Japanese Manga Artists Gather To Show Off Their Drawing Studios

Manga is an exceptionally difficult industry to work in. You really have to love what you do in [...]

By Evan Valentine

Manga is an exceptionally difficult industry to work in. You really have to love what you do in creating stories in this format to "make it". When a random Twitter user asked for artists to post pictures of their work stations, some Japanese manga creators were more than happy to oblige. Dozens of artists showed off the spaces where they spend an unbelievable amount of their lives creating characters and stories that audiences go crazy over.

The online pop culture news site, Kotaku, compiled a handful of manga artist workstations to show off to interested parties:

The workstations shared here vary from the mundane to the lavish with wildly different levels of technology and/or comfort displayed for each. The workstation of artist Okura346 consists of two computer screens and a tablet, completely attached to her bed for convenient artistry. The station of AoiAki_Info is surrounded by wooden paneling and even a typewriter displayed in front of a case of pinned butterflies. The rest of the workstations tend to differ from one another though most have a high level of technology present to assist them in creating their worlds in the medium of manga.

The technology primarily seen in each of these workstations involved a number of screens, whether they be typical computer monitors or tablets that allow a whole new level of innovation when it comes to drawing and/or shading manga itself. One can only wonder about the difficulty of creating and distributing manga across the world in a time before the modern conveniences of today.While it's easy to follow some of your favorite manga artists in this day and age through social media, even allowing an inside look into where the magic begins with their workstations, there's also an manga that folks may be interested in reading if you'd like to see just how much hard work is put into creating works in the medium.

Bakuman is a manga following two high school students attempting to become manga legends themselves, and while it may be a little exaggerated, it does go a long way into showing the passion and craftsmanship that artists need to have to become successful. The series shows off the pitfalls, successes, and rivalries that can be created in this cutthroat industry and though the series primarily has the protagonists using pencils and paper rather than computers, the spirit remains the same.

What do you think of the workstations shown here by various Japanese manga artists? How do they compare to your workstation? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, or to simply show off your workstation. We'd love to see them!

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