Creative freedom is one of the biggest advantages any manga creator can get. It would not only help them write the manga according to their imagination but also remove any kind of restriction that hinders their work. And while most manga creators don’t have this freedom, Hellsing’s author, Kouta Hirano, was lucky enough to receive it.
Hellsing is a complicated dark fantasy story involving vampires and Nazis and focusing on the protection of England from other mystical elements. The story featured some grim moments that ideally should have been a topic of discussion, but Shônen Gahosha, the publishing house for Hellsing, allowed them as they never restricted Hirano.
Hirano once revealed that he was lucky enough to work with Gahosha, as it helped him portray the story of Hellsing in the exact way he wanted, which is a big deal for him considering it was one of his early works. Even prominent manga creators like Masashi Kishimoto could only dream of getting creative freedom, as he has mentioned a few times.
Kouta Hirano Felt Lucky Working for Gahosha
In 2016, during the Japan Expo, the Hellsing writer and illustrator was interviewed by Manga News, where he was asked about the freedom of tone in his works. The manga creator revealed that he writes freely according to his desires, does not let his imagination get restricted in any way, and does not impose any rules on himself.
Hirano stated:
My publishing house Shônen Gahosha is one of the rare Japanese publishing houses to allow so much freedom to authors. They never restrict me, and I think it’s the same with their other authors, especially within the magazine where my series are pre-published. For a mangaka like me who has such an atypical universe, it’s something very precious.
According to the manga creator, his publishing house, Shonen Gahosha, is one of the few organizations that allows their authors the freedom to write as they please. He also admitted to the fact that he may not be the only author within the publishing house to achieve this kind of freedom, so he feels very lucky to work with them.
Kouta Hirano’s Opinion About Other Publishing Houses
Talking about other publishing houses, the Hellsing creator stated that most of the publishers regulate what kind of content they can release, which restricts the creative freedom of any manga creator or illustrator. This is why he feels that if he had pitched the idea of Alucard and his story to others, he would have instantly been rejected.
Hirano explained:
I think most other publishing houses don’t do it like that and still regulate things a lot more. In my opinion, if I told another publishing house that I’m going to make a manga in which what’s left of the Nazis are going to blow up the city of London, the idea wouldn’t be accepted.
Many prominent manga creators long for creative freedom. One of them was Naruto’s creator, Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto once revealed that he did not want to include the Chunin exams arc in the series, but he was forced by his editors to include it in the narrative.
Ultimately, it worked out great, as the Chunin Exams arc became one of the greatest storylines of Naruto. However, it doesn’t hide the fact that Kishimoto was asked to do something that he felt was not necessary.
You can watch Hellsing and Naruto on Hulu.
