Mangakas are often subjected to an excruciating schedule that can often affect their health both physically and mentally. Hiromu Arakawa, Hirohiko Araki, and other artists find a way to break that cycle of scrutiny. The overly exerting schedules that often plague the manga industry take away so much from those who bring forth such brilliant stories into the world.
Some of the best works may find themselves tumbling down in quality and popularity over things they cannot control. One of the biggest reasons they lose touch with the quality is due to the ungodly schedules they must endure. The publishing deadlines often push mangakas to their limit, forcing them to work even when they are terribly ill. The Fullmetal Alchemist creator was one of the few to escape it.
Hiromu Arakawa Escaped the Mangaka Curse
First, take a sleep-deprived person, and add a boatload of stress on their head that then leads to an exhausted human being struggling to survive a day with declining health and increasing mental health issues. That is the life of an average mangaka who publishes weekly. The amount of stress they have to endure because of unrealistic deadlines often makes being a mangaka one of the most unhealthiest professions.
While the idea of a successful serialization may attract many, the dark side of the industry is haunted by overworked artists, animators, and storytellers. Some would break their shoulders without even realizing because of how engrossed they were in their work while others would have hands covered in callouses. Such a schedule could take away time from families and friends, leaving little to no room for oneself and only be buried in work.
The mangakas personally get affected but so do their works. Tite Kubo’s Bleach’s quality dropped by a landslide because of the conditions he was working under. His health was in no good condition yet he kept on releasing chapter after chapter. This completely derailed his series’s popularity. Interestingly enough, a simple solution could solve many problems.
The Boon and Bane of a Monthly Schedule
Mangakas such as Hiromu Arakawa and Hirohiko Araki resorted to a monthly publishing schedule rather than a weekly one. While such a schedule makes the readers wait for much longer, it doesn’t put an unnecessary amount of pressure on the minds behind fan-favorite works. It provides room for creativity and liberty.
The healthier the mind and body, the more unique ideas would be. Geniuses such as Eiichiro Oda would argue that he works best under stress. However, others wouldn’t mind working on a breezier schedule. The allotted time and deadline give room for improvement in ways that a rushed schedule could never incorporate. This helps create panels that are simply masterpieces.
Furthermore, the pacing of the story and its overall quality are less likely to take a hit because of such external factors. A simple solution adds more time and less pressure. It would be a compromise from the readers’ side because of a longer wait but it is no doubt that they would rather have slower released quality chapters than rushed bad chapters.
