mcDuffies wrote:They tend to label mangaish comics that aren't made in Japan a "manga influenced". I guess that relieves some stress from people who just like the style.
Still it's kind of annoying when the story happens in Tokyo but all architectire and enviroment (not to mention characters) look perfectly American. You don't really bring any Japan to us if all you do is rename your characters Japanese and use random catchphrases from Japanese language.
I don't mind when people set their stories in Japan, if they do some actual research before that - and I don't mean reading other manga comics.
I always find that really irritating. If they're going to take the effort to have it set in a very specific location with a very specific culture, they should probably try to get it in the ballpark. But instead they just copy what they see. That's the issue I have, most of what I see from these people are just carbon copies of ideas, themes, and designs.
mysticela wrote:
LOL! That's REALLY funny you say that, because last time I checked I was accepted into The School of the Art Institute Of Chicago BECAUSE of my manga/anime work. They said they LOVED it and it was a breath of fresh air from traditional artwork...
Good for yeeewwwwww.
bustertheclown wrote:
Of course, I'm not going to hold it against most of these kids, either, because if they're going to go to art school, at some point they're going to change. That's the nature of art school. If the schooling is doing its job, and you're paying attention, then it breaks you down, and fills your head with knowledge, and then builds you into someone with greater artistic merit by allowing you to find your own vision and style. It happens to everyone who's serious about their work.
True. The problem is that a lot of them have use the style as a crutch and neglected any of the concepts and techniques behind the style. They sorta just slap what they think are Japanese stylizations on top of faulty anatomy and line work. In the end it looks amateurish, "manga" or not. It's the same if someone tries to use American comic book affectations, really. A lot of people who want to be cartoonists underestimate the importance of understanding figure, form, etc. and their work usually reflects that in all the worst possible ways.
There is some really awesome stuff that comes out of Japan, but I almost never see any of that ingenuity and graphical power reflected in the "manga" produced in America. It used to be my freakin' JOB to evaluate them for acquisitions. So when I've had to previously decide between professionally published A versus professionally published B, and now confronted with WTF Teenage Scribblings with Screentones and Anime Hair Webcomikku, it just makes my brain snap. Mostly because it's like they can't tell the difference between the good and the bad.
Plus, I've found that the manga imitators are the worst when it comes to the "it's my styyyylllllleeee" excuse.
It also didn't help that he wasn't very good at illustrating to begin with.
