Manga
author Tomio Hidaka (日高十三男) , known for "Ain Soph in the Finite World (Yuugen Sekai no
Ain Soph)", has caused a stir on social media after posting on
Twitter where he revealed a growing problem in the manga industry. In
his tweet, Hidaka commented the following:
- « By the way, it
seems there really aren't enough manga artists right now. I've heard that
even if the script is approved at editorial meetings, it can't be started
because no artist can be found. Authors who have managed to make a good
match with an artist might really be very lucky .»
The
publication quickly became a trending topic and sparked a debate about the
difficulties manga artists face in finding illustrators for their
stories. The lack of artists capable of handling the graphic design of
a manga has led to many projects being delayed or unrealized.
This
situation has highlighted one of the realities of the manga world: some mangaka
handle both the writing and drawing of their works, while others prefer to
delegate the artistic work to other professionals. The case of Aka Akasaka, author of
"Kaguya-sama: Love is War," is one of the most recent examples of
this trend. Akasaka has stated in several interviews that he now prefers to
focus exclusively on script creation and leaves the drawing to a different
illustrator for each work. This decision allows him to
concentrate on the narrative without the physical and time demands that manga
art entails.
This
phenomenon isn't exclusive to Japan, but it reflects a growing trend where
scriptwriters, for the most part, prefer to delegate the graphic aspects to
specialized artists. However, the case of authors like Eiichiro Oda of
"One Piece" or Makoto Yukimura of "Vinland Saga"
demonstrates that some mangaka still prefer to be responsible for both aspects,
even though this type of work is considerably more demanding and exhausting.
- " Weekly series
are not something a human being should do ."
- " Isn't the number
of mangakas saturated? "
- « No
mangakas available ».
- " All that's
missing is someone who draws cheaply, a slave ."
- " It's the same
thing that employers say about the lack of labor ."
- " It's not just
drawing skills you need, you also need the ability to deliver work on
time, week after week ."
- " If you pay them
well, what are high-level manga artists doing? Aren't they
drawing manga? "
- « Years ago, when a
mangaka started out, they were provided with assistants and a workspace,
and guided step by step .»
- « Now, anyone who knows
how to draw can become a mangaka .»
- " How many manga
magazines are there these days? And on top of that, there are tons of
manga we've never seen or heard of, published on web platforms ."
- " There are a lot
of manga artists on Twitter who are going viral with one-page mangas ."
- " Weekly series
are abnormal. Even just the drawing part is difficult to do in a week ."
- " We should just
let AI draw the mangas ."
- " In weekly manga,
if we consider one day off, wouldn't they be drawing 4 pages for 5 days
and dedicating the sixth day to scripts and meetings? "
- " I don't want to
draw a manga with a rubbish script ."
- " Drawing manga is
a very hard job, and it's not common to find someone with all the
necessary skills ."
- " I think there
are more manga artists now than ever, but are there still people missing? "
- " Wouldn't it be
better to do everything monthly? It would be easier to follow, and I don't
think everyone is so desperate to read quickly ."
- " Would you rather
have only one good manga come out of a bunch of manga, or have a mass
production that contributes nothing? "
