Seasons & episodes
S3 · E17Zombies and Demons 2013-01-26 · 25 min
As +Natural's ratings plummet to 15th place in the rankings, and being informed by Miura that her story is not on par with the battle archetype, Iwase loses confidence in her abilities and decides to stop writing altogether. Upon learning of this from Aoki through Takagi, Mashiro pays her a visit and reminds her that she is Takagi's driving force and should stay as a fellow rival, although she is free do do what she pleases. Eventually everyone from Team Fukuda shows up and witnessing how much they care, Iwase is able to restore her resolve. Later, Sasaki is transferred to another magazine, but before he leaves, pays Nizuma and Ashirogi Muto and visit. He expresses his desire to see them both do well and acknowledges the fact that he had favoritism towards Mashiro and Takagi due to a promise he kept to Mashiro's late uncle, Nobuhiro. Nizuma shows Yujirou his storyboard for his next manga with a zombie theme, with Yujirou remarking that it is already better than CROW.
S3 · E18Weekly and Monthly 2013-02-02 · 25 min
The editing department go ecstatic over Ashirogi Muto's Reversi and Nizuma's Zombie Gun so both are published as one-shots. Meanwhile, Azuki lands the lead role in a popular soccer anime and Mashiro congratulates her, promising the breakout role from their future anime. As the votes come in, Zombie Gun sets a new record by getting the highest number of votes for a one-shot: 692. However in the second week, as Reversi is published, it places 1st and beats Nizuma's Zombie Gun by a margin of two votes. At the serialization committee, it is decided that both Zombie Gun and Reversi should be published, however they have a difficult time deciding how to deal with Ashirogi Muto producing two manga's weekly. Heishi seeks advice from Sasaki and they decide it would be best if Ashirogi Muto does PCP weekly and Reversi as a monthly manga. This news upsets Hattori since he confides in Yujirou that he wanted to edit Reversi.
S3 · E19Drawn Out and All at Once 2013-02-09 · 25 min
As Ashirogi Muto struggle to meet deadlines for the Shonen Jack and Hisshou Jump magazines, a backlog of work starts piling up. As Mashiro and his three assistants, along with help from Takagi and Miyoshi push themselves to their limits to complete the storyboards, returning professional assistant, Ogawa, steps in with two new assistants and is able to complete the storyboards. As the competition between Nizuma's Zombie Gun and Ashirogi Muto's Reversi takes off, Reversi manages to take 1st place in the rankings for three consecutive weeks. This results in Nizuma changing one of his antagonists for Zombie Gun and rises to the top once again, showing up the weakness in Reversi for having two protagonists. As Takagi realizes this, he slows the pace of his story to match the standard battle archetype which further results in their ratings dropping to 5th place.
S3 · E20Breather and Party 2013-02-16 · 25 min
Mashiro and Takagi discuss their intention of covering the final confrontation of the main characters of Reversi in one go with a shocked Hattori, but they decide to cross that bridge when they get there. Meanwhile, Hiramaru's Never Reaching You is selected for an anime while Aoki's What God Gave Me is cancelled. In order to cheer her up Hiramaru invites Aoki to an amusement park with the intention of proposing to her. On learning of this, Yoshida is initially intent on stopping Hiramaru, since he will be distraught if he is turned down, but upon remembering his very first meeting with Hiramaru, decides to help him. At the amusement park, Hiarmaru takes Aoki to the ferris wheel, but isn't able to propose since he loses the engagement ring. Aoki realizes what Hiramaru is doing and gives him another chance, where he proposes in an unorthodox manner and she accepts, much to Hiramaru and Yoshida's joy.
S3 · E21Hot Spring and Confirmation 2013-02-23 · 25 min
Mashiro, Takagi and Miyoshi go to a hot spring for the short new year holiday. Mashiro and Takagi contemplate how far they have come since middle school. As the year begins, the editors at Shonen Jack have a tough time deciding which series, Zombie Gun or Reversi should get an anime adaptation since both have compelling circumstances. Yujirou explains this to Nizuma who turns down the offer, but when he learns that Reversi will take its place he changes his mind. Aida asks for Hattori's approval in selecting Reversi but he is torn. He knows Ashirogi Muto might end the manga before the anime even starts and feels obliged to tell this, but then the offer might be pulled. Hattori discusses this with Mashiro and Takagi who both immediately agree on the anime, but they realize they may have to prolong Reversi for a year and thus sacrifice its quality.
S3 · E22Correction and Declaration 2013-03-02 · 25 min
Hattori announces that the Reversi anime will begin airing in October and Mashiro breaks into tears as their dream is at last within reach. Heishi calls Nizuma and explains why he rejected Zombie Gun, since it will help Ashirogi Muto to rise to his level and secure the future of Shonen Jack. Azuki calls Mashiro to congratulate him and recites lines from Reversi. Later Ririki Kitami blogs about her meeting with Mashiro and his involvement with Azuki, which goes viral across the internet. As rumors begin spreading, everyone worries the public will accuse Ashirogi Muto of favoritism to Azuki, something that could damage her career. This is confirmed when Mashiro, Takagi and Hattori meet the animation committee for Reversi. Mashiro tells Azuki that she should deny any relationship with him on her weekly radio broadcast to preserve her image. However, instead she goes public with her relationshiptells everyone about their promise. This has a mixed effect on the public.
S3 · E23Mic and Script 2013-03-09 · 25 min
After the radio broadcast, Azuki's fans seem to have calmed down and Reversi gets a lot positive attention. The anime producers want to hold a public audition for the female lead role and let the public vote who should get the role, which would be unfavorable for Azuki sinds she won't be judged objectively. Despite this, Mashiro agrees, not wanting to let people think she got the role through connections. During the auditions Azuki's performance is excellent but people notice that she mentioned "Schwarz" instead of "Weiss" during her performance, like all the voice actresses did before her. Worried how the different line in the script will affect her, everyone is worried. Later, during the show, the director of the program makes a short announcement in which he states the script was based on the published Shonen Jack magazine edition, where the mistake was printed in, but that this was corrected in the manga volume.
S3 · E24How It Should Be and How It Ends 2013-03-16 · 25 min
Following Azuki securing the role of the lead female character, Hattori, Mashiro and Takagi begin discussing their intention to end the Reversi manga in July. Later, Mashiro calls Azuki to congratulate her and they make plans to meet once the first episode of Reversi finishes airing. Hattori tells Heishi about Ashirogi Muto's plan, which he rejects and orders Hattori to convince them to continue the manga. Hattori explains this to Mashiro and Takagi and they decide to think about their final decision. However, Takagi has a separate meeting with Hattori. He states that he will end Reversi in 8 chapters and surpass Nizuma in both rankings as well as volume sales, making Mashiro the best mangaka in Shonen Jack, wanting this to be his wedding present. Hattori decides to take responsibility reflect the words of Director Torishima: 'when the company and authors are at odds, a good editor should stand by the author'.
S3 · E25Dreams and Reality 2013-03-30 · 25 min
Hattori meets with the production staff and cast of Reversi's anime as production gets underway. At the studio, Mashiro reveals to Miyoshi of his intention to propose to Azuki after Reversi's premiere and thanks her for creating their pen name: "Ashirogi Muto". As Miyoshi leaves, Mashiro and Takagi reflect on their journey thus far. Elsewhere, Azuki reveals her and Mashiro's plans to meet after the anime to her mother, while Mashiro reads his uncle's diary. Later, after the anime premieres, Mashiro picks up Azuki in an fashion, honoring one of his late uncle's dreams and they talk about the times they had been together. Soon, Mashiro takes Azuki to visit her former home where they recreate the scene of the first time Mashiro approached her at her house, before proposing. Azuki answers by kissing him and promises that they will be together forever. Eventually everyone attends Hiramaru and Aoki's wedding where Azuki catches the bride's bouquet of flowers. Finally, Azuki and Mashiro move into Azuki's old house together with the intention to officially have a wedding ceremony if Ashirogi Muto's newest work gets a serialization. With their dreams finally achieved, Mashiro ends the series with a monologue, stating that dreams are not achieved by someone telling you so, you have to make them a reality yourself.