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Takehiko Inoue is probably one of the biggest names in the anime and manga industry and is known by everyone in the community. The manager began his career at the young age of 20 and went on to give some of the most iconic works likeSlam Dunk, Buzzer Beater, Real, and more.
Fans think highly of his works, as they can’t get over how his most renowned work,Vagabond,revolutionized the manga industry. The historical manga series set the standard too high, as it was considered to be the first perfect series that was lauded by readers of every genre.
However, adding to the fans’ disappointment, the piece of greatness has been on a hiatus for an eternity. Well, the manga had big shoes to fill, especially with the name that it had created during its run. The mangaka once addressed his fans stating the real reason that made him take such a long break.
Takehiko Inoue States The Dreadful Reason BehindVagabond’sExtended Hiatus
Despite being a fictional story about a samurai,Takehiko Inoue’sVagabondis insanely relatable and compels the fans to introspect their actions. The work has been adapted from a 1939 novel titledMusashiby Eiji Yoshikawa. Hence, when the work debuted in 1998, it took everyone by surprise.
The story is multi-layered and focuses heavily on the growth of its characters, where they learn from their hubris after falling from the height of greatness. The power of the story can only be felt after one continues to read it as time progresses.
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As a result, the Otaku community started having high expectations from the series, and in return, the manga author did something expected. After publishing chapter #327 in May 2015, the series underwent a hiatus for 9 long years, one of the longest hiatuses ever seen in the manga and anime community.
The fans often wondered what could be the ridiculous reason behind Inoue-Sensei’s drastic step. During an exclusive interview viaMangabrog, he explained how working on the manga led him to dry out his creative muscles as he could not establish a sense of direction for the work. He said,
I’d reached a point where I wasn’t even sure of that. I became unsure of where I was heading, couldn’t even remember where I’d started from in the first place. That’s how busy I was. I was stuck doing the work for external factors for so long that I’d forgotten to look inside myself.
An inhumane work schedule and an overworked mind led to the mangaka feeling its side effects. The mangaka’s health deteriorated, and maintaining the unrealistic standard that it had set, that too each week, added to the reason for putting the work on an indefinite hiatus.
Slam DunkCreator Gives a“Vague Idea”ofVagabond’sReturn
There’s no doubt that Takehiko Inoue decided to take on a new challenge after completing his wildly successful sports manga,Slam Dunk. Vagabond,which became his next project, became a long process of achieving perfection on the drawing table, that deprived him of sleep to draw pages and meet the strict deadlines.
Hence, when asked in the same interview to hint at the title’s return, the mangaka explained his lack of interest in the work. The hiatus will continue as long as he does not come up with a better way of doing it again. He said,
Well, speaking in terms of what I want to do: As I said before, I really don’t at all have the urge to work on it right now, but I do know that if I don’t work on it, I’ll be in trouble down the road, and that’s basically what was keeping me going up until I went on hiatus. I don’t think that’s a good way of going about it.My hope is to stay away from Vagabond until all those unnecessary worries and emotions are gone and I’m ready to draw it because I want to draw it. I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed to wait that long, though.
The mangaka emphasized that he sees this long hiatus as“death”for him as an artist, but at the same time explained that once he is in that“state of innocence,”the produced work will be several times better than what he is capable of now.
“I had the opportunity to draw it over again”: Takehiko Inoue Had No Regrets About Slam Dunk’s Art Style Despite Admitting He Wasn’t as Skilled
Nevertheless, he concluded, stating that he is“not touching Vagabond for now,”because he wanted to produce something that will satisfy him and give his fans a work that will just be right to read.
Vagabondcan be read on VIZ.
Tushar Auddy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :1784
Tushar Auddy is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, primarily covering WWE. He has contributed to anime, MCU, DCU, animation, and TV Series, giving sharp insights and coming up with his own unique theories, which take the fandom by storm.
