Translated from Ishida’s twitter (X):
I went to the Ishida Sui exhibition since today was the last day. It's been a long time since I've thought back to those days.
To my days of serialization.
I wrote in the afterword of the final volume about how difficult of a time I had, But well, although that must have been true...
As I gazed upon the countless number of illustrations on display, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. "Oh, I was having fun back then."
#FukuokaAsianArtMuseum
I've stated before how "I've always thought about quitting," but I don't think there's ever been a time where I've thought, "I don't want to draw."
It's a subtle difference in nuance, but it makes me wonder.
Perhaps it wasn't the act of drawing manga that I hated, but rather being a mangaka that I detested.
I believed that the quintessential mangaka I created in my mind was someone who has to constantly work as a mangaka all the time or do stuff they don't really like as an adult, and so I did things that didn't suit myself at all.
That might have been what I had a hard time struggling with.
But I'm certain that drawing (...usually I'd dismiss my own art) was able to provide comfort to me at the time.
When I entered the admission area and saw the montage video, I felt overwhelmed, engrossed by the sight of my own art play across the screen. The vividly-coloured art that took painstaking effort for me to paint.
It made me think that at the time I was painting it, I must have been having fun.
This is really embarrassing for me to admit, but back when the exhibition was being planned,
I was so overwhelmed by the colossal amount of work I had to do, and coupled with the fact that I wasn't able to have an objective view of Tokyo Ghoul at the time, I was so lost in thought during the meetings that I felt very bad for the organizers involved in the project.
Once I've composed myself enough, I'd like to apologize to them for being so rude. Thank you so much for organizing this wonderful exhibition.