Oishi’s post went viral on Twitter garnering over 73,300 likes and 22,400 retweets on the platform due to his claim that he, “definitely wasn’t playing the hit game Elden Ring.” It seems that many fans appreciated just how candid the mangaka was about why he was taking a break as it was easy to relate to the excitement of the intense and engaging battles in the game as well as its fantastic lore.
As much of the world suffers from burnout and overwork due to conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Oishi took the time to try and address the “the prevailing trend of romanticizing overwork” was affecting many people’s mental health and how a lesson can be learned from Elden Ring about doing an unhealthy amount of work.
“It is not uncommon for manga artists to sully their manuscripts with their own blood and for their assistants to white it out,” he wrote. “Elden Ring is the same. When I manage to land an attack on the enemy, I have a tendency to get carried away, thinking, ‘I might be able to land one more hit.’ But then I’d be the one taking damage. It’s said to be a difficult game, but the key to victory is watching your opponent carefully and not taking on more than you can chew.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has been heavily affecting several anime studios, and it comes as no surprise that other manga creators are taking time for short hiatuses, While not related to video game releases, the Blue Exorcist manga has been on hiatus since June 2021 and the Pokemon Adventure manga has been paused indefinitely due to creator Hidenori Kusaka’s poor health. Controversies surrounding animators and voice actors in the anime industry have led to growing discourse on the health and safety of everyone involved in these productions, including the mangaka who create the source material for shows fans love.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Lycopene the Tomatoy Poodle is currently available on the Shonen Jump+ platform.
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Source: Twitter, via Anime News Network
