How can i become a mangaka?

Question

I live in america. And i hear people say 'to become a mangaka, you have to study under one, be their assistant' but i live in america, most of the mangaka live in japan. Are there any known American Mangaka that someone could name for me? Does that mean i have to move to japan if the are none in America?

Becoming a Mangaka is my dream, i love drawing anime. I love anime in general. Im starting my senior year, any suggestions on courses i should take in college?

I know i need to advance my skills, it's been a while since ive updated, but my style has changed in my short absence.

http://meda-chan.deviantart.com/

Answer 1

If you're still in high school, your work shows a lot of promise - if you go to a good art college and study hard at drawing you can certainly become good enough to be a published manga artist.

Being in the US is a problem, though. I'm sure it's possible to become a good manga artist without studying under another artist. However, I also think that if you really want to be successful in this field you will need to give strong consideration to moving to Japan. While there is certainly a healthy market for manga in the US now, it's a very small one compared to the enormous market in Japan, and it will be far, far easier to find success in this career in Japan. The manga that is successful in the US is pretty much the cream of the crop from Japan, and while I'm by no means an expert, I can only imagine that it is extremely difficult if not practically impossible for an unknown western artist to find anyone remotely interested in publishing their manga in the US. There is an unending supply of good manga from Japan which already has a record of success to recommend it and so it would be a nonsensical business decision for a publisher to do so. By contrast, new unknown artists are picked up and published in Japan all the time, and at skill levels far lower than that of the most popular manga that makes it to the US. If you really don't want to move there, I think you will have to spend at least the first part of your career in a slightly different field - perhaps western comics or general illustration - work to be incredibly good, hope the US market grows large enough that there is some demand for American manga artists, and hope that you are among the best. Not a method with much to recommend it if you are really serious about producing manga.

If you are interested in the Japan option, I would suggest that you take a joint major in, say, Illustration and Japanese, and spend time in Japan as part of your college course. Having done that, you'll be familiar enough with the country that you'll be in a better position to decide if moving over there is the right thing when you finish college. You could then look for a mangaka to study with and take the traditional route. If it turns out Japan isn't for you, you won't really have lost anything, since you'll still have your degree and a second language is a bonus almost anywhere!

Whatever you choose, best of luck achieving your dream!

Edit: If you haven't seen this site before, it looks like some of the articles will be valuable to you. http://www.mangatutorials.com/

Answer 2

You can still be a mangaka here in america too but if you really want to, study japanese, the boxes for the manga, and learn to use programs.

Answer 3

'to become a mangaka, you have to study under one, be their assistant'

I'm not sure about that.  But you just have to take classes in drawing and lots of practice.

Other than that, mangaka is just a fancy term for a manga artist or an artist who draws according to a genre of comic design originating from Japan.

Honestly, Belltopp has the best answer to your question though.