List of Japanese Manga-ka who draw semi-realistic manga

[cmontoya]

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Hello,

I'm shifting from semi-realistic Western style character drawing to semi-realistic Manga style drawings. However, since I'm not a manga reader I don't know any Manga-ka whose
work I can look at. I've watched FF: Advent Children and although Cloud, Tifa, Marlene are drawn Manga-style, their faces are still somewhat proportional or real human like. I don't want to draw styles like those found in DBZ, Sailormoon, etc.

I would appreciate it if you could give me titles or authors of semi-realistically drawn manga.

[Isteb]

from the top of my head. most of these are anime, though. i can PM you sites where i view my manga (unlicensed, of course) so you can check to see if they have manga of these as well. some anime look very good and realistically drawn on video but most of the time, their manga counterpart is not. depende ra siguro sa studio.

take Full Metal Panic! Sigma for instance. it had a cartoonish look on manga but when KyoAni animated it, it looked real slick and fluid. the movements and the art looked semi realistic to me and i couldn't find any recycled frames anywhere. now here is my list.

iSTEB'S Semi - Realistic Anime/Manga


MONSTER
Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu
Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid (yes i'm a diehard KyoAni fan, the first studio that did this series did a horrible job)

(opens otaku box)

I"s
Afro Samurai (i don't think there's a manga of this)
Samurai Champloo - (the manga looks like sketches, the lines are not clean. watch the anime instead)
Death Note (of course! duh how could i forget)
Rurouni Kenshin - Trust and Betrayal
Ninja Scroll (this OAV is a critically acclaimed classic)
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (this one won a number of awards at the cannes awards, i heard)
Ghost in the shell Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the shell Stand Alone Complex the 2nd Gig
Steam Boy
Byousoku 5 cm (the colours are awesome, check out the thread of the same title in this forum)
Great Teacher Onizuka (no big eyes anywhere, no one in SD mode, no exaggerated expressions. except for onizuka, of course)
Initial D (though i'm 50-50 on this one, hate how the eyes are drawn)
Gunslinger Girl
RahXephon

the rest are Hentai/Hentai Doujin so i can't list them here.

but for me, i also enjoy drawing distorted characters like those from Love Hina, Code Geass, TMoHS, Doraemon, and my recent favorite Lucky Star. Code Geass, for example, has shojo type characters, exceptionally skinny and tall, but for me they look quite interesting, especially for a mecha type anime. Cartooning doesn't make any attempt to look realistic anyway, so hey. an artist friend of mine was even told by our teacher to make his cartoons "less realistic". besides, manga style of drawing more often attempts to look cute and/or beautiful than to look realistic.

bro, just look around, browse anime websites, there are a lot of anime coming out now that have better art than sailor moon and dragon ball z. besides, these are anime from way back when. just ask around. i'm sure the other otakus here will be more than happy to help you out.

love
isteb

[cmontoya]

Hi Isteb,

Thank you for your prompt and comprehensive reply. I am sorry I cannot relate to some of the Nihongo words related to manga or anime yet

Oh yeah, I forgot that I watched Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2. I have also read Ghost in the Shell 1 manga so I know what you mean by realistic anime
versus cartoonish manga.

Shifting from Western style to anime/manga style is difficult. You self taught, e.g., just copied from your fave manga, then developed your own style? Or do
you guys have a manga/anime art club or something similar to our comic book drawing club?

[Ansley]

hi carlo. whut happend to you? sudden change of style? hehe

dude, i would recommend euro-manga. its really way cool.

good luck.

dont limit yourself to manga. try anime as well.

[cmontoya]

Hi Ansley,

Well, manga/anime is more lucrative just in case I get serious about it

Btw, can you point me to some sites, authors, titles of said euro-manga. Thanks.

[Isteb]

no prob, bro. i don't think there's an anime manga club here, none that i've heard of, at least. manga enthusiasts siguro but not really drawing. it's hard to start one in school since a lot of our teachers are prejudiced against manga and anime. they don't even know the difference but then pataka lang ug yawyaw. brr the hostility.

i do admit it is difficult, bro. i started off drawing spider man and x-men (especially psylocke!!!) but then i shifted to dragon ball z style. it was very limiting at first, but i just continued copying whatever looked good until eventually i learned to draw using my own style. i've been drawing manga style for 13 years or so now and i still can't honestly say i'm good.

ruruouni kenshin would be a good place to start, as the lines are very (very) clean and the proportions are consistent. it would also be interesting to compare the first chapter with the last one, you can greatly see how some detail was omitted to keep up with deadlines, but keep the art good nonetheless. i actually prefer kenshin with less bodied (?) hair. this would be easier for a western comic fan since nobuhiro watsuki modeled most of his characters from marvel comic book characters and the like.

to gain some understanding about manga/anime bro, it might be fun to watch Kyoto Animation's latest series, "Lucky Star". the main character is an otaku that's weird even for japanese standards. check it out. they talk and overtalk anything to exhaustion, anime and manga culture included.

for mecha (super mega giant robot genre), there was this old archetype during the robotech/macross era where the main character would look something like this:



for shojo (roughly the genre for girls) characters would often look ridiculously thin and tall, hence the sailormoon type, and the guys would be as beautiful or even more beautiful than the girls. just look at fushigi yuugi.

in shonen (the boys' anime/manga) the style ranges vastly, just take a look at rurouni kenshin and compare it with beyblade. then there's one piece and naruto as well. in my opinion, this genre offers the most variety. just pick up your copy of Shonen Jump (up to date issues @ Php 400, back issues @ 200, just visit yer local bookstore). for anyone aspiring to draw manga, this is a must-have.

then there's the gakuen (school life) genre and the slice-of-life genre. come to think of it, most of the characters here look pretty normal. not too distorted, not too realistic. just the right amount of both. the main character would almost always be the dullest, most normal looking guy in the universe. he would be described as the everyman, the guy you'd miss in a crowd, so to speak. look at keitarou urashima from the love hina series.

and the most realistic characters i have seen usually come from the anime/manga that would fit the "drama" genre. princess mononoke, samurai 7 (yeah it was more of drama than action to me) rurouni kenshin trust and betrayal, etc.

hope this would give you a general overview of what to look for, bro. will be PMing you the websites i was talking about.

love
isteb

[cmontoya]

Thank you Isteb. Googled Shonen Jump When you said 'local bookstore', did you mean National Book Store? I don't remember seeing this
mag there.

13 years! Wow.

[ehrgeiz]

naa diay koy shounen jump master carlo naa pud baligya shounen jump na english sa SM 3rd floor i forgot the stall name

[cmontoya]

Hi ehrgeiz,

Pwede nimo dad-on ugma usa ka copy para ma-scan nako?

CA COMM? Pila nimo napalit?

[Ansley]

cmontoya. if you're really serious about taking up manga. i believe its best if you hit those "how to draw manga" books. i've read some and realized there's so much more to manga than big eyes and funky hairstyles. but then again, i also believe in creating your own style and not follow the mainstream. i've been there, drawn manga/anime style. especially in the vein of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, NINJA SCROLL, RANMA 1/2 and a lot of hentai. i can say that i did create some exceptional artworks. inked and also painted. basta dude, you'll eventually "discover" this skill.