Show-ha Shoten!, Vol. 6

A pair of dreamers strive to rise to the top of the comedy world in this story by Akinari Asakura with art by Takeshi Obata (Death Note)!

Shy Azemichi Shijima has secretly been studying the art of comedy. His outgoing classmate Taiyo Higashikata has big dreams of being funny but no follow-through. When the two team up, they just might take the comedy world by storm!

Competition for the Hiyama Cup is fierce! Azemichi and Taiyo give it their all onstage, but their fellow comedians aren’t about to let them win so easily. Meanwhile, the comedy duo has also been invited to participate in Wara-Ko’s Special Preview event, televised to a live audience! Can One Way Ticket to the Top showcase their talent without cracking in front of the cameras?

Akinari Asakura is a novelist whose previous works include the mysteries Ore de wa nai Enjou (I’m Not the One Being Flamed), Kyoushitsu ga, Hitori ni naru made (Until I’m Alone in the Classroom), Noir Revenant, and the critically acclaimed Rokunin no Usotsuki na Daigakusei (Six Lying College Students). This is his first full-length work as a manga writer.

Takeshi Obata was born in 1969 in Niigata, Japan, and first achieved international recognition as the artist of the wildly popular Shonen Jump title Hikaru no Go, which won the 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize: Shinsei “New Hope” Award and the 2000 Shogakukan Manga Award. He went on to illustrate the smash hit Death Note as well as the hugely successful manga Bakuman。and All You Need Is Kill.