The cost of using AI to produce Manga: “a machine cannot play the Drums of Liberation.”
Last year, at protests around the world, the Straw Hat Pirates’ Jolly Roger could be seen flying above crowds. This curious choice of flag belongs to the swashbuckling protagonists of One Piece, the best-selling manga series of all time. The long-running story’s themes of freedom and resistance have resonated deeply with fans across cultures, with said fans taking those ideas to the streets. The flags have caused such a stir that they have been dubbed as treason by Indonesian lawmaker Firman Soebagyo. Yet with the rise of AI in the creative industry, a question surfaces: if AI-generated manga becomes normalised, will stories with this level of impact ever be possible again?
AI-generated content has already begun infiltrating the manga industry. Publishers are experimenting with AI-generated plot lines, art, and even entire short works. One such example is Phaedo. A story which follows a homeless, amnesiac philosopher who, accompanied by his robotic bird Apollo, solves mysteries in a futuristic world. Phaedo is a completely AI-generated manga, created under Kioxia’s Tezuka2020 initiative. The initiative used AI to analyse thousands of works by renowned author Osamu Tezuka, and produce its own story and art in his style. Despite rightful concerns about the late Tezuka’s potential feelings on AI, his son Makoto Tezuka argues he would be in favour of the technology. Similarly, other manga creators such as Yoshimi Kurata admit to using generative AI to polish sketches, colour, and complete background art, work that would normally be delegated to assistants. The appeal is obvious, AI can produce content quicker and cheaper than any human, reducing production time and labour costs. In the Manga and Anime industry, infamous for brutal deadlines and overworked creators, this efficiency is being framed as a triumph.
But we must ask ourselves, are these rigorous standards alleviated by AI or perpetuated further? Manga is not simply a product to be churned out as quickly as possible. It is an important form of storytelling that can have just as much impact as any novel. Pushing for ever more efficiency only raises the bar for other creators to unreachable levels. However, when AI is used to generate scripts or narrative structure, stories begin to lose their spark. Ideas flatten and are repeated. Characters speak in unnatural or hollow ways, echoing old pieces rather than building something new. What results is efficient content with no innovation, uniqueness, or charm. This loss matters because the most influential manga has always depended on the voices behind it. These stories endure not because they are expertly drawn or perfectly structured, but because they are human, and they reflect our current world. AI, trained on existing material, cannot challenge the medium in the same way. It will never inspire people to organise or protest. It can only rehash what already exists, reinforcing the same old ideas rather than pushing boundaries.
There are, of course, potential benefits to AI in the manga industry. Japan has invested millions in AI tools aimed at combating piracy. But when AI begins replacing writers and media is no longer made by people, piracy becomes more appealing, not less. Why pay for a story that does not meaningfully support a creator? Why support a corporation in cutting human labour out of the process? Ultimately, the negatives outweigh the positives. A manga industry that normalises AI-generated writing risks losing its ability to express genuine emotion and inspire its audience. It risks losing the beautiful and painstaking art that authors dedicate countless hours to. We should be pushing for authentic writing and art. After all, a machine cannot play the Drums of Liberation.
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