Kazuaki Ishibashi, a manga author and editor best known for his editing work on Mob Psycho 100 and The World Only God Knows, published a lengthy X post/column about the state of his profession and the industry. While several aspiring manga editors he’s been meeting and training over the years have impressive credentials and communication skills, they read far less manga than what used to be the norm, he says.
When it comes to training aspiring manga editors, I’m honestly quite baffled sometimes. It’s just that… they genuinely don’t read manga.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve asked them, ‘Huh, then why do you even want to be a manga editor?’ In my mind, I’m furious.
Of course, I want new manga artists to read manga, too. But editors? They absolutely have to read even more than artists do.
He chalks it up to a change in environment. Back in the day, people were surrounded by manga on all sides, whether through bookshelves at home, friends and family’s houses, or bookstores, just to name a few examples. Now, however, he thinks the avenues have become more limited.
While it is true that manga has never been more readily available, he notes that the lack readily available physical manga has contributed to people becoming more selective about what they read. He says that even digital platforms, whose algorithms only try to cater to the readers’ interests, area major cause in preventing them from broadening their horizons.
Lately, the idea of being a manga editor has become kind of “trendy,” and the motivation of aspiring editors usually boils down to:
‘I want to work in the entertainment industry.’‘
I want to be involved with an IP’‘
I want to support creators.’‘
It just seems kind of fun.’
There is nothing wrong with that.
However, not many of them say things like:
‘Manga is my life!”
Honestly, nothing else matters besides manga.’
That kind of “madness” isn’t present as much anymore.
Whereas manga editors back then were seen as “experts” of the medium, whose knowledge and judgement are directly related to the number of manga they read and experience in editing, nowadays, the wealth of media can lead editors to believe that they can easily know it all. Ishibashi cites summary videos, famous manga panels posted on social media, and anime adaptations as a few examples of the ways aspiring editors “read” manga without actually doing so.
He likens an editor who doesn’t read enough manga to a music producer who doesn’t listen to music. If an editor hasn’t experienced enough of the medium for themselves, they cannot make important decisions that will make them invaluable to manga writers and artists. Topics such as whether a manga resembles something from the past decade, similar failed examples, and character archetypes are often brought up during creator meetings, and it is the editor’s duty to understand and participate in the discussions to ensure that a project is progressing in the right direction.
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