Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-08-03)

morethantwodecades.“That’stotallydifferentfromU.S.

publishing,whereit’slike,‘ThanksforcreatingSpider-Man—

nowgetthef---outofhere,sowecanmakea lotofmoney

offofSpider-Man.’”

WHENIMETISAYAMAATKODANSHA’STOKYO

headquartersinJanuary,thedeferenceaccordedtosuc-

cessfulmangacreatorswasevident:Theartist,whoworks

fromanapartmentnearhishome,wasgreetedwithdeep

bowsandbagsfilledwithgifts.ErikaKato,a licensingman-

agerintheinternationalrightsdepartment,thankedhim

profuselyforagreeingtobeinterviewed,whichherarely

doesthesedays.Isayamawasdressedcasually,inbluejeans

anda hoodie,likea manwhoworksfromhome.Hissleepy

countenanceandfrequentyawnssuggestedhewasdoing

littleelsethere.

Onmywaytotheinterview,I’dpickedupa copyof

Isayama’smostrecenttankobon,whosecoveradvertised

a forthcomingAttackonTitanrideatUniversalStudios

Japan.Kodanshahadhelpedarrangea stringoflicensing

andadvertisingpartnershipstohelpendtheserieswitha

bang.Eachofthese—includingtheMoriTowerexhibition,

whichgeneratedabout$2.5millioninticketsales—depended

onIsayama’sapproval.“Thesekindsofcommercialoppor-

tunitiesaren’tgoingtolastforever,soI don’tturnmyback

onthem,”hesaid.“It’snicetothinkthattheworldofAttack

onTitanwillcontinueonjusta littlebitlonger.”

Hewaskeenlyawarethathewassecuringhisartisticleg-

acy,too.“Iwasa bigfanofGameofThrones, soI canrelate

tothefeelingsofthosefanswhoweredisappointedwith

howtheseriesended,”hesaid.“ButwhenI’mdrawing,I’m

expressingmyownfeelings,andI thinkaslongasI’mdoing

that,myfanswillbeabletoacceptwhateverendingI come

upwithforthem.”He’salreadydecidedhowthenarrative

willconclude,butknowingwherehe’sheadedhasn’tsaved

himfromagonizingattimesoverhowtogetthere.Attack

onTitanisa multifacetedepic,withdozensofcharacters

wrappedupinintersectingplotlines.Competingmytholo-

giesandhistories,andevenalternatedimensions,compli-

catea textmarkedbypolitical,strategic,andsocialintrigue

andthemesofbetrayal,revenge,andresurrection.

Kodansha’sfinancesandidentitydependonhaving at

least one tentpole blockbuster series aimed at adults. Its two

biggest rivals rely on slightly different models: Shogakukan

Inc. supplements its original titles by licensing popular video

game characters such as Nintendo Co.-owned Pikachu, of

Pokémon fame, and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog, for children’s

comics. Shueisha Inc. focuses on original youth-oriented

hits, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, and My Hero Academia.

Kodansha’s approach traces to the 1980 introduction of

Young Magazine, a biweekly packed with about 300 pages

of serialized comics. The books were aimed at young adult

men, who were increasingly flush with disposable income

as Japan entered an economic bubble. In 1982, Young began

publishing Katsuhiro Otomo’s cyberpunk classic Akira, which

chroniclesa violentcon-

frontationbetweenpsy-

chics,bikergangs,and

themilitaryina post-

apocalyptic“neo-Tokyo”

of2019.Themagazine’s

circulationsoonsurgedto

more than a million read-

ers, prompting Kodansha

to start issuing standalone Akira tankobon. When the series

wrapped up in 1990, its six volumes collectively formed a

graphic novel of more than 2,000 pages; millions of copies

have sold worldwide. The film adaptation brought in $49 mil-

lion in global box office receipts and an additional $30 mil-

lion in VHS sales after its 1988 theatrical release and became

one of the most influential science fiction films of all time.

One of the people influenced by Akira was Masamune

Shiro, who would prove to be Kodansha’s next wunder-

kind. His seminal manga, Ghost in the Shell, was serialized

in Young Magazine from early 1989 to late 1990, and it, too,

got its own tankobon, anime film, and English-language

edition. Groundbreaking, commercially successful comics

comealongonlysooften,though,andKodanshahita dry

spelljustasJapan’sbubbleyearscametoanend.By 2002

thecompany’s sales had fallen low enough to drag it into

the red for the first time since World War II.

The Isayama era began before the decade was out, but here

Kodansha was lucky: Attack on Titan came to the publisher

only after Shueisha passed. In 2006, Isayama called Kodansha

torequesta meeting,reachinganeditornamedShintaro

Kawakubo.HesawenoughpotentialinIsayamathathegave

thefledglingartist homework assignments to improve his

illustration skills. “I asked him to practice redrawing action

sequences from Hajime no Ippo,” Kawakubo says, referring to

43

Bloomberg Businessweek August 3, 2020

Two panels from Attack on Titan Volume 29

PHOTOGRAPH BY MOTOYUKI DAIFU FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK. MANGA: COURTESY KODANSHA