Well, Takanaga Hinako draw some new manga series and they all are really bad and shitty... Her new furry manga is so bad it's good.
I think she just can't draw new good story. Rape, rape, raaaaaapeeeee
A lot of times what you're seeing is also the mangaka trying to deal with the actual manga industry, not just their creativity waning. The industry itself, the editors and expected genre tropes used to bump up sales, are maybe more the creativity killers than them continuing with the same series/characters for years.
What always got me down about this manga is how much it is branded/centralized around the trope of the tsundere love interest. Unfortunately, even years of character development and plotlines will do nothing for an infuriating tsundere personality if an editor or publisher wants that to be the main selling point of a manga.
*shrugs*
I know that everyone just wants to blame writers/artists when a manga is bad or a series goes downhill, but seriously, there are many things outside their control that can ruin a manga. A four-volume contract when you wrote a plotline that's meant to be three volumes. Editorial decisions you disagree with. Publishing and demographic restrictions (such as age ratings, whether you're demographic is supposed to be teens, boys, or girls) which often reproduce cliches and bad tropes.
Honestly, it's not the best time for BL manga in general, as far as the industry is concerned. There isn't as much genre innovation as there was in the 90s and mid-00s, and what is changing is happening in Korea and with webtoons...
Anyways, that was my tirade! :P
Believe me, I know, understand and agree with what you're saying. I have a close friend who is a mangaka. He loves his art, but he hates his job most days. He draws or writes 27 out of 30 days a month and is paid like a beggar, only to have his editor change his story half way through. But editors are slaves to sales and sales are slaves to the consumer. If you want to see a genre improve, you have to convince the purchasing audience to start the change. Or at least seek it. Keeping mangaka tied to a series or trope is done by those paying 1500¥ a pop to enjoy their tropes and worn out series. And they have every right to do just that, they pay for the privilege. Unfortunately, the mangaka pay an even higher price. Which is why I think the paying audience needs to be more considerate and responsible. Think about what you're asking before you ask for it. That's all.
A lot more innovation is coming out of Korea right now, but the tropes and fans remain the same. There is still homophobia and disdain for homosexuality shown in webtoons, though it is not anything like it was in the 90's manga. I am not going to gripe about rape because I am old enough and wise enough to know that there is a purpose behind the rape trope whether non-paying readers like it or not. The paying customers' opinions are the only one's who count to the publishers and they seem to have no trouble paying plenty to read it. I know I do. Whether the children here realize it or not, their yaoi is little more than soft-core gay porn. And, like it or not, porn is all about sexual fantasies. For women, those sexual fantasies involve "love", but that doesn't stop them from being sexual fantasies. And the #1 sexual fantasy among females is, and has always been, ravishment and rape. So, I think most "rape complainers" are just scared because they read something that society tells them is wrong and they liked it. Well, rape is wrong... in real life. But this isn't real life, it is fiction/fantasy, where anything goes because no one can get hurt in fiction. That is why we have fantasies. It is a place where we can do all the things we can't in real life. Personally, I dig the idea that a person I am attracted to is so attracted to me that they can't control themselves. It's hot. Fantasies don't need to be cluttered up with morals and societal mores. It's a fantasy!! Keep it simple.
The only innovation I can't get behind is omegaverse. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, it just doesn't do anything for me. To me, it is an excuse for prejudice. Basically, it is okay that omegas are treated like garbage because of how they were born. This has a lot of veiled and overt correlations to everything from homophobia to racism to ableism. Don't get me wrong, I'm no social justice warrior, but I get turned off when people are treated as "less than" because of something they were born being. Maybe it's because I'm pretty different myself and have yet to meet a single person who isn't just a little "different". Yet, we are all human and deserve to be treated as such. Sadly, the countries that my favorite media comes from don't quite have that viewpoint yet. I still hold out hope though. Give it another 30 or so years. LOL
Wow! I pretty much agreed with everything you said!
I find it odd how there is a disconnect on here about how 70% of BL is softcore porn. Fantasies will always be troublesome if you treat them as if they are reality. But you don't watch a porn video, and then think, "Wow, that guy having sex with his teacher is really morally abhorrent!" You automatically get that it is fantasy/roleplay. But there are a lot of readers who treat manga as if those relationships are supposed to be an ideal, real relationship.
"Manga are not relationship or sex how to manuals!" LMAO I can't tell you how many times I have said that line in comments! I actually have to take breaks from this site because I lose my damn mind over some of the things readers say here. I mean, I get it. The typical age for the audience here is between 11 and 20. With the vast majority having a very limited life experience scope. I'm 49 and have lived a life full of experiences that would make most sailors blush. So, I get why the kids here are the way they are. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't drive me nuckin' futs! The lack of separation between fantasy and reality for some readers is pretty scary. I mean, you can see similarities or draw correlations when the rare manga has a good theme or "moral to the story", but viewing a manga as an "ideal" is like using porn as a step by step guide to sex! Ever tried that? It's hilarious and it doesn't work! LMAO Hilarity aside, since this site is not age restricted, the best we - and the young people reading - can hope for are responsible, older, mature, experienced readers who are willing to guide these kids through the truth of what they are reading. Sadly, that requires the young ones to listen and that is a rare occurrence. I try when I can, but, honestly, it is exhausting trying to keep up with some of the wild things some of these readers come up with. The intolerance, prejudice and obstinance can be overwhelming. If I help just one young person, I've done my job... I guess.
...watching the same porn video over and over and over. After the first 50 fucks, I just don't have any fucks left to give. At least with Sekiichi Hatsukoi readers are teased with the "Days Until Ritsu... figures his shit out or whatever it is he is doing this decade." This, though, is literally the definition of insanity - doing the same shit over and over again expecting different results.
I have a lot of respect for mangaka like Takanaga Hinato, Yamane Ayano, Nakamura Shungiku and Kubo Tite who write and draw the same series for decades on end. But let's be real, these people are artists, creators. It must put a real cramp in their creativity to be stuck with the same characters year after year, decade after decade. If you love one character or story from a mangaka, you'll be likely to love any character or story they come up with. Let them spread their wings of creativity rather than shackle them to characters that have had a good run. It is okay for a manga to finish so the mangaka can start on something fresh and new. Fans have literally caged the creativity of the mangaka they adore with their obsessive love for the characters. The characters can't actually die, but a mangaka's creativity can. And it is the fans who kill it by not allowing a mangaka to end a series and start something new. I get it. I love these series too, but I am also confident that I would love anything by the mangaka I listed above. They are all phenomenal creators, storytellers and artists. In fact, I might like a new story even more that I loved the old ones. But we'll never get a chance to find out as long as their talent is shackled to a series that is long overdue to end.