H2 ended.

how do I know? I get SS sea shipping 3 weeks late, and this week says next week is the final chapter, so it is already out last week.

2 to 1 they stay the way they are. how do you break up and make up in one chapter? (but then, Adachi is known for taking the easy way out on details.)

the whole baseball game itself is quite disappointing, (not that anyone care about the game...)

1999 is a strange year, and I don't mean all the nature disasters, just think about how many big name manga titles had ended this year....

Likewise, Touch focused on relationship matter more than the baseball game too.

May be the publishers want some new stories for the year 2000, so they asked certain manga artists to wrap up their titles, especially the ones that have been dragging long. Like Rurouni Kenshin, certain parts of the story dragged a bit too long.

So, H2 ended. This is one I am not really sorry for (I liked the covers though, but the story and tension were meager). Many series ended this year, but on what basis is the decision to end a series taken? While it is fairly obvious that publishers look at how well a series scores in the ratings, and that they'll terminate them graciously (or not) if the ratings drop or are bad from the beginning, we've seen many highly popular series end very recently (and most of them could easily continue forever).

Contrary to what Fred was saying, isn't it more logical to presume that it is always the author himself who decides to end the series in those cases of very popular series? It is certainly not in the interest of the publisher (his sales figures plummet, look at what happened after Dragon Ball).

Maybe it's the authors themselves who get the idea that they have to start anew in the year 2000. IIRC, Japanese authors have a lot of control over their series and are well paid. Comparing to the situation in Europe, I notice that many artists do not own their own characters over here and the control is enforced by the publisher who will continue serialization of popular series even if that takes changing artists ten times.

Does anyone know if there are some artists who explained the reasons for ending these recent series?

Cases from the past:

* Dragon Ball (Toriyama really had enough of it) * Gunnm (Kishiro was ill, I think) * Yuu Yuu Hakusho (Togashi couldn't take the pressure anymore) * Cat's Eye (Houjou was tired of drawing from female perspective)

Any other cases??

Peter Van Huffel

H2 is actually more real compares to Touch, which is just too dramatic and idealistic. I checked out some msgs about how it ended, and it is very Adachi. it left you unsatisfied and wanting for more. someone actually expecting H2-2, that is how open ended it is, but it won't happen. I am somewhat disappointed, I expected at least some sort of commitment one way or the other. (the degree of disappointment depend on which girl your are rooting for.) This is why Miyuki remains my favourite and Rough is a disappointment for me. (even thought the first 90% of Rough, for me, is better than anything Adachi had put out.)

a major title (passing 10-12 books compiled) usually can end when a major story line reach its conclusion. or just invent someone stronger to go on like dragonball. Kenshin ended when the 2nd major story line finished. sometime mangaka can drag or speed up a title for a specific date, many olympic sports title speed up so their story can match the current olympic events and ended around the time olympic finished. H2 is big time dragging because Adachi want to match the starting dates with Koushen tournment which was early August.

not necessary. when a series pass the growing stage it won't get any more new readers, and usually it will get animated, after the tv series ended usually is when the rating for the manga start to slide, you can always tell who they are because they are usually near the end, not the front of the magazine.

ummm, no, only a few mangakas have control of their own destiny, you are talking probably less than 20 out of the 3 to 4 thousands of them, names like Shirow, Takahashi, etc. As the author you can always have the last word and refuse to draw anymore. but then you risk losing your follow up job, each publishing house can lock you out 3-6, 7 magazines, bad reputaton travel far and fast to other company, and being easily replaceable doesn't help. do you know how many Japanese want to be mangaka? which explain the cheap labors for assistants, (usually one mangaka to 4 assistants), this explain why the manga industry can put out so many quality works in such short time comapre to any other country which weekly is simply unheared of unless you want to talk about 4 panels strip.

This environment creates a very high hand influence by the editors, the editors basically can 'recommend' to you what kind of story you should draw, how to draw it, how the story and character develop, if rating start to slide, what kind of change you should make, (like fan service, etc.) when to end a series, how to end, etc. In a very pressed schedule not too many mangaka will risk security of their job to make a big deal out of it. (remember, 18 pages in 6 days for a typical weekly.) the case of yuu yuu hakusho is news worthy because Togashi's refusal to the editors. not something common in the industry.

one of the easiest proof of the above is how rare an established mangaka changed publishing house.

getting tired, what is not say is getting tired of coming out fresh idea to keep the series going to keep the rating high.

there seems to be an artifical ceiling around book 30-40, most long series end around that number, very few titles pass that number and stop, they simply keep going like Golgo 13, etc. to give you an idea of how long that is, a typical weekly can put out 5 compilation a year, yes, Ranma ran for almost 7 years and GSMikami 8 year. how many 7, 8 years is in a person's life? how many tv series last more than that? that is why those 100+ compilation series are so amazing.

One would wonder how Kochikame's author(I'm too lazy to run upstairs and find out who draws it again) can still stomache Ryoustu and co. after all this time.

Or for that matter, draw a consistently popular manga~_~

Does this series even *have* story arcs?

-Joey, who's decided to devote his life to Doraemon. Dooooraemon.. Doooraemon.. 'Snikt Hey Bub. Why are you dressed like a ninja? I hate ninjas.' 'Cuz!' 'I will attack you aggresively!'-Leigh's Wolverine Vs. Leigh comic

Joey and his Akane hammer says...

Akimoto Osamu

Oh yes, sometimes there are story arcs. Short ones (3 to 4 issues) at most. But it is indeed rare.

OTOH, I'm not so surprised as you two are regarding the ability to maintain a series more than ten years. In Europe, for example, there are/were many comic series that are/were running for several decades. Of course, the outputrate is much lower.

I don't think Europe's (or anywhere else) competition is as cut throat as Japan's manga market. It is kind of like saying Peanut being around for what, 40 years? the pressure on the Japanese mangaka for keeping story fresh is much greater.

the typical output for weekly manga per year is 18pagesx50weeks (take new year and golden week off) = 900pages,

In article CPK says...

That IS why I liked Touch. H2 makes me fall asleep.

I can not agree on your statement for Rough. It has actually a strong commitment from Ninomiya Ami at the end (on her tape message to Keisuke). For me, Rough is not open ended. I think you are maybe mixing up with Slow Step?

OTOH, it could mean that established series don't need to be in front of the magazine anymore to attract attention. The few Young Jump magazines I've seen over the years, for instance, have always had Sazan Eyes somewhere in the back and it is still running.

I don't agree with this. Of the thousands of mangaka I've been entering in the guide, there are lots who have had works with several publishers. OTOH, I do notice that certain categories of mangaka never move. For instance, it is extremely rare to see Shuueisha shoujo authors move to other publishers. The same is true for Hakusensha and Shougakukan shoujo authors. I have also the impression that Shuueisha is more possessive than other publishers. It is also a style thing. When one is a typical shoujo author, the choice of publishers gets limited of course. When an author specializes in salaryman short gags, you won't find his works in Korokoro.

Changing publishing houses is also a hassle. Why would you change when you are pleased with your current publisher? I can imagine that most artists have such an amount of work that it is to much of a bother to move.

Even with all those reasons, I still think there are a considerable amount of artists who move around from time to time (estimation 30-40% based on a quick look in my Fukuya catalogues).

no, Rough to me is like all of Adachi's later works, he doesn't take care of details and kind of rush the ending when he drag for ever to get there. he is one of the more lazy mangaka in my book, and rank right up there with Gainax in anime. (and get away with it.)

yes, it has already established a base of readership, but it also mean that no matter how they hype it it won't get new readership.

the keyword is of course major and established, common mangaka are quite replaceable. big time mangaka can have multiple titles in various magazine, but they always stuck with their home base magazine, and don't be surprised if the various magazines are associated and under one publishing house, and most of the time when they do other works beside their main title, they are often short story or one shot chapter, etc. like a weekly mangaka doing 2, 3 chapters in a monthly, etc. they know where their bread and butter is at.

another reason when they show up on multiple magazines is because the current magazine they work on does not suit the format of their new story. Both Adachi and Takahashi take their more mature story to Big Comic Spirit, Hojo was actually forced to leave when his story no longer suit the SJ readers, etc.

And here in the US, the guys who do things like Battle Chasers and Danger Girl can't seem to put out more than 50 or 60 pages a year.

But don't forget to account for style differences too. While Eastern style thrives in its simplicity and B&W, Western style tends to be more detailed and colored, even when they're based on anime/manga style. (Notice, not one or the other is better, just different).

Laters. =)

Stan