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Love of Manga = Being a Mangaka? Not So Fast.
A couple of years ago, I had a conversation with an old friend about what our favorite manga series were. After a great deal of discussion, she realized that I loved manga to a huge degree and said that I should be a mangaka. When I told her I couldn’t draw, she said “Write your own manga!”
Question: how many of you have been told to take on the profession of those that fuel your passion? As in “You love manga so much! Why don’t you be a mangaka?”
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t like the idea that certain people assume that that if you want to work in a certain industry, you have to take on the top job (which usually involves something creative) in the industry. If you don’t do that, you are considered a failure. Why is it that such thinking occurs?
I asked geek career counselor, Steven Savage, about this dilemma and he told me there are two things that create what he calls, the “must-do” job myth.
1) The fact that the larger culture assumes that you have to take the obvious job for your career path.
2) An assumption that people into geeky things think alike.
I want to say that all mangaka do need help in getting their works recognized. Where would they be without assistants, sponsors, editors, marketers, etc.? I wonder if people are saying that you have to be at the pinnacle because it’s not a “typical daily job”. Do they believe that the daily grind is not as fun as when you’re the one creating the content?
(Our lovable heroes of Bakuman needed help along the way to get to where they were at.)
Also, geeks are people just like everyone else. Hell, I think everyone is a geek in some way, shape, or form. Stereotypical myths are formed because a large amount of people want to believe they are true. Given that the world can be crazy at times, people want to make sense out of it and won’t accept anything that is different.
It’s hard to make something work without a variety of intertwined parts. There’s too much focus on individualism and not the group effort. Even mangaka have appreciated the help of their editors and assistants.
For those that want to be in the manga industry without being a mangaka, take the time to educate yourself about the various job departments involved in the process of publishing manga and figure out how you can contribute.
Mixing your passion with the right education leads to a state of welcomed power where you can truly shape and embrace your destiny the way you want to envision it.
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Eastern-Style Parenting: Is It Really Superior?
Earlier today, I read an interesting (and very controversial) article on Wall Street Journal Online entitled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”. The author of the article, Amy Chua, is a Chinese-American parent (and professor at Yale University) who raised her two daughters in a very strict & rigid manner. She even put up guidelines, which they were forced to uphold. One of the craziest parts of the article is where Amy describes how she got one of her daughters, Lulu, to play piano despite many arguments with her husband and Lulu herself.
Reading this article has made me think about Japanese mangakas and what their parents think of them choosing that profession. Eastern-style parenting is as strict as it comes. The Japanese also have a habit of enforcing what should be the norm. Those two factors combined create a large amount of pressure on the individual. Were their parents okay that their children wanted to be mangaka?
There was a recent storyline in Bakuman where one of the manga assistants, Shiratori Shun, got in a fight with his mother over his choice to be a professional mangaka. His mother wanted him to study art in Paris or work for his father. Angry at his mother’s attitude, Shiratori runs away from home & would sleep at a park bench. He would eventually convince his family to let him do as he wishes (with help from Ashirogi Muto).
A couple of questions to ask are how much resistance should there be and how much guidelines you need to provide. There has to be a balance. Yes, children in the West are heavily spoiled these days with so much media influence, but some parents can go overboard when coming up with & enforcing guidelines. A mix of Eastern-style parenting mixed with Western-style individualism goes a long way. Amy’s method of parenting is really extreme and she seems to ignore the possibility of mentally-disabled Asians (which there are a decent number of). Though judging from the tone, you have to wonder whether the article is meant to be taken seriously or just a satirical piece.
So, how do/will you raise your kids? What will you expect out of them? Also, special thanks to the parents of Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Hiromu Arikawa (Fullmetal Alchemist), Karuho Shiina (Kimi ni Todoke), Kiyohiko Azuma (Yotsuba&!), Hideaki Sorachi (Gintama), and Takehiko Inoue (Vagabond, REAL) for letting them do as they please.
Whose mangakas’ parents are you thankful for?
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Sexism in Japan (Bakuman)
When the first volume of the hit Shonen Jump series, Bakuman, was released here in America, reviewers seemed to be taking a note on the issue of sexism in the story. Some have argued that the female characters are treated as if they have no personality. They either are just objects or treated with disdain. The anime version of Bakuman (which debuted this Fall) also has gotten some people talking about sexism in the series. I find this interesting because, honestly, Japan is a sexist country to begin with.
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Akito Takagi (Bakuman)
Dreamers believe! Today, we’ll be looking at Akito Takagi, one of the two main protagonists from the hit Shonen Jump series, Bakuman. Takagi is a mangaka who writes with his friend, Masahiro Moritaka, who is an artist. They both work under the pen name “Muto Ashirogi” and are trying make it big in the Japanese manga business.
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“There are three rules for being a mangaka if you’re not a genius.
1.) Be conceited. Believe you can do better than anyone else.
2.) Work hard.And the last one…Be lucky.”
- Mashiro Moritaka (Bakuman)
