Manga About Making Manga
Akiko Hayashi has soaring but strangely specific dreams: to make a successful manga debut while still in school, have her favorite actor star in its adaptation, and end up marrying him. However, she is far from having the motivation or skills to realize these hopes. When a friend introduces her to an unorthodox, backstreet art class taught by the strong-armed Kenzou Hidaka, called simply as "sensei," Akiko decides to enroll, expecting an easy ride and an automatic improvement in her art skills. To her chagrin, what she gets is something else entirely—a tough, demanding, and uncompromising teacher with absolutely no interest in manga. But when Akiko takes up Sensei's challenge of an intense schedule, she comes to recognize how much he cares about his students and forms a close bond with him. With Sensei's guidance, Akiko learns what is necessary to become a successful mangaka as well as what it means to be an adult. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Confessing to your crush is no easy task for any teenager, and it is no different for Chiyo Sakura, who was saved from being late on the first day of school at Roman Academy by Umetarou Nozaki. Touched by his action, Sakura begins to develop feelings toward him. One fateful day in their second year of high school, Sakura finally musters up the courage to confess. Swallowing her fears, she reveals it to him in a classroom after school. However, unbeknownst to her, Nozaki is actually a praised shoujo manga artist working under the pen name of "Sakiko Yumeno." His work is acclaimed for being sensitive toward girls' feelings, but Nozaki himself has no experience with love or being in a relationship. All this results in him misunderstanding Sakura's confession as nothing but praise from a fan, and he simply hands her his autograph. One misunderstanding leads to another, and she somehow ends up working as an assistant for his manga. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun follows Sakura as she continually tries to convey her feelings to the oblivious Nozaki while helping him with his manga, as well as meeting his quirky assistants who coincidentally also attend Roman Academy. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Despite being a talented artist, middle school student Moritaka Mashiro is unsure about his future, accepting that he will simply lead a normal life. After seeing one of Mashiro's drawings in class, Akito Takagi—an aspiring writer—insists that they write a manga together. But Mashiro is hesitant—his uncle, a mangaka, had died from overworking just a few years prior. However, when Mashiro hears that his crush, Miho Azuki, aims to be a voice actress, he becomes determined to create a manga that can be adapted into an anime for her to star in. Reciprocating Mashiro's feelings, she agrees to get married once they have both achieved their dreams. Bakuman. chronicles Mashiro and Takagi's successes and struggles in their attempts to be serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump and become famous mangakas. Will their gamble pay off, or will they join the countless number of failures? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Over four decades ago, Yoshihiro Tatsumi expanded the horizons of comics storytelling by using the visual language of manga to tell gritty, literary stories about the private lives of everyday people. He has been called "the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics" and has influenced generations of cartoonists around the world. Now the visionary creator of "The Push Man and Other Stories" and "Good-bye" has turned his incisive, unflinching gaze upon himself. Over ten years in the making, "A Drifting Life" is Tatsumis' most ambitious, personal, and heart felt work: an autobiographical bildungsroman in comics form. Using his life long obsession with comics as a frame work, Tatsumi weaves a complex story that encompasses family dynamics, Japanese culture and history, first love, the intricacies of the manga industry, and most importantly, what it means to be an artist. Alternately humorous, enlightening, and haunting, this is the masterful summartion of a fascinating life and a historic career. (Source: Drawn & Quarterly)
It's the spring of freshman year, and Kanji Sasahara is in a quandary. Should he fulfill his long-cherished dream of joining an otaku club? Saki Kasukabe also faces a dilemma. Can she ever turn her boyfriend, anime fanboy Kousaka, into a normal guy? Kanji triumphs where Saki fails, when both Kanji and Kousaka sign up for Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture. Undeterred, Saki chases Kousaka through the various activities of the club, from costume-playing and comic conventions to video gaming and collecting anime figures—learning more than she ever wanted to about the humorous world of the Japanese fan... (Source: Del Rey Manga)
This is the story of a forty-year-old salary man who quits his job to pursue his dream of becoming a manga artist—and the family that has to put up with him. While not terribly unhappy, Shizuo Oguro can't fight the feeling that something in his life just isn't right, so he walks away from his stable (yet boring) day job to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Unfortunately for his family, this journey also involves playing video games all day while his teenage daughter and elderly father support him. Will Shizuo succeed in creating a true manga masterpiece or will he be just another drop-out living a life of slack? (Source: SigIkki)
A 4-koma about a boy who discovers the girl he likes is a manga artist. When she's close to deadline and nowhere near done, he agrees to help her finish her work on time. (Source: MU)
It is the year 1966. Hamaguchi, a young man comes to Kyoto, where he finds work in a small textile company.In his free time, he goes to the local Zoo to draw animals. His peaceful life is one day disturbed by the company owner's daughter. Because of that, when his friend tells him of a certain job offer in Tokyo, Hamaguchi decides to go at once. In the capital he gets to learn the way of a manga artist.
Kanna Tezuka is a serious 15-year-old manga artist, already being published as a pro. So when she finds out her high school is starting a manga drawing course, even she gets excited. But it's a fiasco! The teacher is useless, and the only other students—three pretty-boy artist wannabes—quickly adopt Kanna as their (unwilling) sensei. But they all have ridiculous delusions about being an artist, and if Kanna can't bring them back down to Earth, she'll never get any work done! (Source: Kodansha)
A life description about the mangaka Aito Yuuki and his assistant Ashisu Sahoto. Aito doesn't understand the feelings of the characters in his stories so he asks Ashisu to help him. Ashisu would do anything for the work—she will even let him touch her breast so he will know how it feels like?! The Habit?! The Pervert?! Can we understand them? That's the comedy of a mangaka life. (Source: MU)
Asuka Masamune is a boy who loves all things cute, fluffy, sparkling, and sweet, much to his mother's dismay and horror. Due to an incident surrounding his father leaving the family, Asuka was pressured into abandoning his hobbies in favor of kendo, judo, and karate. Resigning himself into living his life as someone who exudes manliness, he becomes the nationally ranked captain of his school's kendo team. Unfortunately, Asuka finds himself falling back on his old interests after crossing paths and falling in love with transfer student Ryo Miyakozuka. Ryo is the exact opposite of Asuka. She has no interest in cooking, sewing, nor anything else that is "girly" in nature; however, she has a fierce kick and an equally tough attitude to match. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to collect material for a shoujo manga he is secretly publishing, Asuka's friend, Juta Tachibana, convinces Asuka to befriend the girl. As the relationship between the two begins to blossom, so does Asuka's true nature as an "otomen." [Written by MAL Rewrite] Included one-shots: Volume 10: Glass no Otomen: Sen no Kamen wo Motsu Otomen Volume 11: Love-Tic
Forced to enroll in school one month late after recovering from a serious illness, Harutaro is doing his best to remain optimistic about the entire situation. The other students are working hard to make Haru feel welcome—especially his chubby, loveable pal, Shota; however, Kai Majima, President of the Manga Club and all-around hard case, seems to be the one person intent on making Harutaro's school life a living nightmare. (Source: DMP)
As a conclusion to his serialized work Resonance, mangaka Chikara Nagai plans to kill off Lin, one of the most important characters, in an unexpected turn of events according to the popular view. Following a session of mostly negative feedback from his editor, Nagai faces yet another sleepless night drawing the last few panels of his manga. In drowsiness, he discovers a furious Lin escaping after stealing the manga spread where he dies. Before Nagai can process anything, he gets sucked into the world of his own creation and finds himself amid a fight scene between the heroine, Satoko Miura, and the villain, "The Masque." Unable to distinguish between dream and reality, Nagai works with Satoko to search for an alternate ending to the manga, so he can find an exit and return to the real world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Shimizu Makoto, a team leader at an industrial firm, leads a fulfilling life as the work is both rewarding and pays well. However, she indulges in an embarrassing pastime: creating girls love doujinshi she sells at conventions. Though Shimizu does her best to keep this hobby hidden from her colleagues, a chance encounter at a doujin convention leads her coworker Akane Maekawa to learn of her secret. Much to Shimizu's surprise, Maekawa seems interested in learning more—even visiting Shimizu's apartment to borrow DVDs. As the two girls grow closer, Shimizu discovers the value of sharing one's passion with someone else, all while attempting to figure out her complicated feelings toward Maekawa. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
The plot centers on Kazuki Sendo, whose passion and talent for painting and drawing propels him into the world of doujinshi (underground comics). Soon, Kazuki's everyday life is consumed by the fanboy life and his girlfriend is beginning to have some serious doubts about him... Sure, his new career as a struggling artist has begun, but at what cost to his friends and family? (Source: Tokyopop)
Fushimi is a high-school student who also aspires to be a mangaka. Rin is a model who appears to be able to see the future. What will happen in the future? (Source: MU) Included one-shots: Volume 14: Sou wa Ikan, Kimi wa Uso no Me wo Shiteita
Hikari is an ordinary girl who can always be found in the corner of the classroom, drawing manga. After a fateful encounter, she dashes toward her dream! The girls' battle begins now—through manga. (Source: Phoenix Serenade Scans) Included one-shot: Volume 2: Mousou Girl
