball*, it was still among Japan's top ten, a goldmine that Xia Yu couldn't afford to miss.

Of course, with Shueisha's two most important pillars seized by Xia Yu, whether it could maintain its top position in Japanese manga publishing was uncertain. Xia Yu thought it was very doubtful!

The third comic, *Pokémon* (known in Japan as *Pocket Monsters*), was adapted from a game and became a global sensation with its anime.

The game, titled *Pokémon*, was developed in 1995 and released by Nintendo in 1996 for the Game Boy. Its unique game system gained immense popularity, with annual sales exceeding ten million copies.

Nintendo leveraged this success to launch a series of games, comics, books, trading cards, and merchandise, and collaborated with Tokyo TV to produce an anime series and annual animated movies. By 1998, it had successfully entered the American market and expanded globally, becoming a world-renowned cartoon and Japan's national animation. Its related products have generated billions in sales, surpassing even *One Piece*.

This game series is the second-best-selling game in the world, only behind Nintendo's *Super Mario* series, making it a massive goldmine.

By acquiring it, Xia Yu could greatly boost *Zhiyin Manke* and potentially enter the video game industry to compete with Nintendo, which would be a powerful asset.

The final comic, *Soul Land*, even if not widely known, was expected to have a huge impact. Xia Yu was hopeful but also uncertain about how it would be received.

Since it was a Chinese comic, including it would reflect Xia Yu's strong expectations and ambitions. If *Soul Land* succeeded, then other Chinese comics like *Tales of Demons and Gods*, *Battle Through the Heavens*, and *Full-Time Expert* could also be smoothly introduced.

If these comics became popular in Japan, it would represent a true cultural export, which would be very satisfying.

While *Dragon Ball* and *One Piece* were fundamentally Japanese comics, acquiring them was less satisfying than promoting original works.