Autism and manga

Manga can cover many topics in life that prefer not to be said. It can cover issues of war, politics, Gender roles, discrimination and much more. But there is one topic in particular I would never thought I'd see in manga format. Autism. You didn't see that one coming did you? Neither did I. For me this is a very intriguing topic to see in manga, mostly because I can relate it it a lot. My niece, who's turning three in may, is diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS) and I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) since I was three. Both my niece and I are part of the Autistic spectrum (ASD). Surprise!
Funny thing, I've learned from past experiences that anything associated with the word "Autistic" is a conversation-stopper. Like one time, In Japanese class I had to tell my teacher to be patient with me and my need for extended time on tests because I had ADHD. I could tell she rarely worked with special students. Or another time, I was arguing with my art teacher over my involvement with the art show manager and I yelled "Does she have an Autistic niece that she helps take care of?!", his expression was priceless and automatically he shut up and listened to me. I find it funny to see their faces.
As you can see, seeing the topic of autism in manga is very interesting to me. I've only seen hints of it in manga, but I've never seen it as a major part of manga. For example, in the popular manga "Death note" the detective "L" has certain actions and body language, like holding his knees in a chair and being very intelligent but social inept, points to Asperger syndrome. It's only a rumor but it's very likely that "L" has it. But aside from that I've rarely seen characters with special needs in manga. That is, untill I discovered this manga book that widened my eyes.


MANGA REVIEW: With the light: Raising an autistic child

Art and story by: Keiko Tobe

This is probably the first manga I read that focuses on autism as part of the comic. Which is a big deal to me. It's a beautiful story. It centers around Sachiko, who gives birth to her first born child Hikaru (japanese for "light"). As a baby she notices how he isn't developing like a normal baby and seeks a doctor to help. The doctor diagnoses Hikaru with autism. Sachiko goes through many trials and errors taking care of Hikaru, first her mother in law was frustrated with Hikaru because she couldn't understand why he was like that, and sachiko's husband was too busy with work to notice. But eventually, the husband is forced to take notice and instead of distancing himself from Hikaru, he begins to spend more time with his family to help his wife and understand Hikaru. As Hikaru grows up the mother begins to learn more about him like his fear of loud noises, his high sensitivity and the things he does like, like trains. Eventually Hikaru has a little sister and starts to take to her like a big brother. The manga progresses with Hikaru going through everyday life and going to different schools. At times the story seems dark by the reactions and protests of other people to Hikaru's actions. But there are light and funny moments. Like when one he is in junior high, he invites some of his friends to his house. Sachiko comes in the room because she's excited to see her son's friends and how they're doing. Hikaru then holds his mom's hand and starts to lead her. She wonders with excitement where he is leading her to. They step out of the room, Hikaru let's go of her hand and goes back inside. She then realizes her son was embarrassed by her and escorted her out, Just like a regular kid!
I really like this story because when I read it I wonder about my niece Violet. It makes me wonder how she sees and feels the world. And by the way Hikaru talks, it gives me hope that Violet will also talk. Right now she usually hums, shouts, giggles or signs with her hands. But I wait for the day Violet walks up to me with a piece of paper and a pencil and says "Draw mickey mouse." (I did the same thing to my big sister. I always asked her to draw sonic the hedgehog) I wont mind if she doesn't say "please". "With the light" is a very beautiful story, I once cried after reading it. I really like the manga for portraying Autism in a realistic manner. It shows Japan's special education services and their manner of teaching. It shows the many difficulties with taking care of an autistic child, but it also shows the hidden joys that comes with it. A good example of this, is when Hikaru, randomly walks up to Sachiko, grabs her apron and says in a clear voice "Mommy". Now all I have to do is make Violet say "Auntie". Which is hopefully very soon.

Can you even make manga "Realistic"?

Hey guys, long time no see. I haven't been blogging too much because I'm hard at work on my art portfolio for college. A few days ago I had to overcome one of my many weaknesses in art. Proportions. I have never been so frustrated to get a single pose anatomically correct in my LIFE. I've been really hitting the books on my anatomy (including one book and a male art mannequin that my brother got for me) and I've been really studying proportions. I've learned that the average human is about 8 1/2 heads tall. So now I've been working on my figures and measuring them to make sure they're 8 1/2 heads tall. So I guess I've been making my characters more "Realistic". I've also been looking at how to draw comic and how to draw manga books for figures and they don't follow regular proportions. Some characters are only 7 heads tall (which is the size of a 12 year old) and some are 9 heads tall (like the super buff American super heroes).

I think it's very hard to make characters "Realistic" when you're trying to maintain a manga style, which is characterized by insane proportions and super deformed characters. The manga I've seen that follows realistic proportions are mostly Senin or "Mature" manga. Like "Ninja scroll" or "Vagabond". Manga gears towards mature audiences generally follow a realistic style that to be comically deformed like manga for younger audiences. I've seen only a few teen manga that follow realistic proportions. But it's hard to follow realistic proportions, because it's a lot of work. But I think realistic proportions can make the characters seem more realistic and more believable than a small chibi character. It may have nothing to do with manga but the movie "Avatar" follows very realistic proportions in their design of the Na'vi. The bodies are over 9ft but they are proportional like a human. Even their faces can mimic real human expressions. It goes to show you that by making your characters realistic, the reader can relate to them as if they were real. Here's one manga that follows that.

MANGA REVIEW: Death Note

Story by: Tsugumi Ohba

Art by: Takeshi Obata

Anyone who knows manga definately knows this super popular series. For those who hate it, I won't force you to read the rest. For those who don't know it, it's about a teen, Light Yagami who stumbles upon a black notebook called a death note. When he reads it. He learns it is a tool used by Shinigami, Death gods, to write the name of a fated person and kill them by natural causes or accidents. Light is forced to use it when a person is in danger and then has to bear the weight of killing a human being. But as he begins to use it more often to kill criminals, he begins to become a godlike figure called "Kira". He is then Visited by the owner of the notebook, Ryuk, who is amused by light and how he has used the notebook. Light tells him how he will use the death note to create a new world order filled with justice. As bizarre killings go on in japan, a special detective called "L" investigates and tries to track down the man called "Kira". The whole manga is a super natural game of "Cat and mouse". The story is good and the scenes do get talkative but what I really like about the series is the art. Obata uses a realistic style of manga to help draw the story and match it's mature themes. The charatcers are drawn in realistic proportions with no distortion (except for the shinigami, who scream "Hot topic") and the settings are hyper detailed. Like, Light's room looks like a real room, not too tall, not distorted. It almost reminds me of the detailing in Hirohiko Araki's "Jojo's bizarre adventure". The facial expressions do have a "manga" feel, but they're also realistic. Obata's style of "Manga Realism" really brings out the mature capabilities of manga (the manga itself is for 16 and up), That it can accurately portray human figures and human emotion correctly. That's what makes Death note a good read for aspiring manga artists hoping to go for a more realistic style.

Comic making in college

No one said applying to college was easy. That's why I took a year off when I graduated high school. After many thoughts and opinions I'm finally hopping on the college bandwagon. I was skeptic of college at first, seeing how for many people it didn't help and it ended up being a big waste of money. But I've realized that if I want to improve my art, I would have to go to an environment suited for that. An Art college. Right now I'm hoping to apply to SVA, the school of visual arts, mainly for one major in particular. Cartooning. They have a whole major, with set of classes, geared towards comic book/graphic novel making. *sniff* It sounds so beautiful...;__;

Besides working on my art style, as said in my previous blog, I'm building up my portfolio. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of work from my high school portfolio, but I've been away from school for a year, so they'll probably be wondering what have I been doing for a year. I'm nervous and excited. I'm going to a comic making class in an art college, I'll be among my comic making peers! I'll finally be able get decent advice on my work from my friends than just "It looks cool!". I did appreciate my friends opinions in school. But then again they each did a different thing like photography or sculpture. They weren't super focused on comic book making like I was.

I want comic book making to be my career. When I discovered Manga and comic books, I discovered my purpose in life. I feel that If you love doing something so much, why can't you do it for a living? So when I asked my manga-loving friends if they wanted to be comic book artists, most of them said no. Some even said they'll get a regular job first and continue comics as a "hobby". I can't do that. I don't see myself as an office worker. I want to make comics for a living (animation will be a side job). I won't settle for a cubicle job, that's not me.

MANGA REVIEW: Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei

(or "Goodbye Mr. Despair)

STORY AND ART BY: Koji Kumeta

There's one thing I gotta say about this manga artist. He has some real balls. This is a manga artist that makes fun of japan's society problems in a dark comedy. The story is about a teacher who has the worst name in the world, Itoshiki Nozomu. This is because when the characters are written closely together they create the word "Zetsubou" or "Despair". It's more Ironic when his catchphrase is "I'm in Despair!!". The teacher is also suicidal, Often finding ridiculous reasons to commit suicide, like "I saw the "E" logo with wings on the bald, baseball player's hat, and all I could think out is the kanji for "hair"!". Besides numerous suicide attempts, he also teachers a junior High school class of misfits. One's a super positive girl named after Franz Kafka, another is a social recluse, one has a tail fetish, one's a stalker, one's an illegal immigrant, one has major OCD, one is a doujinshi artist, one is super ordinary and the list goes on. Through out the story the teacher and the class learn about the many wrongs in japan's society. This is a comedy by the way.

It's not depressing as it is ridiculous. The whole story is meant to make fun of Japan's many problems like the high rate of suicide, the high rate of stress put upon students, and the increased rate of commercialism. I think it's funny and bold how Kumeta shows Japan's problems (usually those topics are a no-no in Japan). It's kind of like a comedic version of "intervention". I gotta give Kumeta kudos for having the guts to create this. It's even more suprising that it's SUPER popular in Japan. Strange world.

Developing an artstyle is HARD.

Hey guys, sorry to keep you hanging. Alot's been going on, my niece and nephew are sick, so is my big brother and mom. My sister and I were more fortunate @__@. Recently I've been hard at work tuning my art-style. At first I was drawing my characters too androgynous. My girls were not feminine enough and my guys were not masculine enough (with guys it's typical to make them androgynous...). Then, when I tried to feminize my girl character I realized her eyes were half the size of her face, and her irises were WAY too small. (she always looked surprised).

Now I'm trying to develop the lips more, make smaller noses, for the eyes, make the irises bigger and the eyes smaller. For the guys, lessen the lashes, make the face more angular, more distict noses. It's harder then it looks! But I guess this is what separates my style from generic manga. I want the guys manly but not "Fist of the north star" manly. And I want my girls more girly but not "Sailor moon" girly. I'm trying not to make one gender more extreme than the other, otherwise the whole artstyle will look unbalanced. The bigger picture is that I don't want my art to look like someone else's.

I would be so embarrissed >__>. Cause as I said about style in my previous blog, I don't like it when one manga looks too similar in style to another's. On deviant art (I haven't been on in like. Ever.) it was very common, not among art-thieves, but among beginning artist trying to get out there. I've been drawing for years and to this day I'm still trying to find the right style, something that screams "ME". Something that some one will get smacked if they mistake it for someone else's. To be honest, I've seen very distinct styles more often in OEL manga. Like Fred Gallagher's "Megatokyo", or Mark Crilley's "Miki Falls". I find that OEL (original english language) manga has more challenges to go through than Japanese manga. Japanese manga can either make it in japan or the western hemisphere (U.S., U.K., Europe...). For OEL manga it's make it or break it. It's trying to bring out it's own style and origin but while trying to stay in the manga genre. The Manga genre is a very limited art style, and to dare break out of it would bring you into the independent graphic novel genre, making it less likely for popularity. So to make a "Popular manga" means you have to limit yourself, but I can't do that. I need to push myself further, Which means that I need to work on my anatomy, scenery, and still life. That's right. I got to go back to basics. But by doing so I believe that I will achieve a supreme art style, even If I hate myself in the process of it, that happens to every artist, usually I put my head against the tablet and say "I hate this!" "I'm not good enough!" "AUGH! DX". On a positive note I have good manga to share with you.

MANGA REVIEW: Gold Digger

Story and Art by: Fred Perry

Don't let the title throw you off. It's a peculiar name but it's not what you think it is. This manga is a personal favorite of mine. It's about two women, Gina Diggers or "Gold Digger" who's a world famous archaeologist/scientist and her adopted sister Brittany or "Cheetah" who's a were-cheetah with great speed, strength and serves as Gina's bodyguard. Together this unlikely pair explores the world finding lost cities and solving great mysteries, if they aren't getting into trouble... It's an action-packed adventure series with comedy and neat old school references. I like it because it's marked as part of the manga genre, but it actually breaks through into it's own personal style. It also passes the expectations of OEL manga without becoming too independent. It's an old manga (1990's) and it's still ongoing so that's assurance that it's good. The artist uses a style of simplified facial features, exaggerated expressions, muscular men and trademark babes from the manga genre. But the detailing, scenery, inking, storyline and action scenes have a distinct western style. What I like about it so much is it's unique style. Just by looking at it I can tell the artist. Fred Perry, also known for doing an OVA of the series, check it out, the guy does his own animation! That who I want to be like. I want to be known for my style and storytelling, including my animation skills (I didn't tell you I did flash animation, did I? The more you know ^__^). I think this book is a great example of what OEL manga can accomplish and how it can differ from the manga genre without cutting away from it.

Manga books are storybooks too...

Manga is very reliant on art. But art isn't the only thing that makes manga, there's the story too. In fact, manga is more dependent on it's story than it's artwork. Shocking isn't it! I guess people don't refer to manga as real books because they feel that lots of illustration will take away from the story. But when writing a book, you have to use your imagination to help you visualize and write down your story in great detail. The readers have to use their imagination to visualize the story and help them understand it. Yes, it's the art that brings out the story of the manga, but it's the story that influences the art. Manga is just like an illustrated storybook. Which is why the story is very important when making a manga. You can't just draw random images in panels and call it manga. The images have to have something in common, like a motive. Manga is also known as sequential art, As the story progresses so does the art. I've seen plenty of manga that has a one sided relationship between it's story and art. The art is sub-par, but the story is excellent, like Katsura Hoshino's "D-Grayman". Or the art is interesting, but the story is hard to comprehend, like Hajime Ueda's "FLCL". You know when a manga is good when the story and art share a mutual relationship. The art is very good and the story is great, like Kohta Hirano's thriller manga "Hellsing" or Ryu Fujisaki's Chinese historical sci-fi "Hoshin Engi". That the kind of manga I want to make. I want to make a manga with a good story, that readers will like to read and continue, where the plot makes sense and the dialogue isn't awkward. I also want the art to fit with the overall story. The story influences the art style. If the story's genre is geared towards girls, the art is elegant and pretty. If the story is gear towards guys, it's more rough and detailed. You want to make sure that the story complements the art, and the art complements the story. Here's one Manga that has that special relationship.

Manga Review: Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee

Story and art: Hiroyuki Asada

Here we have a great example of a mutual relationship of a great story and beautiful art. "Tegami Bachi" (Japanese for "Letter Bee") is a tale of a dark world, Amberground, lit only by a man-made star. The land is divided into three parts with each part gradually falling into darkness. In Amberground there are giant, mechanical-insects called "Gaichuu" who terrorize the land. In order for each land to keep contact with others they rely on special postmen called "Letter Bees" Who deliver each letter with the person's precious "Heart" (not literally) inside. In this land an abandoned boy, Lag Seeing is found by a letter bee, Gauche suede, who goes through a long journey of perils to bring him to a nice home and in return inspires the young boy to become a letter bee. I really find the story original and interesting. And in return the art complements the story with it's unique style to visually interpret the story. The art and story immerses you in the unique land with visual symbolism and great detail as seen in the starry night sky. Even better, the story keeps you hooked because you want to see what happens next. It's unique in it's story, art, and portrayal of postal service...But this great relationship creates a great manga that you would want to read again and again. Isn't that what all manga should be?

Show me your style!

I think I figured out why some people don't like Manga and Anime; It not that they're "Terrible People" or "Haters". It's a matter of taste, in art-styles that is. I love Manga but not every single manga in the world. I'll admit, Some manga looks-alike. It's true. Some manga rely on the styles of other artists to result in a manga that has a different story, but identical/similar art stytles.

A good example of this is seen in the manga "Fairy Tail". The artist studied under "One Piece" creator Eiichiro Oda and showed that in his manga style. "Fairy Tail" looks similar to "One Piece" in art style, Even though they have completely different story lines. Another example is seen in the manga "O-parts hunter". The artist of "O-parts hunter" is the twin brother of Masashi Kishimoto, The creator of super-popular "Naruto". At first "O-parts hunter" looked very similar to "Naruto" (the artist are twins...). But as time grew, "O-parts hunter" developed it's own style and different from it's brother comic "Naruto" Not just in storyline but in art.

I will admit some manga art can look very cheap, where there's few details that differentiate itself from other manga. This happened to me when I was showing my manga sketches to my sister's friend. She smiled and replied "It looks easy". I didn't like her too much after that comment... Here's a manga that defintely has alot of style.

MANGA REVIEW: Jojo's bizarre adventure

Story and art: Hirohiko Araki

You could not get more stylized than this ladies and gentlemen. It's inking is by traditional medium (fountain pen) and it's toning medium is very traditional, No computer's were used! The manga is old so toning was done by cutting it out by an X-acto knife!
The story here is from part 3 of Jojo, "Stardust crusaders". It's about the main character Jotaro Kujo and his friends trying to find a 100-year old Vampire, DIO who wears the body of his great-great grandfather Johnathan Joestar. They use special guardian spirits or "Stands" to fight other enemy stand users all to find and defeat DIO. The story is crazier than you think. Each enemy encounter is whacked out with different abilities, insane scenarios (like a whole ship being the stand?) and a mix of stylized violence.
As for the art it's very unique. The characters are drawn super masculine with flamboyant and anatomically incorrect poses. The line art is highly detailed to clothes and the environment. Really detailed! Almost photogenic! The toning is especially stylized and super detailed. It's often used for lighting and shadow on the characters and setting. If you see how he does up a super shiny car with just lines and toning, your mouth will drop. A very big factor in this series is it's use for inspiration. Without "Jojo's bizarre adventure", there would be no "Shaman King" and definitely no "Yu-Gi-Oh!". The artist themselves said how they were inspired by Jojo, but notice how they didn't just rip-off the art and story but subtlety incorporated it. Though I believe that Jojo was inspired by "Fist of the North star". Then again, so was "Dragonball Z". Never the less it's still a series worth seeing. Just be mindful how hyper violent it can get...

Let's do manga the american way!

Oh Japan...the birthplace of manga... but then again, japan isn't the capital of all comics and graphic novels in the world, just it's own, manga. Here in America we have a manga explosion; One that has lasted for a while (since the 70's) and grew from an underground source into one of the most popular medias out there. I know 'cause I grew up on manga. There was something about it's style that just seemed more appealing then American comics. Don't get me wrong, America is home of the world's top comic industries MARVEL and DC, but I liked manga because it was different. The lines were simple but detailed. The chibi characters were cartoony but not "Hannah Barbera" cartoony. Manga often divulged into more mature themes and had a variety of genres, each with it's own style to attract different audiences. This is why manga's so popular, and why Japanese culture is so popular. Other American artist like myself saw this genre and said "I'd like to make something like this, but my way" and thus OEL (original english language) manga was created.

I consider myself an OEL manga artist not because of my nationality but because of my style and themes. When I draw manga I don't want it to be the mirror image of a typical Japanese manga. I want it to have pop culture references I'm familiar with. Like American pop culture. Manga and american comic books are very different because of their cultural references. In a comic book it's typical to see rituals like holloween and 4th of july. In manga it's typical to see rituals like Harumatsuri (spring festival) or Goldenweek (a week of japan's national holidays). We often see manga as a way to peek into another culture. This is why my eyes stopped dead at this manga...or should I say comic book?

MANGA REVIEW: Karakuri Douji ULTIMO

Original Concept: Stan Lee

Story & Art: Hiroyuki Takei

Inker: DAIGO

Painter: BOB

Thats right, you saw it. Original concept by STAN LEE! I've heard of Stan working on a manga with Hiroyuki Takei A.K.A. The creator of Shaman King. I was astounded by the idea. An American comic book writer and a Japanese manga-ka (artist) working together! I haven't seen it untill I saw and read Karakuri Douji ULTIMO. The story isn't bad. It's about a teen boy Yamato, who finds a Karakuri Douji (mechanical boy) of the name Ultimo in a shop. He then activates Ultimo and learns that in his past life he met and fought many battles with Ultimo, mainly against Ultimo's evil twin, Vice. Both Ultimo and Vice were created by the mad scientist Dunstan (he looks familiar doesn't he?) in an effort to find out what would win in the world. Ultimate good or Ultimate evil?

While Yamato learns of his past he also runs into Vice in the present along with other new villains, all while trying to maintain his high school life and his companion ULTIMO. The main idea of the story is a tale of Good v.s. Evil that spans through time. So the idea sounds a little cheesy...and for the artwork you definitely see some shaman king influence. Plus, Ultimo's supposed to be beautiful, like the heart of goodness. But here he is very androgynous. Especially when he's teary eyed. Aside from that, reading the manga, it's an interesting story. I find it to have some American influence in the storytelling via Stan Lee. The dialogue can be heroic and reminiscent of superhero comics and the action and expressions are reminiscent of action manga. Personally I like it for the whole concept of it. Two major comic book creators from two different nationalities and cultures band together to make one solid "manga/comic book" lovechild. I even hear that Stan wants ULTIMO to be made into an anime, He's really Gung Ho for the series and very determined. I say go for it. I want to see what the future holds for ULTIMO.