What makes a manga a manga? (Looking for manga reader feedback)

[alinlaphel]

I've been thinking a lot about this since my friend is also making a webcomic. I'm making a manga that I convert into a webtoons and they're aiming to make a superhero webtoons. When we talked, they asked why I chose to make a manga for a western audience and mentioned how my humor is very "Japanese." It is the medium I really enjoy and I want to try to capture that same kind of feeling with my story.

When I look through some actual manga, I feel the charm and appeal that pulls me in. I try to analyze how those manga's tell stories. I try to match that kind of story telling pace. When I look at my own work, I often feel like there is something missing. I don't mean it in artstyle since I'm still honing that; I mean it in writing and pacing and even humor. I have some ideas what it could be but I'm curious about the opinion of others.

I tried asking my webcomic friend but they're not a fan of the slice of life/comedy genre of manga so they really can't pinpoint it. I wanted to see the opinion of people who are fans of those kind of mangas. I ask:

1. What pulls you into slice of life/comedy mangas? What kind of series have you read? What is their charm to you?
2. What do you think my story is missing? What is that missing element that would make it feel more like a manga?

Thank you for your time. I really want to capture that manga feeling with my story.

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[CommanderMarty]

What usually pulls me into comedy manga is.... well the comedy, and the premise.

The premise is what drew me to your manga.

[alinlaphel]

I suppose that's true that comedy is an important part. The interesting is thing is I'm aiming for slice of life as well so I wanted to capture those high and low points of life. I want to have those "feel-good" vibes often found in this genre but I've been weighing over I'm doing it right or not. I could just be over thinking the whole thing though lol.

[alinlaphel]

Bumping the thread. I'm still looking for opinions and feedback to improve my stuff.

[drcharlotterodricks]

I love your manga!!! its endearing & realistic.I subscribed a while ago but I'm not upto date due to my exams.I love the art & I can see it appealing to a very specific targget audience though assuming tha't what youre going for?

[alexlcuri07]

Not a popular opinion but I don’t think Western artist can make a Manga. I think you can emulate the style, humor, layout, and tropes but at the end of the day the core of a Manga is its roots in Japanese culture and norms.

Very few Western creations gave me the same feeling and before people bring up things like Avatar, even that was deeply rooted in Asian culture (Chinese martial arts and religions specifically)

Maybe you just need to adopt the Manga style and accept that it will always just be your version of it.

Edit: you may not be Western, I assumed. But I think you get what I mean.

[alinlaphel]

I suppose that's true. Thank you for the advice. That's what I was suggested by my friend as well. I guess I was so stuck on the idea of making a manga. I'll think about a different approach to improving my story.

[thecrystalrook]

Writing a manga as well. A fantasy/scifi setting tends to pull me in, and I always find manga and anime to portray those the best. Simply put, I'm writing manga instead of a western style comic because that's what I like. It's all about the style. The art, the humor, people's heads growing twice the size and growing fangs when they're yelling, the EXTREME overreaction that's a borderline meltdown that happens to a character when anything goes wrong etc etc. And to those who say I'm not writing a manga because I'm not Japanese, well we ask them politely yet firmly to leave I'm 31 years old, I aint got time for that argument

I'm also gonna toss you a sub, always willing to help support those in the same line of work as me!

[alexlcuri07]

Well I'm 27 and know what cultural appropriation is so... I respect your differing opinion. As I said, mine wasn't going to be the popular outlook on this thread. I'm also heavily influenced by manga and anime, but I know better than to associate those terms with my work just because they influenced it. @thecrystalrook

[thecrystalrook]

Listen, I didn't study the Japanese language and culture for 13 years to have it implied I'm appropriating culture.

[alexlcuri07]

You're right. I'm excusing myself. I'm not defining appropriation for you. *Deep sigh

[alexlcuri07]

And to keep this on topic and not about someone else's work- I appreciate just how in depth you took on the manga style @alinlaphel Your panel layouts and line work all read exceptionally well from right to left and despite references to western norms such as hating to work overtime I think you came very close to what you are trying to achieve. You got a sub from me too.

[DiegoPalacios]

I think you can emulate the style, humor, layout, and tropes but at the end of the day the core of a Manga is its roots in Japanese culture and norms.

Actually, there are mangas with strong western influence, like One piece (inspired in european pirate settings), Jojo`s bizarre adventure (many of its parts have european settings and characters), My hero academia (heavily inspired in western superheroes) among others....

[alinlaphel]

Thank you for the replies. Hearing other people's opinions helps gives me a different perspective to what I'm doing.

@drcharlotterodricks Thank you. I wanted to aim for a somewhat down to earth slice of life following two friends. Hearing that other people see's it that way means I'm doing something right. I definitely am aiming for a specific target audience. I know my story isn't for everyone, as well as the style. I want to try to appeal to the people who would like the same type of stories I do.

@thecrystalrook I see. Thanks for the opinion. I definitely like manga for that same reason. It is definitely different from western media so that's why I was worried if I'm approaching it correctly. I think western humor is funny and all but enjoy the eastern way of storytelling and humor. Thank you for the sub!

@alexlcuri07 Thank you. I tried to study what manga's do in terms of panelling and took notes on how they approach it. Interesting enough, I'm aiming for a story that is in between Western and Eastern culture. I'm keeping the setting ambiguous so I can pull tropes and traditions from both culture. Thank you for the sub.

[drcharlotterodricks]

WEll you definitely have my vote on this & I'm definitely looking forward to more from you