Relationships between creators and major companies sometimes end worse than a badly handled divorce. Mangaka sooncha dropped a bomb on the community by announcing that his manga, Yang Can’t Live Alone (Yang-senpai wa Hitori de Ikiteikenai), will abruptly end its serialization on Square Enix’s Manga UP! service. The reason? A complete breakdown in trust with the publisher, forcing the author to halt his story on August 13 with the release of its final chapter.

The announcement came with tension, as the author had to apologize to readers for revealing this crisis just days before the launch of the third compiled volume, scheduled for August 6. Unable to stop print and digital distribution, sooncha was so transparent that he even suggested to his followers to cancel their pre-orders if the current situation caused corporate distrust. Now, the creator is in tense negotiations to try to regain publishing rights and continue the tender romance between Yuu and the mysterious exchange student Yang on another platform in the future.

The truly alarming thing is that this isn’t an isolated case. Just at the end of July, the creators of the manga Make Heroine wo Katasetai!!, Michiru Nakayama and Tatsuwipe, announced exactly the same thing: their definitive departure from publisher Akita Shoten because it became impossible to maintain a stable and respectful working environment with management. These incidents reveal growing friction within the manga industry, where authors prefer to halt their projects and fight tooth and nail for their work rights rather than continue under unacceptable conditions.

As more authors find the courage to leave major publishers when the working environment becomes unsustainable, do you think these companies will start improving their treatment of talent, or will we continue seeing stories canceled due to poor corporate management?