1,000 ideas by 100 manga artists

318 Pages·2011·70.57 MB·English

by  Cristian Campos

1000 IDEAS BY 100 MANGA ARTISTS
1,000 Ideas by
100 Manga Artists

Cristian Campos

suanstrena
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Copyright ©2011 by maomao publications
Fist published in 201 inthe United States of America by
Rackport Publishers, a member of

(Quayside Publishing Group

100 Cummings Center

Suite 406-4

Beverly, MAO1915-6101

Telephone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

wow cockpub.com

ISBN:976-1-59253-7143
Digital edition published in 2011
e1SBN:978-1-61060-2327

Digital edition: 978-1-61060232-7
Softcover edition: 978-1-59253-714-3

10987654321

Publisher: Paco Asensio
Exitral coordination: Cristian Campos

EF Editor Caistian Campos

Artditector:Emma Texmes Parera

Layout: Esperanza Escudero

English translation Cillera & de Matta

Eitodal project:
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Via Laietana, 32, 4th lof. 104
(08003 Barcelona, Spain
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Printed in Singapore

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Contents

Introduction.

Akiko Matsuo ..
Angela Wraight & Gwen Kortsen,
Anna Fitzpatrick .
Anne Patzke
Atsushi Ikeda .
Audra Ann Furuichi..
Ayako Okubi
Bettina M. Kurkoski
C.Lijewsk

Chie Kutsuwada .
David ‘Def File
Eito Yoshikaw.
Emiko Goto
Fantasista Utamaro.

Junko Kawakami
Kana Nagani
Karen Yuri Luste
Kate Holden
Kato Ai/ aiemadonna
Kayo Tamaishi
Kazuko Tsuji
Keiko Enobi (Atoron;
Kenji Urata
Kentaro Hisa
Kevin Botk
Kimiaki Yaegasti.
Kina de Grasse Forney.

Laura Watton,
Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges.
Mari Mitsumi
Marie Sann
Marumiya
Masayoshi Mizuh
Maximo V. Lorenz
Megumi Terada
Melanie Schober
Minako Saitoh Botsford ..
Mississippi (Takashi Horiguchi).
Miya Nakajima.
Mizki Yuas:
Mizna Wada
Noritomo Shimizu...
Ponto Ponta

Queenie Chan.
Robert DEAS nnn
Romi Watanabe...
Rose Besch

Ruben de Vela

Ryuji Shishido
Sachlich

Sai Tamiya..

Saki SAME on
Sally Jane Thompson
Sayuri Maeda (SMO)

Stephen ‘Teben’ Hetrick.

Steven Cummings (SC)...
Syujyutu Karasuba

T. Birdman...

Takeuma

Taruto Aoyam

Tent...

Tsubasa a
Tsukasa Tomoyose (Atoron)
Viviane:

Yishan Li

Yiso... .
Yoshida Yoshitsugi

Yu Kagei

Yukihiro Tada...

Yunico Uchiyam:

Yurie Sekiya...

Yusaku Maeda

Zarina Liew

+enuz..

Is manga really so different from the Western
style of comic? After all, if the West has the
traditional 4-panel comic strip running hari-
zontally across the page, Japan has the yon
koma, a 4-panel comic strip running... vertical-
ly down the page. If the West has comics full
of supetheraes, Japan has the shonen manga,
a whole genre dedicated to male adolescents
with an overdose of testosterone. If the West
has the graphic novel, Japan has the seinen
manga, with adult themes and a graphic style
that is far more complex than the ane used in
cartoons targeting a younger readership. And
let’s not forget the ninjas, who are nothing
more than the Delta Force equivalent of the
Japanese feudal past, or the mechs—gigantic
robots that to me (dare I say it) have always
looked like aircraft carriers from the U.S. navy,
capable of standing up, walking in a funny way
and inadvertently crushing terrified young
deer and lashing out left, right and center.

Introduction 9

But make no mistake: manga is different from
the Westem comic strip. Very different, in fact.
For starters, manga is nota genre, but abit of a
hodgepodge where anything goes. There is no
human on Earth that is weird enough tobe left
without a manga devoted to their own private
whims and obsessions. There are action man-
ga; manga for boys, for girls, for teenage lesbi-
ans, for mature lesbians; with a sports theme,
with a culinary theme; on basketball, on ping-
pong; gore manga, apocalyptic manga, horror
manga; surrealist, pornographic, educational,
minimalist, contemplative manga; Baroque,
offensive, epic manga... Manga is, in this re-
spect, larger than life. Manga can contain real-
ity plus anything that smacks of fantasy that
can be conjured up by human imagination.
Neither the European cartoon, nor the U.S.
graphic novel, nor the comics featuring super-
heroes, nor the “alternative” comics can evoke
even a hundredth part of what is meant by the
10 2,000 Tips by 100 Manga Artists

word manga. In the West, we don't even have
an equivalent word in our languages for the
Japanese mono no aware, something akin to
the awareness of the transient nature of things
and the feeling of repentance that accom-
panies their loss. In fact, I am not even sure
whether we Westerners have the slightest
awareness of the transient nature of things,
and I'm even less sure whether we have felt
even the teeniest nanobyte of repentance
over its loss. We might just conceivably feel a
bit of “pity.” And that's the end of it. This thing
about mono no aware is s-0-0-0 abstract...

So of all the countries on Earth, Japan is with-
‘out a doubt the one that is most unlike all the
rest. There are more similarities between the
Dominican Republic and Saudi Arabia, or be-
tween Vanuatu and Switzerland, or between
North Korea and the US, than between Japan
and any other country in the world, And that
includes any one you care to mention.

And thatis reflected in manga.

And it is this feeling of strangeness that has
given tise to this book. There are dozens of
books on the market that teach you how to
draw manga. Although in fact what those
books really do is teach you how to imitate
manga. And there's no denying that they are
very good at it. A few kinetic lines, a few fore-
shortened limbs, and one or two grossly exag-
gerated facial expressions are sufficient to do
the trick: if you can master these techniques,
‘n0 one will say you were born in Boston rather
than Kyoto. There are also dozens of books
that “talk” about manga. These books ex:
plain who Osamu Tezuka is, and Kinomoto
Sakura; they tell you why the Gonzo studio is
famous or what the origin of Totoro is. Some
books even include an interview with a fa
mous mangaka—one of those characters that
sometimes also appear in the Sunday supple-
ment of a newspaper that has just discovered
manga: "Hey, just look at the funny characters