The editorial department of Weekly Shonen Jump has released a book called “How to draw manga that Shonen Jump really wants to tell you about”.
Referenced from 描きたい！！を信じる 少年ジャンプがどうしても伝えたいマンガの描き方（週刊少年ジャンプ編集部） (集英社単行本)
This book gives a message to those who want to become mangaka.
There is a chapter called “Jump Artist Questionnaire”.
Which has a questionnaire about what the current Jump authors had trouble with when they were new.
Gege Akutami (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Eiichiro Oda (ONE PIECE)
Taito Kubo (BLEACH)
・
・
・
Etc.
A lot of legendary authors answered the questionnaire.
I’m going to introduce the one by Gege Akutami!!
This questionnaire contains 13 questions.
Referenced from 描きたい！！を信じる 少年ジャンプがどうしても伝えたいマンガの描き方（週刊少年ジャンプ編集部） (集英社単行本)
I’m going to introduce them one by one!!
Q1: What was the most important thing you wanted to know when you started drawing manga?
A1:
・To draw large speech balloons.
・To draw the balloons as big as possible, without cutting them off.
This is the first thing I wish my editor had told me.
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
Q2: What did you do first when you decided to become a manga artist (practice methods and strategies)?
A2:
・Finish each story properly.
・Then decide the number of chapters.
・When I watch something, I try to verbalize the interesting and boring parts as much as possible.
・I regret that I didn’t do a lot of sketching.
・I also regret that I was only working on the stories and not the manuscript at all.
Q3 : Is there anything you pay attention to when correcting a story?
A3:
I try to listen to suggestions like “it’s hard to understand” as much as possible.
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
Gege Akutami is trying hard to let us understand things better!!
I really appreciate his efforts.
Q4: Is there anything you should have done before you started creating manga?
A4:
Getting more experience with the manuscript.
Q5: Is there anything you try to keep in mind when drawing manga?
A5:
Trying not to make my peers think I have good sense.
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
I think Gege thinks that what his peers call good sence = normal.
He’s always trying to do something new!!
Q6: Is there anything you pay attention to in order to make your characters attractive?
A6:
Punchline, Accumulation, Gaps
Punch line = something like Panda
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
Accumulation = Accumulate character’s words, actions, and experiences.
This is how characters get created personalities and become attractive.
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
Gap = A gap between a character’s words & actions and personality.
The fact that Gojo actually likes sweets is kind of Gap.
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
Q7: Is there anything you practice to make your characters more attractive?
A7:
It’s about understanding other people’s feelings.
Q8: How many titles did you draw till your serialization?
A8:
I drew my first short story when I was about 20 years old, trying to submit it to a magazine called “Aoharu”.
But I stopped.
After that, I created 8 titles (including JJK Volume 0) and serialized them in Shonen Jump.
Between my first and second manga, I was working at Kano Sensei’s (Kiss x Death) office.
©叶恭弘『KISS×DEATH』／集英社
Did you guys know that?
Gege Akutami used to be an assistant for Kiss x Death.
Kano-sensei is writing a comment on him.
Gege must have been well liked!
Q9: Is there anything you pay attention to in order to make your manga easy to read?
A9:
I’m a little more conscious of the cut-offs, the frames, and the way the spreads lead the reader’s eye.
I don’t think it’s very helpful, because I do what I think is interesting even if it’s hard to read.
©芥見下々／集英社・呪術廻戦製作委員
Q10: How long does it take to complete a story?
A10:
About half a day, but sometimes it takes more than 12 hours to start.
That actually takes only about 6 or 7 hours tho.
Q11: How long does it take to complete the drawing of a manuscript?
A11:
About 5 days.
My concentration is crap.
So he creates manga every day, almost without rest!!
I hope he takes care of his health
Q12: Is there anything you do to get ideas to create stories?
A12:
I recommend reading short novels.
Thinking about what I would do in a longer story, sometimes I get ideas from there.
Q13: Is there anything that you used as a reference when you were drawing manga?
A13:
I recommend short stories by Haruko Ichikawa and Tomoko Yamashita.
Gege-Sensei, take care of yourself!
The working hours of most Mangaka are really long and tough.
Check it…
Gege Akutami spends half a day on a scenario.
And then takes 5 days to draw the manuscript…So he creates manga every day, almost without rest!!
I hope he takes care of his health…😭#JujutsuKaisen#呪術廻戦 pic.twitter.com/wJU6xIAPXK
— Kyle Anime Scouter (@kylescouter) April 22, 2021
There are other examples of Mangaka in this book.
They all take a very long time.
Reading their work every week is the joy of my life.
But I also want them to take good care of their bodies.
I hope to continue watching as many episodes of their work as possible.
This book has a lot of hints about becoming a “Mangaka”.
Is this where the Gege-Sensei of the future will emerge?
I’m excited to think about it.
I’ve received some comments asking if there is an English version. I got a comment from someone who asked if there was an English version.
I really hope so.
WSJ staff, please!
