‘I Don’t Remember What Days I Worked’: Tokyo Ghoul Author Reveals Brutal Schedule During Manga’s Run

In a recent interview published on Shueisha’s Manga Million app, author Sui Ishida revealed his brutal schedule while working on the Tokyo Ghoul manga.

It is well known in the fandom that Ishida faced significant issues due to the demands of weekly serialization while working on Tokyo Ghoul. Now, the author has finally detailed how hectic his production schedule was during that period.

Ishida revealed that he worked overnight almost every day weekly to complete his drawings for Tokyo Ghoul, before attending a morning meeting to discuss storyboards with his staff.

“I don’t really remember what days of the week I was working. I just know I spent five to six days each week working all through the night, since it took so much time to draw everything. I was probably working at least twelve to thirteen hours per day,” the author said, adding, “Then at ten in the morning, the whole staff would meet and spend somewhere from thirty minutes to an hour storyboarding.“

Ishida has been vocal about the health issues he faced after pushing himself to meet strict publishing deadlines while working on the manga.

However, despite the series taking a severe toll on his mental health, the author revealed that he enjoyed drawing the manga during its final stretch.

Sui Ishida Took Help From His Friend & Older Sister:

Ishida elaborated on this in the latest interview, noting that he had his back against the wall when developing the plot for the manga’s endgame.

Because he continuously ran into narrative issues, he approached a trusted friend and his older sister for assistance, which gave him with an entirely new outlook on the creative process.

“That helped me realize how much fun it is to think up ideas together with other people, which led to a huge change in mindset for me moving forward. So now…I think everything’s gone back to normal for me, really. I strive to learn something new every day, and have fun doing it,” Ishida said.

In a message published at the end of the final volume of Tokyo Ghoul:re, Ishida disclosed that finishing the series had brought him a huge sense of relief.

He explained that the manga had completely taken up his time, emotions, and personal relationships, describing the conclusion of the serialization as being “released from a cage”.

The author noted that his work schedule shifted around the seventh volume of the manga, leading him to deliberately overwork himself. He compared his situation to protagonist Ken Kaneki who endured physical torture but accepted it eventually.

This routine resulted in recurring health issues, most notably the loss of his sense of taste, which Ishida noted mirrored the ghouls in his story.

He concluded the message by stating that writing Tokyo Ghoul was not a fun experience and that he hated working.

Currently, Ishida is working on his new manga Choujin X. However, he is not bound by a weekly schedule as he was with Tokyo Ghoul, as the manga’s latest chapters operate on an irregular release format.

Choujin X has compiled its chapters into 16 tankobon volumes and has over 2.5 million copies in circulation as of June 2026.

Source: Manga Million