That’s a fair observation but generally the mangaka does all of the “name” (japanese for storyboards) and also plots the pages and works with the editor. They do often seem to do more of what you might say is the equivalent of “keyframes” in anime, where they draw the parts of the characters most recognizable as their style and keep the show running.
It is a bit too much of a business move when you have a your assistants doing all the background, all the detail work like buildings and perspectives, but at the same time I guess it is a business and there’s weekly or bi-weekly deadlines and there’s a really dark history of mangaka going for years without taking breaks, becoming physically ill and not resting because their numbers in publications are falling.
Also getting dropped from serialization is really bad because then you’re starting at the bottom again and trying to get re-serialized and there’s also quite a few mangaka who have literally worked themselves to death. Extremely dark side of the serialized entertainment industry in Japan. More than just manga and anime though, there’s a huge part of Japanese culture that expects you to work yourself to death if that’s what the job calls for.
Anyway, from an artist perspective I totally agree. I’m accustomed to stuff with one singular driving force or at most a penciller and an inker. Of course with the Marvel / DC fare, there is a team as well, but most of the visual art is handled by 2 or 3 people including the colorist, and back in the day it included a professional typographer to do the lettering but I suspect most of that is done with software these days.
I don’t know that she works alone but her style is fantastic and super punk rock. I’ve heard the criticisms that it’s too stylized or it doesn’t look right or “real” but shit man, what is the point of having a style if it’s only going to look like whatever they’re doing in shonen comics or whatever. I hate that generic serialized garbage like the memorable protagonist hair silhouette trope etc.
Easy to get triggered talking about this stuff.
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