AI rewrites Japanese manga creation! Good night Bubu author laments: Will I still be drawing next year?

Facing the trend of generative AI rewriting comic creation methods, “Good Night Bubu” author Asano Ichiji O laments whether he can continue drawing comics next year. He has also pointed out the pain points of AI in comic creation, worrying that the industry cannot innovate and break through.

“Good Night Bubu” Asano Ichiji O talks about AI

Generative AI is rapidly impacting the creative field, causing anxiety among creators. The author of the acclaimed “depressive classic comic” Good Night Bubu, Asano Ichiji O, recently posted: “The more I understand AI, the more I realize that ‘interesting’ and ‘boring’ can coexist,” and he sighs: “Will I still be able to draw comics next year?”

Image source: X “Good Night Bubu” Asano Ichiji O talks about AI

In response to netizens’ questions about whether AI is difficult to imitate his unique style, Asano admits that AI is actually good at mimicking highly skilled drawing styles, but he believes his own special creative habits are currently difficult to fully reproduce.

“Hanayome Michi” film director Keisuke Toyoshima commented that, “I can’t imagine still shooting movies in the same way five years from now,” and expressed concern about the speed of AI technological advancement.

Image source: X “Good Night Bubu” Asano Ichiji O talks about AI, “Hanayome Michi” director Keisuke Toyoshima responds

Asano worries that AI is just imitating and cannot innovate or break through

In a 2022 interview with Natalie and Taiwanese manga artist Gao Yen, he expressed concern that the Japanese manga market would face contraction after becoming overly saturated.

In another interview in 2024, Asano further questioned the current industry’s logic regarding the use of generative AI. He pointed out that the public currently only uses AI to imitate existing manga styles, which only produces labor-saving copies and cannot bring about real innovation and breakthroughs.

Asano believes that AI should have the potential to create entirely new things. If the industry cannot discover its new value and remains limited to imitation within existing frameworks, it will be difficult to trigger revolutionary change.

Chainsaw Man Editor: AI helps assist in creative data collection

Lin Shiping, who has served as an editor for Chainsaw Man and Spy x Family, and was the former deputy editor-in-chief of Jump+, focuses on practical applications of AI.

In a 2025 interview with Eslite Bookstore, he stated that for time-consuming tasks such as drawing comic backgrounds and data collection, AI assistance could greatly improve efficiency.

However, regarding AI-generated comics, he pointed out that copyright issues must be handled carefully, and hopes that future laws will establish clear standards, allowing creators to flexibly use new technology in a safe environment to enhance creative productivity.

Is the Japanese manga industry heading for a bubble? How to utilize AI will become a challenge

The Japanese manga industry is currently in a critical transformation phase. Manga editor and writer Okapi analyzed that, although the e-comic market experienced rapid growth during the pandemic, its momentum is gradually weakening, and the market is expected to face bubble correction, with excess works and platforms under pressure to be eliminated.

For example, Webtoon, once seen as a rising star, has limited subject diversity due to format restrictions, and its market size has been shrinking.

However, with Netflix, TikTok, and other video platforms competing with traditional manga for consumers’ fragmented time, manga artists who want to survive in this highly competitive environment will need to learn how to positively view and utilize AI’s advantages in improving creation efficiency—an unavoidable challenge in the future.