Hirohiko Araki es un gran maestro del manga. Con su extravagante JoJo's Bizarre Adventure no sólo ha conseguido fusionar el canon clásico griego con la estética manga, el hiper-dinamismo y las historias cuasi-mitológicas rayano la parodia histérica, sino también algo mucho más difícil: un estilo propio capaz de encandilar al público. If you were to sum up what makes my art distinctive in a single word, it would probably be the posing of figures, and that is something I acquired on that trip. And since you can’t draw a character posing from their face alone, I always draw sketches for fans as bust illustrations with the shoulders indicating a characteristic pose." Reading this book has confirmed some of my suspicions of JoJolion's 'shoddy writing' but beautiful execution. It was deliberate, him employing the tropes and mechanics he'd neglected or despised in the past, and an opportunity for him to indulge in all he'd once strove to avoid. It was him letting go and having fun again. Having just finished the book, I wanted to share my thoughts, but if you want the short version of my review, here it is: If you want to write Shonen (boys) adventure stories like Naruto, One Piece, and Dragonball, this is a must read. If you’re a new writer looking for a basic book on writing in general, this is a pretty good read. If you’re an experienced writer who has read/written lots, it’s an interesting read, but mostly from a cultural perspective. It’d give it 4/5 stars. Major props to him for admitting the earlier arcs were marginally defined by their abundance of dichotomies. I was drawn to it for the same reasons I was drawn to Sonic Adventure 2, Yin and Yang, and the colour grey. But while fantastic for superficial reasons, it's too reductive, as he admits and says he learned from (and I believe) later on. Perhaps JoJolion was a test of this, and that's where my complex feelings towards it lie.

Qué hace concretamente en el libro? Nos explica cuáles son las claves universales de la narrativa, cuáles son los elementos más importantes del manga y, para mostrarnos porqué es así y no de otra manera, también nos pone ejemplos tanto de su propia obra como de la de otros, sean del manga o fuera de él. Porque Araki no cree que su libro esté limitado al aspirante a mangaka. Ni siquiera que el manga sea una singularidad. A sus ojos, las leyes del manga son leyes universales. Todo medio narrativo, de la literatura al cine pasando por el manga o el teatro, siguen las reglas que él recopila en el libro. There are a few times when the translation is a bit unclear, but those are few and far between overall.In Parts 1 through 8, I put a conscious effort into creating distinguishable protagonists who don't have similar silhouettes and appearances, including their outfit designs. I also have the protagonists function to symbolize the “world” that each part takes place in, so the story influences them as well. Of course, I also don't want to hinder the evolution of the art itself. I'm always exploring art styles. The through line in all successful franchises, to Araki, is a strong goddamn character. This cannot be over-emphasized. The emphasis reflects Araki’s success with the dynastic narrative of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures, if also the general direction toward which the manga paradigm has shifted. He goes so far as to say that in extreme examples, “compelling characters negate the need for story or setting.” As someone who has only ever failed to explain Araki’s storylines to the uninitiated, I daresay Araki doesn’t lie. Originally, I went into this book thinking that maybe I should write a manga because that was what I was interested in, and I figured I would hire an artist to do that portion. This is a really good primer on writing in general for new writers, whether you’re a visual artist or a pure writer, or both.

By the 4th chapter grandfather Hirohiko is telling you his stories, and then he starts including subjects that come to mind in related manner. However, the story no longer flows. In the middle of the 4th chapter to start taking limited bullet point notes. This is your grandfather Hikohiko, but he isn't telling you stories that you can follow anymore. What happened you ask? So you press on to read chapters 5,6, and 7, then you begin to realize that grandfather Hirohiko was not giving you advice anymore, it's his words, but someone has butchered them and rearranged them. His story no longer flows. Yet, in short burst of a form of mini stories. You slowly put down the book, and want to cry, for grandfather's Hirohiko's words have been cut-out, rearranged, and miss translated. You realize you no longer have a complete record of your grandfather's wisdom. You have most of his words, but it isn't the same, as it was in the beginning.Manga in Theory and Practice” ha sido diseñado cual guía o manual (en palabras del autor, un “know how” o “how to”) destinado, aunque no limitado, a los aspirantes al Manga como medio artístico y forma de vida. Como breviario, entonces, el libro está dividido en capítulos o secciones que siguen el orden cronológico de la producción de un Manga (Cómo comenzar, Personajes, Historia, Arte, etc.) donde todo se basa—el esqueleto, por ponerle un nombre—en las 5W1H (acrónimo popular que del inglés se traduce como Quién hace Qué, Cuándo, Dónde, Por Qué y Cómo) y las Cuatro Bases del Manga (Characters, Story, Setting, Themes), que pueden aplicarse, también, a otras formas de Arte, pero en especial al Teatro, el Cine y la Literatura. Información, claro, disponible en todo curso literario básico, pero que Araki esporádicamente presenta con acrónimos propios e ingeniosos. Como ejemplo de lo anterior está el “ki-sho-ten-ketsu”, donde “ki” es la introducción, “sho” el desarrollo, “ken” el giro o clímax, y “ketsu” el desenlace. Cualquier parecido con una clase de nivel primaria sobre las partes del cuento o la novela es mera coincidencia. Cualquiera el caso, la terminología empleada (el “Camino dorado”, “La inmutable regla para escribir historias”) es banal pero lo suficientemente atractiva como para no fabricar un sentimiento de monotonía. Asimismo, los “secretos” que el autor anuncia revelar—el currículo individual de sus personajes, la v

He gives a passage from a Hemmingway story and claims that it tells us information that it really doesn’t. I have to wonder if this is a mis-translation of what he was saying the passage was supposed to be giving us. Story. Araki says that story is the least important of the three. The explanation he gives is interesting. But I believe story has never been the strongest point of Araki's manga, so perhaps his emphasis on the other two fundamentals is unsurprising.Sometime after you begin drawing regularly, there will come a point when you think, “This just isn’t working out lately.” When this happens, you may become somewhat worried, but if you keep drawing, you’ll be able to break through it. The very fact that you’re worried about it means that you’re trying. [...] That said, there's a great variance in terms of how useful any given craft manual is for its given field. The best ones are up-to-date without giving any easily outdated information, less useful ones will focus specifically on the trends of a given time. In part this is why Araki's Manga in Theory and Practice is one of the better ones – Araki goes over the changes in his own manga as time has passed, from how his storylines have changed to go along with prevailing tastes to artistic choices pertinent to when he began versus now, but all without ever telling the reader what trends they should follow. Araki's advice to seek out trends but then not necessarily wed yourself to them is timeless advice – unless we somehow end up in the world as represented by My Little Sister Can Read Kanji, awareness of trends versus religious adherence to them will always be an important distinction to make in creative works. You've spoken in other interviews about how you drew muscular body types in Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency because Stallone and Schwarzenegger were popular at the time. You've also said that you moved to thinner body types for Diamond is Unbreakable and Vento Aureo because readers were losing interest in muscle men and you wanted to do more with your interest in fashion. Steel Ball Run and JoJolion seem to represent another big shift in the evolution of your art style. What inspired the looks of Steel Ball Run and JoJolion? Hirohiko Araki clearly didn't write this primarily for a western audience. The market for "manga" written by western authors in Japan is nearly non-existent. The odds of a non-Japanese person publishing a hit in a magazine like Weekly Shonen Jump is-brutally- probably less than a fraction of 1%. Within this book is a wealth of valuable knowledge. I wouldn't say it's complex, and I'll be the first to admit that there is advice here that I know I've heard multiple times from other writers I look up to. That being said, I think what's most valuable to me as an artist (and what's most interesting to me as a fan) is how much his worldview and work ethic affect his process. His reasoning for setting these guidelines for himself and talking through why he thinks one thing works and others don't is absolutely fascinating. He comes across as incredibly passionate about the mere process of developing his work. It's something I admire quite a bit.

Agree. Again, not just attributed to art. For me, art also acts as a time conduit by which to extend an individual's life. Let's say an author spends eight years on a book you can read in four hours and then reiterate the gained knowledge of: the author has dilated time required to achieve those epiphanies. It's my belief that this is why our societies grow 'wiser' - as they accelerate ascertainment of knowledge and improve the time required to share the information. Before we discuss the actual book, it is important to look at the difference between a craft manual and a how-to book. A how-to book (such as How to Draw Anime Girls or something in that vein) is an instruction text designed to give you the basic knowledge you may need to embark on a project in the first place. If may be a drawing guide, it may be a rhyming dictionary, it may be a programming textbook – all it needs to do is teach you the base skills for a field. A craft manual, on the other hand, is about honing those skills. It assumes that you already have a basic grip on drawing or writing; its job is to teach you how, or rather suggest to you the best ways, to use those skills. It assumes you already have a goal; the craft manual's aim is to help you reach it successfully. ASIN:0971633800 Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers (Panel One Scripts by Top Comics Writers Tp (New Prtg))]] (Compilation book) If you find a theme that interests you and connects with you on a personal level – even if you think that theme may be too dark to sell – you should resolve to create your manga around that theme. Your manga's success will not depend upon a seemingly salable theme. Whatever your theme is, if it feels right to you, and you layer upon it characters and story that move you, it will undoubtedly be an interesting work, and one that readers will welcome.I left any dreams of becoming a comic book artist, let alone a mangaka, behind me more than ten years ago, but still admire the passion and dedication. I aim to apply that ferocious passion to my own work, wherever possible, while also learning the lessons of burnout and overtime that beguile the best of them - R.I.P Miura. So, I read this book to understand JoJo's, Hirohiko, himself, and perhaps even to learn some tips on how to keep writing exciting in the ways I, relatively, admire in his work. Genuinely inspiring. "“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” - Haruki Murakami Let's get this outta the way. I very much like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure ( JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken.) That said, I don't think it's perfect and is marred by numerous errors, mostly owing to the unforgiving nature of the drafting, creating, publishing, mangaka.