| Greetings, fellow manga readers! :-D This is (probably) my first thread in MD, so I apologize in advance if the topic has already been brought up before--because in the many years I've been here, I don't recall having come across it. In any case, as the title suggests, I'm looking for manga that feature sidebars in them where the mangaka talks about their own life, answers reader questions, or give little behind-the-scenes tidbits about the story itself. I'm specifically looking for the ones that have multiple sidebars throughout the manga, to the side or sometimes the bottom of the pages, not just forewords or author's notes at the beginning or end. Here are some examples from my own manga collection: I know Natsumi Ando is very fond of using sidebars to talk to readers, as in all the series I've read by her (Zodiac P.I., Wild @ Heart, Arisa) they're there. In the manga GALS!, Mihona Fuji used them to chronicle her real-life Gyaru observation adventures in Shibuya. I also recall them in the Hana Yori Dango and Tokyo Mew Mew manga series as well. Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head, as I own most of them or I've reread them multiple times. The common denominator between all these manga with sidebars I listed is that they're all old shoujo manga, and for a while, I thought maybe this was something specific to the demographic itself, but I highly doubt that. I'm sure there's plenty of others. I find these sidebar rambles to be very interesting and fun, and, to me, they offer a special look into the mangaka's life, what they were feeling at the time of drawing the manga, their interests, etc., and can even sometimes be little time machines back into the state of manga and pop culture of Japan in the respective time periods. So if anyone knows any other manga where the mangaka talks to readers through sidebars, please let me know here in the thread! |
| I think it depends on the magazine, because I always see them in Ribbon and Hana to Yume. |
| その目だれの目？ |
| not sure if this counts, but. in げきかわデビル (gekikawa devil) vol 2 there's a Q&A corner at the end where the author answers questions.  and in the next two pages it also shows her journey from just drawing manga casually back when she was still in elementary to being hired as a manga author at age 13 to her current (at the time the manga vol was published) status as a mangaka.  (in order to not ruin the physical volume i didn't open all the way. thanks for understanding.) |
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Reply to Lucifrost
I think it depends on the magazine, because I always see them in Ribbon and Hana to Yume.
| @Lucifrost Ah, I guess that makes sense. And Ribon and Hana to Yume are both shoujo mags like Nakayoshi, where most of the manga I listed were serialized, so maybe it really is more common for shoujo mangaka to use them? |
Reply to DreamingBeats
not sure if this counts, but.
in げきかわデビル (gekikawa devil) vol 2 there's a Q&A corner at the end where the author answers questions.
and in the next two pages it also shows her journey from just drawing manga casually back when she was still in elementary to being hired as a manga author at age 13 to her current (at the time the manga vol was published) status as a mangaka.
(in order to not ruin the physical volume i didn't open all the way. thanks for understanding.)
in げきかわデビル (gekikawa devil) vol 2 there's a Q&A corner at the end where the author answers questions.
and in the next two pages it also shows her journey from just drawing manga casually back when she was still in elementary to being hired as a manga author at age 13 to her current (at the time the manga vol was published) status as a mangaka.
(in order to not ruin the physical volume i didn't open all the way. thanks for understanding.)
| @DreamingBeats That's really cool! I also enjoy reading Q&A corners in manga, but this isn't exactly what I'm looking for. It's more when the Q&A are put on the same pages as the story itself, to the side or underneath the panels. I've never read this mangaka's work, but I love her art style. I'll have to check out some of her stuff soon. Thanks for your reply! |
Reply to zedtronic
@Lucifrost Ah, I guess that makes sense. And Ribon and Hana to Yume are both shoujo mags like Nakayoshi, where most of the manga I listed were serialized, so maybe it really is more common for shoujo mangaka to use them?
| @zedtronic None of the Nakayoshi manga I've read have those. But I've read none of the titles you mentioned. |
| その目だれの目？ |
| it’s another old shoujo, but fruits basket has them!! they were so fun to read, she talks about her favourite video games, her opinions on her characters, and her sleep deprivation LOL also, are there any manga genres outside of shoujo that have manga sidebars? i don’t see them anywhere outside of shoujo, i’d love to see them in any shounen titles! |
| Yes indeed I agree with ruru_rabit, I don't think I've seen that happen consistently through chapters in non-Shoujo manga. |
 Pls don't write animeS or mangaS >.< // + <50 man(g/hw/hu)a not in MAL. // Join my >manga club< here! |
| Huh interesting, havent personally seen side bars like that yet. No surprise, i dont read a lot of manga. Though sparse and not sidebars but special chapters, there is a few amusing things in Dark Gathering. Nothing too personal but it includes things like a personal story of a suspected ghost cat and talks about things done for research including being purified in a shinto ritual with some photos included and answers questions and posted other submissions. |
| @Lucifrost The Nakayoshi manga you read had it. You have "Shugo Chara!" on your manga list, right? It is a manga that was serialized in Nakayoshi magazine and also a Nakayoshi manga. I don't remember if it was on the left or on the bottom, but in the sidebar section, you could see the origin of the character's name. Since I read the Japanese version, if what you read was the translated version, I suspect the sidebar section was cut off. @zedtronic I think in some cases the sidebar was cut in the translated version. Then there are also some comics versions where the sidebar is present, but in the bunko version, the sidebar is cut off. One manga by Arina Tanemura had the sidebar cut off in the bunko version. Also, this space originally contained advertisements when the magazine was published. So, even in shonen manga, there was a space where these ads were placed. In shonen manga, you don't see people writing comments. The space that had ads in it when it was serialized in the magazine, "Jojo", when it was published in book form, is a background or a panel to be filled in during the attack. Just for reference... https://togetter.com/li/1772027 I think most people refer to this space, not the sidebar, as "hashira" or "1/4 space". I, too, like to read the "hashira" part of Mihona Fujii's "hashira"! |
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