Manga Making Process — Basics
Manga are fun to read and nice to look at. But do you know what’s going on behind the scenes? Let’s sum up the process and look at the working of the editorial office and the mangaka’s work place. Here are some basics you should know!
Let’s suppose this is your journey. You are an aspiring manga artist and want to approach a company to publish your work. Some magazines have manga contests which you can enter. As you know, manga magazines are of different types. You also have the option to approach the company, make an appointment with the editor and have your work looked at. It’s much easier if you have some ‘connections’. Usually, mangaka have assistants to help them work on their manuscripts. If you have worked as an assistant before, it’s easy for you to get experience and also ask the mangaka’s editor to look through your work. Your manga might be published as a oneshot if it’s really good, maybe as a fill-in comic to one that’s on a hiatus or might not get published at all.
Building of Shueisha, Weekly Shounen Jump magazine.
Suppose you enter a manga contest and win a position. Manga contests require you to draw a one shot. Your one shot might get published and the response will be recorded. If it gets a good response, you’re good to go! Congrats, you’re now a mangaka. Being a mangaka requires your every bit of time. You have no holidays. All you do is sit at home and draw each manga chapter before the deadline.
Q: Wow, that’s so easy! I can become a mangaka!
A: Think again! There are many youngsters aspiring to be mangaka in Japan. Do you think they have a chance? No. Even mangaka might have a hard time coming up with ideas and keeping their job. Manga companies might not even look at you if you’re not Japanese.
A manga draft given to review to an editor, as depicted in Bakuman.
Now that you’re a mangaka, you have an editor. An editor is basically someone who looks at your manga, points out the odds, gives suggestions, manages your work, threatens you to hand it over before the deadline! You’re tired of him chanting “the deadline is round the corner”, but he has his responsibilities. He is supposed to collect your work and submit it to the printers. He also has to negotiate a nearby date with the printers and give you time to finish your work even after the deadline.
Q: What’s the big deal? Why don’t I publish the chapter next issue if I can’t make it?
A: Big deal! Your popularity might drop drastically in one week if you don’t ensure your fans a chapter!
Now, your goal it to get to the top of the charts! You will be aiming to make your manga more popular. You will have manga assistants to help you with various things like applying screentones, inking, drawing backgrounds, etc. Being a mangaka does not involve making the story are drawing it by yourself. You can also team up with another person to make you a story or illustrate your story.
When your manga, if published in a weekly magazine has completed about 8–10 chapters, the chapters will be put into one volume, also known as a tankobon. Usually, you can add your opinions and short comics as an “omake” or extra in your manga’s tankobon.
(left)Shogakukan’s Big Comic [Seinen] and (right) Weekly Shounen Jump
Once your manga is famous and is getting a good response from the audience, some companies might take notice of your manga and may adapt it into an anime, audio drama CD or a live-action. In an anime production, you can usually choose the voice actors through auditions or leave the decision up to your editor or the company. With this, you’re famous!
Editorial office:
An editorial office usually consists of a chief editor and other editors. They might share their opinions and usually get the results of the best selling and the number of manga copies sold. Their job is to collect manuscripts, help the mangaka manage their work and various other things. In a weekly magazine, due to less number of days to draw, the work load is usually more. Mangaka and editors usually have a more pressure of submitting the manuscripts before the deadline. As mentioned and depicted in many anime and manga, the editorial office turns into a graveyard when near the deadline!
Shueisha’s editorial office.
Q: The anime process is quite cheap, no?
A: Not at all! Airing anime on TV takes a lot of money! If a manga ever gets an anime, they should be considered lucky no matter at what time it’s airing at. Do you know that animators have a low pay?
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A very exhausted editorial department, as depicted in Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.
Know a little more!
Do you ever wonder why on this one week your favourite manga didn’t get updates? Well, here’s why. It’s Golden Week! Most manga companies have holidays this week, which is usually around the end of April and beginning of May. Mangaka and editors take their time off for other activities after a tiring year of manga making!
Parties: Many companies hold New Year parties where mangaka, editors, and other employees gather to celebrate.
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Q: Wow, you know this much? Did you work in the industry before?
A: Nope! All this information is collected from manga, anime, interviews and a few other things. If you want to understand it better, check out Bakuman, Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi[BL].
Index of Weekly Shounen Jump
Originally published at worldanimeclub.com on April 29, 2015.
