pokoko said:
I don't know how it is with light novels but I remember reading that editors are responsible for like 50% of the final content in a manga, more or less depending on the prestige of the mangaka. I honestly think that probably accounts for some of the more formulaic elements we see repeated so often. The try to emulate what's popular instead of trying to understand why something is popular.
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That actually reminds me of a story I read on /a/ a while back...which maybe you're already aware of. Yoshihiro Togashi apparently got into an argument with Shonen Jump while writing Yu Yu Hakusho after he presented his storyboard for a future arc. Jump supposedly rejected the idea, instead telling him to write something similar to a previous popular arc. Basically...rejected an original idea in favor of a popular one.
With Togashi, he basically had a meltdown over not being able to write his own manga the way he wanted, and opted to instead end YYH over the next few chapters. Still...I imagine most mangaka would likely just cave to their publisher (or editor like you mentioned). Not sure if Jump still operates that way...I'd really hope not considering some of my favorite manga are still published there. I've read about Oda mocking Jump in tweets once or twice...though I imagine most mangaka can't get away with what he can.
