|
May 2008
Where does manga come from? Does the stork bring it? (I rather like the idea of a giant bird carrying a cloth of books and delivering them to the bookstores.) Is it that different from where American comic books come from? Well . . . yes . . . and no.
There are many different publishers of manga in Japan, much like the American slice of publishers for manga (Viz., Tokyopop, Del-Ray, etc.), and much like there are so many comic book publishers (Marvel, D.C., Dark Horse, Image, etc.), and many movie companies (Paramount, Sony, New Line, etc.). So if the divisions of those who "produce" and publish the manga are similar to American standards, then what about breaking in? Does a manga artist have to have a genie with four wishes (cause three sure wouldn't be enough) to get their story published? Well . . . it wouldn't hurt, but much like the American comic market there are several ways to become an established professional published creator. Submit to the major companies, get noticed by publishing your own book, have a friend who hires you on . . . these are all the tales of Japanese creators and American creators alike.
So many of the creative routes are the same with one small difference . . . While the Japanese have cons and they gather together, similar to Comic-Con, Emerald City, any Wizard World, the main focal energy for creators is the largest comic book convention in the world (which is not San Diego Comic-Con) which is held in Tokyo twice a year: Comic Market (or Comicket for short). Some of the biggest differences between the kind of comic conventions that Americans know, or anime conventions in America for that matter, are that the focus is not guests, celebrities, or hype, but simple purchasing of new material put out by energetic creators!
Comiket, and conventions similar to, are the way that some creators break in by putting together privately printed fanzine comics/manga for sale (or dojinshi as the books are referred to in Japan). These books are often the calling cards for noted creators who have been lucky enough to break into the industry this way. Some famous creators even still produce dojinshi for Comiket because of their strong love for producing comics that are made "for the fans". Also some creators, or teams of creators, are able to make a decent living just producing dojinshi's they sell at Comicket and other cons, as well as participating stores. With over 35,000 sellers, or circles as they are known because most dojinshi's are done creatively by groups or published by a group, the 510,000 people that come to buy have plenty to go for. (Numbers from Wikipedia for those who wish to learn more.) Comiket, in comparison to something like Comic-Con in San Diego, is primarily for fan produced material, not professional manga, so promoting by companies just doesn't happen. It is pure comic/manga loving pandemonium . . . crowded, huge, and full of energy.
This energy is often where manga comes from, just like any type of storytelling, the need to express one's self by creating characters, worlds, and situations that relate to the author and hopefully an audience that connects and relates. However, like I discussed last time, this creativity leaps between mediums and what works in manga format can work in television, movies, and novels. Many successful manga have created stories that spawn different, or immensely similar, versions of the same story, or additions, that appear in other media. For instance, Death Note, a very popular manga, created a successful TV aired anime that was adapted very faithfully from the manga. It also created two live action movies that told the story differently and also an original story live action prequel. Also an original prequel novel was done as well . . . A well told story is one that many want to enjoy, and can be enjoyed in many different ways and in many different media.
However, and not surprising at all, manga often become the second or third medium that a successful story appears in. For example, one of the most popular and well known anime of the 1980's in America was the 13 episode Record of Lodoss War. A story told on a D&D type world. Record of Lodoss War follows the main human character, female elf, dwarf, wizard and thief, seek to stop the destruction of their world. Owing much to The Lord of the Rings and D&D (which also owes much to Lord of the Rings) it was a very successful anime. There is also a very successful series of Record of Lodoss War manga, following the main story and some side stories. However, unlike what I discussed last time this was not a case of manga first, anime second. No, the anime was not based on the manga, nor actually was the manga based on the anime. Both manga and anime were deviated from a very successful series of role-playing scenarios and novels by Ryo Mizuno. Many manga are adapted from what we would consider novellas, or light novels as they are called in Japan. The extremely popular anime Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is based off a light novel, and other novels in the series. The practice is common and manga, much like American comics "adapts" successful stories into a graphic format.
The other common medium for manga ideas to come from is anime themselves. In an odd bit of "reverse engineering" several manga are adapted from anime. Much like the anime themselves that adapted from manga, manga adapted from anime can be straight up adaptations, or similar adaptations, such as Wolf's Rain, or side stories to the original anime stories, like the Cowboy Bebop manga, or a completely different take on the anime's story ideas, like the Cowboy Bebop Shooting Star manga. The variety of sources that manga can come from, like comic books, are vast.
So let's discuss the last difference between where manga come from. The creative marvels that produce manga and comics are probably similar, a human brain creating a great story and artwork to convey that story (unless you buy the idea a thousand monkeys are creating stories . . . ). However, the publication differs greatly. Quarterly, monthly, and weekly books are produced in Japan. Thousands of manga are published each month and then collected in book format, like collected editions in America, in what are called tonkabans. New tonkaban's come out when a set amount of material comes out (yes some manga creators take forever to put out new material) and is often the only way many fans read their favorite stories. It should sound familiar to many fans, not just those who collect only collected editions of their favorite comic books in America, but also to the American manga fan who read Death Note the day a new book came out, or waits anxiously for the new Excel Saga book. America, now, works primarily on a tonkaban release schedule (an article for later for that history) with probably 98% of American manga coming out that way. However, I'm sure many, if not most have heard of Shonen Jump, this lovely little monthly collection of manga chapters released in America by Viz Entertainment. New chapters of Naruto, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, One Piece, are published monthly in new issues. Also Shojo Beat, another Viz publication produces shojo manga (the difference between Shonen and Shojo . . . another article) in the same format. This format is how about . . . oh . . . . 98% of how most manga are published in Japan, except not in individual issues like American comics, but quarterly, monthly, and weekly magazines.
These magazines are the bread and butter of the Japanese manga empire. They publish almost all the manga done in Japan in this format first, gathering together at least five different series, if not a lot more, into each issue before going to the public. So imagine Shonen Jump, a 300 to 400 page black and white magazine, published not monthly, but weekly, and not 400 pages but 500 to 700, or monthly and closer to 800 pages . . . for about $5. This is the heart of manga. This is how most of these stories reach the public, in regular serialized format packaged with many other stories, printed on cheap paper. A big bang for your buck; it helps get a lot of exposure for series. This is the most common origin for manga, magazines like
Weekly Shonen Sunday  , and Weekly Shonen Magazine  which come out weekly and feature regular installments of manga like Inu-Yasha or Negima are seen being read by kids or workers on their way going home. With sales often in the millions, although declining now, these are the most common way manga are read in Japan. Again, these magazines are the true origin of manga, the midwife, if you will, to how manga comes to Japan, and then to the world. The origins of for manga creation are similar to American comic books, but distribution, exposure, and "origin" is uniquely Japanese. The Elements of Manga are vast and enjoyable and I hope that you sample richly of them.
|