Every manga’s beginning comes with a risk and Naoki Urasawa’s Monster stands as one of the biggest examples. Selling a trope that is not as common comes with the possibility of it being directly rejected by the editorial staff because of the risks that come with it. Not only that but where it is to be picked up, it is the audience that ultimately decides the success or failure of the projects.
To make a project successful is to crack the formula that makes it so special. For Urasawa, it wasn’t just the audience he had to prove a point to but also the editors. The tropes he proposed were ones they couldn’t find interest in it. However, with enough consideration, it was the formula of success that finally kicked in.
Naoki Urasawa Had His Editors to Convince
During an interview (via Reddit), Naoki Urasawa admitted that making Monster was never an easy task. For a series that later became such a hit, its beginning was much more rocky than many fans realize. For a series that relied heavily on mystery, for impatient fans, it was a recipe for disaster. His editors understood that and were ready to reject the story just as well.
When I was drawing Monster, what I was drawing was a complete departure from what I had done before. And it was said that there was no way this mystery genre would do well in the world of manga. That’s what the editorial staff told me. They were strongly against it. But deep inside, I knew that it would be a hit. It was interesting. And I wondered how I could convey that to people. I thought if I used a ‘pretty young man’, a lot of people would really respond to it and so I drew the young man called Johan.
When proposing the idea, the editorial staff was hesitant, to say the least. They found themselves wondering if the idea was even fit to use or should be completely discarded. They were under the impression that in the world of anime and manga, a mystery work’s chances of survival are slim to none.
Urasawa understood that were he to make the manga move forward, things would have to change a little. So he decided to make a character that was appealing not just to the mind but also the eyes; Johan.
Johan Became the Formula for Success
Monster wasn’t the only work of Naoki Urasawa. He later began working on another series, 20th Century Boys. While he expected for it to be just as successful as the first one, the case was far from true. He didn’t get as many readers as Monster and the success was significantly low as well.
I later drew something called 20th Century Boys. And it seemed like it wasn’t going to do the same kind of numbers as Monster and then I suddenly realised it. It’s because 20th Century Boys didn’t have someone like Johan. So your work will sell just by having a handsome man there.
At first, he couldn’t figure out why that was the case, but then, it was as if he had an epiphany. The reason why the crowd was more attracted to Monster than his other series was because of the inclusion of Johan. There was no character as appeasing as him in 20th Century Boys and thus the crowd didn’t seem to find itself attached either.
However, it was the inclusion of a stereotypically handsome man that made fans like Monster more than they did the other. It was a formula he cracked and understood.
Monster is available to watch on Netflix.
