Author
Rei Hiroe, creator of the iconic "Black Lagoon," recently revealed
that he has been battling depression for over fifteen years, something that has
severely affected his ability to continue drawing manga. Since 2010, his health has led
to several pauses in serialization, despite his work remaining one of the most
influential in the action genre.
In an
interview with Comic Natalie, Hiroe revealed that his mental health began to
deteriorate while working on "Roberta's Revenge," the longest arc in
Black Lagoon. While
he considers it one of his best stories, the mixed response from readers caused
him a lot of stress. But what really hit him hard was the death of his father,
who had been hospitalized several times before his passing. " When
my father died, I thought it didn't affect me that much, but it seems the
damage was greater than I imagined ," Hiroe confessed.
" I don't know if that's what triggered my depression, but
looking back, I think the stress of 'Roberta's Revenge' and my father's death
had a lot to do with it ."
Despite
participating in events and working on illustrations for "Black
Lagoon" in recent years, drawing the manga became an increasingly
difficult challenge. " I don't know exactly why, but I found it
increasingly difficult to work on the manga. Even when I wanted to start a new
task, my hands would just stop ," he explained. His editor,
Akinobu Natsume, also recalled a critical moment: " The
manuscript was delayed, so I went to check on him. As soon as I saw his face, I
knew Hiroe-sensei was frustrated ."
The problem
is that many people assumed he was fine just because they saw him at
conventions. “ When people see me at events, they think, ‘Oh, he
looks fine.’ But it’s not that I couldn’t do anything, I just couldn’t sit down
and draw manga ,” he said. Currently, he relies on daily
medication to function normally. “ If I forget to take it, I can’t
sleep, and my mood plummets. I’ve accepted that I need to keep taking it in
order to work .”
Despite
everything, Rei Hiroe has found a balance that allows him to move forward
without putting too much pressure on himself. “ I no longer do work
that stresses me out. Thanks to Natsume-san, I now draw a manga with irregular
serialization and no deadlines ,” he said. Although he doesn’t
expect his health to improve suddenly, he is focused on staying stable. “ Instead
of thinking about how to improve, I think about how to avoid falling further. I
want to stay like this for as long as possible .”
