Hajime Igarashi

Hajime Igarashi is a character in Time Paradox Ghostwriter. He is an artist assistant that works under Teppei Sasaki for his White Knight series.

Appearance
Hajime has neat, dark hair that reaches his neck and is separated by a part on his left side. He wears a pair of dark-rimmed, rectangular glasses at all times.

When he first meets Teppei, Hajime is seen wearing a light jacket over a dark t-shirt with his bag hanging over his shoulder. A few days later, he sports a light cardigan over a dark t-shirt and dark trousers.

Personality
Hajime appears to be a very formal man of few words, frequently tweaking his glasses when he is in his seemingly stoic mood. However, he takes great pride in working on White Knight and holds a deep sense of respect for Teppei, especially due to how Teppei inspired him to create manga again.

History
Becoming a mangaka was a dream Hajime held since he was a child. Before becoming an assistant to Teppei Sasaki on the manga White Knight, Hajime made his debut in Jump with a one-shot and was an honorary winner of one of Shonen Jump's monthly awards.

Despite his successes, many of the series he created were rejected. Hajime was discouraged to the point where he did not know what would make for a good manga and one day became unable to draw. However, upon reading the White Knight one-shot, he rediscovered his answer and began a fresh start with his manga.

Synopsis
Hajime is introduced as one of the four new art assistants working to make the White Knight manga a reality. Upon greeting Teppei, Hajime states that he respects him and it is a pleasure to meet him.

A few days after the initial meeting, Hajime and the other assistants make their way to Teppei's studio to check on his progress for the first chapter, consisting of 54 pages. Upon arriving, the assistants enter an unbearably hot room, and Hajime compares it to a sauna.

After Teppei tells them that he hasn't completed the pages and wants to redraw the characters, Genki enthusiastically believes that with enough guts they can make the deadline. On the other hand, Hajime is more pragmatic and tries to reason that they cannot afford to miss the deadline for the first chapter of the series.

Once Teppei finishes the redraw, Hajime is seriously impressed after seeing it and states that the greatest of all time is born. However, after hearing Itsuki's opinion, Teppei rips up the redrawn chapter in front of them and claims it's not good enough, immensely shocking Hajime and the others.

When the first chapter's final draft is completed at last, Hajime comments that it is simply amazing.

As Muneoka announces that the first chapter has placed first in surveys, Hajime states that the accomplishment is brilliant while the rest of the team cheers.

Trivia

 * Hajime is the honorary award winner of Shonen Jump's monthly prize.
 * He likes sweet bean flavored popsicles.