Those who went to university—
For example, Gosho Aoyama, the author of detective conan, and Rumiko Takahashi, the author of Inuyasha, etc.;
Those who dropped out of university halfway—
For example, Eiichiro Oda, the author of one piece, and Kishimoto Masashi, the author of naruto, etc.;
Those who never went to university—
For example, Toriyama Akira, the author of Dragon Ball, and Nobuhiro Watsuki, the author of rurouni kenshin, etc.;
Considering that there were very successful and famous manga artists in all three cases, it was indeed hard to say how much going to university actually helped with drawing manga.
"But having said that..."
He couldn't help but let out a long sigh. It still felt a bit awkward.
Perhaps this was the difference in thinking between ordinary people and geniuses?
If it were him, even if he wanted to be a manga artist, he would choose to go to university and then try it during his spare time.
That way, even if he failed, he wouldn't suffer too much loss; at most, he would just return to the path of an ordinary person.
But from another perspective, Akira's way of acting—"once a goal is decided, act immediately and give it your all"—was clearly more likely to succeed than his own attitude of "trying within a safe range, even if it fails, it doesn't matter."
Of course, the price of failure was also more severe.
Regardless, since what's done is done, he temporarily composed himself and continued reading—
After high school graduation, Akira came to Tokyo alone. After some tossing and turning, he rented this studio apartment and found a temporary job at a bookstore in Akihabara. He worked while preparing his first manga.
However, at this time, Akira finally encountered a serious problem—
Drawing manga was not as easy as he had imagined.
Admittedly, Akira had a talent for drawing and might become an excellent artist, but to create a manga, storytelling ability was just as essential as excellent drawing skills.
After Akira began formally creating his first manga, he suddenly discovered that he didn't seem to be good at storytelling.
This wasn't actually a fatal problem. In the manga world, people like Akira who were good at drawing but not at storytelling were not uncommon. The usual solution was to find someone good at storytelling but not at drawing to debut as a duo.
For example, famous duos like Obata Takeshi and Tsugumi Ohba, or ONE and Yusuke Murata. By combining their strengths, they could also stand at the top of the manga world and become world-famous manga artists.
However, after realizing this problem, Akira didn't immediately choose to give up the path of creating manga alone. Instead, he started drawing even more extensively, hoping to improve his level this way.
This life continued until Golden Week at the end of April.
Golden Week in Japan is a collective term for a series of consecutive holidays composed of several adjacent festivals. The holiday lasts from 7 to 10 days and is one of the few important long holidays, as well as the busiest time for most shops.
Due to the sudden increase in work pressure during Golden Week, coupled with the frantic work on his manga after hours, the double pressure finally caught up with him. Last night, while in the middle of a marathon drawing session, Akira's vision suddenly went dark, and he collapsed, dying of sudden death on the spot.
"...Sigh."
After finishing Akira's memories, he let out a long, emotional sigh.
Although the Original Owner had perished before he could even formally enter the manga world, his way of dying could be said to be very "manga artist-like."
Manga artists, especially those with weekly serializations, are recognized as a high-risk profession.
While being welcomed and pursued by countless readers on the surface, the weekly serialization deadlines force countless authors to sit at their desks year-round, staying up late and working like crazy. They also frequently face huge mental pressure from declining performance and the exhaustion of inspiration.
With various factors added together, the vast majority of serialized manga artists in the industry, especially popular ones who maintain serializations for years, suffer from various illnesses to some degree.
There are quite a few manga artists who pass away due to their conditions worsening from overwork, or even die directly from sudden death due to overwork!
"...So, is it absolutely necessary to become a manga artist?"
Thinking of the Original Owner's obsession before his death, he—the current Akira—suddenly felt a massive headache.