Thursday, July 24, 2008
Daily, our mailbox...or at least one of our mailboxes are flooded with some eye-opening questions about what content is appropriate for your manga and other questions such as,
How many pages should I submit??
Can I include fighting or death scenes? Or themes like WAR and nuclear holocaust?? Will I be disqualified?
Can I do doujinshi?? Is that the same as fan fiction??
Are dark and angsty themes allowed?
Can I collaborate with another friend for this?
Can I have references to Yaoi or Yuri??
Can I use the original Japanese terms since they can't be translated into English or Bahasa Malaysia?
Must I submit the whole story?
Right to left or left to right??
1) How many pages must I submit? I'm confused!
A minimum of 1 page and no maximum pages.
Our previous flyers and rules stated that the maximum was 6 pages, but THIS RULE HAS BEEN WAIVED.
2) What if I have a really long story that come in multiple chapters? Must I submit everything?
IF possible, we strongly encourage you to send in a complete story. If you are working on a story with multiple chapters and cannot finish it in time, then send us the completed chapters only and leave a good cliffhanger (aka TO BE CONTINUE) at the end.
3) Can I use the original Japanese terms in the story?
Yes, you can use the original terms in its native language, if there's no way that you can translate the terms in its native language to English or Bahasa Malaysia. We advise you to provide a translation guide for the judges.
4) Can I include any violent themes/scenes/elements like war or death?
It is stated in the Rules and Regulations that no violence or graphic and disturbing imagery is allowed in your manga.
We discourage you not to include reference to violence on an explicit and excessive level (to the point where its graphically disturbing).
Do not include too much blood, gore or detailed visual imagery of violent scenes in your manga. No disembodiment, no disembowelment, decapitation or even happytreefriends references.
You were warned...
5) What about dark or angsty themed stories?
You are allowed to include such themes but not at an excessive or explicit level that is disturbing to the general audience.
6) Can I make references to Yaoi or Yuri?
Yaoi and Yuri contain elements that are sensitive to the general public in this country. Even though we at JMC08 are open to all themes and genres, we strongly advised you NOT to include too much of it. Just like violence, dark themes etc keep it at a minimal level.
7) Full colour or black and white?
Both full coloured and black and white manga are accepted in the competition.
8) Must I only write in English and Bahasa Malaysia? What if I am not confident in either languages?
The official language to be used in your manga is English or Bahasa Malaysia only. If you are not confident in the language, try to get assistance from your teacher or friend that is good in the language. Take this opportunity to learn how to improve your language skills too.
9) Can I collaborate with another friend for the competition?
The rule states that it is one creator per manga submission. You are allowed to work in teams but only one person gets the prize at the end of the day. We will leave to you on how you wish to split the prizes...
There is no need to fill in additional forms for your team members. Only the key creator of the manga is required.
10) Am I just limited to the Manga Style of drawing?
You can draw in any style you want. We are open.
11) Must I only write in English and Bahasa Malaysia? What if I am not confident in either languages?
The official language to be used in your manga is English or Bahasa Malaysia only. If you are not confident in the language, try to get assistance from your teacher or friend that is good in the language. Take this opportunity to learn how to improve your language skills and have fun while at it!
12) What is the size ot the manga that I should create?
No larger than A4 size, landscape OR portrait.
13) What tools should I use to create my manga?
You can create your manga manually using pencils, crayons, pastels, ink, paint etc or digitally with the computer and special graphic software such as Flash, Manga Studio, Tab Manga, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Paintshop etc. We are an open based software competition, so feel free to use any of them.
14) Can I do a doujinshi?
Yes, feel free to submit a doujinshi or fan fiction based manga. Just remember to state down clearly the name of the original creator and animation studio.
Example:
Title of Fan Fiction: Ichigo's Pants of Fire
Title of Original Manga: BLEACH
Original Creator: Tite Kubo
Studio: Studio Pierrot
15) Am I suppose to draw my manga from right to left or left to right?
Left to right, or Western-style. I understand that most Manga readers like you and me are perfectly adaptable and comfortable with the original Japanese format of reading right to left. However, as your manga will most likely be read by people who are not accustom to such arrangement, we strongly advise you to do it Left to Right...the conventional way.
If you have already done it from Right to Left, BEFORE this question was raised (moshiwakearimasen~!!!) then just continue what you're doing.
17) Can I include a cover for my manga? Must it be coloured? (NEW!)
If you want to include a nice illustrated cover for your manga, please go ahead! It is up to you if you want to have it coloured or in plain black and white.
18) How do I write a story synopsis? What do I have to write about my character? (NEW!)
A story synopsis is like a summary of what your story is all about. In a way, a synopsis is your manga's selling point that what will entice the judges to want to read your manga.
Go to a bookstore and pick up your favourite graphic novel aka manga. If you look at the back of any graphic novel, you will noticed a brief description about the manga contents. That my friends, is a synopsis!
Writing a story synopsis takes as much time and practice as drawing a manga. A good tip is to pin point all the important points of your story. Introduce the hero character, the goals he/she will have to achieve, the main events that moves the story forward and the obstacles he/she will have to face throughout the series.
If you are still stuck, try referring to story synopsis on existing animes and mangas that you find tons online! Wikipedia, is a good start.
As for the character description, we would like to know who are the main characters, villains, side characters etc that are involved in your story. We would like to know their personalities, backgrounds, temperament etc.
Let's take our favourite, oh-so-popular, anime character NARUTO UZUMAKI. (Taken from Wikipedia btw... ^_^;)
Naruto Uzumaki
In the series, Naruto is a ninja affiliated with the village of Konohagakure, and has ambitions of becoming Hokage, or the leader of the village. Due to being the host for the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, he is ostracized by the other villagers. He makes up for this with his cheerful and boisterous personality. He has established an especially close relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, one of his fellow ninja in Team 7, and treats him as his brother
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