Work Ethic of Comic artists in Japan

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog.. And this post shows that my assignment has finished hihi. Now I will explain about work ethic of comic artists in Japan, for those who has an ambition as a comic artist here is an information for you. Let’s read..

 Japanese comics called “manga” have become one of Japanese culture, in Japan Manga is read by various people from children to adults, many of them like Manga as a daily reading and some make it a hobby. Many very popular Manga titles are printed there and translated into various languages, and are widely distributed throughout the world. Many questioned about who worked behind the making of Manga? Of course not separated from a Mangaka or we often called them as comic artists, they worked from morning to night to finish a few pages or a number of chapters, they sometimes forget to take a shower, eat instant food or clean up the room to finish their comics. Japan is also famous for its manga characters. Some of them even spread in Indonesia and became a favorite of young people and children. Call it the Dragon Ball, Doraemon, and One Piece series that until now have never lost their fans.

The existence of these cool characters cannot be separated from the thoughts and hard work of a mangaka. Mangaka is a person who works to make manga characters in Japan, or if in Indonesia it is called a comic artists. Many people think that being a mangaka is good, getting a big salary from the pleasure of drawing. Then, this blog will explain the work ethic of comic artists in Japan that you need to know :

1.       Mangaka Works according to Editor's Direction

Mangaka's work which is 'just' pouring ideas in the form of images may not be entirely wrong. But you know, mangaka must go back and forth to feel rejected by the editor before their picture appeared in the magazine. Yup, in Japan nowadays there are several magazines that publish serial manga, both weekly and monthly. This refusal of multiple pages is usually because the ideas that appear in the image do not match to the editor's request. The role of the editor in the work of a mangaka is not limited to giving input. The editor will also give an idea when Mangaka is deadlocked. And when the serial demands are higher, the editor will prepare all the needs of the mangaka. Understandably more famous and favored by the manga character, the more crowded the schedule of a mangaka. They won't even have time to take care of themselves.

2.       Mangaka also needs an assistant

The struggle to become a famous mangaka doesn't stop at the editor's desk. They also have to sit for hours to draw manga by hand. Yups, just to make a one-page image, a mangaka can spend 10 hours. This time can increase if their manga gets a high rating and has many fans. With more than 10 hours per day, it's not enough to complete 20 pages a week. Therefore a mangaka will look for an assistant to help him complete his manga deadline. Sometimes the number of assistant for a mangaka can be more than one. These assistants have the task of thickening images or removing some parts and other supporting activities. Therefore, when the mangaka feels right with his assistant, this mangaka will form a team and share the results with his assistants.

3.       Other side of Mangaka's High Salary

Picture of Mashashi Kishimoto(one of famous Mangaka in Japan)

The salary of a mangaka is not only from royalties. Before being famous, a mangaka gets a salary from a work that was successfully published and calculated per page. But don't think that more than 100 pages are published, because usually a mangaka only gets 10-20 pages once published. The price for every page is between 7000 to 20000 yen. Well, if you calculate it per month, a mangaka can have a salary of almost 560 thousand yen, equivalent to Rp.44 million. So fantastic, isn’t it? But a salary of that size is not used for all of Mangaka's life needs. A mangaka usually uses the salary to pay for an assistant, buy drawing equipment, pay studio rent, pay taxes, and then the rest is used for mangaka's life needs.

4.       Mangaka's work schedule is very busy

In addition to making manga which takes more than 10 hours as mentioned above, they also only have to sleep between 3 and 6 hours per day. Worse yet, their free time in a week is only 3 hours in a week. Yups, the work as a mangaka is indeed very busy. They are required to develop their story ideas in each of the manga series according to the deadline given. Therefore there is no time for a mangaka to take care of themselves. They sometimes don't take a shower, forget to eat, and rarely socialize with their surroundings. The mangaka generally only made friends with the editor and his assistants.

5.       Keep working even though feel depressed

Dense schedules, deadline demands, and lack of socialization, are sure to cause boredom. The deadlock of getting an idea must also have been felt by a mangaka. But Japanese mangaka is well-known as very strong comic artists, even though they are bored and difficult to get ideas, they still struggle hard to finish the manga series well and on time.

Evidently, being a mangaka is not as easy as we imagine. Hopefully this information is useful for us and have a nice day.. Thank you😊