To be fair she had to work her ass off to get to where she is now. She debuted in 1995 and from what I can tell her postponing and monthly updates have only started recently. I think she deserves a little break. Just my opinion though. I think it’s hard for mangagkas to make a living in general due to websites like mangago that give away manga for free (hypocrital for me to talk about though I try and buy what I can at bookstores with my broke ass) I mean if you look on Baka updates she is currently working on/or finished writing 27 books since 1995 that’s more than a book a year which is quite Impressive in my opinion. Just my take on it. I don’t really know how other magakas would feel about her situation though. Maybe they would be upset? Maybe they would be proud of her for becoming such a big name? Who knows, it probably depends on the mangaka.
Also I could be wrong about it only happening recently, I don’t tend to keep track of updates. Also I believe that she is currently working on other novels along with this one so updates could be seen as more scattered due to that. I’m not that big of a fan of Yamane Ayano and don’t keep track of her current work so I could also be wrong about that.
Yeah, I know she had to work very hard to get where she is. As I said, I really respect the impact she had on BL and it's undeniable that her works helped grow the genre a lot. And I'm not saying that more successful mangaka shouldn't get ANY special treatment, just that what she gets is way too much.
Free manga sites don't really have an impact on her sales, the majority of her sales are in Japan and always have been, and these sites are obviously not for Japanese readers. There's much less manga pirating in Japan. And even if it was an issue, it affects all mangaka not just her, so not much of an excuse.
I agree that she deserves a break, but she's basically been getting one for years now. I mean I can't imagine it actually takes her that long to complete 6 pages in 4 months. I don't think the majority of that time is spent working on it, she's obviously doing other things. But I get that that's not really a complete break, which is why I think she should just hurry and finish these two mangas already and take a real complete no manga at all break, then come back with something fresh and new. At this point both stories are outdated in terms of current genre trends and both have plots going nowhere, so it shouldn't be too difficult to just decide to end them in a few chapters. Even most fans seem to want that at this point. She went from finishing 25 books in about 10 years to now not actually finishing a manga in well over a decade. I know I wouldn't want to write the same story for that long. I'm sure it's a large part of why she seems to struggle so much with the plot and length of chapters. She's probably just not that interested in them anymore. Maybe the editors pressure her to keep them going idk (that does happen with Shounen a lot). But with BL there's usually an expectation of shortness, a few volumes at most, there aren't many long running series. I'm sure anything she puts out after these manga will be just as successful.
I don’t know, maybe something is going on behind the scenes that’s making it take a while for her to let out content?
I guess no one can truly know why she’s taking so long except for her, herself.
I’m sure that she has her reasons for dragging out the manga or taking forever to release content. Maybe she is in a horrid slump and is trying to find a way to end the series?
I don’t necessarily think it’s special treatment seeing how she has build her career and is now financially stable enough to take her weird patchy hiatuses. Like we both agree on, she’s worked her ass off to get to this point. I’m sure she doesn’t need an editor breathing down her neck because she’s able to support herself without having to release manga like a photo copy machiene, unlike most mangakas. I’m sure there are plenty of mangakas with a big platform that are able to release manga like a snail because they’ve built up there fan base and mangas. I don’t think it’s special treatment necessarily because she’s the one who set the stones and built that platform. It’s not like she’s getting handouts, it’s just like if a singer were to realease a 5 albums within 6 years but then after that they decide to only release 1 one minute song every 4 months. I think it’s her choice to do and is understandable. It’s just a personal opinion though. I would be interested in knowing if she’s personally addressed this issue herself though, or just ignored her fans.
I agree about how long the update takes and the low number of pages but the plot isnt meaningless, i am behind by like 5 chapters for finder and crimson spell so maybe the last ones were fucked up, idk. But so far it did make sense, but if you dont keep re-reading, ofc you will lose track and it will brd to understand.
I actually love this artist because she makes a story with interesting plot and so far there hasnt been some random shit only to keep the drama going (thinking of lezhin comics). The characters aren't realistic, they follow the fucked up ideology of yaoi world but the artist doesnt go overboard.
and i rather see the mangaka take breaks than ending the story too fast, leaving side characters without proper ending, leaving some stuff unfinish
When you do become a comic artist yourself and gain an understanding of the industry and how it works, I hope you will have the grace to apologize in some form. When you learn that not all artists have the same output, they're not machines, some of them need longer breaks than others, some of them have little control over when and how frequently their work is published, that the industry runs on profits and that if Yamane Ayano's work is profitable, they will continue to publish it and if they feel a new artist's work will be profitable, they will make room. Like how do you even know that isn't the case here? That Crimson Spell is only given six pages twice a year now because the publisher has decided to make room for newer artists? You don't know. So you are just talking a lot of shit about something you have no way of knowing, about someone who has worked undeniably hard and has helped make this industry what it is today. But like an entitled shit who is reading her work for free, you feel like you can make assumptions and shit all over her legacy. When you become a comic artist yourself and some new entitled young shit does the same to you, how will you feel?
I'm not sure how my comment warranted you calling me an entitled shit but whatever. You clearly don't know what you are talking about and know nothing about the manga industry. Go read Bakuman or one of the many other manga about being a mangaka out there. And I don't think mangaka are machines or should all have the same output. In fact I think most mangaka are way overworked and the lifestyle they are forced to live is often unhealthy and terrible. But there's a whole lot in between the typical mangaka and Yamane-sensei's output. I wouldn't care if she took 2-4 months to make a normal sized chapter. And it's not just the quantity but the story quality and art quality that has imo declined as well. I'd at least expect 6 really good pages if it took her 6 months to make them but that's not the case. It seems to me blatantly obvious that she no longer really enjoys drawing her current series anymore. Which is why I think she should maybe finish them (even if it's rushed ending I don't care) and take a long break before starting anew. It's possible that her editor is pushing her to continue the series, but I doubt it with series as sporadically released as these it wouldn't make much sense from a sales perspective. Also I own most of her works legally when they become available. I'm only here to read them in advance.
I have to wonder how other yaoi mangaka's think of Yamane-sensei. No other yaoi mangaka gets the special treatment she does. Most mangaka constantly struggle meeting strict deadlines usually a chapter per month 30-40 pages. If they are just starting out they might not even have an assistant and even more accomplished mangaka are still doing majority of the work themselves with maybe 2-3 assistants at most. Anyone who has ever attempted to seriously make a comic or manga knows how time-consuming and difficult it is. Your typical mangaka pulls many all-nighters to finish because not making the deadline is not an option, if you miss it even once you can easily lose your publishing spot in the magazine.
But just because Yamane-sensei is so popular she can have months to work on a single chapter that's only a few pages long, and even then often she'll miss her original deadline and it'll be pushed back further seemingly without any consequence. She also has published clearly unfinished work that has parts that aren't even inked or screentoned, just sketches. The quality of the finished art has noticably declined whether because she hasn't put in the same effort she used to or possibly because it's drawn by assistants. She drags two manga that ran out of plot ages ago on and on endlessly, to the point where no one can follow what's going on in them anymore and it is blatantly obvious that she is just making it up as it goes along. I can only imagine what a headache working with her must be for her assistants, editors, and magazine publishers. Maybe she doesn't ask for "star" treatment, but she clearly recieves it regardless and she must be aware of it.
Before you downvote me, please consider the budding struggling yaoi mangaka who actually can make their deadlines and produce quality work that might have gotten Yamane-sensei's spot in the magazine instead. Every time Yamane-sensei puts out another half-finished half-baked 6 page chapter, is a time when a new fresh face could've graced the BL world instead. I have a great respect for the past contributions that Yamane-sensei made to BL genre as a whole. It is undeniable that her work has had a great influence on the genre. In it's day Viewfinder was innovative and Crimson Spell is still a rare breed in BL with it's rich fantasy setting. I have reread the early parts of them many times. But it's hard for me to continue to respect her with her current highly unprofessional work ethic. She needs to put these two series to rest already and maybe take a long vaction before starting on anything else (and next time plan it out from beginning to end with a few volumes at most). Or even retire if she truly no longer enjoys doing manga.
I'm sorry for the long rant. I know I'm going to get hate for this but whatever, I've been wanting to say this for months. I'm studying to be a comic artist myself, so it's a bit personal for me. I know many don't care and enjoy her work anyways and that's fine.