Every artist and creator needs to understand their strengths and weaknesses before fully dedicating themselves to their art and Gege Akutami is no different. When accepting the limitations and liberations of art, there comes a time when you either explore uncharted territory or wrap up your bags and go back. There is no in-between.
Some people are stronger with poetry while others with novels. Some might draw amazing still life paintings while others find their affinity in portraits. It takes time to establish a strong base and with it, there is always room for improvement. With the changing times, there is always a need to understand that development is constant.
Sometimes such development makes one’s life easier. Akutami too came to understand that by incorporating his creative mind with his art style.
Gege Akutami was Open to Learn
During an interview with Tite Kubo in the Jujutsu Kaisen Official Fanbook, Gege Akutami admitted to the limitations there are to their preferences. As someone who enjoyed the traditional style of drawing, in an analog fashion with pen and paper, there is a lot that comes with the occupation of a mangaka.
“All the one-shots prior to my first serialization were drawn traditionally. However, I switched to digital once I realized I’d never qualify for a weekly series unless my art improved. I genuinely wanted to keep drawing on paper.”
It can take a toll on one’s health, cause problems in the hands, and be extensively time-consuming. When Akutami was only starting off as a mangaka, having worked on a couple of one-shots, their work was primarily done away from digital art.
However, as time went by, there became an understanding that if there was no room for improvement or change, there wouldn’t be a path to success either. So there needed to be massive change in the way they drew, shifting from analog to digital art.
Gege Akutami Abandoned the Old to Embrace the New
Gege Akutami’s art style is unique to themself. The way they have established their niche has taken great time and commitment. The goal was to get properly serialized. Having a weekly serialized manga would not only bring him great fame but also help in growing his stories. So to work towards that, Akutami chose to switch completely to a digital art style while still keeping the analog roots close.
“I was so stressed out from not being able to control a G-pen that I abandoned my existing manuscripts and worked only on new storyboards for a while.”
In the interview, they explained that it got difficult for them at first. So much so that the overwhelming stress was eating them from the inside. The mangaka had a lot of work in the existing manuscripts but chose to focus instead of perfecting the new ones.
The Jujutsu Kaisen mangaka started focusing on new and fresh storyboards, understanding and trying to get the hang of the pen. The entire process was complicated enough to make them pull their hair, but with great resilience and dedication, Gege Akutami mastered the art.
