In the last few decades, the anime and manga industry has flourished into one of the biggest forms of entertainment in the world. And while a lot of people contribute to the overall success of any kind of project, the ones who sit at the root of all this are the manga creators. From Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto) to Gege Akutami (Jujutsu Kaisen), the mangaka are majorly responsible for the success of the series.
Manga creators, or as they are popularly called, mangakas, are the artists who create the enticing and attractive storylines, which are then edited by the editors and are thus published. These mangas are then adapted into anime series, and the process goes on. It is no news that the numbers generated by these prominent anime and manga series are on a completely different level.
Thus, it is also obvious that they make huge amounts of money that are distributed to everyone deserving. However, the manga artists who sit at the base of all and ideally should receive fair compensation are the most underpaid ones. The remuneration that they receive for putting their hearts and souls into their art is nothing short of disappointing.
The disappointing income of manga artists
The money that manga artists make is one of the most disappointing aspects of their job. According to a study posted by Medium in 2016, the income of a manga artist depends on the type of publishing timeline they receive in a magazine. There are three different types of magazines: a weekly, a monthly, or a bi-monthly magazine, and their work is published according to them.
In terms of manuscripts, a manga artist generally earns ¥3,000 – 8,000 per manuscript page. A normal story carries 20 pages, which means that they make around $400 – $1,072 per story. If the monthly and weekly publishing factors are added, this number on an annual basis would be $4,800 – $12,864 on a monthly basis and $19,200 – $51400 on a weekly basis. And these numbers remain the same for everyone, be they big creators like Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) or small creators who just started.
While the numbers may feel intriguing, it is important to note that they are the yearly income of a manga artist. After that comes the royalties from the compiled volumes, and a manga artist only receives 8–10% of the pre-tax price of all of the printed copies. This price is only for the first run, as after the first run artists only receive royalties for the number of volumes actually sold.
Other income sources for manga creators
Considering the large-scale production and sales of the manga series and volumes, the money that mangakas make is totally disappointing. In fact, it is unjustified in more than one aspect, as they are the ones who come up with almost every significant aspect, be it the story or the order of chapters, etc. But aside from publishing, manga creators have other ways to earn some extra money.
The first one is the royalties from anime adaptations. If the manga gets selected for an anime adaptation by the studio, the manga creators get a significant cut from almost every episode, which is quite good, as anime evidently brings more numbers than manga. The perfect examples of this are Demon Slayer, Black Clover, Seven Deadly Sins, etc.
Secondly, the royalties from other prospects like merchandise, video games, sequels, spin-offs, etc. However, these prospects are only possible if the work of a manga creator earns global-level fame. Thus, most of the mangaka prefer the traditional method, and it is not at all justified.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
