Ramblings Of An Aspiring Manga-Ka

I am from the Philippines and let me tell you, Anime is such a hit here! Wherever you go, you can find anime novelty shops, and the bookstores are filled with authentic manga. Conventions are often held here and there are lots of people who attend them.

In fact, it's such a hit that many Filipino anime fans try their hands in making one. And I am one of those people.

I actually admire Filipino teenagers who work hard to write anime stories, draw original characters, draw the manga itself, etc. I am a writer and I don't draw that much, that's why I envy artists. All I can draw are different outfits for my characters, but that's just about it. The looks of my characters are all purely based from my imagination, and then I tell my sister how they look like for her to be able to draw them.

Filipino "manga-kas" are actually very talented. I have seen creations that look like authentic Japanese manga, maybe even better. The only problem here is that the comics industry of the Philippines doesn't support these budding young artists. They're still hell bent on preserving the traditional "Filipino comics". They're not yet open to embracing the anime style of comics from Japan.

They claim that Filipinos should produce our own comic-style, something very much Filipino. Reality check: even the comic-style they claim as Filipino is actually a combination of different comic-styles. Heck, even anime is a combination of different comic-styles! If they want to see authentic Filipino style, they should try visiting the caves or museums. The cave writings there would certainly prove to be "Filipino" enough.

There are actually companies here who are trying to produce manga. The only problem is that they can't seem to produce it the traditional way, a.k.a. tankobon-style. What they do is that they produce small magazine-like "manga", yep, with colors, and they sell it for a high price. Usually, said magazines have multiple stories in them, one chapter each per issue.

Said one chapter is normally made up of twelve pages, six back-to-back pages. Whoa.

You won't be able to elaborate the chapter enough within twelve pages. You won't be able to charm the reader to buy the next issue with just twelve pages. You won't be able to make an impact with just twelve pages. Heck, if you seriously are passionate about the industry and about your story, twelve pages aren't enough for you. Even if it's hard, you would try to produce more, since you want your readers to appreciate the story and the art.

What I'm trying to say is that Filipino manga-kas shouldn't be disheartened just because of this. They have talents and they should nurture those talents. They mustn't give up their dreams.

Someday, those dreams will come true.