So You Want to be a Manga-ka

Recently, I was putting together some writing samples for a job application when I came across a blog entry I’d written back when I was still editing manga at Tokyopop. Near the end of my time there, all Tokyopop editors were asked to create and maintain a blog on the company’s newly redesigned website. Considering we were being asked to do this while also overseeing a full slate of books each month, not everyone was the best at the maintaining part. However, I saw it as an opportunity to directly connect with fans and hopefully sell some of them on the new original manga titles I was working on.

I tried to update my editor’s blog at least a few times each month, usually with some thoughts on a series I was editing or some preview pages from one of my original titles. However, once I strayed a bit from that formula and wrote a pretty lengthy entry offering some advice to fledgling comic book and manga creators. That entry, which I called “So You Want to be a Manga-ka,” went on to become the second most viewed page on the website. (I believe the most widely viewed page was a poll about which Naruto character was the cutest.)

There’s no longer a tokyopop.com, and most of the content that I’d written for my old blog has evaporated into the Internet ether. However, I did manage to back up my “So You Want” entry, and figured it couldn’t hurt to repost it here, in case there’s anyone out there who may benefit from reading it. While it was largely written for the manga community and uses a few terms specifically aimed at them (like “manga-ka”), everything in it applies to artists and writers interested in creating Western comic books as well. If I were to write an article like this today, I’d use different terms, but my thoughts and advice on what it takes to create graphic novels would be pretty much the same. Enjoy!

So You Want to be a Manga-ka

There are tons of very good blog entries on this website offering advice and direction to aspiring artists. So many, in fact, that the thought of putting together my own never crossed my mind until recently. Even when it did, I initially brushed it off, simply because I’m not sure what more I really have to say. However, after receiving a message from an artist asking me for a few suggestions, I began rethinking the issue. After all, most of the art advice blog entries that I’ve read are written by other artists. As far as I know, none of my fellow editors have chimed in and blogged about what makes a good manga artist. Perhaps it’s worth hearing the editorial perspective if you’re interested in drawing manga professionally. After all, if your goal is to get published by TOKYOPOP, we’re the people you’re going to have to impress.

There is one caveat, however. Editors are every bit as different as the artists they work with. I’m by no means claiming to speak for every editor out there, or even every editor at TOKYOPOP. All of us look for different things when we evaluate a new artist. However, I do believe there are a few essentials that we can all agree on, and that’s what I’m going to write about here. A lot of aspiring artists say they dream of becoming a manga-ka, but what does that really mean? What does it take for someone to achieve success as a manga or comic book creator? Well, it takes a good many things, and after a little thought and a lot of Mountain Dew, I believe I’ve hit on most of the essentials.

1. You must be dedicated. If you want to be a manga-ka, this one probably seems like a sure thing. I’m sure you believe you’re dedicated to your art and manga. But are you really? Each volume of original manga that we publish boasts a minimum of 160 pages of sequential art, and takes most artists anywhere from nine months to over a year to complete. If your manga series runs for three volumes, that’s nearly 500 pages of art you’ll be responsible for creating, and around three years of your life that you’ll be devoting to your manga. Sure, it’s easy to feel enthusiastic and dedicated about your manga when you’re just getting started, but after two years of drawing the exact same characters and illustrating the story you outlined and conceived ages ago, are you still going to be that dedicated to it? Or are you going to find yourself getting bored and wanting to work on other things? You’d be surprised how many people find themselves falling into the second category. Make sure you don’t.

2. You must be fast. As I just said, each volume of manga consists of at least 160 pages of art. If you can only complete a page a week, then it’s going to take you over three years to finish a single volume. That’s not practical. While there’s no hard and fast minimum number of pages you MUST be able to do each week, if you can’t at least manage to complete one volume’s worth of manga within a year, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to publish your manga. As a manga-ka, you need to be able to complete solid pages at a relatively quick clip.

3. You must be consistent. This is every bit as important as being fast (and maybe even a little more so). If you’d like to be a manga-ka, consistency is essential, and it’s not as easy as you may think. Do your characters look different in every panel? Do they look like different people when you draw them in profile or from less-common camera angles? Does their height change throughout the series? Do articles of clothing and jewelry you’ve given them disappear and then reappear throughout your manga? Consistency is essential, and while you’ll have an editor to watch your back when it comes to character details, they can’t do your job for you. Your characters and settings have to stay consistent on every page of your manga, whether it’s page 1 or page 387.

4. You must be technically proficient. Yes, there’s a LOT more to art than just technical proficiency. That goes without saying. However, the importance of knowing art fundamentals should also go without saying. When I do portfolio reviews, I find myself pointing out the same three problems over and over again: anatomy, perspective and visual storytelling. If you want to draw comics or manga, you must–I repeat–MUST know the fundamentals of anatomy, perspective and visual storytelling. How you learn these things can vary. Whether you’ve learned them from art school, community college, books or web tutorials really doesn’t matter to me. What DOES matter is that you do know them and know them well. And practicing them is really the only way you’re going to get to know them, my friends. I realize that refining anatomy and perspective in your art is not very fun, but the end result will be greatly worth it. Quite frankly, knowing your fundamentals is what makes the difference between a professional unpublished artist and someone who’s just doing this stuff for kicks when they’re tired of playing video games.

5. You must be dependable. As an editor, I’m have nearly two dozen books that I’m responsible for. I don’t have time to hunt down creators to ask why their pages weren’t turned in on time. Dependability is essential for a manga-ka, and you’d be surprised how often I’ve found it lacking in the artists that I’ve met. As a manga-ka, you’ll be required to work with your editor on creating a schedule that includes deadlines for all of your pages. It’s crucial that you know what pace you can realistically work at when you do this because once that schedule is agreed upon, that’s it. Those are your deadlines. Your publisher is going to expect you to make them. If you don’t, there are people within the company that your editor is going to have to answer to. Those people are not going to accept excuses from your editor, so you’d better believe that your editor isn’t going to accept them from you. Remember, folks, manga publishing is a business. A company’s livelihood depends partially on the book you’re creating for them. It’s easy to lose sight of this when you’re corresponding with one single company representative, but believe me, there’s MUCH more at stake, and missing your deadlines creates much bigger problems than you realize. And for God’s sake, never pull a disappearing act! As your editor, I’m going to expect to be able to pick up the phone and call you during the day if I need to, or to get a response to any email I send you within a day. I get really frustrated when I can’t. It’s the sign of an unprofessional artist.

6. You must be collaborative. This is one that may not apply to all publishers, but it certainly applies to TOKYOPOP. Our books are not created in a vacuum. While the writers and artists are primarily responsible for what you see when you pick up a TOKYOPOP original manga title, they’re not the only people involved. Your editor’s job is to help you tell the best story you’re capable of telling in the time you have to tell it, and for him or her to fulfill that role, you need to listen to them and take what they’re saying to heart. They’re not interested in rewriting your story or “destroying your vision.” They’re interested in making your vision as strong as possible. That also goes for the designer that puts together your cover and even the reps responsible for marketing and selling your book. Everyone involved in working on your book all has the same goal in mind: they want it to be successful, both critically and commercially. While your opinion is extremely important and it’s crucial to “stick to your guns” when the situation truly dictates it, you’d do well to hear what others have to say.

7. You must be patient. A year ago, I probably wouldn’t have included this one, but things have changed over the past year and the reality of the current market necessitates it. As manga has become increasingly more and more popular, the number of hopeful manga-kas has risen, and with this rise in quantity has also come a rise in quality. That means that we’re no longer in a situation where anyone with talent and a great pitch will immediately catch our eye. Further escalating the problem is the increasing amount of global manga available and in development. Editors throughout the manga industry are busier than they’ve ever been, so patience has become quite a virtue among creators. Don’t be surprised if it takes months to hear back on a pitch you submit to a publisher, if you hear back at all. And don’t be surprised if it takes several pitches, or if you’re told to re-pitch an idea in “about a year.” It’s extremely rare for a proposal to get greenlit entirely as is immediately after it’s pitched these days, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

8. You must be talented and creative. I’ve grouped these two together not because they’re less important than the above traits, but because they’re the two that I feel are already the most widely known. Everyone knows you need talent and creativity to create manga, and you know what? It’s hardly in short supply. Talent and creativity are essential. However, it’s the seven other traits I’ve mentioned here that will allow you to stand out from the rest of the hopeful manga-kas and enter the realm of the professional ones.

Still there? Then you’ve definitely shown you’re interested in creating manga professionally. Now let’s see how serious you are about it. I welcome any comments and questions below from artists, whether they’re published or not. I promise that I’ll do my best to address them. Otherwise, go and create! After all, the first part of making manga is to actually go and do it!

36 thoughts on “So You Want to be a Manga-ka

  1. I really enjoyed reading this!

    You took me down memory lane with your Tokyopop intro. Reminded me of my days lettering for VIZ. They were sweet but at the same time their process was so mental to the point where it was impossible for me to remain 100% professional. But it was a great experience which REALLY put my professionalism to the test. I once did a whole book, I.O.N., in three weeks (fourth week for turnaround)–that’s how crazy it was.

    It would be cool to read about your thoughts on pitching. Especially since there’s no definitive rule book. The process of preparing a pitch is so different not just from comic company to comic company, but from industry to industry as well.

  2. Hey George, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Interesting suggestion on preparing an article about pitching. I’ll have to give that one some thought. I agree, it could be helpful to a lot of people.

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  6. Well this is certainly interesting! I’ve read several of these and know basically everything there is to know about the manga making process, but it’s still good to go and read more even if you know it by heart >:D
    the more experience you have the better :3

  7. On a tangent do you think publishers are still scared by manga-influenced art, or do you think they’re being more open now?

  8. Hello, im not sure if this will ever reach you but here goes nothing , I am an African born in Nigeria, but i currently live in Chicago Ill of America what im trying to say is that manga is not my first choice as a job, infact i plan on doing this when im established in a more stable job like engginering or american football which im working on in both fields, since i will not have the luxury of ever being able to camly work on a manga with an editor and i dont want my dream to die off, i am creating a demo version of my manga in private at home i will personally do all inking, penciling , editing, and story telling myselfe i plan on making a very huge book before i can come down to japan and submit my work personally^^, if im rejected oh well……i have my other jobs to fall back on, but if there was one thing i hoped to get from you its that i hope you could offer me any advice for someone in my condition, one a none asian and a guy that has only known about anime since i was 10 ,im great in art but thats not what i want my readers to see i want them to see my story

  9. Hi, my name is Faith. I’m 15 years old and my best friend would like to become a manga artist. She’s the same age as me and is a very talented artist. I would like to help her, but I didn’t know how to get started. Thank you for writing this! It helped me get a wider view of what she’d have to do. 🙂 I guess we aren’t going to be able to become manga artists in highschool!
    Thanks again!

  10. I’m really glad that I read your post , so now , I know that I can be a little like a manga- ka .. Cause , most of the traits doesn’t define me ..
    All I know is that I am talented and creative .. I can draw and make stories .. But If time is significance , I don’t have much and I also don’t know how I can be , so now I know thanks to your post , it really helps me a lot to realize.. 🙁 I want to be manga- ka, that is my dream since I started reading manga 😀

  11. When do you think is the best time to start working and planing a manga, i’m currently a 2nd year (sophomore) in high school, and I’ve created a couple pages, mainly for just testing purposes. I’ve been wanting to be a manga-ka, since i was seven, and i’m planning on going to an art school in japan for collage. so, when do you think would be the best time, thanks so much :3

  12. I’ve always dreamed of having my own manga or web series. But it’s always been fairly hard to have my ideas noticed. Now I feel I can come just a little bit closer to that goal. Thank you

  13. Thank you so much for posting this.
    Even though this article showed me once again how difficult it will be to become a Mangaka I will definately try!
    I’m practicing every day for four yeas now…. Anatomy, perspectives, storytelling, ect…

  14. Hi Tim

    I am a graphic designer/illustrator from South Africa currently busy with a one-shot manga of my own that I have, thus far, conceptualized to a point where I have a rough outline. My problem that I am having is that I’m struggling to determine the number of pages I should have for the book/comic, thus a problem also in figuring out the number of pages per chapter.

    Could you please suggest any solutions to my situation or publishing websites I could visit that could give me some insight?

    Thank you

  15. Thank you so much for writing this!! I have been searching for a while now for information about how to become a manga-ka and I feel that this article contains some excellent information. I will remember these 8 points for a long time. Again, thank you!

  16. Hi. First of all, Latley ive found that i’ve been getting slightly faster at drawing manga pagese digitlly, instead of taking one week to do a page its now only taking half a week to complete a page. Not much difference but its enough for me to notice the improvment. Since this change in time on how long it takes to creat a page
    , I became more concerned and worried about how to explain to others if they ask “how did you do it?” without sounding like a nerd and when i found this today i felt relieved to know that companies are looking for dedicated,patient,consistant and fast manga artist and that its not strange or weird to creat original/unuiqe manga so thankyou for posting this article!

  17. Thank you so much for the information. I will create a manga better then Naruto or One Piece combined! (serious)

  18. Thank you for sharing this.

    When you think about it, all that you’ve said is true. I personally want to become an illustrator and I’ve been trying to go to a school to imporve better. Self taught is good, but I would really want that mentor to look over my work. Thank you so much.

  19. Origato! This was very inspiring for someone like me. I’ve wanted to draw Manga ever since I saw DragonBall on Toonami. Its been a tough road but every hurdle is a challenge. Thank you again for your most inspiring words. Other sites told me to give it up but you sir, have made me even more serious…

  20. Hello I`m beginner in manga, though I have good drawing skills I lack the true training since I live jamaica, quite far from Japan and I use the internet for pointers but would be appreciative if u could provide a time in your schedule to help me become a great manga artist. I find your blog helpful, uplifting, and respect your points of view.

  21. Thank you very much for this fantastic read, I have a question if you dont mind me asking. I am very interested publishing a manga/anime, I have a story that I have been working on about a year now. It is very close to complete but not put into art/book form. I have characters fully developed, story very developed and writen. It is very long because my dream is to have it run for a long time and still be good. My question, and my major draw back is I suck at drawing! is it possible to submit a story to a company and if the story is good they will help with the artwork and publishing? Or what would you suggest for someone in my sittuation?

  22. Hi this is very good information.. Ive been creating my own story since the begining of this year, as im very inspired by a bunch of manga and have been since yu-yu hakusho aired on CN.. my only problem is that i have no drawing skills whatever but the story ive wrote is extremely long (1000 chapters) but story itself is very good it has backstories on one piece levels, and i have fight scenes that top the best. I just need someone to help me draw it and by the way it is if its gets published it will def sale… i left my email if anyone is interested will pay and split profits.. im lookn for possibly 2-3 drawers to split the workload.

  23. Thank you for the info! I’m gonna use it for a school project. (Don’t worry, you’ll be given credit.)
    Sharob, I am an artist (Or at least I think so, and so do a few friends… the only friends I have. sigh.) and so is my best friend, she like a professional. no exaggeration. I can only get to my email every Wednesday afternoon, but I’ll write to you about it.

  24. I really enjoyed reading this but i still have issues when it comes to adding sound effect using japanee style in manga pages…it critically fluctuate my morale and i don’t know how to go about it…pls i will really appreciate it if i could have tips on doing that!…pls email me with tips on how to go about “sound effect using japanese style in manga pages” @ vhictorhjhohnson@ymail.com

  25. I’m aspiring to be a manga artist , but I’m terrible at writing stories , Though I can draw fairly well though . The only thing I’m really worried about is the lifestyle of a manga-ka : it seems like as though they won’t have any time for anything because they’ll have to focus on their manga , and won’t get a lot of sleep . And I’m also reluctant to give up the American culture I’ve had to go to japan to be become a Mangaka , is the job of creating manga really worth it?oh and thank you for writing this , I really enjoyed reading it

  26. Wow! I really enjoyed this article, it definitely stands out from all of the other ones pointed toward aspiring manga-ka. It helped a lot, giving vital points of advice that many never hear or have the privilege to. It’s definitely helped me refocus my studies and reevaluate.
    Just one more question though, even though you may not see it (after all of this time since posting): As an artist, would going to Kyoto University of Manga help my chances of getting published or expanding my abilities, or would it just take away time and money that could be put towards more useful things, like supplies and self-study? I don’t now how helpful a university would be, as to it’s not something I’m familiar with.

  27. Wow great article very realistic Do you think you might be able to give an article about publishing or self publishing or art studies that would be totally awesome. Do you know anything about where to publish if your in different countries other than japan or like what to do to be a citizen in japan or stuff like that cause that would be supper helpful to know too. Hope your website does well and thank you for making it so informative. ^-^

  28. Konnichewa~ こんにちは! 漫画図面上のアドバイスありがとうございました。translation: (hi! thank you so much for the advice on manga drawing.) …^.^ my cherished and lovely comrade, whom compiled such tremendous, auspicious and sumptuous essay online…..Hmmm… I have been meaning to remark that fidelity, veracity, and integrity became manifested to illustrate how one must be concerned as their manga deadlines reach their termination (or possibly enough, how their editors must be the ones to answer many inquiries from their companies- if they were tardy or blunt—)…..to be more curtailed, brief, abridged or truncated…>.< I have always dreamt of becoming a concrete and real manga-ka, not only in my reveries, but also in the real immense world!….experiencing adversity, affliction, travail, or even rigidity never narrowed the path, which would lead to my abysmal future….therefore, I am here today while representing myself as a penurious, wretched, impecunious, yet artistic and talented 14 years old who wants to learn from a sensei, in your position! please help me as I have learnt the basics of both anatomy and prospective autonomously..having to be always a self-taught student, I have neither given up nor let my guards down, even though my family acquires no money to buy me a "how to draw manga characters/ basic level" 7 dollars book or to even allow me to have internet – in order to at the very least copy from the game characters……..nevertheless I am aware of art and my intellect had been filled with manga's basic required knowledge…SENSEI! 私を助けてください (Watashi o tasuketekudasai) you are truly the only one..so….as I am currently overwhelmed with words, I would like to receive any email possible, from you personally! please email me sensei! I beg you! please help me fight with the darkness of my heart….please allow a child's dream to eventually come true!…Thank you so much for hearkening up until now……if you're there now, it means hope still is alive and that would mean a lot to me (personally I presume the word "a lot" exhibits ambiguity or equivocation, however is utilized in this line with my sobbing facial expression) I hope to talk to you soon sensei~ sincerely: a hopeless child who awaits the shooting stars/ Chiharu Mizuki :)….Thank you again!~ お別れ, 親愛なる ^.^ *赤面*…

  29. Hey I’m a teenager from south Africa that has pretty much devoted 6 years of my life to bettering my animation skills and am looking to become a mangaka because I love manga so much…do you have any tips or advice on my road to becoming a mangaka?

  30. Hello. I’m an aspiring manga artist from Canada. I greatly appreciate your input about what it takes to be a mangaka, especially from the perspective from an editor. Being able to consider the perspective from the editor helped me looked at this career at a whole new light. It’s not enough to see the bright side of heading towards the glory of being a Manga artist but the the darkness that I’m also facing. I, for the longest time has always thought talent has been asset, but comes the other assets that I couldn’t imagine myself having. I need to be realistic with myself, and I believe this article has helped me have a more clear vision of what I want to do. It turns out that being a Manga artist is not right for me, but it’s only through knowledge I can be empowered to be vulnerable enough to step down from this as a career option. I have want to become one, but wanting is not enough. Thanks again!

  31. I want to be a manga artist and writer sooo badly but have no idea where to start. Can you please help me?

  32. I told my brother, that I would be happy if I was able to publish just one manga, in my future. And he looked at me and was like what’s the point then. And that’s when I realized, I didn’t want to create just one, but many. I have written, and came up with a handful of manga ideas, in fact, I have written to chapters to one of them, no illustrations mind you. Although I did make a cover page for what I wanted the first manga page to look like.
    I know what I need to work on. I have to improve my drawing abilities greatly before I can become a manga artist. I have to get down to , and learn well anatomy, perspective, and visual story telling. I know this might be a dream, but if I keep going for it, I will achieve my goal.

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