Think twice before you wanna become a mangaka
Recently i started reading Bakuman, a manga by Obata Takeshi and Ôba Tsugumi (Death Note) about 2 teenagers who want to become mangaka (one for stories, the other for drawings). The main charas go from ok to dislikeable as the story goes, the love story is laughtable, but the main story about what they have to do in order to become mangaka, see every step they have to take (and knowing that all the mangakas i admire now had to run that path) is pretty good. You get to know how a manga editorial in the inside (Shuehisa here, they aim for publishing in Shonen Jump xD ), how the mangakas have to work, what's the work of an editor, what it takes a manga to keep on being published or getting cancelled, etc... That part is really great.
But also you get to know the FUCKING LOADS OF TIME AND WORK that take having a new chapter ready every week. Yeah, yeah, that one is not the one to be published the following week, but still they have a so tigh schelude! I guess we all know they work full time, so little rest, 'cause the mangaka themselves say it in the free talks in the tankoubon, but dunno, i still got the idea it wasn't so extreme... but reading this manga you realize it's even worse!! You see this fictional mangakas working their asses out, even with assistants, just getting 4h of sleep everyday, missing meals, all for having a shitload of pages done per week, even if get ill and dying! Damnit, that's what happened to one of the main chara's uncle, also a mangaka, he died because he overworked himself trying to get a new popular manga! And you realize this is how real mangakas work! The japanese way, tadáa!
So now, even though i heard about this a year later, i can't believe that mangakas, who work as hard as they can, can get treated this way by the ones who should be taking care of them: http://zepy.momotato.com/2008/06/15/raiku-vs-shogakukan-part-3/
Mangakas getting they originals lost, threaten to have them kicked out, badmouthed, being looked donw by editors...
Woah, well, i guess mobbing happens in every kind of job, but hell, how can you treat like this what is getting you your money? I mean, it's not somebody being late when bringing your coffeee, mister big boss, nor lazzing around on the computer!
But also you get to know the FUCKING LOADS OF TIME AND WORK that take having a new chapter ready every week. Yeah, yeah, that one is not the one to be published the following week, but still they have a so tigh schelude! I guess we all know they work full time, so little rest, 'cause the mangaka themselves say it in the free talks in the tankoubon, but dunno, i still got the idea it wasn't so extreme... but reading this manga you realize it's even worse!! You see this fictional mangakas working their asses out, even with assistants, just getting 4h of sleep everyday, missing meals, all for having a shitload of pages done per week, even if get ill and dying! Damnit, that's what happened to one of the main chara's uncle, also a mangaka, he died because he overworked himself trying to get a new popular manga! And you realize this is how real mangakas work! The japanese way, tadáa!
So now, even though i heard about this a year later, i can't believe that mangakas, who work as hard as they can, can get treated this way by the ones who should be taking care of them: http://zepy.momotato.com/2008/06/15/raiku-vs-shogakukan-part-3/
Mangakas getting they originals lost, threaten to have them kicked out, badmouthed, being looked donw by editors...
Woah, well, i guess mobbing happens in every kind of job, but hell, how can you treat like this what is getting you your money? I mean, it's not somebody being late when bringing your coffeee, mister big boss, nor lazzing around on the computer!