Telling the would be manga ka the cold hard truth

[Pencilslave]

Dear FG,
As a public service to all the would be manga artists who want
to come to Japan to make it big, I did a blog entry on Myspace
detailing the difficulties they'll face. Any suggestions on things
I should add would be appreciated. Here's what I posted:


So you want to be a manga artist?

With the current popularity of manga in the U.S, a lot of fans are wanting to pick up pencil, pen , pad and ruler and try to become manga artists themselves. Most have dreams of making it big in Tokyo, or the more modest minded like yours truly would be happy just getting published by an American company like TokyoPop.

Most of you already know that it won't be easy, but I feel obligated to share with you the difficulties you'll face if you decide to a try to get a job in Japan.

Number one: You have to have a four year college degree from an accredited college or university to get a work visa.

Second: You're going to need to learn Japanese. This is a must have so you can communicate with potential employers. It's just common courtesy to learn the language of a country you're going to live in and or work in.

Third: You're going to have to deal with a ton of competition. From what I've heard, there are currently three thousand manga artists in Japan now and that's not even including all the aspiring artists who are doing doujinshi(fan comics).

Fourth:Culture shock- Despite what we've all been led to believe by anime and manga, Japan isn't a perfect society. They do have a low crime rate, but it does exist.(Ladies, you have to watch yourself on the subway because of the notorious "chikan" or subway gropers and it's best to take the same kind of precautions against being assaulted that you would here.)Robberies, rapes, and assault, while not as numerous as in the U.S, do still occur.

Fifth: Discrimination-Japan still has some racist attitudes and there are some places like public baths that won't allow foreigners. Even if you've got manga skills that'd make Osamu Tezuka turn green with envy,and can speak the language like a native, some companies won't hire you just because you're a foreigner.(Ladies, you'll have additional trouble because it's hard for women in Japanese society to advance in the workplace.)

Sixth:Last but not least, the pay's not that good. The average manga artist only makes between 12,000-15,000 dollars a year.(Roughly $225-$280 a week).There are exceptions like Ken Akamatsu( Love Hina) and Rumiko Takahashi( Inu Yasha, Ranma 1/2), but they're the minority.

Please don't misunderstand, I don't mean to discourage any of you, but I feel obligated to let you know that it'll be a tough road if you do decide to try for work in Japan. If you have the determination, patience ,and will, you can do it.

Wishing you all the luck in the world,

Alan

[GuyJean]

Any suggestions on things I should add would be appreciated.

The 'Manga Artist Interview Series' by Captain Japan might be insightful:

Hentai Manga Gears Up for World Exposure
http://www.bigempire.com/sake/manga.html

Manga Artist Interview Series (Part I)
http://www.bigempire.com/sake/manga1.html

Manga Artist Interview Series (Part II)
http://www.bigempire.com/sake/manga2.html

Manga Artist Interview Series (Part III)
http://www.bigempire.com/sake/manga3.html

GJ

[aljones15]

"Roughly $225-$280 a week"

that's probably more than the average comic artist in the united states makes. the average writer in the u.s. manages under 2k a year and that with Stephen King and other big shots factored in. I'd imagine the average manga figure is probably including the jump dudes etc hence the real average of a manga artist is probably lower than 225 a week.

peace,
A

[Hokgwai]

Hm, I was expecting to hear something more gruesome and terrifying.

Yeah, that's pretty much common knowledge.

The manga and/ or comic business are probably one of the worst businesses to get into.

It seems the measure of how much money you stand to make is not much different than what you face in the U.S.....(if not worse)

You don't stand a chance to make any money or have a steady job unless you are a "star" talent (i.e. a "John Romita, Jr.", for those who would know) .... and out of the few hundreds who are lucky to work, there are only a small handful who can be considered star talent....

yeah, I am certain race/ nationality would play against a hopeful artist trying to make it here--- I think the Japanese manga audience as a whole are pretty ignorant of American comic talent.....

A couple years back a trend was started where Japanese manga artists were comissioned to do major US comic titles for a stint (i.e X-Men) in response to how "goo-goo" popular manga artists have become in the US---

however....you don't see Japan beating down America's doors looking for talent....

[voxie]

Hi all - first post ^^ *waves*

I think everythings pretty much true there.

But what the heck, who needs to become a manga-ka in Japan anyway, you've got the manga audience growing where you are right now. Things like the Rising Stars of Manga and new publishers taking up manga titles under their wing, and even here in the UK more public libraries are stocking on manga books (not just the usual stuff like Pokemon).

To be a successful comic artist, you're better off trying to accomplish it on your own grounds, why would anyone need to actually go to Japan? True say that if you're big enough, your work will get translated over on their shores anyway, ne?

[Hokgwai]

Quote from Voxie:

To be a successful comic artist, you're better off trying to accomplish it on your own grounds, why would anyone need to actually go to Japan? True say that if you're big enough, your work will get translated over on their shores anyway, ne?

---------------------------------------
Indeed good point. Sorry I'm a bit ignorant of UK talent, but I know there are several US artists who have modeled their style after the "manga/ anime" way whose work can be easily found at Japanese comic stores interested in selling foreign comics....

....however that gap still remains.....US/UK comics are sold and are marketed quite separately from the rest of the Japanese manga market.

I have yet to see a copy of Spider-Man being sold side-by-side a copy of Shonen Jump.

[voxie]

Yeah, I noticed that too. But I don't think it'll ever change too much from that.

I mean, if you think about how DVDs are shelved - the US action DVDs are seperated from the Hong Kong flicks... it's all genre genre genre, because people have different tastes. However comics are comics, and it'd be fascinating to see a shop place Shonen Jump next to the Marvels and DCs.

But I'm glad you got my point I think manga for the Western audience is getting hotter and hotter, I think its yet to reach its peak for the mainstream ^^

[Hokgwai]

Indeed....I hear ya. I'm waiting to see where this goes someday.

Anime / manga in the western market is still a sleeping giant.....it's all a matter of money...perhaps when another "Akira" level anime is released and makes an obscene amount of money...that's when the distributors will wisen up..

[Pencilslave]

[quote="Hokgwai"]Hm, I was expecting to hear something more gruesome and terrifying.

Yeah, that's pretty much common knowledge.

The manga and/ or comic business are probably one of the worst businesses to get into. QUOTE]

The problem is, too many teenage kids aren't aware of how tough it is, so they don't know how tough it would be to fulfill their dreams of being a manga artist.