Akadot - Article: How to Draw Manga: Making Anime page 1

In the past few years, with the huge commercial success of anime on TV, there have been a variety of how to draw series for anime-looking characters, ranging from rather well-done but miss the mark art styles, to ones made by regular American comic book artists who seem to be cashing in on the anime "craze", and then finally just badly drawn and badly produced books. However there is one series that tends to be a cut above most books produced in this line, and that is the How To Draw Manga Series by Graphics-sha. Their regular books cover the structure, design and techniques of how to draw anime and manga characters using techniques that are used by the Japanese themselves. These books were designed for the Japanese public to use in learning how to draw anime and manga characters. No reverse engineering here, this is the rare gem of Japanese instruction translated into English.

"Making Anime" does not go over so much body design or background drawing as the "How To" series does in their other books but cover the anime process as a whole. For those who study animation or even have a basic concept of it by collecting cells or reading books on American animators some of the information seems repetitive. However, it is when it is read page by page do all of the "highlights" that tend to make anime stand out visually become apparent. Everything from what is required for character design, how to paint background to pacing scenes is covered.

What is the most maddening about this whole book is that the techniques are so painfully simple one wonders why it was not obvious; in such basic but precise actions the illusion of complex detail and effects is pulled off. An example of this is the beautiful backgrounds in anime. Seas that seem to be wispy and inviting, fluffy clouds unrivaled in nature, and trees so filled with realistic detail that they seem to sway. However, when one looks at these backgrounds in depth, one sees how deceptively easy they are to make and how muddy and unfocused they appear in standstill. Instead of trying to pick out every detail and effect, backgrounds are drawn with emphasis on color, light and hue. When animated, other items are combined to make the backgrounds come alive. One can finally understand how it is done than make the mistakes of heavy overworking and confusing over coloring seen in some anime-styled images outside of Japan. Other painfully obvious fly-by-the-eyes techniques are the breakup of lines at corners to give a sharpening to the edges, and the very subtle change in arrangement to emphasize a certain emotion.

Created in conjunction with studio giant AIC and Yoyogi Animation School, an animation school with nine branches in Japan, this book is a wonderful walkthrough of the various aspects of animation done in Japan. The examples in the book are not from no-nothing anime series that are not known in the US, but everything ranging from Armitage III to Moldiver. At the end of the book there is an animation test of sorts, done more cheerful and thought invoking than a serious attempt at animation aptitude. The questions are geared towards how equipped you would be in getting a job at an animation studio in Japan and how successful you would be in your task.

Although this book is filled with many tips on coloring, character design, frame rate and pacing, on its own it cannot be used as a workbook to create your own anime. It is meant to be an overview only, to show how anime is made. Even a serious student of animation will at least appreciate the Japanese take on common animation techniques shown here. However, for the majority whose brush with animation are hand painted cels of favorite characters, or those who are interested in the differences in Japanese anime from other animation, this is a valuable read from the actual source.

Want to read more?! Buy How to Draw Manga: Making Anime here from Akadot Retail.

Links of Interest:
Yoyogi Animation Gakuin

AIC