Hi guys, welcome back to my blog.. And
this post shows that my assignment has finished hihi. Now I will explain about
work ethic of comic artists in Japan, for those who has an ambition as a comic
artist here is an information for you. Let’s read..
Japanese
comics called “manga” have become one of Japanese culture, in Japan Manga is
read by various people from children to adults, many of them like Manga as a
daily reading and some make it a hobby. Many very popular Manga titles are
printed there and translated into various languages, and are widely distributed
throughout the world. Many questioned about who worked behind the making of
Manga? Of course not separated from a Mangaka or we often called them as comic
artists, they worked from morning to night to finish a few pages or a number of
chapters, they sometimes forget to take a shower, eat instant food or clean up
the room to finish their comics. Japan is also famous for its manga characters. Some of them
even spread in Indonesia and became a favorite of young people and children.
Call it the Dragon Ball, Doraemon, and One Piece series that until now have
never lost their fans.
The existence of these cool characters
cannot be separated from the thoughts and hard work of a mangaka. Mangaka is a
person who works to make manga characters in Japan, or if in Indonesia it is
called a comic artists. Many people think that being a mangaka is good, getting
a big salary from the pleasure of drawing. Then, this blog will explain the
work ethic of comic artists in Japan that you need to know :
1. Mangaka
Works according to Editor's Direction
Mangaka's work
which is 'just' pouring ideas in the form of images may not be entirely wrong.
But you know, mangaka must go back and forth to feel rejected by the editor
before their picture appeared in the magazine. Yup, in Japan nowadays there are
several magazines that publish serial manga, both weekly and monthly. This
refusal of multiple pages is usually because the ideas that appear in the image
do not match to the editor's request. The role of the editor in the work of a
mangaka is not limited to giving input. The editor will also give an idea when
Mangaka is deadlocked. And when the serial demands are higher, the editor will
prepare all the needs of the mangaka. Understandably more famous and favored by
the manga character, the more crowded the schedule of a mangaka. They won't
even have time to take care of themselves.
2. Mangaka
also needs an assistant
The struggle to
become a famous mangaka doesn't stop at the editor's desk. They also have to
sit for hours to draw manga by hand. Yups, just to make a one-page image, a
mangaka can spend 10 hours. This time can increase if their manga gets a high
rating and has many fans. With more than 10 hours per day, it's not enough to
complete 20 pages a week. Therefore a mangaka will look for an assistant to
help him complete his manga deadline. Sometimes the number of assistant for a
mangaka can be more than one. These assistants have the task of thickening
images or removing some parts and other supporting activities. Therefore, when
the mangaka feels right with his assistant, this mangaka will form a team and
share the results with his assistants.
3. Other
side of Mangaka's High Salary
Picture of Mashashi Kishimoto(one
of famous Mangaka in Japan)
The salary of a
mangaka is not only from royalties. Before being famous, a mangaka gets a
salary from a work that was successfully published and calculated per page. But
don't think that more than 100 pages are published, because usually a mangaka
only gets 10-20 pages once published. The price for every page is between 7000
to 20000 yen. Well, if you calculate it per month, a mangaka can have a salary
of almost 560 thousand yen, equivalent to Rp.44 million. So fantastic, isn’t
it? But a salary of that size is not used for all of Mangaka's life needs. A
mangaka usually uses the salary to pay for an assistant, buy drawing equipment,
pay studio rent, pay taxes, and then the rest is used for mangaka's life needs.
4. Mangaka's
work schedule is very busy
In addition to
making manga which takes more than 10 hours as mentioned above, they also only
have to sleep between 3 and 6 hours per day. Worse yet, their free time in a
week is only 3 hours in a week. Yups, the work as a mangaka is indeed very
busy. They are required to develop their story ideas in each of the manga
series according to the deadline given. Therefore there is no time for a
mangaka to take care of themselves. They sometimes don't take a shower, forget
to eat, and rarely socialize with their surroundings. The mangaka generally
only made friends with the editor and his assistants.
5. Keep
working even though feel depressed
Dense schedules,
deadline demands, and lack of socialization, are sure to cause boredom. The
deadlock of getting an idea must also have been felt by a mangaka. But Japanese
mangaka is well-known as very strong comic artists, even though they are bored
and difficult to get ideas, they still struggle hard to finish the manga series
well and on time.
Evidently, being a
mangaka is not as easy as we imagine. Hopefully this information is useful for
us and have a nice day.. Thank you😊
