Why don't the talented artists on Pixiv just become Mangakas
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If you've ever been to Pixiv, you'll notice that alot of the art is very good stuff, far surpassing the stuff I see on American Fanart websites. Since these people are very talented, I'm just wondering why most of them aren't professional mangakas. I know that it's their hobbies, but still, if you've got a good hand in art and a good story, you could easily make millions. And the stories in most mangas aren't really Scorsese level stories and yet they rake in alot of money. So I'm just wondering if the path to becoming a mangaka is far more complicated than just having a talent in art and story telling? Or is it really that easy?
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A lot of it comes down to being able to market yourself (i.e. getting people to notice you), churning out quality work consistently and at a reasonable pace, and just pure dumb luck.
And it is a VERY select few who "rake in millions".
A mangaka- or any job in such artistic field, really- is just like any other career; you can't "just do it". It's time, toil, trouble- it's tough to even get a start, even. A lot of great talent goes to waste simply because they haven't played their cards right or they've overlooked the opportunity.
And it is a VERY select few who "rake in millions".
A mangaka- or any job in such artistic field, really- is just like any other career; you can't "just do it". It's time, toil, trouble- it's tough to even get a start, even. A lot of great talent goes to waste simply because they haven't played their cards right or they've overlooked the opportunity.
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Kaimax
Best Master-San
If you read Bakuman, you'll get the gist of how hard it is to survive Japan's manga industry.
First and foremost, every aspiring mangaka must have their "story" serialized in one of the many manga magazines in Japan. They can't self-publish them, outside of dojinshis. (an alternative is Ken Akamatsu's website where people can self publish, but it's not really working out atm.)
Sure you can draw good, but if you don't have the ability to write good interesting stories that can keep hooking more and more people you won't get far. At a minimal, you can do a collaboration with someone else doing the story part.
The barrier of entry isn't that hard, but after getting serialized is the real challenge. MANY "accepted" mangakas got shot down (canceled with rushed ending), because they can't compete with the mainstreams.
First and foremost, every aspiring mangaka must have their "story" serialized in one of the many manga magazines in Japan. They can't self-publish them, outside of dojinshis. (an alternative is Ken Akamatsu's website where people can self publish, but it's not really working out atm.)
Sure you can draw good, but if you don't have the ability to write good interesting stories that can keep hooking more and more people you won't get far. At a minimal, you can do a collaboration with someone else doing the story part.
The barrier of entry isn't that hard, but after getting serialized is the real challenge. MANY "accepted" mangakas got shot down (canceled with rushed ending), because they can't compete with the mainstreams.
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It's just....When I read Fairy Tail and watch how stupid it is and how the writing is done for people who find Michael Bay's movies to be complex and interesting, I think if Hiro Mashima is one of the highest selling manga authors of today, I would imagine, ANYONE can do it if he can. Since Manga requires basically drawing and storytelling versus movie making which requires a clusterfuck of stuff needed to be done, but I should watch Bakuman, it sounds very interesting, thanks.
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Kaimax
Best Master-San
silverpotatoes wrote...
but I should watch Bakuman, it sounds very interesting, thanks.Read the manga, the anime was a very shortened version of it.
And remember that's just your opinion of Fairy Tail. Which doesn't mean a thing to the whole magazine or how "easy" one can create a manga. Reverse the logic, if it's that easy, and why are there cancelled series, why are there rejected series, and why are there losers in the each newbie manga competitions? because it's not easy to make an interesting manga with a good enough story.
The Japanese manga industry it's not mainly about how great the story, but in the end it's mostly about how interesting the story can be expanded and the progression of it's characters.
One example is "Kagami no Kuni Harisugawa", made by Kano Yasuhiro. It has a very interesting concept, and was accepted in Shonen Jump the same manga magazine that serializes naruto and one piece. But it was cancelled early because the author himself realized that he cannot expand the story with the protagonist trapped inside a mirror, hence also failing the progression of it's characters.
Another example of how rough the industry can be is "Double Arts". It's made by Komi Naoshi, it also has a very interesting story and it has a large cult following, but it was canceled due to the loss of popularity (was the least popular in the manga rankings).
Currently, Komi Naoshi, has once again rejoined JUMP with his newest series "Nisekoi", while Kano Yasuhiro is still struggling to go back with the last new one-shot "Brand new School Day", which was released in April, and looks like it's not accepted for serialization.
