Author Archives: r2moo2

About r2moo2

r2moo2's a Christian desiring to be a semi-professional manga artist. Looking at the mammoth amount of obstacles he has to overcome just to earn enough dough for a living, he aspires to trail blaze the road for others to see that dreams don't have to remain as dreams in life. r2moo2 documents his learning journal in his own blog, Manga-journey.com. Beyond manga, r2moo2 is a final year undergrad, and has been found lurking in the Internet trying to find gold. So if you do see his face elsewhere, don't think it is his evil twin.

MyCartoons.Org Review

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I was out of action for a month and let me start off with not a manga news update, but cute webcomic blog. This webcomic blog is MyCartoons.Org, and I believe that this webcomic blog has German origins.

Now I applaud this webcomic website because it tells a story with just a single panel and yet it can be so interesting to read. You will find yourself smiling, even with some snickering to yourself with the webcomic while the author toys with some dry wit or lame jokes into his artwork.

This is not easy because with just a single panel, the author manages to illustrate scenarios well, leaving you just enough hints to piece together what the author is trying to say. I really find that this is an ingenious way to portray a webcomic and it is an incredible job to pull it off well! Pretty sure not many folks could do that.

Best of all, the webcomics is actually ageless; it does not tell a story, and you do not have to check on it everyday or the archives to enjoy the webcomic. I guess I just like the casual and lighthearted way of the author’s illustrations, just like how I would read some Calvin and Hobbes random comics in a newspaper.

Just to note, sometimes the author tries to implant mature and suggestive thoughts into you in order to make you laugh, and I will rate it a PG-13 just for that. Beyond that, it is really safe for you to read them anywhere.

The author may not update every week; he draws for local publishers and gets paid by them. However it is still worth a good read, so
grab yourself a cup of coffee, take a break, and just take a look at this lighthearted webcomic when you are feeling stressed or down. I am sure you will feel pretty good after that!

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Aoi House Review and other opinions…

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I hate to miss out on good webcomic mangas, even if they are of an older series and I actually prefer completed series at occasions where I want a long read, because I do not have to wait on weekly one page updates. If you never heard of Aoi House, I suggest taking a look at it.

Aoi House Review

Aoi House is a completed webcomic manga that was adopted and serialized by Seven Seas for publication because of its success. It has some similarities to Love Hina by Ken Akatmasu, the manga novel that has a world-wide success. 2 guys, by the names of Sandy and Alex, stumbled into a club with lodging which are full of girls, and they were thinking that this club was an ordinary club that features otaku crazed hobbies such as anime and manga viewing.

However, thought it was just “Aoi house”; as it was intended by some members when the name is formally supposed to be “Yaoi house”. If you do not know, “yaoi” is a genre of manga which focuses on guy to guy relationships. Despite this, this manga isn’t about these, so relax; it just so happens that the author tries to create comedy by using that name.

So the girls tried to turn the guys into gays, or rather make them fancy their craze for yaoi otaku.

And of course it is hilarious.

Why do I say it resembles Love Hina? That’s because its about being surrounded by a group of beautiful girls again, forced to stay in close quarters with them, and they each have an animal mascot; a flying turtle for Love Hina, and a perverted hamster for Aoi House.So if you do like Love Hina as a manga, Aoi House is good for you as a webcomic manga.

The story is light hearted, harem, and a little ‘ecchi’. Again, due to its suggestive nature, I recommend this manga for older teens. It is still generally safe. The mascot hamster is ridiculously adorable. I really liked it!

Other opinions

I picked Aoi House up for review because it is a successful and completed series. As I was browsing around the Internet, I find that there are many incompleted webcomics lying around, which have potential, but stopped usually due to the lack of funding, popularity and support from fans.

I know how hard it is to do draw and publish weekly, as I tried a little with my own blog. So I actually can feel for the webcomic authors. However, if you are really good at what you are doing, you can really be picked up by a well known company, and be proven successful. And with this webcomic, I hope to encourage you to that.

Here’s MTV speaking a little about Aoi House:

I don’t exactly like the song itself, but I am happy for a manga webcomic that has its own MTV mention, which is rather rare.

Enjoy!

Some points to note:
1. Ecchi genre for manga means to be suggestive in the sexual department, but not usually explicit. It is generally suitable for older teens.

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Email interview with Model Behaviour’s author, Jin Sun Oh

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Having just introduced Model Behaviour recently to you, I thought I will also interview the webmanga author, Jin Sun Oh, as well.

You can read more about her at her webcomic site here.

And one female friend of mine liked this webmanga after reading it, so do support Model Behaviour if this webmanga suits to your liking.

Take note that the following interview is unedited, and enjoy yourselves here:

/***START OF EMAIL INTERVIEW***/

1. Please tell us briefly about yourself: your name, which country you are staying in, some facts and figures, and how you became a webmanga artist.

My name is Jin Sun Oh. l live in the U.K. with my husband and our son. I am from Seoul, South Korea where I worked as an animator and a manga (manwha) artist. I decided to become a webmanga artist because I wanted to continue my original passion which is creating a manga for especially female manga fans.

2. What is your webmanga, Model Behaviour, about?

It’s about a man named Jack who works as a fashion magazine editor. He works with lots of beautiful women and is enjoying his life by simply being a womanizer but he kind of senses that he is somehow lost in life. It is basically his love story.

3. How did Model Behaviour come about, and/or what inspired you to begin Model Behaviour?

The story line was originally created more than 10 years ago when I was doodling around with ideas for my own project. I wanted to create something glamorous.

4. What do you hope to achieve through your webmanga. Model Behaviour?

I hope that I will be able to finish the story and would love to publish it. It would be great to see it on actual paper.

5. Any hints about how you are going to develop the story further?

There will be more characters appearing, especially Jack’s family and the readers will learn more about Jack’s inner side.

6. Your webmanga seems to be a little suggestive and mature in nature. Is this intended?

Yes, it was intended. Normally I don’t draw a male as a main character in my stories but in this case I thought it has to be… I felt it was necessary to show mature scenes to add more grown up elements to the whole story. Model Behaviour was created for young adult readers (not for younger teenagers).

7. Please tell us briefly how you prepare your webmanga for weekly updates.

I do all of my drawings by hand except for screentones which is done with photoshop.

8. What is the greatest challenge of being a webmanga artist for you?

It will be not missing the updates… I’ve got my hands full already as a full time mom. Sometimes I feel like I’m not even allowed to be sick. Hopefully when my little boy goes to school things will get easier.

9. What is the greatest sense of achievement of being a webmanga artist for you?

Being able to connect with readers, and being able to continue to do so. It’s a very long journey and hopefully that my manga is worthy enough for my readers to go through together till the end.

10. Any final words for our readers and aspiring webcomic artists?

There are always pros and cons in doing a webcomic. One of the good things is that you have total freedom of creating whatever you like to create and you can easily connect with readers directly. But it is a big commitment. Updating a comic regularly for a long time isn’t easy and readers can be easily bored if you miss an update. However if you are enjoying what you are doing and have creative ideas, why not? Go for it!

/***END OF EMAIL INTERVIEW***/

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News: A manga webcomic artist’s earning and some stuff on the manga industry

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Wondering about how much a manga webcomic artist can earn?

AnimeNewsNetwork recently shares that Shuho Sato Earns Y500,000 in Web Manga in 2010 So Far.

If you are interested in other related news (pretty old in fact), when Shuho Sato started his web manga online, he earned 100,000 yen on the first day of his launch! That’s about USD$1,090!

That’s something to look out for, if you want to be a professional webcomic artist along your journey of life.

Anyway, Shuho Sato’s webmanga is a “seinen”; which means it is catered for the mature crowd; so be sure not to look at it if you are not of legal age!

Also, AnimeNewsNetwork also reveals that manga publishers in Japan lose several billion yen last year.

This means that traditional manga magazines are losing its appeal. Maybe its time for webcomic to rise to popularity?

This is further acknowledged by Ken Akatmatsu, author of the famed Love Hina series, that says that tankobon sales fell 4.9% last year.

‘Tankobon’ generally refers to traditional paperback comics, where comics are published on paper.

Also, the manga industry in Japan is really on the decline.

I did a little study before about Shuho Satou, in his income and earnings and how he managed his expenses by managing assistants for drawing.

With the reason launch of Apple’s iPad, I really wonder if the webcomics will pick up its pace and become a profitable medium for comics or not, after seeing how the traditional mediums are faltering.

What do you think?

Some points to note:
1. ‘Seinen’ means “young adult” in Japanese literally, and it means that the comic is generally catered for the ages between 18 to 30 years old.

2. ‘Tankobon’ means “independent book” in Japanese literally; the irony is that manga is usually in series. However, it still generally referred as paperback books.

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