for my final major project i wanted to create an original manga. so i thought it would be best to look into manga in a more detailed way. not just look into the art style but the whole process of creating a manga and the types of genres there are in manga. i think researching into these factors will help me to understand it more also researching into the themes of my story that i have in mind would help me develop key things for instance
character designs ,environment and culture.
im planing on creating a shounen style manga with a creepy twist to it. i like the way bright colourful places have been used in horror games and made to be creepy. for instance in Alice madness returns they often use bright colours and children's toys with a creepy and dark twist. so i had chosen to go with a circus/Victorian looking environment. i have always had a preference of Victorian style rather then modern style. and thought with the dullness of the Victorian clothing mixed in with the brightness of the circus. it would create the affect i was hoping for
manga
history
the very first manga making its appearance in 1952 was 'Astro boy' created by Osamu Tezuka
it very quickly became popular. Sazae-san was also a massively popular manga at this time and till this day is still running.
slowly as different people became drawing manga different genres started to develop over time like shoujo and shounen.
Between 1950 and 1969 theses two genres became increasingly popular.
manga is the Japaneses equivalent to comics . though similar to comics they have a different style in both art and the way the pages tell a story. western comics are highly text dependant. they use text to explain Manny things and the pages normally consist of 3-4 panels in a page were as manga consist of usually 4-6 panels sometimes more, and rely more on the actual images to tell the story. though text is still an important factor.
another factor that differs between both the comics are the use of colour. western comics such as supper man. use allot of colour in their pages. but manga don't use colour. in staid the use of screen tones is important. there are a few manga's that consists of coloured pages but its normally uncommon
there are many genre's in manga just like comics and movies the main two genres that the other sub genres get split into is shoujo and shounen.
shoujo mangas are normaly aimed at girls. they focus highly on romance. though shojo's target range is for 10-18 year old girls.
there is also another genre similar to shojo but aimed at a higher target audience of 18-30. this genre is a more realistic vertion of shojo. with everyday problems and activities
shounen manga mainly focuses on action and battle though this genre is commonly mixed in with other genres such as mystery, horror and romance. shounen is mainly aimed at boys though it has quite allot of female fans.
some other sub genres are
• drama
• historical
• mecha
• school life
• supernatural
• ecchi
• sci-fi
• adventure
• fantasy
• slice of life
• comedy
• sports
business
in japan manga has a big market. people aspiring to become manga artist often create a 32 page one shot of their story to submit to a monthly competition. if their one shot wins they are then allowed to try out for a series. if an artist gets a series then they will be expected to create 1 chapter a week for a weekly magazine. this is normally impossible to achieve this goal by yourself. this is when the help of assistants come in. the job of an assistant is usually to do the odd jobs. for instance they are often needed to draw backgrounds and background characters. as well as toning pages. and any odd jobs the artist asks them to complete.
when creating manga there are two types of jobs. there are manga artists and manga writers. these jobs are pretty much as the name states the artist draws the story that the writer creates. though most often the artist is both the writer and artist.
editor
if a manga artists wins a competition then they normally get their own editor. an editor helps them correct and change some parts to make it more interesting for the current market. they check over the artist's storyboards and change bits before the artist starts creating the final manuscript silent/mute mangathough uncommon and hard to find there are some tipes of silent mangas. they are basicly the same as a usual anga though obviously have no text. silent mangas dont get published or turned into series but they can be sold by the manga artist by self publication though most times they are uploaded as a web comic. these mangas are harder to make as you are required to explain and portray fealings and the story with just images.
here is an example of a mute manga called in another life drawing stylesevery artist will all have their own drawing style that differs from other manga artists. thats what makes the unique. for instance 'Tite Kubo's' art differs allot from 'Kazue katos' tite kubo (bottom) kazue kato (top)
but shoujo and shounen also have diferent art styles. in shounen mangas the art will have to be more bold, ruff and dark
were as in shoujo the drawing are smooth, soft and light. giving a warmer feal
shoujo (bottom) shonen (top)
digital or traditional
with technology improving. mangas made digitaly are apearing though the main way of creating manga is still traditional with paper and a dipping pen.
many materials that are used for traditional manga is the G-pen and screen tones as well as a white paint like substance that will cover up any mistakes you make.
i prefer the look you get with traditional manga were not all the lines are the same size or smoothness.
though digital is allot cheeper and cleaner i would prefer to create my manga with traditional methods
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~circusi want my manga to contain circus aspects in both clothing, building and story.
clothing
ring leader
ring leaders are often seen in a rich colour like red or blue mixed with black and a gold used as a trim. i espetialy like the tail coat part of a ring leaders costume and the way they have high boots with tight fitting trousers.
i definetly plan on using a ring leader in my story as the most important character in a circus is the ring leader as the ring leader is the person that keeps everything in order therefor the most important member
ring leader picture
clowna clown is also a key character in a circus and is often the first member you think of when you hear circus mentioned. some of the main things that i like about the costume is the ruffles around the neck. and the use of bright colours and face paint.
though i don't like the way the clothes are overalls
clown picture fromtrapeze artist/ acrobat
though im not fond of the clothing of an acrobat as it is usually skin tight and not all that flashy. i like the idea of having the characteristics of an acrobat in some of my characters. acrobats depend on one another for their safety. they usually work in a pair so must have a high level of trust in one another. as if one of them doesn't co-operate then the other or both could fall and hurt themselves.
best tamerthe uniform of a beast/lion tamer is verry similar to the ring leaders clothing, most costumes are coloured red and. like the acrobats i like the aspect of the character. Being fearless and able to calm/tame a wild animal/beast and i think a character with these features would prove to be interesting in my story.
there are plenty more side acts like knife throwing, dancing, contortion e.c.t
but i think that id like just to focus on the main most important members of a circus
architecture
most circuses are held in big top tents with their bright colours and fun shapes. i like the use of shapes and colours in the architecture and will probably use those aspects in my environments for my story.
though not all circuses use tents. traveling circuses use them but there are some places were the circus actually have their own building for instance 'Cirque d'hiver' is a building in which many circuses preform at. this place is not just used for the circus but manny things. that explains why the building isnt very circus orientated. but one of the things that has interested me is the fact that the building appears oval like when inside.
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Victoriani very much have a big attraction to the Victorian architecture and fashion. the clothing is elegant and the buildings are beautifully made. i decided from the start that i wanted to incorporate the Victorian style into my story.
i want the Victorian style to be more dominant then the influence of the circus. i also belive that it will help create a dark and Eire feeling if the two are mixed together
buildings
left right
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further Victorian and circus research
as my story idea is based around the victorian era i though it would be better to research into the culture of that era to gain an understanding on social status and daily events that happen, so i can incorporate some of it into my story. though its not incredibly important as my story takes place in a different world. i would like to learn about it so the little time the plot does take place in London it will be socially correct
victorian society can be split up into 3 different categories
first is the upper class or nobility. this class consist of people given the title of dukes, earls, viscounts or barons. they were on a much higher level then the other two classes. as most of the people in nobility didn't have to work as their families had sufficient funds for them to be able to do so. though many were captains of industries like mining or ship building.
these titles can also be passed down through families. they also follow the tradition of the first born child inheriting everything they own
the middle class were made up of rich families but they lacked a title like the upper classes for example . they normally had skilled jobs such as a doctor or a teacher.
the working class had no money for luxury and worked in jobs such as coal mines or factories. many families normally lived in one house with others. one family would own one room. medical problems and lack of education was highly common
circus
though my story isn't so heavily circus influenced I still wanted to research and find out about the circuses in the Victorian time era. as I may chose to incorporate some things into the theme
circuses were extremely popular in the Victorian era and they were seen as a way to escape reality.
There were many different circuses with some flooding the ring with water and preforming in the water.
the circuses of this era concentrated more on skills and there were no illusions nor tricks.
all though after the industry evolved and new technology developed. this allowed for more elaborate and 'fantastic' tricks to be preformed.
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cost research
unfortunately the tools needed for creating manga aren't accessible in the UK. after looking and asking were i could find the tools to create manga i was shown to a website that sells all the equipment i need. for instance screen tones, pen nibs, manuscript paper and white out are all important tools but they can be found in the uk
deleter is a Japanese company that exports their goods across the world for other comic creators that want these tools. unfortunetly because they are situated in japan. the postage is a bit higher then anywere else though they are fast to deliver so there is not problem with not receiving your tools in time
screen tones
screen tones are an adhesive transparent sheet that's covered in dots ,gradients or patterns.
their used to put in shading into manga pages. since manga pages aren't coloured and are black and white all screen tones are in grey scale.
screen tones help ad depth and sometimes help portray the emotions in the manga pages.
they range from $2.58 to $4
unfortunately though they are only one sheet. they don't come in packs at this price
so it can become quite expensive if you use detailed shading in your pages
pen nibs
you can find pen nibs in the uk but they are meant for calligraphy and don't leave as nice strokes as the professional nibs meant for manga drawing.
there are 3 types of nibs
first the G-pen. the G-pen allows you to draw thick and strong lines.
then there is the Maru-pen. this one is used to draw thin lines. and most artists use it for drawing hair
and lastly the Saji-pen helps you draw lines with the same thickness.
these can range from $3.43 to $15.72
though in these packets there are normally 3-10 of the nibs
this makes buying the nibs a one off. unless they are snapped
manuscript paper
comic paper is the most useful and needed tool. though you could just use normal paper. if you use comic/manuscript paper then your pages will end out having a more professional touch to them. they also have pre measured lines, indicating were it is safe to draw so that your art isnt chopped of or covered by the spine of the book when it is going through print.
they also have a printed ruler on the paper to help make boxes and objects strait.
for 40 sheets it costs $5.43 to $9 depending on the thickness and size of the paper you want
white out
white out is also an extremely helpful and handy tool to have when creating manga.
white out helps with cleaning up stray lines in the inking proses of drawing a page. it stops you from having to draw the page all over again. it is also often used for effects or shines after the screen tone is put on.
im not sure on how fast this would be used up but for a 20ml bottle its $6.20
which even though it may end up being expensive if you use allot. it is a necessity to have.
recently i had ordered allot of items from there and it came to the total of '134.39 USD'
i had purchased screen tones, comic paper, pen nibs and white out.
as i wont be needing to by any more pen nibs or white out the only materials but i may have to buy are the screen tones and comic paper. the cost of materials wont be quite as high as before as i have already pre bought most of the equipment.
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age range
i am hoping to aim my manga more at the males at the ages of 14-18 though i will still be aiming it loosely at a female audience to
in order to make sure that i would apeal to this age range i thought it would be best to examin the mangas that are popular at the moment.
weekly shounen jump is a mangazine that releases chapters for diferent artists mangas each week.
and depending on how popular it is depends on weather the series still runs.
some of the mangas that are runing in shounen jump consist of:
- bleach
- naruto
- one piece
- bakuman
- katekyo hitman reborn
there are manny more but theses are some of the more well known ones .
in order to learn about what is popular i decided to analyse some of these mangas and see what it is that all the popular mangas have in common.
weapons
the most common thing that appeared in allot of these mangas were weapons. the majority of the mangas were battle. all had weapons. though not all were the same type of weapons. for instance in 'Naruto' they had ninja style weapons like shuriken but in 'Katekyo hitman reborn' they have more modern weapons like guns.
though 'Bakuman' has no weapons in their story and is completely different. in staid it has an educational aspect added.
even though 'Bakuman' has done well despite that fact that battle mangas seem to be more popular. i would prefer to create a battle manga as its more exciting. and i think that i will personally enjoy drawing it more then some thing with no fighting in
protagonistthe second most common aspect in which these mangas all posses is a male protagonist.
every one of the mangas that run in shounen jump all have a male protagonist. i think that its a good way to make the main character more like able. boys could relate as they might wish to be the main character.
though shounen is aimed at boys there is still a rather large female fan base. and with the majority of the cast being male it will attract more females to read it.
antagonist similarly to the protagonist the antagonist is also male. though not all mangas have an antagonist,
but making them male makes them more intimidating and seemingly stronger.
magic/powersmost of the 'hit' mangas have powers in them. in 'Bleach' they have several power's for example 'BanKai' is a power were they change the shape of their weapon and they gain new abilities. this helps to make the battle scenes more flashy. also giving the characters powers explains why they are able to go through so many battles and not die. like 'Katekyo hitman reborn' with the dying will flame
i definitely want to add in powers to my manga as it would make it look more interesting and attractive. and will also explain why my main character is able to defeat the antagonist. even though he was formerly a normal person
heroine most of the mangas have a heroine. some times the character has a big role in the story. and ends up being the protagonist's love interest, sometimes the heroine has nothing to do with the plot and is often there just to be the female in the story. and some times the heroine can be the protagonists sibling, that has gone missing thus igniting the main story plot
im not sure about a heroine as i dont want her to be just placed into the story with no part to play and i also don't want any romance in my story. but on the other hand i dont want my manga to just consist of male characters. as i have to try and appeal to the male fan base. i have decided that i will make some of the less important characters female. though if i do find a way to work a heroine into the story i wont hesitate to do so.
supporting charactersome of the mangas though not allot have a animal or creature as a supporting character. for instance in 'Bleach' there is a character called Kon and he takes on the form of a stuffed lion toy. and in 'One piece' there is a helper called 'Tony tony chopper' that is a rain-dear
i like the idea of not having all the main characters human. and would very much like to have one of the main characters on the protagonist's side to me a creature.
monsters/enemy's the last commonality i found with these mangas was the monsters. in some stories the monsters take on a more human look like 'Bleach' with its 'Hollows', some are completely human like 'Katekyo hitman reborn'
and others have creature like monsters like 'D.Gray-man' or 'Tegami bachi'
even though its hard to come up with different and interesting monster designs not similar to other manga's, i would prefer my enemy's to be creature like monsters.
this research has helped me understand what is popular for the stories that are aimed at the target group that i am also aiming at. its helped me recognise some key points and factors that i want to put into my own story.
and some parts that i am lacking.
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chapter 0 /one shot
a chapter 0 of a manga is counted as a one shot. its used to summaries the most important parts of the story into one chapter. this is often created by the manga artist first and then submitted to a publishing company were it is printed and then the public shares their view. if the one shot/ chapter 0 is popular enough and the publishing company allows it. the artist is then aloud to turn their one shot/ chapter 0 into a series. they then go over the first chapter and spread the story out evenly as they wish.
for my final major project i want to create a chapter 0 for a manga that i hope to use in the future.
to gain a better understanding on how to create a chapter 0 that portrays the most important parts and makes the readers want to read more i thought it would be best to take a look at some already existing chapter 0's and see how they managed to complete this
d.gray-man
the chapter 0 for d.gray-man differed allot from the series vertion. though the concept was still the same. the characters and their history and were they were living in the present was different. also the designs and names differed.
the way the narative in the chapter 0 is done is well informative. though both are informative, you learn more about the plot faster in the chapter 0. Katsura Hoshino summarised her story idea in a chapter consisting of 49 pages. she did it well by informing the readers of the basic rules of her world firstly and then at the end finally introduced the antagonist officially.
the art style is also allot different, though similar to the series art style. the art from the one shot/ chapter 0 was less as good as the series art. this shows that the artist must have improved before the manga was turned into a series
like the d.Gray-man one shot/ chapter 0 this also has differences between each version of Bleach.
though there isn't as much of a big difference between the one shot and the series. there are still some. for instance there are some small differences in the characters design like hair colour and sword design. but the designs and art style isn't that much different to each other.
in this one shot the story is practically the same. except form having a different name for some things.
the chapter 0 and the chapter 1 form the series explain the same thing though it is spread across a couple more pages then in the chapter 0
Pandora hearts
though the characters were the same and the monsters still had the same concept. in this one shot. the story was very diferent to the series story. they started the story of differently and they also changed the status and history and relatives of the main characters.
the art was similar to each other showing that the manga must have been made into a series fairly quickly after it was shown to the publishing company.
the narrative in this manga is well done. its fast and interesting yet at the same time is informative and easy to understand. Mochizuiki Jun effectively told the most important parts of her story quickly in a short amount of time. with also making it interesting and she was able to add in twists within the 47 pages she drew/wrote
in conclusion i have discovered that most one shots /chapter 0s consist of 45-49 pages in which the artist has to inform the reader of their idea/concept as interesting as possible. with also leaving room for the story to carry on by still leaving un answered questions.
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influences
i haven't yet found a manga with a similar storyline
but i have found a couple mangas with either Victorian or circus aspects.
kuroshitsuji/black butler
The first is a recently popular manga and anime (in england) called kuroshitsuji or as known in England, black butler.
its about a young boy called Ciel Phantomhive making a contract with a demon butler to help him find the murderer of his family
this manga is takes place in the Victorian era so contains allot of clothing, architecture and culture form the Victorian time period.
i own a couple of the volumes and i really like the clothing that the main character ciel wears. the artist Yana Toboso must have put allot of thought into everyone of his costumes as she stated in one of the volumes that she never puts him in the same outfit more then once.
this manga also has a circus aspect to it. its not to the whole story but in a section of the manga the main characters go to a circus to solve a mystery. Yana Toboso often uses key points in english history and changes them to fit her story. for example she used the 'jack the ripper' case and changed the murderer into a supernatural being.
D.Gray-Man
another manga that has Victorian aspects is the 2003 ongoing series created by Katsura Hoshino called D.Gray-Man. this series is set in an alternative London were there are monsters called akuma and anti akuma weapons that are only given to certain people to kill the akumas.
this manga is helpful to see how they mixed Victorian style clothing with features from modern clothing.
there isnt much of the Victorian style in the manga though as they frequently move and change countries during the story.
rozen maiden
rozen maiden is also a manga with Victorian influences though this time there is a big amount in the clothing part of this manga and none environment wise. the story is set in a modern day Japan but the main characters aside from the protagonist are dressed in Victorian style clothing.
