Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga

Product Information

Before I begin, I must confess that Hirohiko Araki is my favourite manga artist. A career of nearly 4 decades have produced a vast body of quality work. The mere fact that this book exists is almost enough for me to presume a 5* rating by default.

Araki Sensei: Because there are times when I find inspiration for characters and Stands through music.

My Book Notes

He opens with the subtitle, “Returned to the Envelope Unread,” which reads as clumsily as he claims his failed submissions were in the beginning of his career. It is telling that he can’t describe his failures very well, because the leadfooted tone disappears when Araki starts discussing his triumphs. He is as good at talking about his greatness as he is poor at talking about his shortcomings, so I’d caution taking him too seriously when he waxes humble: His precision and planning behind proud achievements is as important on the confidence, even hubris, required to start any career in the arts. Araki’s methodology will do nothing if not impart confidence in craft. He calls his methodology the “Golden Way.” Sometimes, maybe influenced by my physical state that day or some chemical change beyond my understanding, my drawings go better than I had anticipated and make me think, “This line is really great!” or “I nailed the curve of that cheek! It’s perfect!” When those drawings come like unexpected presents, when my art is better than me, I think that maybe it’s the god of manga descending to visit me." Araki Sensei: I'm extremely grateful for all the support from the fans. There are new, younger fans being introduced to the original manga after experiencing JoJo through anime and other mediums. The fact that there's a new generation of readers is the core of what JoJo is about passing the torch on to the next generation. SJ: Much of the emphasis of your new book, Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga is on shonen manga storytelling—is your advice the same for other kinds of manga? Also, do any Western comics come close to capturing the manga panel development work you describe in your book? If so, which ones? The through line in all successful franchises, to Araki, is a strong goddamn character. This cannot be over-emphasized. The emphasis reflects Araki’s success with the dynastic narrative of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures, if also the general direction toward which the manga paradigm has shifted. He goes so far as to say that in extreme examples, “compelling characters negate the need for story or setting.” As someone who has only ever failed to explain Araki’s storylines to the uninitiated, I daresay Araki doesn’t lie.

Is worthwhile advice given to many children but often forgotten later down the line, especially in writing. It shouldn't be outwardly apparent all the time, sometimes illusionary, but they are the words that glue together intrigue. He gives a passage from a Hemmingway story and claims that it tells us information that it really doesn’t. I have to wonder if this is a mis-translation of what he was saying the passage was supposed to be giving us.Qué hace concretamente en el libro? Nos explica cuáles son las claves universales de la narrativa, cuáles son los elementos más importantes del manga y, para mostrarnos porqué es así y no de otra manera, también nos pone ejemplos tanto de su propia obra como de la de otros, sean del manga o fuera de él. Porque Araki no cree que su libro esté limitado al aspirante a mangaka. Ni siquiera que el manga sea una singularidad. A sus ojos, las leyes del manga son leyes universales. Todo medio narrativo, de la literatura al cine pasando por el manga o el teatro, siguen las reglas que él recopila en el libro. The book's main flaw - and it's a serious one - is its uncritical use of racial and gender bias. Araki writes and draws shonen, the most popular manga genre, aimed at boys and young men, as opposed to shojo (manga for girls). (Other genres include josei (for women 18-40), gekiga ( "dramatic pictures," complex narratives for adults), yaoi (or Boy's Love, about gay male relationships written by and for women), yuri (lesbian romance), bara (explicit gay narratives), Adventure, Sports, and Comedy). Much of his advice - such as the hero never being allowed to fail - is shaped by his experience writing weekly and monthly shonen where each installment has to excite the reader enough to read the next episode. Extensive reader surveys are conducted, and the least popular manga get cut. As such, the system, while an effective marketing device, has to play into the existing biases of its young male audience. It's a machine for perpetuating patriarchal attitudes about gender and reflects a shallow reasoning about emotions, personality, and success based on pop psychology. The upside is that its themes often convey positive moral messages about perseverance, friendship, and justice. Further, manga had grown as an industry to reflect a more inclusive perspective that values diversity.

SJ: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has a lot of horror elements and quite a bit of gore. What are your favorite horror movies? SJ: How do you come up with the Stand powers? Do you come up with the character or their powers first? ANN: Your fansassociate JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with high fashion.Can you take us through the process by which you create unique costumes for your characters? Hirohiko Araki es un gran maestro del manga. Con su extravagante JoJo's Bizarre Adventure no sólo ha conseguido fusionar el canon clásico griego con la estética manga, el hiper-dinamismo y las historias cuasi-mitológicas rayano la parodia histérica, sino también algo mucho más difícil: un estilo propio capaz de encandilar al público. Aún explicando la necesidad de los cuatro elementos regidores de toda narración —personajes, historia, escenario y tema; en ese estricto orden de importancia— Araki siempre acaba poniendo algo de sí mismo entre líneas. Cual es el método que él utiliza, o ha utilizado, para llegar hasta sus conclusiones. Y en ese arranque metodológico, es donde deja ver lo obvio: consiste no en hacer, sino en mirar.If [...] the manga successfully finds a large audience, the creator’s ambitions will be fulfilled, the passion to create will wane, and the manga will arrive at a dead end. The mangaka will begin searching for a new path, and be beset with doubt. If you view creating manga as a temporary business endeavour, that result might be good enough for you. Likewise, I've been drawing inspiration from Greco-Roman statues and post-enlightened paintings for my writing. Something about the depth and complexity of a statue is awe inspiring; I'd very much like to visit Italy, myself sometime. I put more emphasis on giving readers different feelings and impressions through different color combinations.

The most important part of a character is their motivation. What does your protagonist want to accomplish? [...] Your characters’ motivations have to gain the interest and empathy of your readers. A good motivation is one that makes the reader wonder what will happen to that character, and what that character will do, because then the reader will want to keep reading. [...] You need to include in your main characters weaknesses or faults, or more human desires." Araki’s thoughts on the relationship between Setting, Story and Character and how they’re all tied together by Theme are worth remembering and a good primer for new writers. He also gives a lot of good tips and suggestions about those elements of story and how they work in a Shonen comic.

Reading this book has confirmed some of my suspicions of JoJolion's 'shoddy writing' but beautiful execution. It was deliberate, him employing the tropes and mechanics he'd neglected or despised in the past, and an opportunity for him to indulge in all he'd once strove to avoid. It was him letting go and having fun again.