Forum - View topicHow is manga produced?
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red3times
 Posts: 2 |
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Can anyone recommend a good primer on the process of how manga is produced in Japan? I don't know much about the details other than the artist usually has a team of assistants. But how exactly is the workload divided between the main artist and the assistants? Are each week's chapters (assuming it is a weekly series) done that week, or is there a production lead time? Have digital tools replaced ink and screentone?
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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In terms of stuff translated into English, there isn't much of books I've seen that goes into the process of a staff/team outside of a few creator notes you see in the volume releases of manga where ads in magazines usually go (those column sections that are sometimes filled with character bios), or the omake/ending pages of a volume)
There's plenty of "How To..." books translated into English though that break down the process, but they're just focused on an individual creator. I think if you're looking for notes on an actual team that divides up roles and the like, reading up on CLAMP would be your best bet. Since they're a team that is pretty much on equal terms with each of their members in the notes/omakes/interviews they always go on about each other and the roles/jobs they have. Artbooks usually have interviews and go into detail on how images where created, and if you look into CLAMP, the CLAMP no Kiseki series in particular is a good mix of interviews, interviews with other manga-ka, editors, and how various images were created. Volume 8 in particular shows CLAMP's studio, and each member's work area and the tools they like to use. If you're looking for a solo artist though with assistants you'll have to look through those notes and artbooks mentioned on that particular artist. Each manga-ka lets their assistant do different roles, it's different for each person. If you're lucky though you can probably find some fan-translated interviews on their process. As far as I can tell, digital tools have not replaced screen tone, and a lot of artist prefer traditional media to digital. Anyone who goes into any sort of illustration job right now however can tell you that digital coloring is a medium just like any other in art and it's not going to completely replace traditional coloring any time soon. You have some artist who do things completely with a tablet, you have some who stick to just traditional physical mediums like paint/ink/copics, and you have the traditional media artist who are playing around with both to get new effects. As to how long it takes for the actual manga chapter to get published, I'm not too sure, especially since deadlines are different for different magazines, but they seem to work a chapter or two ahead of what is published that week. |
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Tamaria
 Posts: 1512 Location: De Achterhoek |
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The manga Bakuman explains most of the proces (in an over-the-top way, but it's quite accurate otherwise). It's a fun read for someone interested in how manga is made. Other than that, you could try reading soe books on manga. Dreamland Japan gives a lot of information on dozens of magazines. It's a bit dated, but a lot of information is still relevant.
It depends on the artist. Some are interested in creative input from their assistants, others only ask them to assist. Some artists like do to as much of the work themselves as possible, others have their assistants fill in most of the page while the artist only draws the 'name' (a kind of storyboard for manga) and main characters. Usually assistants specialize in one or two things (like applying screentone, drawing backgrounds or background characters). Something fun: pick up a tournament manga and pay close attention to the audience. More often than not, the people in the audience are drawn in a somewhat different style than the main characters and other people in the foreground. Drawing audiences is a job for assistants. Beginning artists can't always afford assistants yet (assistants are paid out of their own pocket), so they do everything themselves or ask friends/family to help out right before the deadline.
It depends on the magazine. Some are as far ahead as 8 weeks. |
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red3times
Posts: 2 |
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Thanks for the info! I'll check all those books out. One point I've heard in "manga versus comics" discussions is how Japanese artists can deliver ~20 pages a week, while American artists usually do ~30 pages a month. A pipe dream would be if I could swap their places and see how a top American artist handles a weekly schedule, while having a mangaka do a monthly comicbook.
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Well if you want to get into that, American comics aren't TOO different from the Japanese counterparts in terms of division of work load. The main difference, of course, is the style (American comic styles are usually heavy on the detail, where as manga is generally simplistic for speed. If you want to compare an American comic with a manga, it'd best be compared to titles such as Berserk or Claymore which are only released on a monthly basis as well because they take so long to draw up), the page count, and how it's published. American comics are released monthly, and in full color, so that'll take more time than a black and white manga released in a week. Plus there's the whole process each major publisher goes through with various edits and approvals, some plot consistency checks if working with an established property, hiring out a painter for cover art, etc. But American comics, if you go with anything from the big guys like DC and Marvel, split up work in similar ways with an inker, penciler, colorist, and someone doing text usually, and of course a story writer. Unlike Japan though we're so spread out that it's not too often these people actually work together face to face. Something to bring up in the North American vein of comics since you're talking about assistants would be Bryan lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim. It wasn't released in a monthly/weekly scheduale, more like yearly graphic novel release, but it's black and white and used screentones. However I bring it up because originally O'Malley was producing each book by himself. But as it became more popular and publishers demanded more of a deadline O'Malley hired up some "assistants". By the final volume, volume 6, he had two assistants, John Kantz to help with screen tones and background art, and Aaron Ancheta to help with crowd scenes and some inking work. (North) American artist could probably work under the same sort of deadlines as their Japanese brothers and sisters (especially those in art school in indie comic clubs) but there just isn't that much of a demand here for comics to warrant such a deadline. |
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Jaymie
Posts: 915 |
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I second the Bakuman recommendation. Bakuman explains every aspect of the Japanese manga publishing industry in great detail. You learn how manga is made, but you also learn inside information about how Shueisha works (like magazine rankings, etc.)
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