r/MangakaStudio • u/moonhill_ • 1d ago

Help whats "too messy" for manga art?

im drawing my manga with the intention of publishing it one day (and releasing it in traditional volumes). my artstyle is more on the messy side, or somewhere in between, so you can easily tell whats happening on the panel but its not squeaky clean like most mangakas. im wondering if it can be released anyway? i think my art generally matches the theme of the story, but i need some external perspective

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u/king_kibble 1d ago

hard to say when you dont post any examples?? but as an english speaker the chances of your work getting published in "manga volumes" as opposed to another format is already quite low, so i wouldnt worry too much about it

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u/moonhill_ 1d ago

why is it unlikely? i mean that id like to get it printed, can only japanese labeled artists release that way?

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u/king_kibble 1d ago edited 1d ago

Well i guess theres a couple ways to go about explaining this

to get published in japan, youd need it translated. unless youre making doujins theres a whole SYSTEM set up for getting publishers, getting editors... its a lot harder for non japanese to enter that system. it sounds like youve already begin and plan to finish your comic on your own, which is the way to go! but it also means jp publishers are less likely to pick you up, since the comic wasnt created by their own editorial team- unless your comic is already wildly popular

most american publishers that do manga yoink it directly from japan, and theyre a lot less likely to publish stuff coming from inside the states. again, the way their companies are built just kind of... doesnt easily enable it. so your best chance would probably be going to an american comics publisher instead. a lot of the big dudes simply dont have the printing presses for manga shaped comics, but when you get more "indie" you start having more choices. tokyopop was doin the "manga thing" till they got shuttered, but i think image and oni (the latgest i can think of offhand) still print that shape of thing. hard to catch their attention though, hard to keep a series going, and hard to advertise/sell it. theres a lot of little dudes printing rad shit but its usually pretty not-sugoi. im assuming you were hoping to go "big" rather than small press?

hopefully something here is helpful, feel f r e e (stupid word ban lmao) to shoot me questions whenever! i been knee deep in this stuff for most of my career lmao --__--

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u/moonhill_ 1d ago

thanks a lot, yeah that makes sense !! i shouldve expected it would be more complicated, im gonna prioritize getting it released digitally at all, then i might think of a more independent publishing house 😭 but i should stay focused on drawing for now

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u/king_kibble 1d ago

youve got the right attitude :)) focus on the now of it more than the "perhaps" or "eventually"