How the Pandemic Changed Manga Creation

Hey gang! I was recently notified by @htSELFIE on Twitter that NHK World did a piece on how COVID-19 has impacted the manga industry. They interview Golgo 13 creator SAITO Takao-sensei, who still creates his manga with ink and paper. As such, Saito-sensei had to shut down production for a month until he came up with a way for he and his assistants to be able to work.

They also interview AKAMATSU Ken-sensei, who of course is the creator of UQ Holder. Laughably, NHK World called UQ Holder a “vampire” series. 😅 That aside, since Akamatsu-sensei produces his manga digitally, his assistants can work from home and commune via video conference.

Here’s the video piece from NHK World.

If the video disappears, let me know and I’ll activate a spare. 😄

Update: Thanks to htSELFIE for letting me know that NHK had decided to make their video private. Here’s a backup copy, for what it is worth.

That said, let me know what you think about how manga is created these days in Japan. Also, big thanks to htSELFIE for alerting me to this interesting piece from NHK!