In this hub we will be discussing about manga comic analysis as part of the process of making manga. This is important because manga comic is not about pretty pictures on a book or on a page. Manga comic must deliver the essense of the author's original thoughts and feelings.

Manga comic has a story to tell, and not only a good storyline is important, but how you present a good storyline is as critical.

As I had mentioned previously, manga comics isn’t about its aesthetic traits.

Let us take a look at the following two pictures.

*Please do not ask me what language is this in; I dont know, but this is two consecutive pages of the romance manga Ichigo 100%, or also commonly known as Strawberry 100%. Since I placed it from top to bottom, read it from top to bottom.

Now what are the differences between comics like Garfield or Calvin & Hobbes with the above typical manga comic pages?

1. Western comics such as Garfield or Calvin & Hobbes usually contain panels that is similar square sized and consistent, however Japanese manga comics usually has panels of different sizes, which spread across a page inconsistently.
2. Every panel of Garfield or Calvin & Hobbes will have characters communicating with each other, or a situation has happened, but for the above manga comic, some panels just have scenes, and one of them just have the words “Manaka-kun” (which is actually the male lead’s name).

Now why is that so?

Japanese manga comics want to introduce cinematics into their manga; as I have read the whole series of the above manga, the girl was looking up in the sky, feeling lovelorn. She was just rejected by the male lead character, and on the next page the top panel shows only the stars (she was looking at the sky), while could only softly whisper the name of her lover in her eyes.

That’s the beauty of manga comics; it tries to make the reader imagine the cinematics behind the whole panel of pictures. It’s almost like watching a romantic movie and the lovelorn person was just staring into space, wishing to be with the person he or she loves.

And if you notice every manga comic, rather it be Bleach, Naruto, or One Piece, there are occasions where you just see one character taking up a whole page, looking cool, and other occasions where very small panels are made to reveal small & deliberate movements.

The manga comic artist tries to bring out the perspective of the panel, making it look dynamic and engaging, just like a movie.

However many Western comics seldom do that.

We cannot just expect readers to know a storyline like a novel, or just put in pretty pictures in the hope of trying to portray the author's thoughts and feelings; if we want to unleash the full potential of a manga comic, we need to take note how to present our manga in such a way that it is appealing and dynamic.

My manga teacher exhorted me to read manga comics not only for the storyline, the conversation and the words; but how the manga comic artist relate a scene to its audience by emphasizing the perspective of a scene in the use of panels, art and words of sound.

Panelling is a skill by itself.

Big panels emphasize on a bigger perspective, and small panels emphasize on a smaller perspective.

And panelling cannot be taught easily; there must be an impression, by doing personal analysis on the manga comics we allow ourselves to be impressed with the manga artist’s skillful portrayal of a scene.

For the above manga series, Ichigo 100% or Strawberry 100%, there was one scene that almost made me cry, for the portrayal of that scene makes me feel like watching a real lovelorn romantic movie. The author, Mizuki Kawashita, is truly a master on panelling.

Hence I encourage all aspiring manga or comic artists to do your personal analysis of your own favourite manga or comics. We all could learn and benefit from portraying the scenes that we like effectively.

This hub is partially adapted from my blog, at http://manga-journey.com/, where I share about journey, experience and learning curve to become a semi-professional or professional manga comic artist.