Should AI in Anime & Manga worry you? The case of Rent-A-Girlfriend

On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Rent-A-Girlfriend creator, author, and illustrator Reiji Miyajima posted an AI-generated image of a character from their series to their X account. The character in question appears to be Chizuru Mizuhara, also known as Chizuru Ichinose, who is likely most recognizable from the cover of the series’ first volume.

While the drawing is innocent enough, and Miyajima emphasizes that they told the AI only to use his own work in reference, fans are nevertheless perturbed by the Rent-A-Girlfriend mangaka’s choice. Part of this disappointment stems from the controversy surrounding AI in the current anime and manga industry landscape, especially as the technology becomes widely accepted.

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Rent-A-Girlfriend mangaka sparks controversy with use of AI, even if done in an “ethical” manner

As mentioned above, Miyajima emphasizes in their tweet that they explicitly instructed the AI to only refer to his artwork to generate Chizuru Mizuhara. The Rent-A-Girlfriend mangaka even emphasizes that they’ve only just started getting interested in artificial intelligence technology, suggesting they may not be aware of the controversy surrounding it.

While only pulling from Miyajima’s artwork, the image is still clearly AI-generated, showing some telltale signs such as inconsistent shading and lighting, excessive illustration lines, and more. One of the biggest “red flags” in Miyajima’s posted image specifically comes from Chizuru’s left eye, which is seemingly double or triple-layered in terms of lining and shading.

The coloring is also inconsistent in various parts of the drawing, such as in Chizuru’s hair, both near her scalp and towards the end of her strands. Overall, it’s very clearly an AI-generated image, which could be, in part, why fans are so upset. However, many seem to be taking issue with Miyajima more on a philosophical basis than over the actual quality of the AI art.

Despite the Rent-A-Girlfriend mangaka's ethical use of the AI tool, Miyajima's post has sparked a discussion in the general anime and manga communities regarding the role of AI in the medium. While some series have already implemented AI for translative purposes, none of the major significance have formally revealed their use of AI art as of this article's writing.

However, using AI for artwork or narrative purposes is a different story than simple translations. Moreover, Miyajima's use of the technology is considered ethical since he only had it reference his own artwork from Rent-A-Girlfriend.

With one of the major arguments against AI art being it stealing from other human artists, this is at least one justifiable way it could be used for artwork. Simultaneously, this ethical use could give creators more spare time to rest and recover from the demanding job.

Yet even if the mangaka's own art is used as a reference, it's debatable whether they're even involved in the artistic process at that point. This would be especially true if AI images were implemented without human editing or intervention first. While fans have nothing to worry about for now, they could very soon need to start guessing whether their favorite mangas are actually being drawn by their original creators.

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Related links:

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AI-generated art is getting a lot of hate from anime conventions and the fandom

Junji Ito's honest take on AI dominating the anime and manga industry will leave fans surprised