Sorachi’s interview excerpt from the The Shonen Jump Guide To Making Manga book (Official translation by C. Cook from VIZ Media).
What knowledge would have benefitted you when starting your manga career?
We often see publicly available info about how pros with a team of assistants might split up their time and workload when trying to finish a draft, but you rarely see authors doing all that work alone, despite the fact that that’s the reality of it for most new authors. I think a lot of newcomers have their spirits crack under the weight of the overwhelming workload and end up giving up on their unfinished drafts. It would behoove them to hear a bit about the need to be mentally prepared for all that. My first-ever draft had me writhing in agony for half a year. The manga author’s journey is at its most brutal at the start.
What did you do first after deciding to become a manga author (e.g., practicing, strategizing, etc.)? And/or, did you have an efficient way to practice?
Introspection. I analyzed myself and reflected on my best weapons to take into battle (and my worst ones). I decided what I would set out to do (and what I wouldn’t) with as much self-awareness as possible.
What are you mindful of when revisiting your storyboards (either when self-editing or taking advice from editorial)?
I give my storyboards a fresh look and re-examine what role each page will play. For instance, one page might be the “free page” that comes before a big gag. So, which panels does it absolutely need, and which can it do without? I tend to have my metaphorical writer’s camera pulled way back at first, but when I zoom in more and more until the details of the picture come into focus. That’s the best way I’ve found to fix up my work.
Is there any way you could have been better prepared before your serialization began?
Having a stockpile of character designs to draw from in advance. Creating characters from scratch, while working on a weekly series? Woof, that’s rough. Both mentally and physically.
What do you bear in mind when creating a manga (e.g. personal themes and throughlines)?
Sorachi: I’m always searching for the intersection point of what I want to draw and what readers want to read. When there are lots of those intersections, that equals more opportunities to stop and take a breather. But if you only have one of those two lines to start with, you’ll be caught up in one-way traffic and will just have to go with the flow.
What’s your approach to creating strong, memorable characters?
I decide from the start what a given character is allowed to do and what they aren’t, and make the character follow those rules to a T, at first. That’s fundamental. If the author and reader don’t have a basic shared understanding about the essence of a character, then by definition, the author can never do anything shocking or unexpected with the character to win them more fans. Next, create settings and stories that force you to loosen the rules that constrained your character.
Ultimately, I believe readers want to see characters act like themselves at times, but also not, at other times.
How should one practice creating those strong characters?
When you find that you’re fond of someone in life, analyze how your own feelings on them involved. Cases where you were a huge fan of someone from the start are less useful than experiences where you disliked someone at first and they ended up growing on you. For example, there might be some foul, disgusting creep of an actor who’s obnoxiously handsome, but there come those rare moments when he says just the right thing on a variety show that makes you go, “Huh, he’s not bad at all.” At that moment, drop what you’re doing and run that self-analysis to figure out what’s going on in your head. Why’d you hate him originally? What changed? As someone creating characters, you have to be able to control that likable vs. unlikable dial however you see fit.
How long does it take to create the storyboards for a single nineteen-page chapter of manga?
Three to five days.
How long does it take you to finish the full draft for a single nineteen-page chapter of manga?
Two to three days.
Beyond creating your storyboards, what do you do to come up with ideas and plot points for your work?
I consume lots of manga, movies, books, anime, and video games. I take note of story patterns and turn them into my personally stockpile of ideas. More specifically, I write down stuff I find interesting or boring, and then think about why I felt that way. It’s my eternal homework assignment and hobby.
Is there anything you referenced when creating your one-shots?
My grand challenge was being more concise with my stories, so I read all the Akamaru Jump* one-shots I could find and compared how each author approached their page distribution to my own approach, which helped me make progress. The tricks to cutting down on length are knowing when the scene changes should happen, knowing how long to spend on each scene, and cutting everything that can be cut.
*One of Jump’s older sister magazines. Now known as Jump GIGA.
Yorozuya Shinigami 