Countless gamers around the world have become absolutely obsessed with playingElden Ring. That number includes mangaka Koji Oishi, creator ofLycopene the Tomatoy Poodle, who has begun a hiatus seemingly attributed to wanting more time to play the game.
Oishi’s postwent 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 gameElden 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 ofthe intense and engaging battles in the gameas well as its fantastic lore.
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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 fromElden Ringabout 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 Ringis 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 may 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,theBlue Exorcistmanga has been on hiatussince June 2021 and the Pokemon Adventure manga has been paused indefinitely due to creator Hidenori Kusaka’s poor health.Controversies surrounding animators and voice actorsin 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 Ringis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.Lycopene the Tomatoy Poodleis currently available on theShonen Jump+platform.
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