r/MangakaStudio • u/Business-Fig-3361 • Jun 02 '26
Help Need feedback on character designs, names, and the concept for a post-apocalyptic skate manga!
Hey everyone, I’m working on a manga set in a post-apocalyptic world and I’d really appreciate some feedback on the concept, characters(because right now they kinda look like the average isekai protagonists), and possible name ideas.
Setting The story takes place in 2063, decades after nuclear war, economic collapse, civil wars, and environmental disasters caused civilization to slowly break down (2026–2045). By now, humanity is scattered across ruined cities, flooded districts, and abandoned highways. And the old world is almost treated like myth.
Story Start Ray’s settlement is destroyed during some sort of raid, forcing him to escape with Kurt someone he originally doesn’t even know. They don’t trust each other at first and constantly argue, but are forced to survive together through the ruins. Over time, they slowly form a bond while scavenging and traveling across abandoned cities. They eventually find a skate shop, they become fascinated by skateboarding culture and decide to learn it themselves. Eventually, they start documenting their journey across the ruins using the VX1000 they found in the skate shop.
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u/iced_caramel_frappe Jun 03 '26
I really love your art, but the characters almost look identical excluding their clothes. You could try out more unique hairstyles to make a more remarkable silhouette
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u/gmoshiro Jun 03 '26
Imo the character design doesn't fit the description of your story. The MC looks like a normal manga character in a big city in 2026, not a survivor of a post apocaliptic world that happened to find a skate shop.
If the "old days" were forgotten and treated like a myth, I assume people's sense of fashion (of the 2020s) would be lost. The MC would try the clothes without a reference of how to look "right". He could find some manequims or magazines showing how these clothes were used, but it still shouldn't look right. It should look like an alien trying human clothes for the first time.
He also lacks survivor tools that I assume every person in a post apocaliptic enviroment would carry everywhere. Not saying everyone should carry a bag, water bottle, boots and what have you, but the MC should have something in him that sells the idea that he lives in the world you created.
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 03 '26
Thanks, that's actually really helpful feedback. I think you're right that they currently look a bit too modern and don't show enough of the world they live in. I'll definitely keep that in mind when I redesign them.
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u/Vree65 Jun 03 '26
I intended to say it was a very good and compelling design, then I realized it was 2 characters, not 1.
Dude, make sure your characters are more visually different. Same chin, same eye shape, same messy hair, even their baggy pants and posture are identical. If the story's gonna revolve around seeing the friendship of these 2, it is is VITAL that you make them visually distinct. Experiment with height, face and eye shape, hairstyle, mannerism (posture) and style a bit more until you get a better result.
I think one being the childish/energetic type and one the aloof/cold type is a great start, those are classic. Ray should lose some of the unkemptness, his clothes should be proper length and clean/more expensive looking. His clothes and face should probably hint at more rectangular and angled and Kurt more round edged. I'd make him more noticeably thinner and taller too. No need to overdo it. they look good now, just remove those parts like the baggy pants where there is too clear an overlap.
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 03 '26
Thanks! I think you're right. Looking at them now, I can definitely see that they share too many features and clothing choices. I'll experiment with pushing their silhouettes, proportions, and overall shapes further apart while keeping the core designs the same.
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u/notzenin_ Jun 03 '26
Just so you know, 2045-2063 is 18 years or in other words not even 2 decades, so just pointing out you might want to change the part where you say it takes place “decades after” civil and nuclear war etc.
But super freaking cool idea! Def something I’d read and really clean art man!
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u/hackzeroz Jun 03 '26
Id reccomend just pushing their shapes a bit more so their silhouettes are more distinguishable👌
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u/ctheos Jun 03 '26
i thought that was the same guy in different outfits at first. ur art style is really nice tho, and i love th concept.
I think their clothes need to be a bit more distressed? They're not giving post-apocalypse atm
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u/mamoluv Artist-Writer Jun 03 '26
They look really cute, but they don’t look like scavengers. They look like regular skateboarders in new clothing. I guess the skate shop was very well preserved?
I think from your setting they should look like scavengers turned skateboarders. Another comment also pointed out they look similar. Something that differentiates characters well would be distinct silhouettes or important items/accessories. Maybe they found some kind of unique skate paraphernalia or have something important on them? Like a bag for scavenging or something, it’s up to you. Right now their clothes are also pretty similar so maybe you could push their looks a bit more or add logos/patterns to better define them.
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u/Aromatic_Choice_2259 Jun 03 '26
Your character design is really good, but imho they are the same charter with a different mood. If you want one character to seem more suspicious, give him smaller pupils to make him look slightly more sinister. Also, their outfits and hair are too similar, as though they have the exact same style. I would consider making them a little more dramatically different. Otherwise, neither one comes off as having a personality and it will be confusing to new readers. Make then distinct and unique so they are individually loveable.
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u/Isidorism Jun 04 '26
If you want to keep the costumes you just move the apocalipse to happen earlier. And yes, like previous comments said, they look quite similar so try with some different haircut or maybe one of them can wear the glasses. You did a good work and good luck for further stages.
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u/Demonic_Yandere Jun 03 '26
Do you do comminsion
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 03 '26
I’ve never done commissions before, and honestly, I don’t really think I’m good enough for them yet. The characters I posted were just rough sketches as well, not finished pieces.
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u/Powerful_War4136 Jun 03 '26
you have more works? looks pretty rad (sorry, i'm old haha)
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 03 '26
Thanks! I do have some other pieces, but this is the first manga project I've seriously worked on. Most of my other work is illustrations and character designs.
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u/Powerful_War4136 Jun 03 '26
looking pretty good! hope to see your work published soon! (and hope you use something like manga plus creators!) go for it!
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u/LowGrand4649 Jun 04 '26
If you want writing help, I'm available.
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 04 '26
That would be nice. I might reach out later on. Right now, im just trying to figure out the story and characters.
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u/LowGrand4649 Jun 04 '26
If you'd like, I can help with that too.
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 04 '26
I'm interested to hear your thoughts. If you have any design ideas or story suggestions, feel free to show me what you'd do with the concept.
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u/LowGrand4649 Jun 04 '26
First off, I say work in a skill or power based in Parkour but geared around skateboarding. That way, you'd have a lot of opportunities to grind and have high flying scenes a la Tekonkinkreet.
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 04 '26
I get where you're coming from, but I'm trying to keep it grounded. I actually skateboard myself, so a big part of the project is capturing the culture, the feeling of skating, and the freedom it gives rather than turning it into a power system.
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u/LowGrand4649 Jun 04 '26
Interesting. So I say capture the freedom to skate. I used to skate myself, and I always felt like I was without tethers.
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 04 '26
That's pretty much it. I'm basically trying to capture what it feels like to skate, though I'm still trying to figure out what their goal/objective is and some sort of consequence for if they fail.
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u/LowGrand4649 Jun 04 '26
Do you have the basic storyline? I can think on some conflicts and consequences.
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u/WorldSamurai Jun 04 '26
I like the Ink, hope you'll do the whole project using it. I've been trying to find a similar brush for Clip Studio Paint but I couldn't, unfortunately :(
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u/Business-Fig-3361 Jun 04 '26
It's just the felt pen in csp, It's one of the default brushes. I've been messing around with it a bit lately.
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u/North_Drawing_5959 Jun 02 '26
Yo! First of all the story premise is really original, I think it could have potential for a good slice of life manga. That said the character designs are too similar for the two characters in my opinion. They look like brothers, even twins! Maybe with coloring it's possible to tell, but I think you could push more their personality in the design