The harshness of the manga industry is not a secret; even international readers and fans have a clear idea of how toxic and exploitative the manga world is. It usually takes away all of the spirits from the author, slowly taking their physical and mental faculties.
Manga creators are known to keep up grueling schedules to survive in a cutthroat environment where no competitor seems to stop or sleep, and is always dishing out chapters and earning fame and wealth.
But if anyone deserved a break, it was Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of Dragon Ball. Yet, even he wasn’t spared from the crushing pressure and demands of the industry.
Toriyama’s relentless dedication to deadlines
Toriyama has always been known as a genius, and until his last moments, his thoughts were about how to give back and make the fans happy. He worked on Dragon Ball DAIMA and gave us the Super Saiyan 4 Goku there.
But the way he has been passionately dedicating himself without letting the fans worry has been going on for a very long time. In a recent interview on a podcast (KosoKoso), his former editors Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo, and Fuyuto Takeda revealed that Toriyama allegedly survived on just six hours of sleep per week.
This happened during his time working on Dragon Ball for Weekly Shonen Jump. This shocking fact sheds light on the extreme sacrifices required to meet deadlines in the manga world.
It feels like the manga industry does not need just creativity, talent, and a knack for charming art. What it needs is a machine-like efficiency so the chapters keep on coming out, and the series keeps making money.
In a recent episode of KosoKoso, the editors shared Toriyama’s secrets and work details. According to them, Toriyama had an agreement with Torishima: if he ever missed a deadline, he would have to move from Kiyosu to Tokyo.
Toriyama was a stubborn person back in the day; he had to physically deliver the manuscripts (not very advanced technology), so he had to travel to Shonen Jump twice.
Manga industry’s unforgiving work culture
This meant a lot of travel and exertion for Toriyama, so his editor wanted him to move. Even when fax machines became commonplace, it took Toriyama two years to finally get one. This is why he found himself exerting himself to the extremes to not miss a deadline and have to move out.
The toll of this relentless schedule was immense. Toriyama got such little sleep that he struggled to see traffic lights while driving; this meant that his work was already at a point where his cognition was being affected.
Despite the obvious health risks, he refused to leave his hometown for the sake of convenience, saying he didn’t want to live in “a place without a visible horizon.”
Toriyama’s story is just one of many that highlight the brutal conditions in the manga industry. Even the most popular creators seem to have gone through hellish experiences to get their works off of the ground.
From One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda sleeping only three hours a night to Hunter x Hunter’s Yoshihiro Togashi suffering from chronic back pain due to the massive amount of exertion, the industry has a long history of overworking its precious artists.
You can stream the Dragon Ball series on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
