Shoujo Manga Techniques: Writing Stories [Paperback]

Mako Itsuki (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005 | Series: Shoujo Manga Techniques

Many young girls dream of drawing the popular "shoujo" manga, Japanese style girls’ comics. But they don’t know where to begin. This charming book takes fans on a step-by-step journey, starting with developing ideas and creating characters, all the way through making scripts and blueprints, through pencil drafting, inking and erasing, and screen tone application.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156970970X
• ISBN-13: 978-1569709702
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JUST what I was looking for!, January 13, 2006

By 

smjkitty "kitty" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shoujo Manga Techniques: Writing Stories (Paperback)

I've been looking HIGH and LOW for the right book to explain how the pros CREATE manga. Not draw manga. I've got THAT down. It was creating the right story with all it's interconnected stories that had me at a standstill and the little leaves behind me in the wind making more progress than me.

The book actually flows in a manga format, and you follow the story of Kyoko and Alisa. Kyoko shows little Alisa through illustrated examples of how writing techniques are done for manga. The illustrations are drawn superbly by an actual japanese manga-ka. The book continues all the way to about thumbnail sketching your ideas out.

All the techniques are useful. It's a benefit to read them over and over and try all the "lessons" or "One Point Advice" with smaller ideas to get the hang of it. It's a contagious learning experience!

If you are wanting to learn how to draw manga figures, or how to actually draw pages with tone. This book is not what you're looking for. And the first page establishes this for you. If you are looking to help a wounded one legged story along and nurse it back to running status. THIS is what you need to get back on track!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Big Eyes: Shoujo Art AND Storytelling, June 1, 2007

By 

Brian Gill "Conan the Philosopher" (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shoujo Manga Techniques: Writing Stories (Paperback)

A good introduction to storytelling, and drawing, for shoujo manga. I appreciated the teach-by-example nature of this book, which is written/drawn as a manga comic.

Although directed at those interested in created shoujo (girls') manga, the graphic and storytelling techniques described can be applied to many other genres.

How-to-do-manga books that I've read have a strong tendency to display a great deal of enthusiasm and relatively little useful content. I don't give five stars lightly, but "Shoujo Manga Techniques" deserves it as a useful, well-written book on manga techniques.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginners, February 20, 2009

By 

Eldora Rae - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shoujo Manga Techniques: Writing Stories (Paperback)

I love to draw manga, it is my dream to become a professional I had many stories in my head which I think would be great to show and tell. However, I had one big major trouble actually writing them to be in comic form. This book however has changed all that it, clear and easy to read and understand fully I'm now on my way to making the next big hit in manga (okay maybe not but I'm getting somewhere). I had many How to Write books with big words a technical terms but none has broke it down so simple as this book has. I recommend it to anyone who wants to write there own manga and just too novice to understand the long winded terms that other How to write novels use.