Chapter 173 Anime Goes Abroad
Although Akita Bookstore ranks fourth in RB, it is not on the same level as the other three bookstores.

Akita Bookstore does not have as many stores as the other three, but its sales network is spread throughout RB, and the geographical scope it nominally covers is the same.

This is also the main reason why Liu Zhicheng's comics business first found Akita Bookstore.

When you cooperate with top players, they may not even play with you, or even if they do, you may just get to drink soup.

Moreover, the performance of Akita Bookstore itself is not very good. In this case, only by cooperating with it can the highest profit be obtained.

"Mr. Liu, welcome to Tokyo, and welcome to Akita Bookstore to provide guidance." Akita Nobutada shook Liu Zhicheng's hand warmly and said with a smile.

RB people are generally short, and Akita Nobutada is the same, and he is relatively thin.

But his voice was very loud and full of energy. In order to welcome Liu Zhicheng, he even learned a few words of Cantonese.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Mr. Akita, you are too polite."

"Come in." Akita Nobutada took a half step back and invited Liu Zhicheng into the office.

This is an office of less than 20 square meters. Compared with many wealthy people in Hong Kong, it can only be described as shabby.

Nobutada Akita confidently introduced to Liu Zhicheng the comic works hanging in the office.

The comics hanging on the wall are the most famous ones in Akita Bookstore over the past few decades.

Judging from the style, it can be clearly seen that the comic styles of different eras are completely different.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said: "Akita has a profound historical heritage and is very respectable."

"Mr. Liu, that's a great compliment. I don't deserve it." Akita Nobutada said modestly.

"Mr. Akita, the main reason I came here this time is to seek in-depth cooperation with you." Liu Zhicheng said as he handed over a cartoon sketch of Kung Fu Panda.

Recently, Liu Zhicheng has registered relevant global patents for the image of Kung Fu Panda.

Includes patents for comic characters and peripheral products.

When Nobutada Akita saw Liu Zhicheng looking at the "Kung Fu Panda" comics, he smiled and said:

"Mr. Liu's company is indeed full of talents. They were able to dig out such a lovely comic character and create such a classic comic IP. I really admire him!"

"This is just the beginning, Mr. Akita. My comic company has prepared several comic stories.

As long as we have agreed on a formal cooperation, these comics can gradually enter the Japanese market." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

"Can I know the plots of these comics first?" asked Nobutada Akita.

"No." Liu Zhicheng shook his head and said, "This is a confidential matter of my company."

Qiu Tian Xinzhong frowned and asked again: "We worked well together before, why don't we continue to cooperate like this."

Liu Zhicheng shook his head and said, "Mr. Akita, you and I both know the situation of our previous cooperation.
I come to negotiate with sincerity, and I hope that both of us can truly achieve long-term and fair cooperation!"

RB's comics market was extremely large, even in the 70s and 80s, including comic newspapers and magazines, comic books, peripheral toys, animation and film adaptations, and comic image licensing.

Together, these have formed a huge profit chain with an annual output value of tens of billions of US dollars. It is extremely difficult for any external capital to enter this industry to share the cake.

The comics of the City Group are preparing to fully enter the RB market this time, so Liu Zhicheng personally came forward again, hoping to make a big push into the RB market.

This time, my main intention is to acquire shares in Akita Bookstore. Although there is not much hope of success, I must give it my all.

"Then I wonder how Mr. Liu would like to cooperate?" asked Nobutada Akita.

"I would like to invest in some shares of Akita Bookstore and hope to get Mr. Akita's approval." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

Nobutada Akita's face did not look good. The previous cooperation was that their bookstore purchased each issue of the story from the City Group at a fixed price.

The subsequent sales, whether good or bad, has nothing to do with City Group.

Liu Zhicheng ignored Akita Nobutada's expression and continued, "Besides, my company is planning to build a large printing factory.

In the future, our comics will be published and printed by our company, and we will sell them to Akita Bookstore at a suitable price in the Japanese market.”

"So, Mr. Liu is planning to fully develop the RB market?"

In fact, the normal way of cooperation between RB Comics and ordinary cartoonists is buyout sales.

Some great masters can extract dividends from each sale, and even receive commissions from future copyright development.

Nobutada Akita originally thought that the most he would get was a share of the profits, but he didn't expect that the other party would actually want to invest in his company.

If this is the case, the other party just needs your own sales network.

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "Yes, as for profits, we will definitely not treat our partners unfairly."

Akita Nobutada frowned and thought for a while, then said, "Mr. Liu, if you want to start a new comics publication in RB, it will be very difficult.

Our Akita Bookstore's weekly magazine Chaion is already a relatively successful weekly magazine. Wouldn't it be better to make use of the existing conditions to gain profits?"

Liu Zhicheng shook his head and smiled: "Establishing our own brand is our company's established plan, and this will not change."

Akita Nobutada was silent for a while, then said, "If that's the case, it will be difficult for our company's board of directors to approve such a cooperation plan."

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "Mr. Akita, I think your board of directors may have fallen into a misunderstanding. They don't think that I can only cooperate with your Akita Bookstore, right?"

Akita Nobutada glanced at Liu Zhicheng and said, "Even our Akita Bookstore finds it difficult to accept such conditions. Mr. Liu, do you think Shueisha and Xiaoshuguan will agree?

Or will Mr. Liu look for other bookstore chains to cooperate with? In RB, I guarantee that Mr. Liu will not be able to find another one.”

"I believe this." Liu Zhicheng nodded and smiled.

RB's several major comics giants have monopolized almost all channels, and it is basically impossible to bypass them.

Akita Nobutada asked again: "Then what does Mr. Liu mean?"

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "My meaning is very simple. If it really doesn't work, then give up the RB market."

"Give up the RB market?" Akita Nobutada was stunned.

RB is the largest comics market in Asia. The scale of comics here exceeds the total of other Asian countries and regions. In the whole world, only the market size of the United States can compete with it.

But the comic style in the United States is completely different from that in Asia.

Some of RB's popular comics can also achieve certain success in the United States, but they are still far from being called "popular".

"What do you mean, Mr. Liu?" Akita Nobutada frowned and said, "Giving up the comics market of RB, isn't that the same as cutting off one's own arm?"

"Although the profits in the comic book market are high, they may not be comparable to those of my other businesses." Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "If the performance of my comic books is not good, then there is no point in saying anything.

If the results are good, there will definitely be a chance to enter the RB market. No one can resist money, right? "

Akita Nobutada nodded and smiled: "Indeed, our RB comics company will also introduce excellent overseas animation works.
But introducing comics is one thing, and agreeing to Mr. Liu to publish his own weekly comics in RB is another matter. Whether it is Shueisha or other comic companies, they will not agree. " "You can't predict the future. "Liu Zhicheng said with a smile: "In this case, I will take my leave. "

Akita Nobutada also stood up and said, "I hope Mr. Liu can seriously consider the cooperation plan I proposed."

"I will go back and think about it carefully. I'm sorry to bother you today, President Akita." Liu Zhicheng said politely.

……

On the way back, the scenery of Tokyo streets outside the window was rapidly receding.

Liu Zhicheng asked: "What do you think of what happened just now?"

"RB's animation market has long been completely monopolized, and it is not difficult for outside comics to enter.
However, it is very difficult for overseas companies to publish their own collections in Japan, or even to control the distribution channels. "

Ze Lin Dalang replied that as the legal advisor of the RB branch, he had been standing by the boss' side during the negotiations.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and asked, "Is it not possible for me to invest in opening a few hundred stores in RB? Is it not allowed by law?"

Zelin Dalang shook his head and said, "Of course the law won't stop it, but there are already a lot of comic book stores in RB, and even among the three major comic book companies, there is a lot of overlap in their channels.

Moreover, many of the real channels for comics are newsstands, and the figures for this are limited by the government. If we invest in stores, the cost will be too high.”

"Hmm..." Liu Zhicheng looked out the window, and in less than a minute, he saw two small newsstands.

Before the advent of the Internet age, no matter what newspaper or weekly it was, the main channel for sales was through newsstands.

Because of its low cost, good location and convenient purchase for customers, this segment has been monopolized by the first comers and it is indeed difficult for those who come later to think of a way to crack it.

Liu Zhicheng then asked: "What if I acquire an already established bookstore chain?"

Zelin Dalang said: "Of course we can, but the distribution of comics requires cooperation with many bookstores. If we only acquire one, the effect may not be very strong."

"You don't have to worry about this. We Chinese have a saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The road must be taken step by step.
You can contact banks or investment companies first to see if there are any chain bookstores willing to sell, and then buy them first." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

Ze Lin Da Lang nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

……

The matter of acquiring the bookstore was left to Taro Zebayashi, while he and Leon began their building-sweeping operation in Tokyo.

Half a month later, Liu Zhicheng and Lyon used the funds earned by Liu Zhicheng's company in RB and loans from RB local banks.

After purchasing properties in major cities in RB, they sublet them and use the rent to pay off the loan.

In this way, Liu Zhicheng currently has a total of 7 small office buildings in RB, 5 in Tokyo and 2 in Osaka.

There are also several luxury villas and a loft apartment in Tokyo's Minato Ward.

Although housing prices are far from what they were after 85, this is Tokyo, and housing prices in the central business district are among the top ten in the world.

The several buildings owned by Liu Zhicheng can only be said to be located in the suburbs of the city.

As for bookstores, we haven’t found any good targets yet.

After Liu Zhicheng spent a few more days in RB, he and his group flew directly to Shanghai in the mainland.

The benefits of owning a private jet are reflected to the fullest.

After flying directly from RB to Shanghai, Liu Zhicheng had just arrived at the hotel when he received a work report from his resident employee Wu Peng in Shanghai.

"Sit down!" Liu Zhicheng smiled and asked, "Have you had a hard time staying in Shanghai?"

Wu Peng said, "Mr. Liu, we are not working hard at all. You don't know how cheap things are here. Just a few dozen yuan can support me for half a month."

"Of course. The average salary in Shanghai is less than a hundred yuan. Your dozens of dollars should still be foreign exchange coupons, which are a supreme magic weapon!" Liu Zhicheng replied with a smile.

Two years ago, Liu Zhicheng arranged for him to join his own toy company.

Later, he was specially arranged to work in the Shanghai Office.

This is to enable him to collect some information from the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the mainland according to the needs of the company's development and to prepare for future investments.

Wu Peng took out a document, handed it to Liu Zhicheng and said, "This is the result of my investigation in the past six months.
The people on the file are all elites of Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, and they are very suitable for the needs of our future City Group comics project.”

"There are probably more than a hundred people here!" Liu Zhicheng flipped through the paper casually. There were about a dozen pages of paper, and each page introduced some people's work situation, family background, etc.

"Yes, didn't you say the more the better? In addition to the studios, I also found some good talents in several universities in Shanghai and Jinling.

They all have great talent for comics. If we bring them back to Hong Kong and train them, they will definitely become talents." Wu Peng said with a smile.

Liu Zhicheng nodded and said, "Yes, with the addition of these people, our comic project should be able to develop rapidly!"

City Group's Tiantian Comic Weekly has been serializing the comic of the same name as the Orange Arcade Game for a long time since a few years ago, and has also developed peripheral products.

Although it was not very popular in the early stage, it has achieved good results since the beginning of Transformers.

At the same time, we will use the existing funds to recruit comic talents from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Over the past few years, the number of people working on comics has exceeded one hundred.

Liu Zhicheng created the comic weekly with the aim of entering the toy market in the future.

However, high-quality animation must be released first before related toy products can be developed.

Currently, the City Group is working hard to create 'Kung Fu Panda'.

Although he can have some basic control over how to draw comics, some details of the story, and the style of the characters.

However, if people from Hong Kong or other regions were asked to draw this classic comic directly.

Even if the results are not bad, they will definitely lack oriental elements. This is a problem of cultural heritage and cannot be avoided.

Liu Zhicheng pays more attention to the layout of comics than games.

After all, in the gaming world, except for super classic games like Mario, most games have a certain lifespan.

No matter how high the profit is, it can only last for a period of time. We have to continuously develop new games to maintain our market share.

But comics are different. A classic comic will not be eliminated for decades, and an IP may last a lifetime.

Liu Zhicheng knows a lot about these comics, and their ability to make money is no less than that of games, and can become a long-term cash flow.

Therefore, Liu Zhicheng has never been stingy when investing in the development of comics.

Only in this way can lasting wealth come to you.

(End of this chapter)