Manga Editor Kazuaki Ishibashi criticizes that applicants for manga editing often don't read or care about the medium

[panzerkampfwagyu]

https://automaton-media.com/en/news...rs-who-are-truly-passionate-about-the-medium/

ほぼ漫画業界コラム278

【最近の漫画編集者志望が、驚くほど漫画を読んでいない話】

漫画編集者を育成していて、正直かなり戸惑うことがある。それは――本当に皆漫画を読んでいないということだ。

「え？　なんで漫画編集者志望したの？」…
— 石橋和章 /Zoo (@mikunikko) January 18, 2026

When it comes to training aspiring manga editors, I’m honestly quite baffled sometimes. It’s just that… they genuinely don’t read manga.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve asked them, ‘Huh, then why do you even want to be a manga editor?’ In my mind, I’m furious.

Of course, I want new manga artists to read manga, too. But editors? They absolutely have to read even more than artists do.

Sounds quite bad, artistic mediums in particular should really make caring about the medium a requirement.

 

[Bireus]

...
To some people, it's a job. Would you like people who work for the passion and not the money? Those are the minority. Trust me I get it. Linus from LTT had the same idea

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/umvfrc

You want someone there that's not only there for the money, something greater. You want someone passionate.
But this comment you're currently reading? I was averaging 15 job apps a day, 5 email rejections a day and less than 2 interviews a month and only getting minimum wage job offers after making 3 times that a year prior. People are trying to hire someone that they assume they can train the least, not caring if they show potential to learn how to do things quickly based on their work history, and ignore passion if they feel as if their rate is too high or don't like them on that particular interview day for whatever reason (maybe having a bad day, hunangry, etc)


Keep your ideals, this is the reality your in.

 

[undeed]

I've read the tweet
two things from your title, tho

"applicants often don't read" yeah.... not entirely correct. More like "they don't read much"
"applicants don't care about the medium". Uh, he never said that. You're muddying the water.

 

[Angry_Panda]

I absolutely agree with the sentiment that you want folks in the 'creative' space to have a passion for what they do, but @Bireus has basically nailed the problem with that. Few places want to hire (and invest in training) someone who may then turn around and take (their investment in) a newly acquired skill set to someone else's company. Which also means few places want to fire unless there's a (bottom line) need to. The job market is in this odd, constipated place, and that may cause a potentially huge problem in a lot of fields in a few more years when people who know what they're doing move on and there's no one to replace them. In the meantime, there's a huge class of capable potential employees who are simply not getting experience or training, let alone opportunities.

 

[Manko-sensei]

I understand that person being shocked, but it's exactly how the job market has evolved in Japan: there are just too many people applying for the same positions and this leads to selecting people not by background, but filtering first and foremost where they get the relevant degree (like USA). Those who come from those elite universities have expend all the time getting good grades and then job-hunting any publishing related job or even outside publishing business. I don't remember the exact ratio of applicants versus job openings but they were somehow similar how they are in many Western countries, which were around 1:150 at the beginning of this decade for an entry-level editor.

 

[theblasblas]

Fuck... this is one of the causes of the decline in quality of the comics industry.

They should make Editors have "mandatory training" where they have to read through the company's previously released manga for a at least 2 hours each day.