Seishun Shōnen Magazine 1978–1983

To celebrate Weekly Shounen Magazine's 50th anniversary Makoto Kobayashi was tasked with telling the story of his rookie years at the magazine. A year after the 19 year old moved from Niigata to Tokyo to pursue his manga dreams he makes a submission for Shounen Magazine's rookie award, and wins the grand prize of 1 million yen!! He soon debuts with his first hit serial Ichi Ni no Sanshiro. In this short manga he tells the story of a whirlwind serialization filled with of ups and downs, and close friendships with his peers Shinji Ono and Natsuki Oowada.

Nominated for the 2nd Manga Taisho Award (2009).