The annual meeting had been just a brief moment in time, and before long, the weekend passed in a blur.
Haruki now had three major things to focus on this week.
First, the Japanese New Year was approaching this Sunday.
Second, Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance had been officially submitted for consideration in the upcoming Aurora Manga Awards.
And third, the highly anticipated tenth chapter—featuring a pivotal moment in Kenshin's story—was about to be released.
With its conclusion now in sight, Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance was entering its final arc. Just a few more chapters, and the serialization would be complete—fifteen chapters total, start to finish.
Then, early Monday afternoon, Sora arrived at Haruki's apartment with Kotone in tow.
"Haruki, guess what!" Sora beamed as he kicked off his shoes in the entryway. "Your submission for the Aurora Manga Awards has been sent! The entry form's already with the organizers—they should approve it by tomorrow."
Haruki nodded, then tilted his head thoughtfully. "I've already qualified for the competition, but... how exactly is the winner decided?"
"You don't know?" Sora asked, looking slightly incredulous. "Didn't you say at the annual meeting you were aiming for first place?"
Haruki rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I said it... but I didn't really know the details."
Kotone, who had been setting drinks on the table, turned her attention to Sora as well. Neither she nor Haruki had paid much attention to the award before Rurouni Kenshin took off.
Sora sighed dramatically and folded his arms. "Alright, guess I'll have to explain everything. Listen up, both of you."
"There are over 47 prefectures in Japan, right? Every major manga publisher—whether regional or national—gets a certain number of slots to submit works. The number of submissions depends on the size and reputation of the company. For example, Kurokawa Publishing gets a larger quota, along with other Osaka-based publishers like Hoshikawa and Tatsuryu."
"Altogether, around 130 works are submitted each year."
Haruki leaned forward a little. "And how do they narrow that down?"
Sora grinned. "It's actually pretty straightforward. The award has two main rounds."
"In the first round, all the submitted works are displayed on the official Aurora Awards website. Readers from across Japan can browse and read them online."
"Now, this isn't some free-for-all like pirated manga sites. Only the first three chapters of each entry are available for free. If readers want to continue, they have to pay. And every paid read counts as a vote."
Kotone's eyes widened. "So popularity directly affects the results?"
"Exactly," Sora said, nodding. "The first round lasts for one month starting in the new year. Registered users can freely read previews, but to vote—by purchasing chapters—they need to register with real name verification and valid payment info. That makes it difficult to cheat."
Haruki frowned slightly. "Couldn't a publisher just try to buy votes for their own entry?"
"They could try," Sora replied, "but the cost would be huge. Between identity verification, bank links, and anti-fraud systems, the award committee has made it nearly impossible to manipulate the system without being caught. These days, hardly anyone even attempts it."
"And once the month is over," he continued, "the ten titles with the highest number of paid reads move on to the second round."
Kotone leaned in. "And how does the second round work?"
"In round two, it's no longer about readers," Sora explained. "The voting is done by the participating manga publishers themselves."
"Kurokawa Publishing, Hoshikawa, Tatsuryu—everyone gets a vote. Each publisher assigns a single point to the works they support."
"But that's not all—the Seven Major Manga Publishers also vote, and their votes are worth ten points each."
"Oh," Haruki said. "So popularity helps, but industry support matters just as much."
"Exactly. And there's a bonus: the ten works that make it to round two also carry over some initial points from the first round."
"The most popular work in round one gets 50 bonus points. Second place gets 40, third gets 30, and so on. By fifth place, the bonus drops to 20 points, and then gradually decreases."
Kotone glanced at Haruki. "That's a pretty clever system."
Sora nodded. "It rewards both strong fan support and industry recognition. The perfect balance."
As Sora continued explaining, the full scope of the award finally clicked for Haruki.
The second round of voting combines several elements: the automatic bonus points awarded to each of the top ten works from the first round, votes cast by industry professionals across the country, and the weighted votes from the Seven Major publishing houses. All of these are tallied to determine the final rankings.
By the fifth week of the year, the voting process is officially closed.
Then, during the sixth week, the ten finalists are invited to Tokyo for a live ceremony where the final results are announced. The event is streamed online for everyone to watch.
Essentially, the entire award is structured as a nationwide, high-profile voting event.
Spanning six weeks, it unfolds in two distinct phases.
In the first round, fans cast votes simply by purchasing chapters—each paid chapter counts as one vote.
In the second round, the focus shifts to professionals from publishing houses around Japan, who vote on the finalists.
No wonder this award carries so much weight.
First of all, just by participating, your work gets featured on national platforms in an official capacity. That kind of exposure is hard to come by, especially for newer artists.
Secondly, making it to the second round means your manga is placed directly in front of experienced editors, scouts, and publishing teams from across the country.
If you manage to place in the rankings, it's a major boost—not just in popularity, but in professional credibility.
It proves your work has commercial appeal and industry recognition.
"Now it makes sense!" Haruki said with a nod, the pieces coming together.
"Over a hundred entries… and you need to win over both the general audience and publishing professionals to break into the top," he said, thoughtfully.
"Reaching the top in this award really is no easy feat."
Sora smirked, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong? Getting cold feet?"
"How could I?" Haruki chuckled and shook his head. "If anything, it just makes me more focused."
"Even so, my goal remains the same," he said, his voice calm but firm. "I'm aiming for first place."
It wasn't about arrogance. Haruki didn't believe Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance was invincible.
But for him, this wasn't just a competition—it was about the reward tied to his system.
And the rules were clear: only first place came with a reward.
There was no prize for second best.
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 50+ advanced chapters)