As visitors began to enter, Hisashi soon met up with them and led them into the venue through the staff entrance.
However, before officially entering the event venue, Hisashi asked them to wait for a moment, saying he needed to go get something.
Before long, he returned with his hands full of paper bags and distributed one to each of them.
Hisashi smiled and said, "These are gifts for attending the event; everyone gets one."
"? Wow, that's amazing!"
Hayato, who was attending such an event for the first time, exclaimed in surprise, while the others curiously examined the items inside the paper bags, Akira included.
It seemed that flashy, custom gift bags weren't the trend back then, so the bags were simply printed with the logos of Shueisha, Shonen Jump, and JumpFesta; there wasn't much to say about them.
As for the gifts, they were sticker sets, keychains, postcards, and bookmarks featuring various characters and works from Shonen Jump.
However, the most important item was actually a guidebook.
It contained the distribution of various booths, the locations and schedules for different activities, the locations of restaurants and food courts, restroom locations, and so on.
In an era without mobile maps or electronic guide maps, this guidebook was quite essential.
Akira opened the guidebook and took a look. After seeing the booths for the various works listed, even he couldn't help but exclaim, "Isn't this lineup a bit too luxurious?"
"That goes without saying."
Hisashi smiled with a hint of pride, "After all, this is the first-ever JumpFesta. To ensure its success, we at Shonen Jump have practically emptied our coffers."
"Mazinger Z," "Devilman," "kochikame" — — — —
"Dr. Slump," "Captain Tsubasa," "Fist of the North Star," "Cat's Eye," "City Hunter" — — — —
"Dragon Ball," "slam dunk," "yuyu hakusho," "Saint Seiya," "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" — — — —
"hell teacher nube," "Rurouni Kenshin," "yu-gi-oh!," "One Piece" — — — —
Although Shonen Jump, Shonen Sunday, and Shonen Magazine are known as the three major shonen weeklies.
But when it comes to a magazine capable of supporting a large-scale exhibition for 80,000 people on its own, and able to bring out so many heavyweight works at once, Shonen Jump is likely the only one.
For Hisashi, as a senior editor of the Shonen Jump Editorial Department, he had watched many of these works grow up with his own eyes, and had even personally participated in them.
Therefore, now that he was in the middle of this exhibition, it was hard for him not to feel a sense of pride.
That said, taking the opportunity while Akira was looking at the guidebook, Hisashi pointed out their current location and then led them to a door.
Behind that door was the actual event venue.
"Anyway, I hope everyone has a great time today."
Hisashi smiled, then handed Akira a backstage pass and said, "I'll be back in a while. If anything comes up, just call me."
"I know."
After watching Hisashi leave, Hayato couldn't wait any longer and pushed open the door in front of them. The group entered, and the view suddenly opened up —
The spot where they emerged was a side door in Exhibition Area 2 of the East Exhibition Hall.
It was less than 20 minutes before the official opening, and although it was still relatively empty overall, there were already quite a few visitors here.
Therefore, appearing from the side door, they looked a bit conspicuous.
However, most visitors just glanced at them curiously and quickly returned to their own objectives, not paying too much attention to their presence.
The visitors who were able to arrive here at this time were basically hardcore otaku who had started queuing at the entrance several hours in advance to secure the front row.
For them, unless they saw the author of their favorite work in person, nothing was more attractive than rushing to the exhibition area of their favorite work to visit and snap up the corresponding merchandise.
And this situation was, of course, something Akira and his group were happy to see.
"Oh right,"
Before they officially started exploring, Akira took four 10,000-yen bills from his wallet and handed one each to the three assistants, including Daisuke's wife, Tanaka Aoi.
He smiled and said, "This is your activity budget for today."
"Just like Mr. Sasaki said earlier, I hope you can all have a great time and enjoy yourselves at the exhibition today, and relax a little."
Although the exhibition tickets were free and most activities were free, whether it was buying food and water or purchasing merchandise, these things definitely cost money.
However, no one understood the financial situation of his three assistants better than he did.
In fact, all three of them were carrying bags today, which, unsurprisingly, were likely filled with water and food, looking as if they hadn't planned on any extra spending.
Some of them might have been strapped for cash, or perhaps they were simply used to this way of doing things, feeling that spending extra money was a waste.
But regardless, this 10,000 yen would be enough to give them a few more options.
Or even if they took it home to save, it was still a gain of sorts.
"This — — — —"
However, the four of them hesitated. After exchanging glances, Daisuke said tentatively, "Mochizuki-sensei, thank you very much for your kindness, but this is really too much — — — —"
"— — Stop."
Akira cut him off, forcefully shoved the money into their hands, and teased, "Anyone who didn't know better would think I handed you each a million."
"If we delay any longer, the crowds will only get bigger, and I don't have time to stand here dawdling with you."
"Alright, just take it."
As he said this, out of Rin's sight, he quietly gave them a look.
After a brief moment of surprise, Hayato was the first to react. His attitude shifted immediately, and he happily accepted his share of the activity budget.
"Then thank you, Mochizuki-sensei!"
After thanking him, he turned to the other two and grinned, "I think Mochizuki-sensei makes a lot of sense. While the crowds aren't too bad yet, I want to go check out the 'Fist of the North Star' exhibition area immediately. What about you guys?"
Hearing him say this, Shota and Daisuke immediately caught on, their expressions clearing, and they no longer declined.
Then, Shota said somewhat embarrassedly, "In that case, I want to go see 'Cat's Eye' first — —"
You rascal!
Akira and the others looked sideways at him, surprised; they hadn't expected him to be that kind of person—he hid it quite well.
But, good taste.
Akira silently gave him a thumbs up in his heart.
After whispering with his wife for a moment, Daisuke smiled and said, "We're planning to go visit the 'slam dunk' exhibition area first."
Very good.
He smiled with satisfaction and said, "In that case, let's all go our separate ways for now. Have a great time, everyone."
"Yes!" × 3
After the three assistants answered in unison, they turned and left without hesitation, rushing toward their respective destinations.
Thus, out of the group that came together, only he and Rin remained.
Only then did he turn his head and ask Rin, who was beside him, with a smile, "Speaking of which, Shimizu-san, is there anywhere you'd like to go first?"
Rin felt that the sudden change in the three assistants' attitudes was a bit strange, but before she could think too much about it, she heard Akira's question.
"Hmm — —"
She pondered, lost in thought, feeling a bit indecisive.
Because, compared to visiting any exhibition area, she wanted to visit with Akira more.
Moreover, now that there were only the two of them left, she didn't want to waste such a good opportunity.
So she thought for a moment and asked in return, "Actually, I'm quite interested in every work, so the order doesn't really matter to me."
"But does Mochizuki-kun have any ideas?"
Seeing her like this, the corners of Akira's mouth couldn't help but curl into a smile.
He smiled and suggested, "Then, Shimizu-san, would you like to go see 'Dragon Ball' with me?"
Rin accepted happily, "Sure."