Square Enix says its editors spend more than 3,000 hours a year on one of manga’s most time-consuming tasks, and the company is now using AI to cut that down.
The publisher has partnered with Tokyo-based AI firm Mantra to develop a tool that automates “typesetting specification,” the process of assigning font, size, style, and placement to every line of dialogue.
According to the press release, the system has completed beta testing and is now being rolled out internally at Square Enix.
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Revoloutionary AI being used to cut down manga production
While it is largely invisible to readers, typesetting plays a key role in how manga looks on the page. Editors manually adjust every speech bubble depending on context, from everyday dialogue to shouting or internal monologue.
As you can imagine, in text-heavy manga like Jujutsu Kaisen and the never-ending story of One Piece, this can quickly add up to thousands of hours of work each year.
The new tool is designed to handle much of that process by scanning raw pages, analyzing speech bubbles and text structure, and then suggesting layouts that match both the space available and the tone of each line.
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Editors still review and adjust the results, but the system removes the need to manually write detailed font instructions for every panel.
Square Enix
Square Enix and Mantra have both stressed that the AI does not generate or alter artwork, and purely focuses on layout so that creative decisions remain with artists and editors.
In internal testing across 1,516 pages, 73% of editors reported overall satisfaction, and all respondents said they would be open to continuing to use it.
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“This tool was developed to optimize the workload of editors by merging the ideas of those on the front lines with Mantra’s technology and the AI expertise Square Enix has cultivated over a decade in digital entertainment,” said Katsuyoshi Matsuura, Executive Officer at Square Enix.
“Our goal is not just efficiency for its own sake, but to create an environment where editors can focus on their primary mission: supporting creators’ activities, while AI handles routine tasks.”
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AI tools are increasingly being used in a variety of ways, from helping authorities track manga and anime piracy to prompting game studios to change how they hire artists, including asking applicants to draw live during interviews to prove their work is human-made. One famous case even saw an AI-generated manga becoming one of Japan’s best sellers.