Fed-Kun's army
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2018
- Messages
- 521
I'd like to address this. The difference is clearly not so fundamental to affect the outcome.
In one case things proactively get dumbed down and aligned with the aesthetic sensibilities of the general populace by the IP holder to maximize profit. It usually does because the industry has largely distilled this knowledge and successfully weaponized it, for better or for worse. Artistic expression is hence sacrificed for better business.
In the other case things proactively get dumbed down and aligned with the aesthetic sensibilities of the general populace by the author themself to avoid the premature canceling of the publication (a way to say "to maximize profit" but with lower expectations). Which, in case with Nihei, happened every single time as he struggled to find balance between what he wanted to draw/write and what the paying audience wanted to see/read despite having compromised his style and level of artistic detail to an uncomfortable extent over the years. Artistic expression is sacrificed for better business again.
Wow... Almost like the content policy isn't ultimately decided with profit in mind in either case? The actual difference is that in one case it's a matter of IP committee policy, and the other a "choice" given to the author in a lousy "you're free to decide how to avoid cancelation on your own" type of deal, which doesn't let them express their individuality for long before they start censoring it themselves in fear of bad sales. After all, swift cancelations isn't something to optimize for when drawing manga is how you put food on your plate. It's not even a greed issue; it's a survival issue. Consider how sad it is when an artist who is easily on the same level with Makoto Yukimura, Takehiko Inoue, Kamome Shirahama, or Yusuke Murata with world-building skills to match it would struggle to keep a publication going without the axe constantly looming over it simply because the sensibilities it caters to are too niche.
And so we arrive at predictable results. Tower Dungeon isn't a bad manga by any means, but so far, other than the tower itself, there's basically nothing that connects the aesthetics or narrative style to Nihei's early works (Blame, Abara, Biomega), let alone the sheer unhinged creativity behind them. Even his signature memorable character designs are completely gone to be replaced by some off-brand Fujimoto faces, complete with the goofy "whuh?!", unexpected hugs, and so on. In the end, the author is still at the mercy of the market and is forced to suck up to it, play by its rules, and step on his own throat to ensure his work sees the light of day and keeps the lights on at home.
That is how the industry actually works, but the remaining question to answer is who's at fault here, if anyone at all. Is it Nihei for failing to satisfy the audience with his own ideas without resorting to cheap pandering? Is it the publishers who can't let Nihei do his own thing at the risk of a financial loss? Or is it the audience who didn't appreciate his early works enough to make them into a bigger financial success? I mean... it's clearly the latter, isn't it? Not enough volumes of Blame, Abara, and Biomega were bought by people with taste and appreciation for artistic integrity, so now we have a mage flashing bystanders in chapter 2 with her very first on-screen spellcast to squeeze some money from normies. Them's the breaks.
