r/OtomeIsekai • u/poppyevil • Jun 25 '25
News [Secret Lady] will be on hiatus due to artist's end stage cirhorris :(
End stage cirhorris is rough, artist will probably have a rough recovery... I'm glad at least the staff is supporting the decision at least.
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u/sweetsuedesuite Jun 25 '25
Damn. I wish we're in a world where artists aren't obligated to divulge their medical history and write such a long statement in order to go on hiatus.
All the best to BANANA. Hope they can have a peaceful recovery.
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u/Most_Courage2624 Jun 25 '25
I just don't like the stigma around liver diseases. The artist went out of their way to say it was from hepatitis which is endemic in their country as they have out breaks from raw clam contamination and they have hospitals that have spread hepatitis from poor sterilization techniques. About 3% of their population has hepatitis B and they spread it through bodily fluids, frequently mother to child.
But this first assumption people make is alcoholism. Everyone is so fast to just write off all liver diseases as alcohol related and judge them on it. And while YES you Can absolutely get hepatitis from alcohol abuse I don't like that's the first assumption people make.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8032906/
I apologize. I am sensitive to people looking at illnesses and declaring them to be alcoholics as dad had necrotizing pancreatitis from monjoro and he drank 1 beer 2-3x a year and I've had to fight countless medical professionals assuming he was an alcoholic.
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u/StardewMelli Jun 25 '25
And even if the reason was alcohol, it’s none of our fucking business 😣 And we shouldn’t judge others. Who knows what they went through!
(I am not saying I believe it’s alcohol. I just mean in general)
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u/Most_Courage2624 Jun 25 '25
I'm just personally sensitive to people assuming on liver diseases due to my dad's pancreatitis and acute liver failure from the pancreatitis. People look at the combination and just make assumptions. And nurses at emergency room have even opened up conversations with 'so how much did you used to drink' within a minute of opening his chart. And it wasn't even you that made the alcohol comment
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u/StardewMelli Jun 25 '25
Oh no no no! I am totally on your side with that one! I agree! I just wanted to add that. I hate how noisy people are and how they feel entitled to know such sensitive things about others and how they like to gossip when someone is already down.
It makes me so mad when I hear what your dad went through. As if that isn’t already hard enough he also needed to deal with the wrong judgement of others. It’s nasty.
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u/Most_Courage2624 Jun 25 '25
And I absolutely agree with your statements above! I've gone through so much hell dealing with people assuming incorrect things about dad's diagnosis and writing him off because of it and I hate that people have this entitled need to know attitude. And I've almost reached a PTSD reaction so I apologize for turning the conversation and making you feel as though I'm not 100% agreeing because I am.
At the end of the day I am glad to know the diagnosis because I am nosey like everyone else, but I hate the assumptions on why people have a certain disease. And how entitled and firm people get on assuming certain diseases are things people do to themselves. People should be able to mention their diagnosis without being in fear of what people will think of them.
I'm always struck by the way when a person is struggling with obesity, alcoholism or other addiction the general census is 'you did it to yourself now suffer and die from it.' I have watched people be nasty towards dad because of the pancreatitis diagnosis because they assume it's alcoholism but when I go 'no he got it from Monjouro attempting to control his diabetes' and they're approach to dad will suddenly 180 and they'll be the most sympathetic people around and it's NASTY to see.
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u/mangocurry128 Jun 27 '25
Asking about smoking, alcohol consumption and illicit drug use is mandatory since a lot of medications interact with said drug and can even kill you. Is also part of your medical history since it would explain your diagnosis and correlate with your symptoms instead of playing a guessing game
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u/lovely-liz Jun 25 '25
I really hope these manhwa artists figure out how to unionize soon. They need to unionize like how other artists like stage actors, singers, script writers, etc have unionized to bargain for better treatment.
Unfortunately, historically manhwa was not seen as a proper career in Korea and many people believe that artists do not deserve to be treated well (including many artists themselves I’ve seen).
As a foreign reader with limited access to legal English translations, I’d never spend money on something like Lehzin, Kakao, Webtoon, or Naver bc of how expensive and predatory their business model is. I want to buy physical English copies but so few exist. If manhwa artists actually banded together and created a better publishing site they’d be making a lot more money. There’s very little fans can do to help them at this point tho.
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u/saltygamer677 Jun 25 '25
The Artist's recovery comes first. The manhwa can go to hiatus for next decade for all I care. I hope they get all the rest they want.
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u/midnightlou Second Lead Jun 25 '25
Liver in critical condition?? That’s absolutely awful!! 😣 I really hope the artist makes a full recovery one day.
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u/rottenfrenchfreis Jun 25 '25
Just wondering how you know it's end stage cirhorris? No where in banana's post does it say end stage cirhoiris.
Regardless, I hope banana can make a full recovery. Nobody should trade their health for their livelihood.
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u/Indescribable_Noun Jun 25 '25
I’m guessing it’s because of the hepatitis mention. Hepatitis (usually Hepatitis C, I think, don’t know if A or B can do it) that leads to liver damage = cirrhosis. If it gets really bad then the artist may develop encephalopathy which is fatal in 1-5 years without a transplant. Cirrhosis as well, is beyond the point of natural recovery, but can be managed with treatment so long as you avoid things that make it worse (like alcohol).
The best case scenario is that they are eligible for transplant, and that hopefully someone they know is a match and eligible and willing to donate a piece of their liver to them. Idk how South Korea handles such things though, so maybe it’ll be a little different or faster or slower.
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u/Sans-Foy Usurper Jun 25 '25
Yeah, my dad died of end stage hepatic encephalopathy — NASH runs heavily in my dad’s family. I know it well.
It’s an ugly way to go. Though, even at that stage, it can be managed into a stable state for an indeterminate stretch before even getting bad enough to have them go to transplant.
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u/One-Broccoli-9998 Jun 25 '25
Unfortunately (as far as I’m aware) “managing” it just means taking a ton of lactulose to remove the ammonia from the bloodstream until a new liver becomes available. It’s awful and when people try to space out their doses, they become encephalopathic and can’t take their meds. And, to make matters worse, if this happen repeatedly the patient will be documented as noncompliant and removed from the transplant list
P.s. I’m not a doctor or anything so I could be wrong on some of these details
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u/Sans-Foy Usurper Jun 25 '25 edited Jun 25 '25
I don’t know about the transplant list specifics—because my dad lived for over a decade with managed encephalopathy. And yes, that meant taking lactulose properly and managing protein intake to keep ammonia amounts in the blood stream down. My dad lived that way for over a decade, his numbers so well managed that he wasn’t eligible for transplant.
When it went down hill it was fast—so fast that by the time they were talking transplant, he was essentially too weak to survive the prerequisite stent procedure he’d need for it to be viable. So we got to watch him die, slowly and painfully, until he was in a hepatic coma. In home hospice, but the nurses only came twice a week, so most care was on us.
It was ugly—and was 13 years ago now, so if they’ve switched how they handle things, good. Had my dad gotten a transplant when he was still healthy, and ALL of his five children were willing to to live donate, he’d likely still be alive. It sucks.
NASH runs heavily in my dad’s mom’s family—my dad, his brother, his mom, and all but one of her like 8 siblings all died of liver disease. Some were alcoholic. Most—weren’t.
I have fatty liver. My numbers are assiduously monitored because I do not play.
But yeah, it’s ugly—and yes, people live on lactulose for huge stretches.
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u/zingglechap Jun 25 '25
Oh that's rough. The art is incredible but ofc their life and comfort comes first. I hope they get better. If they decide to come back to the series, or if they decide to give it to another worthy artist, I hope all parties involved aren't screwed over.
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u/QueakySJC Jun 25 '25
I hate this so much. I lost an incredibly good friend to this exact situation. I hope they recover and i hope they can do so peacefully with no pressure to even think about this comic.
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u/Your_Therapissed Therapist Jun 25 '25
wishing BANANA a get well soon, hopefully they can rest and recover well 🫶🫶🫶
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u/cokecathatesfish Guillotine-chan Jun 25 '25
What is it with all the misfortune always falling on god-level artists
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u/Leading_Bag5854 Questionable Morals Jun 25 '25 edited Jun 25 '25
Whenever I see a manhwa with phenomenally beautiful art, I always have to brace myself for a long term hiatus because it is damn near impossible to maintain a consistent art style whilst updating on a weekly basis without the artist having to sacrifice their mental and physical health (Roxana's subsequent hiatus and Juniljus's miscarriage is sadly a horrific example of this). I hope some kind of reform happens within these companies because I hate seeing artists work themselves to the bone for the sake of pushing out chapters and meeting their deadlines. I'd honestly be content with my favorite manhwas updating bi-weekly or monthly if it meant that the artists would be able to produce better chapters with good art.
I hope BANANA recovers from this, cirhorris is no joke :(.
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u/Uglypotato760 Jun 25 '25
Another amazing manhwa gone on Hiatus cuz of artist abuse.... First Roxanne Now Secret Lady? Someone do something about the abusive Korean industry.
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u/stanloonathx Jun 25 '25
I hope things get better for them, really. I remember reading that liver disease is one of the top causes of death in South Korea. I'm sure their work and drinking culture doesn't help. (idk if the artist drinks obviously but I'm speaking generally)
I wonder if they're unionized or something? If they are, it may be possible to have better healthcare and other benefits, so we don't have to keep seeing announcements of these hardworking people getting sick because of work.
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u/lynnah_aa Jun 25 '25
really hope the artist can make a full recovery and come back to the story one day, this is one of my all time favorites, and as far as the art goes it's tied with stepmother's marchen for best art imo
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u/Negative_Tooth6047 Reincarnator Jun 25 '25
BANANA can have half my liver 😭 anything for them to be healthy 😭😭
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u/MiniJ Jun 25 '25
This greedy system really sucks your health out. I'm not even an artist and am a victim to that. I hope she gets the recover she deserves 🥺
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u/ambreciel Questionable Morals Jun 25 '25
Extremely shocked and sorry to learn this. This industry needs change, but it’s also a testament to BANANA’s passion and resilience that they even continued producing such amazing work up to this point. I know I would’ve quit a long long time ago.
Secret Lady is probably in my forever top 3 and I’m sad that I can’t enjoy this masterpiece anymore, but I really wish BANANA a complete recovery ❤️🩹
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u/Ok_Leading2287 Jun 25 '25
Y’all. Gen Z + Millennial Japanese and Korean people need to just say no to this BS and learn to protest. I have seen so many webtoon/manga artists have to go into hiatus for overwork and extreme health problems. This is not okay.
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u/kazoonyas Grand Duck Jun 25 '25
I just hope Banana-nim recovers fastly. Doesn’t matter of the story will be finished or not
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u/OGAlexa Jun 25 '25
Its my absolute favorite story! I wish the artist a full recovery. Its always the artist that make masterpieces that destroy their health in the process. :(
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u/Amethyst271 Jun 25 '25
this announcement was likely heavily reviewed by her employers so the full picture wasn't allowed to be talked about. There could be more to this that BANANA can't talk about which honestly sucks. I hope they recover
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u/IntelligentGarbage92 Shalala ✨ Jun 25 '25
i like the story but no story ever worth the creator's health.
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u/Enjyux Jun 25 '25 edited Jun 25 '25
This is heart wrenching to know it got to end stage wishing her full recovery ♥️
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u/Fine_Inspection8598 Jun 26 '25
Man.. I wanna cry bcs this is such a devastating news about an artist I hold dear… i cant even begin to imagine what they’re going through… I just want them to be okay again and healthy… i hope they’re getting all the support and care they need.
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u/keIIzzz Jun 26 '25
I hope they are able to get proper treatment and their health improves 🙁 I’m sure it must be very difficult to deal with
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u/AmbedoShadow16 Interesting Jun 25 '25
Holy shit, wishing all the best to the artist 🙏 Is it confirmed that it's end-stage cirrhosis? Because if it's critical hepatitis like the post says, then there's a better chance of managing it, I think.
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u/FinanceQuirky3672 Jun 25 '25
End stage cirrhosis?!? Oh wow :(, honestly I would rather the artist take all the time they need instead of working into oblivion or ending up hospitalized. It sounds like they may end up needing a liver transplant 😔
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u/IdioticSandwic Jun 26 '25
Damn, not the artist of the manhwa I've been keeping up with even after leaving the OI fandom!
Hope the artist can find a suitable liver donor quickly, seems like their liver has been damaged beyond repair.
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u/Spiritual_Elevator30 Jul 01 '25
This is so devastating to hear. Banana’s art in secret lady is what got me back to reading historical manhwas. Oh gosh, I pray for Banana’s asap recovery. I hope she comes back soon with better treatment from her workplace🥹
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u/Emperor240 Divine Being Jul 16 '25
Does anyone know if she has an Instagram Account or something similar. I've been trying to find it but can't😭😭😭
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Jun 27 '25
يالهوي لا لا لا لا لا لا
يا رب يرجعوا بسرعة بس حقهم الصراحة اهو الحق افهم المانهوا اساسًا ،الرسم تحفة فنية
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u/StardewMelli Jun 25 '25
I don`t care if the artist will complete the story or not. I just hope they will recover fully. That sounds really bad :(
Why does it seem like that the best artists always suffer the most?