Manga Rising Stars of Manga...manga. ^^;

[Katana]

Here it is! Well, the introduction page and the little boxes. :sweat: Me and my friend Lorenza are making our own manga for Tokyopop's third "Rising Stars of Manga" competition. I didn't draw these becasue my drawings supposivly isn't "manga-ey" enough. >.< Oh yeah, I feel so loved...

[url=http://www.angelfire.com/anime5/katana/mangascan_1.gif]Da introduction page![/url]

(PS: The color may not look that great because I saved it as .gif to save some hardrive space.)

The manga is entitled "Otaku Yakurin Shoruo", which translates to Otaku Agent Files. Or is suppossed to. We didn't put "the" before otaku because we weren't sure about it...so yeah.

*flips through the manga book* Um...Lorenza has drawn three boxes, a bell, and an arm so far for the first page. (Oh yeah, we're good. ^^)

[klinanime1]

ok. I'm going to be hypocritical. You must use a template for the speech bubbles. (I know, mine aren't much better..) Another "must": Use the mechanical guide! Looking at the intro, I believe the edges of the speech bubbles might be cut off in printing. Download the mechanical guide! You also MUST ink. The printing is strictly black and white. Even grays. If you look closely enough at manga, grays are tiny dots of black. Buy tone, or make your own screentones. Write clearly. Though the publishers will have someone who eventually redoes the font, they must be able to read it!

[Megumi]

Very... sketchy. I agree with Klin. You _need_ to clean it up and ink it.
And, uh, the squeak thing... isn't really funny... *sweatdrop*

[wiccansamurai]

It is really, really sketchy. Invest in good pens and some india ink! And I agree about the speech bubbles.

I don't think they re-do the font. I was reading the reviews for the first one, and they commented on how unique for manga the font was in one of them.

Also, they need some work as far as the style goes. It's not really appealing to the eye. Using chibi characters for the whole thing (or part) can look great, if you do it right.

Good luck in the contest. I'm going to try to make the deadline, too.

[Katana]

Um...I think you guys are missing obvious things.

1.) It's not finished.
2.) It's drawn in pencil to avoid mistakes.
3.) We're going to ink it in once we're done.
4.) Speech bubbles will be fixed.
5.) The page will be cleaned up before we submit it. DUH!
6.) I'm 12 and she's 13. Cut us some slack. >.<

Other than the fact that, yes, it needs to be cleaned up, what else does everyone think? *looks around*

[Megumi]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Katana [/i]
[B]Um...I think you guys are missing obvious things.

1.) It's not finished.
2.) It's drawn in pencil to avoid mistakes.
3.) We're going to ink it in once we're done.
4.) Speech bubbles will be fixed.
5.) The page will be cleaned up before we submit it. DUH!
6.) I'm 12 and she's 13. Cut us some slack. >.<

Other than the fact that, yes, it needs to be cleaned up, what else does everyone think? *looks around* [/B][/QUOTE]

What else can we say? After all, it's only one page. ^_^;

[klinanime1]

Well, jeez. write that in your first post. Nyagh....
I still think that page won't conform to... what, 5"x7.5"? Keep an eye on bleed areas, too.

[eleanor]

[size=1] O_o Geez you guys, take a breather. I think anyone can tell it's not the final draph... It's not supposed to be perfect the first time you draw it.

Well, nice introduction to say in the least. I can't really judge anything off of just that one page. You might want to start perfecting things such as arm shapes and wrinkles, though. Other than that, I wish good luck. ^_^. I've just started the basic storyline of one I'm going to enter, thinking about finishing most of it off during the summer. My only goal is to actually finish it. =_=. Drawing good mangas sure take a lot out of you sometimes. And remember that it's talent, not experience. ^_~. [Although experience would help. *raises eyebrow and takes off*]

So with that, it's not imperative that one should spend their money on screen tones and expensive ink. Just try to be proud of your end result rather than concentration on winning only. If someone were to think they had a sure spot in the winner's circle, they'd be pretty dam* arrogant.[/size]

[Katana]

*hugs maladjusted* Thanks! *maladjusted runs away*
o_O

Anyways, I would like to say...uh....
Hehe, I blew up. I have my super arrogant moments, so yeah.
Hey kiln....seeing as how you advertise the contest in your sig, I'm guessing you're entering it as well. My question, for you, is what would you suggest when going about editing a manga for it's final draft? (I find this question difficult to explain) What I mean is, should I use the computer to touch up stuff, or just do it by hand? Things like that.
(Eee, I'm confused.)

[wiccansamurai]

Either use a computer or buy some comic tone sheets. Or crosshatch, but I have yet to see a winner that crosshatches.

If you're going to use the computer, you better have a good printer, otherwise all the work goes to waste. My suggestion is not to make the comic page onto only one piece of computer paper, print it out in sections. That way, it can still be big. Then tape it together and photocopy it.

To buy screeen tnes, look at tokyopops web site. They have some links to stores that sell it.

Crosshatching is tricking, and I wouldn't suggest to do it if you can't draw straight lines spontaneosly all that well. You'd need some good pens, varying sizes to crosshatch.

I'm entering too. That's why I have it all thought out.

[Katana]

Wait wait wait...what is crosshatching? It's a completly new term for me. v.v
Other problems arise....(a) I don't have a good printer, neither does my friend, (b) Money's scarce man. We'd have to word hard for it *hums the "They Work Hard for the Money" song*.
The computet thing is another problem...I don't have any kind of program that could edit such a thing. No Photoshop, nope. Unless there's some free download somewhere that edits drawings, I'm out of luck with the PC.
Tone sheets...don't sound so bad. Alright, I'll look up the website and stuff...than call Lorenza to see if it's okay to start inking in the page. ^^

[wiccansamurai]

Eeep! You don't know.... how to crosshatch? Umm, well, all it is is shading by having crossed lines. Buy some how to draw manga books, they give some pretty good techniques.

The tone sheets on the web sites I found from the links were only about five dollars, so its not bad. But that's another thing you shuld buy a "How to Draw Manga" book for, because tone sheets can be tricky.

[Guest Naruto1390]

Hey the my comic is called Other world X, and if u want a copy of my current story E-mail me please!

[eleanor]

[size=1] I had no idea what crosshatching was, either. Er...I did, but I didn't know the technique had a name. O_o. Anyways...

Doesn't Tokyopop do the screen-tones professionally on your manga if you win? I thought they did...whatever, though. Crosshatching can actually look very cool in my opinion, gives it a more sketchy look but still clean and final draph-esque. That's just my opinion, though.

P.S. Hug is most appreciated, Katana. ^_~. [And don't worry, I wasn't pointing the 'arrogant' statement at anyone here. Just something I dropped in.][/size]

[wiccansamurai]

I don't think they do. Er, I was reading the reviews in the second one and they commented on one of the entrants unique use of toning. So I figure all toning has to be done by the creator.

I can't do cross hatching worth nuts.

[Guest PersianMistress]

Well, I like it Katana! Dead-Angel and I are rooting for you!! You too wiccansamurai~ But, I'm just warning you, I'm entering as well! But hey, competition is always fun. I hope one of us gets in, I think i'd be a huge honor to all us Otaku's.

[klinanime1]

Tokyopop do the tone sheets for us? ::laughs :: Naw, you have to do them yourselves. You can either make your own screentones, or you can download some. Or buy them.

[Katana]

Just for some help, if anybody has any questions, here's an FAQ from Tokyopop. Some questions were fairly confusing, but it helps. ^^
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Question: Where do I have to live in order to enter this contest?

Answer: This contest is open to legal United States residents (excluding its territories, military installations and commonwealths), except for residents of Puerto Rico.

Question: So, if I write in English, and live, say, in Canada ... I still can't enter?

Answer: No, unfortunately, you can't - gomen!

Question: Are there any age restrictions for the contest?

Answer: No, but if you are under 18, your Parent or Legal Guardian MUST fill out the appropriate info on the entry form.


Question: I have written a manga with a couple of my friends - can we enter as a group?

Answer: Yes, group submissions are OK. You must all sign the Entry Form and, should you win, you would all share the allotted prize.

Question: Should I use special writing instruments or paper?

Answer: No, these are not necessary. If you would like to use them, that's fine, too, and we have included a short list of online retailers who specialize in manga writing materials here.

Question: What size paper should I use?

Answer: The original size doesn't really matter, as long as it is scalable to an ultimate publication size of 5" by 7 3/4". Choose whatever shows off your work to its best advantage.

Question: Can I submit a really cool cover, too?

Answer: Not unless we specifically ask you to submit one. All we require are a completed and signed Entry Form; a title page listing the title of the work, your name (or names, in the case of a group entry), and the number of pages in your submission; and the actual 15-20 pages of manga that you are submitting, with your name(s), telephone number(s) and manga title on the back of each page.

Question: OK, I can't send in a cover... what SHOULD I send in its place?

Answer: Send a title page containing your name(s), the title of the manga you are submitting, and the total number of pages in your manga entry.

Question: How long can my story be?

Answer: It must be at least 15 pages long, and no longer than 20 pages long.

Question: Can I submit my manga in color?

Answer: No, it must be in black and white.

Question: Will you return my manga to me at the end of the contest?

Answer: Submitted work will NOT be returned to you. We therefore recommend that you send to us the best-quality photocopy possible of your manga.

Question: Will I be penalized if send in a photocopy, or if I don't use fancy instruments?

Answer: Not at all. We recommend that you send best-quality photocopies, and we do not care what materials you use to produce your manga - as long as it's legible and looks good.

Question: Can I sumbit manga that has art on both sides of the page?

Answer: NO. Manga art must appear only on one side of each page. No double-sided entries will be considered. Plus, remember: you must include your name(s), phone number(s) and manga title on the back of each submitted page.

Question: Am I supposed to put anything on the back-side of my submitted manga pages?

Answer: Yes, the following information should appear on the back-side of each one of your manga pages: Your name (or names, if you're submitting as a group), phone number(s), and the title of the manga you're submitting.

Question: Can I get more technical data for things like bleeds & trim sizes?

Answer: Yep, by accessing our mech guide.
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The mech guide can be found [url=http://www.tokyopop.com/news/mangatalent/mech_spec.pdf]here[/url].