@HXHAlex:
I brought up Versus 13 because the crying over it's problems reminds me of the crying over Togashi's hiatuses.
I NEVER equated game development with manga development.
@HXHAlex:
The growing insistence that Gyro's plot will never come to fruition reminds me so much of….
You compared one thing to another. Thus, you equated them, implied they were the same. You could have thrown in any term at all other than FF13V and your statement would still be the same. (Though picking a medium closer to home, like the Berserk manga, or a novel series, might have made more sense.)
Basically, what you're (percieved) as saying is that… not only should audience expectations be the same for these two different products (regardless of medium), but that the unexplained delays were okay and that its the audience's fault that the creative team is being unprofessional.
"Long hiatuses, push back and interruptions for this one product are okay because.... thus, long hiatuses, push back and interruptions are okay for this other product are fine!"
We say time and time again, if togashi just had a schedule (be it monthly, or 10 chapters at the start of the year, or even a damn blog, whatever) something that could be counted on, and dependable, most of the ill will would go away. But when he can vanish for 2 year stretches, then come back for as little as 2 scribbly chapters at a time before going away for another two years? That's not cool.
Or if he would even once give a simple one sentence explanation of "I have a sickness that slows me down, my apologies!" or "I'm 47 years old, I just can't produce at the speed I used to, my apologies" or even "I have writer's block, and I want the work to be the best it can be" that would go a long way. But when he doesn't ever say that, when he comes and goes at random, when he provides chapters that are scribble drawings, when he ended his previous work YuYu Hakusho as awfully and abruptly as he did, and there's zero sign this series won't end the same way? (If it didn't already!) Well... Is it any wonder there's concerns and frustrations?
The writing is quality, no one is arguing that. (The art isn't, and that's part of the medium.... but stick with the writing process.) Maybe he couldn't keep that up if the series were weekly, as the decline of Naruto is a prime example of... (nevermind the hundreds of other series that remain pretty good on a regular basis) but... to do what he does, without any explanation whatsoever? That's where the problem, and the betrayal of his fans, lies.
People don't have a problem when manga creators take vacations, or lengthier breaks between projects, or when novel writers take a year or three between books, that's fine. But they DO have a problem when a writer has an ongoing series they've been doing for 15 years and has constant super lengthy delays without much explanation. The writer, when they started putting out an ongoing sequential story with no end in sight, makes an agreement with the reader. "You invest your time, money and energy into my product, provide my living... and I will continue to make and produce the work. It may take time, so some patience may be required, but I'll keep trying and get to the end of this story as soon as I am able"
George R.R. Martin famously gets flak for Game of Thrones volumes taking 5 years apiece. Except those are super thick, super dense intricate tomes, and you can see in the final product where all the time is put in. (The main concern there at this point is that Martin will a)die before finishing, and b)the show will catch up to him). But he constantly updates, constantly says "I'm X number of pages in, I've hit writers block on this detail, I just worked on an episode of the show. I'm doing a little side story to recharge my batteries" and that's fine.
As Neil Gaiman once said, "The writer is not our bitch. " The creative side has to go where it goes, and sometimes there's delays in creating something, and product quality can vary, and sometimes a side project just needs to be done first or a break is needed, whatever. That happens, its part of the creative process, that's fine and accepted. All writers and artists are allowed some leeway in that area. Sometimes you miss a deadline (but you're supposed to do your damndest to hit it if you're a professional.) Thats creatives for you.
Its the silence, and the unexplained sloppiness from Togashi that's hard to get over. When he turns in scribble drawings you wonder "where is the time and energy go? Does he even care about the fans? Or his work? Is he only doing this for the paycheck?" And that's where the problem lies.