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INTEREST: Hana to Yume Apologizes For Publishing Manga Strongly Resembling Arina Tanemura's Work




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mulletZERO



Joined: 08 Aug 2008
Posts: 177
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:35 pm Reply with quote
When you borrow another artist's art style make sure it's coming from more than one or two sources of inspiration. Otherwise it's super obvious and makes you look like a copycat. I don't really believe in "style theft" but one should avoid exactly copying another's style. Put your own twist on it and keep developing it until it becomes something truly unique.
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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 887
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 5:10 pm Reply with quote
All I can do is roll my eyes at how the vast majority of manga artists don't have anything approaching a "unique" artistic style.

So few that if you're going to copy one, of course you're going to be found out in moments.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2245
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 6:51 pm Reply with quote
mulletZERO wrote:
When you borrow another artist's art style make sure it's coming from more than one or two sources of inspiration. Otherwise it's super obvious and makes you look like a copycat. I don't really believe in "style theft" but one should avoid exactly copying another's style. Put your own twist on it and keep developing it until it becomes something truly unique.


But the article states the editing department pushed the creator Uwa to make her work look MORE like Tanemura's. I feel bad for her. Sad
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mulletZERO



Joined: 08 Aug 2008
Posts: 177
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:24 pm Reply with quote
whiskeyii wrote:
mulletZERO wrote:
When you borrow another artist's art style make sure it's coming from more than one or two sources of inspiration. Otherwise it's super obvious and makes you look like a copycat. I don't really believe in "style theft" but one should avoid exactly copying another's style. Put your own twist on it and keep developing it until it becomes something truly unique.


But the article states the editing department pushed the creator Uwa to make her work look MORE like Tanemura's. I feel bad for her. Sad


Yeah. The editors don't always know best, it seems. I still remember when Yuu Watase complained about a really pushy "my way or the highway" editor. I'd go completely bonkers if someone tried to control my art direction like that.
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Ashen Phoenix



Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 2907
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:23 pm Reply with quote
mulletZERO wrote:
When you borrow another artist's art style make sure it's coming from more than one or two sources of inspiration. Otherwise it's super obvious and makes you look like a copycat. I don't really believe in "style theft" but one should avoid exactly copying another's style. Put your own twist on it and keep developing it until it becomes something truly unique.

I believe you make a good point. If Uwa's style hadn't been deliberately "coached" to more closely resemble Tanemura's, having her own twist on it as you put it, I think the reception might've been a lot better.
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 3946
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:51 pm Reply with quote
A lot of the artists in HanaYume, Ciao, Nakayoshi, etc tend to have the same art style.
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Redlinks



Joined: 14 Feb 2010
Posts: 496
Location: America
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:08 pm Reply with quote
TsukasaElkKite wrote:
A lot of the artists in HanaYume, Ciao, Nakayoshi, etc tend to have the same art style.


HanaYume's drawing style isn't as cutesy compared to Ciao, Nakayoshi, and Ribon. It's slightly different compared to those three magazines.
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meruru



Joined: 16 Jun 2009
Posts: 471
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:29 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, I think it's kinda dumb. So much of anime and manga looks very samey-y. Someone had to do any style first. So why is it that Tanemura's work "original," no imitators allowed, but those other styles are fine? If the content of the work is original, it isn't plagiarism. If you don't like that it looks like but isn't Tanemura, just ignore it, as so much manga just gets printed then forgotten, and this one will probably be too.
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CrownKlown



Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 1762
PostPosted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:45 pm Reply with quote
First of all I am going to state I love Full Moon, and Tanemura is one of my favorite artist.

But you cant copyright a style. There are tons of artist that either intentionally or unintentionally end up copying from someone else, hell most big mangaka have assistants who go on to do their own stuff, and the art style really resembles the original mangaka.

For a while I thought the artist from We never Learn was the same one who did Nisekoi, and it was two different unrelated parties. Big deal.

Also like some others said, most anime is interrelated, and certain key points are a staple of the genre. Even Tanemura's style is arguably a cutesy derivative of classic shoujo, or if you want an even closer comparison, her style resembles Kodoma no Omocha.
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AP24



Joined: 21 Apr 2011
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:28 am Reply with quote
CrownKlown wrote:
First of all I am going to state I love Full Moon, and Tanemura is one of my favorite artist.

But you cant copyright a style. There are tons of artist that either intentionally or unintentionally end up copying from someone else, hell most big mangaka have assistants who go on to do their own stuff, and the art style really resembles the original mangaka.

For a while I thought the artist from We never Learn was the same one who did Nisekoi, and it was two different unrelated parties. Big deal.

Also like some others said, most anime is interrelated, and certain key points are a staple of the genre. Even Tanemura's style is arguably a cutesy derivative of classic shoujo, or if you want an even closer comparison, her style resembles Kodoma no Omocha.

I know Ai Minase used to be Tanemura's assistant and you can see some resemblance in their art styles especially in Minase's early mangas.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 3:14 am Reply with quote
CrownKlown wrote:
Even Tanemura's style is arguably a cutesy derivative of classic shoujo, or if you want an even closer comparison, her style resembles Kodoma no Omocha.


Pink Hanamori (Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch) and Michiyo Kikuta (Mamotte! Lollipop) also come to mind alongside Miho Obana. I remember seeing art for all of their series and Tanemura's works before they got licensed and honestly thought the same person or team did them all for years.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:45 am Reply with quote
Is this really an issue?
Any of you knows "Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru"?
If you see pages and don't know about, you'll belive that it's drawn by Ooima Yoshitoki, Koe no Katachi's author, because the art style is identical. Hagino Makoto even says in interviews that she took inspiration on Ooima's style if I'm not remembering wrong.
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Puniyo



Joined: 08 Oct 2015
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:51 pm Reply with quote
While I don't particularly believe in 'art style theft' either, I think there's a couple more things to consider with this case in particular:

-This doesn't just resemble or have similarities to Tanemura's style. It's point for point identical, as close as someone else could possibly get to it. It's not just the drawing style, or the eyes; Uwa even uses the exact same types of poses as Tanemura.
-Tanemura is a fairly massive name in shoujo manga, in part for her unique style. The editorial department nudging Uwa in the direction of this art style means they knew what they were doing; trying to ride Tanemura's coattails.
-While having the same style as someone else in your personal work doesn't matter whatsoever, this is a professional publication. A professional should know/do better.

I do think this is mostly on the editorial department rather than the artist though, with so many stories of how manga editors are so iron-fisted. And either way, the general thought process was probably more 'this is for the best of the manga' rather than anything too insidious. Sure, it's not copyright infringement or anything, but it is a big social faux pas.
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