Comic Natalie conducted a new interview with Black Lagoon manga creator Rei Hiroe, where the artist opened up about managing his long-term depression. Hiroe has been open with fans about his struggles, first diagnosed with depression in 2010, and taking numerous breaks since for his health. Comic Natalie’s Tetsuko Kumase, who also deals with depression, wrote and conducted the interview.
Hiroe was joined by his editor Natsume and shared that his depression had set in even before he knew it:
“I didn’t know the exact reason, but working on the manga was getting harder and harder, and it was getting harder to organize my thoughts. Even when I wanted to start the next task, my hands would stop. Before I even had the intention to say, ‘I don’t want to draw,’ my hands had already stopped. So I thought, ‘This is no good, I can’t draw,’ and talked to Natsume about the situation. It was around the time of the first hiatus [2010] that we decided to take a break.“
The interview showcases the importance of confiding and also being receptive to someone seeking help. Hiroe says that he couldn’t continue Black Lagoon if Natsume didn’t allow him to draw with no deadlines. For Natsume, it was admittedly a learning process, but he understood after multiple meetings “that I really had to support him.” This included telling Sunday GX magazine that they should prepare for a long-term break, having non-work conversations with Hiroe, and just listening and saying, “I see.“
Hiroe had described the situation to his editor as “something like, ‘A rubber band that had been stretched to its fullest just snapped.’” He doesn’t believe it’ll ever be fixed, saying at the least, “You can sugar coat it with medicine.” He also touted the importance of medicine, saying without it, “I can’t sleep at all and I feel depressed. If I take my medicine, I feel like it’s working properly, and I can work. But if I stop taking it, things get bad, so I’ve given up on that. I always feel like I can finally return to normal if I keep taking it.” It’s not perfect, as he still suffers from random onsets of short breaths, even after having a great time with friends.
ALSO READ:
Black Lagoon Manga Inconsistent Publishing Due to Creator’s Depression
Fandom Interactions Helped and Worsened Hiroe’s Depression
Hiroe admits that criticism from fans played a factor in worsening the depression. He saw the Roberta’s Blood Trail arc as a ‘culmination’ of his work, but fans were divided. Natsume said that Hiroe could be misunderstood and is actually a sensitive figure, putting his all in by immersing himself within his characters.
“In the process, when he published ‘Roberta’s Blood Trail,’ which was an attempt to raise questions about his own thoughts about good and evil, readers gave him mixed reviews,” Natsume said. ‘That in itself is inevitable, but it seems that even though Hiroe-sensei himself tried to get things out, there were parts that readers just couldn’t understand, and that caused him to become distressed.”
Hiroe continued writing the arc despite his father’s failing health and repeated hospitalizations. Despite wanting to go and pay his respects, he prioritized his work, and his father eventually passed away:
“When my father died, I didn’t think it had affected me that much mentally, but it seems the damage was much bigger than I expected. I felt the pain slowly building up afterward. However, I don’t know if those were the direct causes of my depression — That is, the stress I’d built up from ‘Roberta’s Blood Trail’ and my father’s death. I think those were probably the causes, in hindsight.“
The level of consideration Hiroe gives to his story was only recently highlighted in Full Frontal’s interview with Black Lagoon anime director, Sunao Katabuchi. Katabuchi reviewed his works at Madhouse, the studio behind the series, and praised Hiroe’s degree of thought about the series’ backbone, helping to flesh out elements that hadn’t yet appeared in the manga (the anime began pre-production quite early into Black Lagoon‘s serialization).
ALSO READ:
Osamake Author Admits Disappointing Anime Adaptation Left Him Unable to Write
While criticism weighed heavily on Hiroe, fans could also act as a reprieve. On an overseas trip, he found talking with them easier than writing. He also drew doujins to stay active, meaning he could remain creative without the pressure of a schedule. As you can tell through a quick surf of his X (formerly Twitter), he’s incredibly responsive to both criticism and praise.
Nevertheless, some fans saw him at events and assumed he was fine. Readers’ expectations for the next chapter would worsen his depression, hypochondria (a persistent fear of a serious illness despite few or no symptoms), panic attacks, and, briefly, the feeling of wanting to die.
While Kumase shared that at his worst, he was “only able to do the bare minimum of what a human being could do,” Hiroe’s depression largely pertained to drawing Black Lagoon. “In my case, it didn’t affect my daily life that much,” he said. “Maybe it’s because I found a good doctor at a relatively early stage. When my symptoms were at their worst, I felt like I wanted to die, but that was only for the first two months or so, and after taking medication, things gradually got better.“
Hiroe’s experiences shape his worldview today: to not put pressure on himself and to find balance. Despite Black Lagoon going on hiatus after Roberta’s Blood Trail, he had continued to draw the series for another 6 months instead of taking a break. The result was the series’ relative lack of progress since, shared in a self-deprecating post on X last year: “This is the result of holding out until the very end, so everyone should take a break. You’ll waste 10 years.“
The full interview is a great read even for non-fans of Black Lagoon, and perhaps especially so for fans, some of whom worry that the series isn’t a priority for Hiroe. He said his past refusal to touch the series stemmed precisely from not wanting to hate it. Like his doujinshi, his other projects, such as the Re:CREATORS anime (story, original character design), Fate/Grand Order (select character designs), and the 341 Sentoudan manga (creator), allowed him to remain active. He adds that as long as he continues to draw manga, “I don’t think there will be any remission for me.” Despite that, he’s burdened himself to continue as a manga artist for the rest of his life:
“To continue as a manga artist for the rest of my life, it’s important to maintain this state and be able to draw for the rest of my life. Rather than thinking about how to improve, I’m thinking about how to prevent things from dropping off. I’m thinking about how long I can maintain the status quo.“
When asked, “Do you want to finish Black Lagoon?” Hiroe reportedly replied with force:
“Of course, that’s why I’m continuing.“
Hiroe’s Black Lagoon first debuted as a one-shot in the April 2001 issue of Shogakukan’s seinen Monthly Sunday Gene-X magazine, followed by a full serialization from April 2002 to the present. The series has over 9.8 million copies in circulation and spawned two TV anime seasons from April to December 2006 and the five-episode Roberta’s Blood Trail OVA from July 2010 to June 2011. The franchise also received the Heaven’s Shot game in 2023. Crunchyroll licensed the anime series.
VIZ began publishing the Black Lagoon manga in English in September 2012, describing the first volume:
Rokuro Okajima is just an average Japanese salaryman, living an average life. But when he’s taken hostage by the crew of the Black Lagoon, Rokuro finds himself thrown headfirst into a deadly world of outlawed heroes, brutal villains, and blazing gunfights. Where he ends up is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for certain—he’s in for a wild ride!
Source: Comic Natalie
© Rei Hiroe/Shogakukan
© 2006, 2010 Rei Hiroe/Shogakukan/Black Lagoon Anime Production Committee
Participate In Discussions