To create a world-recognized manga, Manga artists or mangakas work day and night, without caring for themselves. These mangakas surely provide the world with entertainment and gasps but in their journey to complete their art, they forget about their health which results in hiatus of the mangas. There have been reports of mangakas, suffering from chronic illness and issues because of overworking themselves.
Authors have severe health risks over the lifespan of their masterpieces due to a variety of variables. Everyone who has been watching anime for a while and has come across an anime or manga that is on indefinite hiatus must have realized the extreme stress of working in this industry as a manga creator.
During an interview with Grand Librairie, Attack on Titan writer, Hajime Isayama talked about the struggles and issues faced by mangakas that lead to hiatus or more severe health problems.
Hajime Isayama Talks About The Harsh Reality of Mangakas
In the interview, Creator Isayama explained how he worked for three weeks with almost three hours a day of sleep. He explained the struggles that Mangakas go through regularly. He said:
“The publication of my manga was monthly. For Attack on Titan, I had to turn in my work at the end of the month. I took a week off and then, as each deadline approached, it was three straight weeks of work with only two to three hours of sleep per night. Most mangakas suffer from tendonitis, but not me. No doubt thanks to the way I hold my pencil. On the other hand, since I don’t lean too much to draw, I suffer from terrible back pain. I use bands to straighten me out.”
Many mangakas have suffered chronic illness and sometimes even death due to overworking themselves. Mangakas like Yoshihiro Togashi of Hunter X Hunter Hiro Mashima of Fairy Tail, have suffered severe issues and had to take a hiatus from their works. Another biggest example is the tragic death of Berserk‘s Keitaro Miura due to a rare medical diagnosis caused by hypertension.
Hunter X Hunter on Hiatus and Yoshihiro Togashi’s Health
Hunter X Hunter is currently on its longest break in history, and some fans were not thrilled with the news. Yoshihiro Togashi, the developer of Hunter x Hunter, has had persistent excruciating back pain for many years because of draining himself out. Once in a note to his fans he said:
“The joy of being able to sit on the toilet or in a chair. The interesting thing about the body is that it won’t poop when you’re bedridden. Stuck in bed -> Crawl on all fours -> Find help -> Struggle to get up and go to the hospital. The worst part of back pain is that it’s only after it gets a little better that you can go to the hospital. When your pain is a ten on a scale of one to ten, you can’t move your body even a centimeter throughout the night.”
Mangakas are known to get sick very often which results in the hiatus of their series. Giving the audience what they love is surely hard work and it results in a big health issue for the manga writers.
Source: ComicBook
