Manga-Making Manga!

 

You may or may not already know, but in between my manga reading I dabble in the world drawing, comic making, and otherwise wannabe artist-type person.  It’s a time-consuming but satisfying way to apply yourself but yes, I’ve not been tending very well to this blog because of it.  Sorry about that!  In recognition that there are many people who also enjoy drawing and such, I thought it’d be fun to have a super-quick rundown of manga about drawing manga!

There’s no real order of preference here, but the general trend is to start with the most positive titles and work my way down to the more bitter levels of creativity.

Bakuman  – Probably the most famous title on this list.  It tells the tale of two boys who decide to become manga artists in Shonen Jump, and succeed pretty damn quickly.  Rapid success of any sort is basically the only reason I need to put it first on this list.  The creative discussions between the various creatives are interesting and valid to anyone who’s thought about their plotting, whereas the internal politics of Jump’s editorial system should be taken more with a pinch of salt.  Needless to say it’s spawned a generation of ‘experts’ on the Internet who can now make insightful opinions on why certain manga do or don’t succeed.  That may sound cynical, so perhaps it’s better to think that encouraging people to think about comics more critically is a good thing.  I’ll leave it at that…

Comic Party (Tokyopop) – Moving away from professional manga making and into the world of doujinshi (self-published fan comics).  Comic Party is about a failed artist who becomes involved in making his own comics.  He works hard, sell a couple comics, and makes some friends along the way.  It’s the idealised model of starting out as an amateur artist, and a cute read.

Comic Party (CPM Manga) – An interesting spin-off series of books that contain actual doujinshi based on the original Comic Party series.  Some of the comics aren’t so great, but that’s not the point. It’s quite a rare to be given a chance to own translated doujin in this manner, and I feel gives a more accurate representation of the kinds of things you’re likely to find at your average Comiket rather than the back-to-back porn that otherwise seems to filter its way over here.

Pretty Maniacs – The chronicles of a school Manga Club that works together to build its membership and sell its own comics at Comiket.  Less time is dedicated to the drawing part of comic-making, but more to the production side of things.  I now know how to compile, trim and bind my own perfect bound book which, to my knowledge, is a rather unique aspect of this manga.  Not exactly deep, but it’s high on humour and enthusiasm.

Dojin Work – Changing the romanised spelling of a Japanese word at the mid-point of an article, I’ve already written about Dojin Work elsewhere on this blog.  If Comic Party were a cute little puppy, Dojin Work would be the runt who’s humping your leg.  Scraping through an event where selling a single copy of your comic is considered a victory, and then making your next comic a porno in a desperate attempt to get more sales.  This is comic-making for the cynics, and frankly not totally unjustified in its approach.   A personal favourite and I always have a couple volumes to hand when I’m trying to hit a deadline.

Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga – Two guys in a room decide they will conquer the world with manga.  To do this, they need to make manga that will appeal to every audience in every style, and so mercilessly tear through every cliché and archetype that can be found in manga.  Pointing out weak storytelling is normally a criticism, but here it is something to use, celebrate and then exploit.  It’s funny, almost to the point at which you’d think the creators hold manga with contempt.  But there’s a special kind of love there, and I share it with them.

I’ll Give it My All… Tomorrow – This series is about a deadbeat guy who’s hit middle age and so decides to become a manga artist in between his shifts at a fast-food joint.  His comics suck, his father tells him he’s wasting his time, but he maintains a self-belief throughout which frankly without would make him the most miserable man alive.  It’s a comic that encourages the reader to judge the protagonist in the early stages, but as time goes on you gradually fall in line with his near-delusions of success.  You may not succeed as an artist, but so long as you’re trying and enjoying life, it is a life worth living.  There’s always a chance you’ll succeed… right?

I’m sure there’s a bunch more manga I forgot about, as well as those that feature creating, but are not a central part of the story (School Rumble is one example).  For those inspired to draw forget about those ‘How to Draw Manga…’ books.  The best way to learn how to draw is to draw, and the best way to understand comics is to read them.  Have fun!

Lupin III

A master of disguise and professional thief, Lupin the Third will do whatever it takes to steal cold hard cash while checking any hot girls going. If you’re only familiar with the character from his anime incarnations, forget everything you know. Author Monkey Punch apparently wasn’t too keen on Miyazaki’s gentler interpretation of the thief in Castle of Cagliostro, and ever since that film came out Lupin has been presented with a bit of a lovable rogue that betrays his true origins. Reading this will count as a bit of a shock.

Chapters are generally one-shot affairs with no overbearing plot and expected allies Jigen and Goemon randomly drop in and out with no loyalty between them while cop Zenigata is more hardboiled than buffoon. Rather than saving and seducing the dames, Lupin just drags women into bed at every opportunity. Making no apologies Lupin is more likely to stab, shoot or blow his enemies up rather than give them a second chance. This is noticeably edgy stuff with a merciless streak that is completely at odds with more modern interpretations. The outlandish slapstick humour still remains but the starkly harsher outlook could will put many readers off.

Also not helping the series is scratchy artwork that is frequently poorly reproduced throughout the volumes. This is probably an issue with inadequate source material, but as a manga that is sometimes difficult to follow due to unusual panelling this can act against it. It’s just a bit of a shame as when you stop and look at the dense crosshatching and warped backgrounds it becomes apparent that Monkey Punch is a hell of a draftsman. Style over substance where this series is coming from as it combines murder, double crossings and slapstick humour and coats it all with an unapologetically sleazy shtick.

With Tokyopop recently announcing that is will cease publishing manga, looking back on its old catalogue digs up quite a few worthy titles. Lupin III is a risky choice for any publisher due to its ago and unusual style. To be perfectly honest Tokyopop’s later output contains very little approaching this sort of individuality (the recent anomaly that is Neko Ramen is both surprising and welcome), and the overall lack of diversity in its range is disappointing. These days only a few of the 14 original volumes are readily available, but as the chapters are self-contained I’d its worth grabbing any of the volumes if you fancy taking the risk.

Life

So far there’s been a distinct lack of shojo-styled manga on this blog - time for a change of pace! That said perhaps not, as this is one of the more disturbing titles I’ve ever had the ‘pleasure’ of reading.

Ayumu’s an everyday high school girl with average grades and modest personality. Her best friend Shinozuka is the top of the class and they decide to study together to help bring her grades up. All intentions are good and Ayumu’s grades steadily raise, but things are a little too close for comfort for Shinozuka who begins to feel her position as the better student threatened. Only Ayumu passes her finals, causing the two to go their separate ways, but not before Shinozuka’s bitter resentment is passed on, causing Ayumu’s confidence to nose dive… and there ends chapter 1.

If by the title we’re to assume that this manga really represents ‘Life’, then I’d be terrified to ever go to a Japanese school. Early volumes contain scenes of self-harm, public humiliation, kidnappings and sleazy blackmail - even a scene where a group of girls try to force Ayumu into swallowing needles. It’s pretty grim stuff. What makes Life so difficult to read is that there’s no real reason for Ayumu to be so perpetually victimised aside from the insecurities of the absolute psychopaths that she seems to attract.

From volume 6 the age rating jumps up to the 18+ mark and goes further with the intensity. Our heroes are kidnapped again, tied to a bed, sexually assaulted and left for dead with the building on fire. School kids don’t do this! The drama is so overblown that is risks becoming pure melodrama, which to be honest would offer real respite to the horrendous sequences of events. But that it is able to reign in its intensity makes this uncomfortable and gripping reading throughout.

Unfortunately, and somewhat mercifully, Tokyopop wasn’t able to publish beyond volume 9 when Kodansha pulled all their licences from them. Some sort of resolution or sense that there could possibly be a happy ending to all this suffering on the way would be very heartening. But without this conclusion this series exists as one of the most twisted and venomous titles out there. You have been warned…

Neko Ramen

I've kinda written about this one before elsewhere - guess it can't hurt to rip/paraphrase it to here...

Neko Ramen: The title describes pretty much everything: It’s a cat. He makes noodles. That's it.

For my money it’s the best new title Tokyopop's put out in years.

Laid out predominantly in the 4koma style, Neko Ramen follows Taisho’s day to day life as he runs his noodle bar, experimenting with new recipes (which are consistently awful) and going through an unusual array of part-timers of varying reliability and species type. He has one regular customer, which in one way makes you wonder why Taisho bothers, but that's part of his tenacity and charmingly oblivious regard to his unique position.

With every other series out there striving to be ultra-cool and slick, Neko Ramen’s style is loose, low in detail and generally not trying to impress anyone. It’s hidden strength is in its writing in portraying the relationship between strong/deluded Taisho and long-suffering but continually intrigued Tanaka. It’s is funny, but your mileage may vary. Some might find the joke starting to wear a little thin as the volumes pass, but the steady release schedule helps avoid this issue. Undemanding fun.