Opinions Needed on Manga Project

[miyukisama]

I see, that's fine, I just feel viciously attacked.

[MMM]

I am confused, is Miyuki Nakata a real person or a fictional character?

[miyukisama]

All the characters in this book is based on real people so yes, Miyuki Nakata, is a real person. Some of the events are fictional.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by miyukisama

All the characters in this book is based on real people so yes, Miyuki Nakata, is a real person. Some of the events are fictional.

Maybe you didn't see my question in the other thread, but where did you live in Osaka? I lived just outside of Osaka for a few years and spent a lot of time there.

[GTJ]

Seems like a lot of work being put in for an amateur production. Props to you for your dedication.

The story is really cliché so far; you need a hook, something that sets you aside from the millions of other "childhood friend" and "overcoming the adversity of being an outsider" stories out there.

Also, you ask if I would buy or want to read based on the cover art alone? Absolutely not. It looks like it was done by a middle schooler who just got a pirated version of photoshop. The Japanese type logo is fairly decent, but red, white, and black are inadvisable for such an important design element.

Speaking of design, there is none. You better fire that "graphic designer" of yours. A black/white gradient for the background and a severed, poorly colored, and double-stroked head? Are you serious? Shoot him/her, just do it now. Also, what's up with that chinese takeout-style font up top? Readability is almost zero, and it has nothing to do with Japan. It's in poor taste and was not put there by a designer.

Is this a decent representation of the art style? Because if the characters all look like that, then I won't get past the first page. My advice is to stick with the "stick out from the crowd" theme. Drop the spikey hair and emo, downtrodden expression. Make a person who looks like a person, someone the readers can relate to on some level. Maybe even use a real person as a model (have you done life drawing before?), that could give you an edge if you just straddle that line between realism and anime. I know in the past anime/manga/movies have appealed to me when they're realistic for most of it and then have little twinges of anime that make you laugh or smile.

Needs a looooooooot of work. I would say hold off on all the merchandise because you're very far from that point yet; you need to have a fan base who's willing to give you their money, first. Having merch ready when you launch is in poor taste and sales will be stunted for a while because of it. Try instead creating merch as you get demand for it. Even a few emails. And then you can use an opportunity to advertise it when it comes out, and all the readers who have been thinking about wanting a shirt or something but didn't say anything will jump on it.

[MMM]

Interesting reply, GTJ, and I agree with everything you said. Since you mentioned it.

1) I think the cart is being put before the horse. You are merchandising a product that doesn't exist. To answer your original question, no I probably wouldn't be interested in this title, but that's mostly because I like seinen manga, so the plot does not appeal to me.

2) I agree with GTJ the art style screams "OEL manga". I think your graphic designer is Kimiko, but I am reading conflicting accounts of whether she is in Tokyo or in San Francisco. This does not look like a cover done by a Japanese person. However, looking closer it says the book is by someone names Nancy Meas. I thought Miyuki Nakata was the creator. Please explain.

3) You say you are fluent in Japanese and read manga and books in Japanese, not in English (you made that very clear) but the Japanese version of your website is full of mistakes.

ホムページ ケレータプロファイル ガッレルユ ストルユ ボアルド チャプテル クオミクストリプ ショプ エヴェント アボート クオンタクト

I bolded the words that are written incorrectly.

Now do you want to tell us what is really going on?

[GTJ]

Lemme throw something else in there:

Yes, you can use the key commands that will type © and ®, but do you know what they mean? Did you really pay out the insane amounts of cash to get copywritten ("copyrighted"? "copywrote"?) and trademarked?

[TyreaL]

I know it's irrelevant but ..

is it me or the main character looks a lot like Uchiha Madara from naruto


and good luck with your project ^_^

[miyukisama]

Originally Posted by GTJ

Seems like a lot of work being put in for an amateur production. Props to you for your dedication.

The story is really cliché so far; you need a hook, something that sets you aside from the millions of other "childhood friend" and "overcoming the adversity of being an outsider" stories out there.

Also, you ask if I would buy or want to read based on the cover art alone? Absolutely not. It looks like it was done by a middle schooler who just got a pirated version of photoshop. The Japanese type logo is fairly decent, but red, white, and black are inadvisable for such an important design element.

Speaking of design, there is none. You better fire that "graphic designer" of yours. A black/white gradient for the background and a severed, poorly colored, and double-stroked head? Are you serious? Shoot him/her, just do it now. Also, what's up with that chinese takeout-style font up top? Readability is almost zero, and it has nothing to do with Japan. It's in poor taste and was not put there by a designer.

Is this a decent representation of the art style? Because if the characters all look like that, then I won't get past the first page. My advice is to stick with the "stick out from the crowd" theme. Drop the spikey hair and emo, downtrodden expression. Make a person who looks like a person, someone the readers can relate to on some level. Maybe even use a real person as a model (have you done life drawing before?), that could give you an edge if you just straddle that line between realism and anime. I know in the past anime/manga/movies have appealed to me when they're realistic for most of it and then have little twinges of anime that make you laugh or smile.

Needs a looooooooot of work. I would say hold off on all the merchandise because you're very far from that point yet; you need to have a fan base who's willing to give you their money, first. Having merch ready when you launch is in poor taste and sales will be stunted for a while because of it. Try instead creating merch as you get demand for it. Even a few emails. And then you can use an opportunity to advertise it when it comes out, and all the readers who have been thinking about wanting a shirt or something but didn't say anything will jump on it.

Thanks for your input. Your opinions and criticism on this project is duly noted. However, I already am aware of all this therefore that is why I am asking for a third person's opinion. The purpose of the story is not suppose to fall into the same categories as all the other manga out there since it's my story in comic book form. It's suppose to be unique in its own way as well as the art style format, etc. You don't have to support this project though many of my network who appreciate art for art agree that this is unique in style and therefore shouldn't be categorized into a certain standard. Everything in this project is up for debate. That's all it is. So I won't take it personally.

[miyukisama]

Originally Posted by GTJ

Lemme throw something else in there:

Yes, you can use the key commands that will type © and ®, but do you know what they mean? Did you really pay out the insane amounts of cash to get copywritten ("copyrighted"? "copywrote"?) and trademarked?

Yes, I do know the difference, and they've been copyrighted with LegalZoom. I've had others in the past stole my work from me before. All web sites, titles, documents, work, logos, etc. has been submitted to a copyright administrator and are on file. Doing that with the key commands are considered informal copyright and I do that to let others know that it has been registered.