The manga site ComiPress has recently been serializing the rather interestingly titled essay The Reason I Quit My Job As A Manga Editor in five parts (and here they all are). It’s a rather heartfelt and insightful look into the perils of taking on an alleged dream job:
I like manga more than any other entertainment I have experienced. However, just because I like manga and want to be a manga editor doesn’t mean I can manage a manga artist. I run away from the real world to avoid standing face-to-face with others, and in the manga world I find comfort – forgetting the bitter truth for even just a moment, and receiving encouragements from manga characters.
My motivation for becoming a manga editor was that “I want to be in a position to create such stories or to help.” Not until I became a manga editor did it made me realize how I didn’t want to communicate face-to-face with others. I can fight with people I don’t like, but I can’t stand giving negative remarks and requests to people I cared for. It was much more stressful than I expected, it was the job of denying the career and the imagination of others.
