Mugen Monday - Fifteenth Edition

Creative juices can sometimes be ‘easy come, easy go’. Whether a digital artist, a storyteller, a novelist, or a Mangaka for that matter - we all go through difficulties in pouring our creative soul unto a work we had begun in the past.

Yet some of these monsters in the world called Manga authors do not stutter from such setbacks. Take for example Oda, although I would not go so far as to make the bolsterous claim that he never flinches - which he does for he too is human, but all in all he has set quite the standard.

Another mangaka that is often revered as one of the top mangaka of the industry has to be Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of Hunter x Hunter and Yu Yu Hakusho.

Both of his works have remained impeccably on the top since time immemorial, or since the 90s to be more technical and less poetic.

Yet due to the recent surges of health issues related to the spine, Togashi has been extremely unable (if that’s a word) to continue his work as a Mangaka.

Mind you, unlike the kind who fall out of their creative juices, Togashi has done a tremendous job for a person who has difficulty standing and thus draws his manga while lying prone on the bed.

Yet in a recent rumour (if such is right), we come to see that Togashi apparently has let someone know the ending of Hunter x Hunter - in a contingency that if he were to pass away, then at least someone shall be able to continue his legacy. In an epic ‘All Might gives his hair follicle to Midoriya’ moment of passing on the baton.

^{(Although I would add the entire situation regarding Togashi is quite poignant as well, and as such our team at Spiel Anime do wish him lightspeed)}

Similarly, when we take things further into a more diverse range, we find not just one author, but multiple authors of different art working to animate a certain Manga.

And the recent weeks’ hot news has been the situation related to Jujutsu Kaisen and Mappa.

Why the imperious staff animators situation behind Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is leading to episode delays

Long story short, the entire situation revolves around Mappa’s giving its staff an insane overload of work, insane overtime, and hardly any pay that justifies such overbearing pressure. Yet through it all, the animators at Mappa have delivered. While most fans are sympathetic to the situation, some have called out the JJK production quality dropping for a while now.

We have gone a length deeper into this topic below in the next segment of this newsletter, into something that is quite poignant as well - why the situation of Jujutsu Kaisen may not improve at Mappa and the potential consequences of this entire fallout.

Oh before we move forward, here’s this amazing article by Laveena and Rishiraj that has taken our breath away this last week.

- From the Editor’s Desk

Rhytham Das, Editor-in-Chief, Spiel Anime