Hi, readers of Bakuman. If there are any of you left, I am sincerely sorry for the extended delay in posting. I’d like to explain myself, not because I’m required to – if anything, it would be better to keep these things in the dark – but because I must. And when push comes to shove, I do the things I must, even if they are gross and uncomfortable.

So let’s get this update out of the way:

Personal Life Part 1: July, 2022

The reason I have been able to post Bakuman on a fairly consistent basis – barring a few gaps – is that I had a fairly free schedule to post and my job demands were sufficiently reasonable that I could work on Bakuman throughout the week while still maintaining it. As I’ve said in the past, Bakuman takes up a healthy chunk of time to complete, and that is in addition to my other creative projects – some of which I’ve talked about repeatedly and want to make into careers, at some point – so I was able to keep consistent because of that routine.

Then, I lost that job.

Although it was an amicable split, it was unexpected and threw me for a loop, as I had been working at that company for a long enough time to get a little too comfortable in it.

Because I was looking for work – and was also somewhat rudderless and, honestly, in a mild depressive episode – I could not maintain my schedule, in addition to the top line of finding actual work.

I felt guilty the entire time I didn’t post, but because this project brings no money in (this is important) it took a lower priority than, y’know, finding ways to make money. And I did.

The three months in between jobs proved fruitful and emotionally fulfilling in unexpected ways – I acted a bit and I got involved in a musical, but I still needed work.

Fortunately, I found a temp position for a little bit. This is when I started posting again, as it was remote and a fairly low-key position that I could work.

But it was unstable, and I had to leave it fairly quickly due to that instability. I will not go into details about this one because there is little to report; other than that, I was able to develop a somewhat normal schedule again.

But then, life hit me in an unexpected way.

I got a job I actually wanted

This is where things get complicated.

I managed to find work in the industry I went to school for – and even though it wasn’t a creative position, I found it very fulfilling and enjoyable – and for a few months, I was doing that.

The hours, however, were long, and it was not a remote position; while I was working on Bakuman posts in the interim, I had to cut my time down on working them severely to accommodate my then schedule as I was simply too busy to give it the hours of focus it required each week to finish a post.

But I kept writing and was hoping to post Chapter 90 at the beginning of the year when…

I went to Japan & I was in a musical

This had been under wraps for a long while, but now that the show has aired, I can discuss it more freely. I was featured on a Japanese Television Program because of my sincere love for making sushi, which I do on a daily basis. I was in Japan for about two weeks, and while it was a wonderful experience, it threw my schedule for a loop.

Once I returned from Japan, I went through hell week for the musical I had joined during my previous unemployment, and that’s when shit truly got ridiculous.

For a three-week stretch, I got very little sleep, went to work, rehearsed, ate like shit, and generally didn’t have anything that one could call a healthy balance. Culminating in a two-night, 4-show run. While it was a deeply rewarding experience looking back on it, it was also too much.

As a direct result of pushing myself so ridiculously hard, I got very sick. Like, unable to breathe properly, sounding like Barry White, and generally just being unwell.

and then…

I lost my job….again

This one sucks a lot more, and I’m not going to go into detail about it. But the position I was working in didn’t work out, and this one hit me much much harder than the first one. I haven’t felt like such a failure in a long time.

I was unemployed, physically broken, and emotionally wrung out. This time, I did enter a depression. This departure was much more unexpected and ended up hitting me much harder financially than the previous one. It has been a long time since I have been in such dire straits on every conceivable level.

The end result was….Bakuman had to take a back seat to find a job immediately. Again.

Fortunately, I found a new job. It’s stable, and I *should* have enough time to work on Bakuman consistently again. I hope. Dear god I hope.

This is a good job, and I like it, but that brings me to one of the reasons I’m writing this.

The Path Forward

I fully intend to finish this read-through. I have been rescheduling, and figuring out how to accommodate best writing it regularly again, and I will try posting week to week. But the issue of money is one that I can no longer avoid.

I know there are people who read this, and I appreciate all of you. One of the contracts I have made with you, in making this content free, is that I post at my leisure rather than on a hard schedule; while I would prefer to maintain a consistent schedule, regardless, it is getting increasingly difficult to justify the time it takes to work on this blog with the returns it makes.

So to find a non-scummy way to ask the internet for money, I will make a Ko-fi for donations, should you want to support the continued creation of these posts.

I want to get this out of the way first: I will continue posting until I have finished Bakuman. No matter how long it takes, I will finish this read-through. I will do it. It is not a question of if, and I am not holding this content hostage. You are not obligated to financially support this content for me to finish it. I’d feel like an even bigger scumbag if I didn’t make that perfectly clear; right now, I just feel only kinda scummy for asking for money after a 6-month hiatus.

But as it stands, without something greater than my own will seeing me through – which is, admittedly, quite powerful – I cannot guarantee a consistent posting schedule relative to my other responsibilities. Bakuman will remain only a middle priority for the time being.

So, I hate asking this, but if you would like to support this read-through and help prod me into keeping it regular, please consider donating to my ko-fi account here. I do appreciate it if you do.

Thanks for reading, my dudes. I appreciate all of you.