When you buy a novel, or biography, or even a history book, look in the back, and you will normally see a description of the author of the book as well as a picture of them. While there are rare exceptions to author’s not sharing their picture (J.D. Salinger famously had his picture pulled from future printings ofThe Catcher in the Rye), this is pretty standard for the book publishing industry.
When youbuy a mangayou will find the author bio at the end of the book, however you will rarely see the author’s actual photo. While certain author’s like Rumiko Takahashi do post their actual pictures at the end of the book, for the most part manga authors simply don’t do this, and finding pictures of them in general is typically not an easy task. Akira Toriyama was so camera shy he famously drew his avatar with goggles and a mask and wouldn’t have his picture taken until years afterDragon Ballwas finished. Why is this though? Why are manga authors so camera-shy?
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How Often Do Readers Know What their Favorite Author Looks Like?
If you were to ask how many manga authors have readily available pictures out there the answer is…not many. While you do have the occasional manga celebrity likeNaoko Takeuchi(Sailor Moon) or Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), the vast majority of manga authors prefer to keep their identities anonymous. For many readers, it may just seem that the author’s like making fictional avatars of themselves. Goshia Aoyama (Case Closed) humorously draws himself getting killed at the end of every book, so certainly some authors take the opportunity to have some fun with the gimmick.
The truth behind the camera shyness is a lot more complicated and sad though. The reason they don’t want their pictures out there is because of a privacy issue. While Japan doesn’t have the issue of doxing the same way other countries do, most manga artists works are read by children and teens, and those are the very people who are likely to pull a celebrity they love aside and ask for an autograph or picture. Isn’t that just part of job of being a famous person though? You would be correct in saying that, but it also needs to be pointed out that if you want to become a manga author, you might not have the time for these things.
The Free Time Math Equation
In volume five ofYu Yu Hakusho, manga author Yoshihiro Togashi wrote the following equation:
A(24-A)-PH
The equation breaks down to this: A = average hours spent sleeping per day (which for him was about five hours), P = pages of manga (which forYu Yu Hakushowas about 19-21 pages per chapter), and H = time spent per page of manga (which varied, but Togashi felt was around 4 hours). Togashi explained that when you subtracted the time for eating, bathing, and biological functions, he estimated that he had roughly 3 to 4 hours of free time per week to himself. You almost have to pause and read that previous sentence again to really let it sink in.
In order to produce a weekly manga chapter, throw in less than 8 hours of sleep (something doctors don’t recommend on a regular basis), and throw in the basic life necessities, the man only had a few hours of free time to himself. This is why in the author notes you read things like “I haven’t seen a movie in years” and “I wish I had time to read a book.” Whether you are a novice manga author or aseasoned veteran with a popular series, you are putting in an insane amount of hours in order to produce your series. Compared to the team of creators on American comics, and you can see how brutal the schedule is for manga authors.
There’s No Time for Manga Artists to be Interrupted
This equation puts a LOT of things into perspective! you’re able to now understand why creators of a hit manga typically never attempt to create another one. You can understand why there is a big push in Japan to change the publishing schedule to once a month or once every two weeks. You can understand why these authors havelife-long health problems. This also explains why they would prefer to be anonymous: these authors have so little time to themselves they’d rather spend what little time they have to themselves.
Can you imagine going out to dinner, in what could possibly be the only dinner you get to eat out of the house all week, and being asked for autographs and photos? It would be pretty frustrating. While we like to think that manga artists are rich, the only ones that make true money are those who have hit animesproduced of their work. Most work insane hours, churning out pages of manga every week, only for the series to fall under the radar for several years. When the series is a hit you are much more likely to be stopped on the street. Either way, these artists have far too little free time to want to be stopped on the street, and would rather have their face out of the book and looking at the pages they are working on.
