Mangaka

Mangaka (Japanese漫画家), or manga -ka, are professional working for a manga publishing manga authors. The term is composed of the word manga for Japanese comics and the suffix -ka (家) in the sense of " maker" or "creator". Most mangaka draw their stories not only, but also write the accompanying text. In Japan, manga-ka are a separate profession.

Authors who do not subscribe are called ( Manga) Gensaku -sha ( (漫画)原作者).

Manga artist in Japan

There are several ways to become a professional mangaka in Japan. Young artist often take part in one of the regular advertised drawing competitions of manga publishers, with the winners waving publications in professional magazines and temporary contracts. Sometimes you do not even have to win these contests: Again and again receive an additional signatories also a chance to write the stories as poor, but have an outstanding character style.

The posting of presentation folders with self lined material to a publisher rarely leads to success, as each Japanese manga publisher per month receives thousands of applications.

Very popular publishing is self-drawn manga fan ( dōjinshi ) self-publishing. Numerous professional mangaka started out as dōjinshi - signatory, and in Japan own manga subculture is it now arisen: On regular dōjinshi fairs provide Hobby artist their latest works in front that are either self- inventions or allusions to well-known commercial series. The largest dōjinshi Fair Japan ( and the largest comic event in the world ) is the year 's bi Comic Market ( Comiket ) in Tokyo, with about 50,000 exhibitors and over 600,000 visitors. Send Many manga publishers looking for new talent " scouts " to such fairs.

If an artist has been accepted by a manga publisher, he goes through several stages of a fixed hierarchy. First, it starts as an assistant in a signatory team, working for a well known mangaka ( the least successful manga series taken from individual subscribers ). The most common "beginner's work " are designing and drawing of screen backgrounds and inserting grids in the images. With increasing experience, with plenty of talent and reliable operation of a draftsman takes over more and more important tasks within the team, at the same time is also the chance of independent smaller manga projects. For most of the artists it then no longer goes further, however: only a few make the leap to whose names are known and famous mangaka with his own long-running manga series and own teams.

German Manga style illustrator

With the release of the series Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon from 1997 from 1998, the actual manga boom began in Germany. Since then, strive more and more young people are asked to be taken as an illustrator or author of a publishing contract.

Unlike Japan, there are in Germany but no set training period for signatories: instead of first working as in Japan as an assistant in a successful team can and so the technical and artistic foundations to learn systematically, talented German artist are usually entrusted immediately with their own projects. Due to lack of experience, however, many can not cope with the need of a fixed daily workload and time pressure in publishing. Many works are therefore aborted after a short time or not at all only reach for publication.

The German Manga Style - subscribers who already publish for some time include, for example Christina Plaka, Judith Park ( Sondermann Prize winner 2005), Olga Andriyenko and Robert Labs. Meanwhile, work German Manga style illustrator partially with authors together, for example with Dorota Grabarczyk, Michael Waaler, Anne Delseit, André left and Nicole Klementz, and also set isolated Wizard.

Drawing competitions

In Germany, each year a number of regional and national competitions hosted manga characters, the largest one of the "Manga Talents " competition of the Leipzig Book Fair. The works of the winners will be published, in part, the artists get the chance to further professional productions.