Every mangaka on social media is fucking up bigtime
I got a heavy rock to throw in my glass house
Today I’m breaking down manga/comic artists dependency on social media.
Class 1 uses social media the least, class 10 uses it the most. These are all written as platonic ideals/dopey caricatures. Assume all are operating at the top of their game and make a sustainable living from how they operate.
If you’ll indulge me, I want to build some strawmen to illustrate a point about artists and social media engagement
To start, we have…
The indie mangaka (Class 1):
An artist who makes independent, self-published manga. He doesn’t advertise it on social media. He’s not backed by a bigger publisher. There’s no editor interference and zero worries about what the audience thinks. Harder to break into the big leagues and make big money, but he’s content working on his independent stories. Isolated, but this is what’s most comfortable.
The serialized mangaka (Class 2):
Has the backings of a publisher, so they take care of the marketing and brand management. Generally has to listen to editor and audience feedback. Social media usage may vary, but they can use it exactly 0 days of the week and this won’t affect their sales numbers.
The (fandom-based) doujinka (Class 3):
Makes doujinshi based on pre-existing IP’s (thus, different from classs 1 or 2). Draws what he wants without being burdened by editor or audience demands, since he’s riding on the coattails of seasonal anime and fan-favorite OTP’s. The non-manga equivalent is opening an Etsy store and selling fandom-based merch.
Irl Hustler/Hippie (Class 4):
He uses IRL marketing/hustling/connections to secure creative work. Either he met the right guys in school, fell into steady work through recommendations, or joined an off-the-grid hippie commune that lets him Do Art after chipping in on the farm.
Prestige Instagrammer (Class 5):
He posts art scarcely on Instagram/Twitter. And when he does, it is a goddamn event. Everyone’s waiting for his latest creative endeavor. He doesn’t have any need to use social media in a traditional sense. The art is so good that it can catch onto the algorithm on its own.
The Artstreamer (Class 6)
He posts a little more than the Instagrammer. He does art streams and live Q&A occasionally as a treat. If he speaks, its mostly tutorials, advice, or sharing the creative process, since he’s primarily focused on The Art. Might use this to prop up his passion projects, or sell art courses/advice to fledgling artists. He might play up a character while on stream, but doesn’t get involved in any bigger “happenings”. He’s not in a rush to tell anyone who he voted for.
The Memer (Class 7):
Quick to draw the latest trends, popular outfits, joke templates, and “Draw This In Your Style” challenges. Very aware of which waifu is the most popular this season. A special subsection of this is guys who draw porn of new pokemon hours within them being leaked. Different from Level 3 Doujinka- since Level 3 you just need to check the Oricon charts and get to work on whatever people are shipping that season in time for Comiket. The Memer is a little more involved in the day-to-day internet trends.
The Art Reporter (Class 8):
Provides commentary on things happening in the art community, and has his finger on the pulse when it comes to latest updates that affect artists. This comes naturally, since it’s just talking about his creative community.
The Drama Reporter (Class 9):
When news in the Art World runs dry, the Art Reporter risks becoming the Drama Reporter. Slowly, the art becomes supplemental to the drama. Extreme cases are someone who’s just reporting about crazy happenings on his Twitter feed while letting an art timelapse run - if he replaced this footage with doing makeup or playing Genshin, it wouldn’t be a big deal to their audience.
The Shit-Stirrer (Class 10):
Instead of reporting what’s going on, like the Art Reporter or Drama Reporter, the Shit-Stirrer is actively poking his nose in things and provoking people. Most of his YouTube videos are a response to something another Shit-Stirrer said about him. Holds grudges, pretty stubborn. You eventually forget he started as an artist. Inversely: this might be someone who started with commentary and Internet Drama, and after getting a big audience, they launched an art career.
So notice I used “Class” instead of “Levels”. That’s because there’s plenty of overlap, you can phase in and out of different classifications, you can be multiple at the same time.
If there’s any ounce of realism in this list, you most likely have a day job and fall into whatever category best fits your personality.
I’d put myself in Class 3 (Fandom Doujinka), since most of my audience found me through my fan art. If we solely focus on my light novels, LumeBento is so hands-off with editorial input that it’s closer to Class 1 (PolyMonFur has an editor, but that was 100% my choice).
But there’s artists I just straight up do not vibe with. Someday I’d love to drop a 50k word essay on why they suck and tank my reputation down to a Class 10 Shit-Stirrer.
What I’m saying is, you might think I look really cool and aloof, but there’s a darkness in my heart, you guys. You don’t understand how special I am.
So that means I get a special category:
The Dr. Manhatten (Class ♾️) :
The omnipotent being who surpasses human concepts of space and time, who can see things for how they Really are. He watches drama unfold for the blood sport of lesser beings, but has no real need to insert himself. When criticized, he responds with “Okay,” as arguing with mere mortals provides no greater intellectual satisfaction.
Now that everyone knows how badass I am, why did I write this out to begin with?
It’s because I keep bumping into this sentiment:
“Artists should focus on their work.”
…And I want to say why this sucks.
Now that I’ve explained these hypothetical characters, lets plug them in the most likely scenario where the phrase “Artists should focus on their work” would pop up:
Shit-Stirrer Sully is doing what he does best: stirring shit, like he’s stirring up a delectable Shit Stew with extra crumbles. Drama Reporter Debbie smells Shit-Stirrer Sully and his tremendous amount of shit. There’s enough shit to fill the Grand Canyon and a heaping pile of seconds.
So Drama Reporter Debbie fires up her microphone to make her daily Art Vlog to report on this drama. “I just don’t understand why Shit-Stirrer Sully is stirring so much shit. He needs to stop being a gosh-darn bully and focus on his Art.” Because, remember, Shit-Stirrer Sully is still an artist. And so is Drama Reporter Debbie.
When Drama Reporter Debbie, as an artist, says that Shit Stirrer Sully should get back to working on his comic, it’s got more weight to it than some random nobody commentator saying it. Because this is coming from the wise words of an Artist.
And please, keep in mind: Drama Reporter Debbie is a better artist than Shit Stirrer Sully. At least one applies:
She’s produced more art than Sully
Her art is of higher quality than Sully
She has more Patreon/commission money
She’s an all-around Good Guy, she is Friendly and Polite, who would never do something so unfortunate as get into Unsolicited Internet Arguments. She’s here to condemn this crass behavior (in other words, she doesn’t even need to be an artist, since her moral compass is the Real art, man).
Regardless of her art status, Debbie has a point. Sully should definitely get back to his art. This is objectively a better use of your limited time on this planet Earth. I’ve never been to a funeral service that plays the deceased’s Top 20 Sickest Twitter Dunks.
But here’s the thing.
Taking the time to say “Artists should get back to their work” is a monumental self-own.
Because you, yourself, have to be at Ground Zero of the Drama Wars to be cognizant of what Shit-Stirrer Sully is instigating this week. I wouldn’t know what Shit-Stirrer Sully is even up to if it weren’t for Drama-Reporter Debbie reporting on it, and completely ignoring her duties as an artist. Thank you for your service in front-line reporting, Debbie, but you, too, are not focused on your work.
I have also seen “Artist should focus on their Work” as a thinly-disguised “Lalalalala I AM NOT LISTENING TO YOU” and plugging your ears screaming when receiving criticism.
If someone dips into being an Art Reporter and acts as a whistleblower for shitty company practices, the comeback should never be “Well, someone is just trying to start Drama, for Clout, and they are not focused on their Work.” If it’s bullshit, block them and move on (this is free marketing advice here, you’re welcome). If you feel it’s important to Address the Allegations, don’t go anywhere near “Artists need to focus on their work.”
Now let’s zoom out a little more.
Let’s remove the sentiment “Artists need to focus on their work” as a retort to online happenings, and examine what it represents.
The sentiment of “Artists need to focus on their work” is fetishization of overwork.
Because what other industry do you hear this?
Artists can have hobbies and interests outside of art. And this is something I’ve struggled with ever since getting into making manga. It’s not mangas fault, I have the neurotyping where I’m either 100% obsessed or physically incapable of caring. But you can’t deny that the world of manga fetishizes working yourself to the bone.
This is not a healthy mindset to have (I say to myself, in the mirror, every day).
Take Shiibashi Hiroshi’s Schedule. It’s been widely reposted, sometimes erroneously with the caption of “Average mangaka schedule!” Keep in mind he had two weekly series running at once when this was mapped out, so this brutal schedule is not the “average” - but the lifestyle of one weekly series isn’t too different from having two weekly series.
Plenty of people when they saw this- myself included- whispered, “Goddamn, that is Cool.”
Artists aim for Shonen Jump because they want the prestige of being in Shonen Jump (or whatever’s your favorite manga magazine, take your pick). They aim to join the ranks of accomplished creators who can consistently produce a new manga chapter every week while pushing their physical and mental limits. You get the additional emotional satisfaction of knowing your work is enjoyed by millions of readers worldwide, all while your characters are officially canonized alongside many of the Great Classics of Shonen.
The lifestyle is brutal, but that’s part of the deal.
Mercifully, this isn’t the only way to “make it” in manga. Monthly series and self publishing have been around forever. And there’s new alternatives emerging with online manga publications, so artists can chillax a little and have more of a work/life balance. OEL manga as a whole is entirely aware of the ethical implications of the weekly serialization. But there will always be gluttons for punishment who want the flex/challenge of weekly serialization.
So let’s say you “make it.” Your manga’s serialization begins in this week’s Shonen Jump, and your editor says you’re guaranteed that you will not be cancelled in under 35 chapters, and there’s already behind-the-scenes whispers about an anime adaptation. Nice. You go down to the Daily Yamazaki with your homies to buy a Shonen Jump and flex your status as the true Alpha Nerd.
As the cashier is ringing you out, he says, “You know, I overheard you with your friends. You said your series is in here?” And you reply yes and blush a little since cashier-kun has a gorgeous face, soft hair, and is inexplicably speaking English.
“Well…” He leans in, and whispers to you, “I don’t know what you’re doing here with your friends.*
“…Huh?”
He clarifies himself. “You should stay focused on your work.”
And you tell him this is your only hour off of work this week. You’ll get back to work after this conbini trip. You’re so sorry. Really. So very sorry. You’re really just here to stock up on ramen noodles before going back to the grind.
Alright, but that’s just one hypothetical, made-up scenario (I’ve had worse cashier interactions when it comes to manga, and trust me, They Were The Asshole, and I Was In The Right, I’ll Fuckin Show You, Sarah from the Texas Kinnokuniya , but that’s for another time).
There’s one artist who I keep thinking of. I won’t explicitly name them since they get unfairly picked on a lot by 4chan and the like (don’t worry, it’s not Chris-chan or any other affable bastard who fucked their mom). And during an art stream they said something to the effect of “Video games are a waste of time. I would rather be doing Art.” And I see this a lot. There was even a scene in Bakuman where the artist boi punches his PSP out of extreme zetsubou, and he’s lamenting all the time he wasted on vidya games.
And anyway, this real-life, not-in-Bakuman artist says how games are a waste. But here I come, swinging my dick that is a Contrarian Opinion. I think that this artist, specifically, would entirely benefit from playing an hour or two of video games a week. Their art, as charming as it is, had an overall flatness to it and felt a bit stiff. I think that if they spent more time navigating hypothetical 3D space, this would help them strengthen their minds eye. But their sentiment of “Artists get back to work, stop playing video games” is generally regarded as correct.
But please, consider this (my swinging dick is so big it has pendulous momentum): Is anyone giving Tatsuki Fujimoto shit for watching movies? If someone identifies a movie reference he snuck into Chainsaw Man, does anyone respond with “This is so very Sad. Artists should stay focused on the Art." No, because Chainsaw Man fuckin rules. If all we are as artists are beings of Art, that becomes boring fast.
Now lets stretch this even further, to accomodate for how rock-hard my swinging dick is becoming. Did anyone reading Sengatsu no Lion go “This is so Sad. This mangaka knows about Shogi, which is not a Visual Art. They are Wasting Time.”
No! Because that’s pretty fuckin silly!!!!!! And missing the whole point of the show.
I know not a single person on the planet has ever had that strawman opinion and I’m just making up shit to be mad about. So maybe it’s time to step back and stop making up shit to be mad about. But to me that’s what I hear when someone says “Artists should stay focused on the Art” in any context whatsoever.
People make comics because they love comics. And on the scale I outlined at the start of the post, I would guess most people aspire to be closer to the Level 1 Indie Mangaka, holed up and perfecting their craft. Looking at manga as a whole, the pay is low and the hours are brutal. Not everyone gets to be the Special Guest at an international convention with thousands of fans lining up for an autograph.
If you dream of having adoring fans and signing autographs, there’s way more direct ways to achieve that with way lower risk of karoshi. I can’t imagine too many people are cracking open Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” hoping that it will one day lead to them making a Youtube video titled Addressing the Recent Drama.
But here is, as they say, the thing. You have to have a tremendous amount of ego to want to make comics. Anything more than low-level assistant work requires your personal creative drive. You need to believe in yourself hard enough to push yourself forward. And that momentum needs to be enough to keep you working on your comic.
So on one hand: Of course plenty of guys who make comics get into petty internet squabbles, you have to be an egomaniac to even try this.
And working on comics is an isolating endeavor - so you turn on background noise where a podcast talks about Latest Happenings, and after awhile you think, hey, I could do that too!
Also- I don’t know how to naturally transition into this point so I’ll do it with giant bold letters.
I am pretty fucking dumb.
I know that there’s a difference between telling some Twitter dipshit to get back to work vs. telling an overworked Mangaka who’s having their first real meal in 3 days to get back to work.
I know this.
But I have trouble believing it.
Let me generalize some more, since I’m only 1 hour away from clocking in at 10,000 hours and becoming a master.
One time Joey TheAnimeMan (a youtuber) interviewed Inio Asano (a mangaka). And since this was a livestream they also had a third person on the zoom call live-translate for Inio Asano.
Fun fact about Joey is he’s fluent in Japanese. He didn’t need a translator, but his wider audience did. Anyway my takeaway was- I’m really sorry to the translators here, I’m so sorry, if there’s a charity for Impoverished Translators link it in the comments and I’ll send it a few bucks-but in this instance the translator was dead weight and dragged down the experience (Again: I’m sorry).
That interview stuck with me.
Who of those three should I aspire to be?
TheAnimeMan is a huge celebrity, I’m sure he’s recognized by fans in his everyday life. And I have no problem saying his Youtube videos are art, even if they’re a little more lowbrow and casual. But him being able to interview Inio Asano is a huge privilege for him, and he’s a fan of Inio Asano’s work. So it’d be cool to be a big YouTuber but it felt like second place to being a famous mangaka.
Inio Asano, while not totally camera-shy (he does occasional Minecraft and draw streams) he’s a little more distant when compared against an A-list Youtuber. I’d argue his manga has a little more prestige than making meme videos and podcasts - manga might be a pulp medium, but it lasts a little longer than Youtube videos. The stories Inio Asano have told have stuck with me, as have the stories crafted by many mangaka. There are exceptionally few YouTube creators that have the same impact on my life (
and are the only two creators on Youtube I hold in that same regard, if you’re curious)So then, of the three, the translator I saw as the lowest rung. They didn’t have the social capital of being a beloved YouTuber or the artistic vision to make something with the gravitas of Goodnight PunPun. They were there for utilitarian purposes.
So I walked away from that, thinking, man, I hope I don’t accidentally become a translator (how Embarrassing). And when I told a friend about this, they were confused. “Sure, the translator doesn’t have the same clout as either a famous mangaka or youtuber. But it’s easier to be happier as a translator.” They went on to explain why someone might want to be a translator, and this- truly- was mind-blowing.
I wasn’t factoring happiness, work/life balance, job stability. I was just seeing it as “Do I want to create art that expresses The Soul and connects with people on an emotional level. Or do I want the glitz and glamor of Social Capital? Do I want to be the guy getting interviewed or the guy doing the interview?” But there’s more to life than that.
The fact that I even factored in social capital in this feels shameful in itself- the romanticized Level 1 Indie Mangaka would have no need for such earthly matters. I feel like if I was better I wouldn’t have any need to write this post, and even running a Substack feels like some level of whoring myself out. I find most social interactions exhausting but I still get lonely. So I don’t know what to do. Do I focus on the art, or do I just quit it all together and use my newfound free time to foster more irl connections? I’m sure there’s a balance, but I’m only just recently learning this is possible.
So when I hear “Artists, stay focused on the art” this is what I’m hearing
Work good, fun bad
I have better, more enlightened, hobbies/attitude than you
Any attempt at broadening your horizons beyond art should immediately be stopped
Anyway, why do I care?
I’ve been talking a lot about manga but you know what.
You know what.
Here’s the big dang plot twist of this post.
I’m a fraud, armchair mangaka, otherwise known as a serialized ranobeka (or, Light Novel Creator). Do you know why I chose Light Novels over Manga?
I saw the average schedule for a Light Novel Author, and whispered, “Goddamn, that is Cool.”
Since becoming a serialized light novelist, I play Pokemon for a solid 13 hours a day. I have the extensive shiny collection and soiled diapers to prove it. And doing this is good. This makes me more like Fujimoto, who is very cool, and Chainsaw Man is the only thing of any worth in Shonen Jump since Dr. Stone ended. Fuck manga, light novels are where its at. I’m Dr. Manhatten and the rest of you losers suck.
YOU MENTIONED ME 😳
Gosh it means a lot to know you enjoy my youtube content to that point 😭❤️
Some deep lore: I have translation credits to my name. I think this information makes this post a little bit funnier.