[0:00] Five steps. That's all you need from
[0:02] having an idea for a manga to actually
[0:04] having a finished manga in your hands.
[0:07] This year, I'm publishing my seventh
[0:09] manga volume, and I've published them
[0:11] all without a publisher, all by myself.
[0:13] And I will show you exactly how this
[0:15] process works.
[0:20] Hi, I heard you like road maps. So, I've
[0:23] made a whole road map just for making
[0:26] your own manga. We start at making your
[0:28] own story all the way to creating a PDF
[0:31] that you could print and publish. I will
[0:34] guide you through every single step.
[0:36] Just beware, this road map can take
[0:38] several months to fulfill. A manga is
[0:41] not something that you can do in a week
[0:43] or two if it's longer than a couple of
[0:45] pages. But now, let's grab every art
[0:47] supply that you have. Leave a like cuz
[0:50] god damn, this video was a ton of work.
[0:52] My name is Marcel and I'll teach you how
[0:55] to make manga
[0:57] like a ser.
[1:04] [Music]
[1:18] So you have an idea. Let's make this
[1:20] idea into an actual story. First, before
[1:23] you create any manga pages, any story
[1:25] boards, you need to set your story.
[1:31] Now, here's what you do. You write down
[1:33] in basic terms what happens in your
[1:36] story. You make a kind of a timeline
[1:38] what happens when. So, flesh out your
[1:41] story bit by bit. You can already refer
[1:44] to characters or things in your story.
[1:46] But be careful. Beginner mistake
[1:49] incoming. Don't just write the timeline
[1:52] like you would write a manga. This
[1:55] happens at the beginning, this happens
[1:57] at chapter 2, this happens at chapter 3,
[2:01] etc. You should not only include what
[2:03] happens while the story is ongoing, but
[2:07] also what happened before. Think about
[2:10] One Piece for example.
[2:13] The timeline isn't starting where the
[2:15] main character begins his journey, but
[2:18] it starts much earlier. It needs to
[2:21] include what happens before. When was
[2:24] Roger executed? When did Shanks get the
[2:26] goonomi? When did he arrive at Fooia
[2:29] Village where Luffy lives? And so on.
[2:32] You need to really plan every important
[2:35] event that happens in your world, even
[2:37] before the main characters even existed.
[2:40] That's how stories like One Piece or
[2:42] Attack on Titan feel alive. Also, not
[2:44] sponsored, but when we were making my
[2:46] new manga, we had to plan a lot of the
[2:49] stuff. So, my story writer and I were
[2:51] using a tool for that where you can just
[2:54] drag and drop stuff in your story. I can
[2:56] highly recommend using a tool like this.
[3:01] Okay, so you have the history of your
[3:03] world. Now, let's fill it. Like,
[3:05] obviously, you would need to focus on
[3:07] your characters as well. And I'm not
[3:09] talking about character design per se.
[3:12] I'm talking about personality and
[3:15] everything else. This here is something
[3:17] really valuable. It's a character sheet
[3:19] designed by the legend himself, Hihiko
[3:22] Araki of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Fame.
[3:25] This questionnaire is what he fills out
[3:27] before he designs a character visually.
[3:30] From their names all the way to their
[3:32] habits, favorite phrases, and so on.
[3:35] It's important to design a character's
[3:37] personality first, so you can base your
[3:39] character design around that. I've
[3:41] linked it down in the info box in case
[3:43] you want to download it and fill it out
[3:45] yourself. So, fill out a character sheet
[3:47] like this for every character in your
[3:49] story. And while writing your
[3:51] characters, you might already get some
[3:54] cool ideas how they could look like. So,
[3:56] what's also really important is to use
[3:59] references while making this. Go to
[4:01] Google images or Pinterest and collect
[4:03] some of them already.
[4:05] Now, this is a much better guideline for
[4:08] designing a character than that. But you
[4:12] are not done yet. What also always makes
[4:14] for really cool world building in
[4:15] fictional stories are items, tools,
[4:18] flora, and fauna. Maybe your world has
[4:20] special animals in it. Or maybe they use
[4:23] some special items or tools in your
[4:25] world. Maybe your world has some special
[4:28] plants that have special effects and so
[4:30] on. Write all of that down. All of these
[4:33] things get their own little mini
[4:35] character sheet. If you have a
[4:37] collection of characters and
[4:38] worldbuilding elements, you can now
[4:40] check your timeline if everything makes
[4:42] sense, if you need to include something
[4:44] or need to change names in case you have
[4:47] some placeholders left over. And also, I
[4:49] know some people like to make characters
[4:52] first and then write the story. That's
[4:54] also totally valid. You can also do it
[4:56] the other way around. And now we come to
[4:59] the most crucial step.
[5:03] [Music]
[5:08] Now that you have all the characters and
[5:10] all the events in your timeline and
[5:12] every important item ready, this is
[5:15] where the magic happens. But before,
[5:18] make sure you're making this timeline in
[5:20] detail. Now, flesh everything out, make
[5:23] sure everything works out and the
[5:25] history of your world makes sense. What
[5:27] you're doing now, if your wealth
[5:29] building is ready and your story is
[5:31] finished, is you pick out where your
[5:33] manga actually starts. I call this the
[5:36] needle drop method because you're now
[5:39] pinpointing where exactly chapter one
[5:42] takes place. Again, think about stories
[5:44] like Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen. A lot of things
[5:48] happen in the story. Gojo and ghetto
[5:50] were friends, then they were not friends
[5:53] anymore. Gojo gets students. Yugji eats
[5:56] a finger. Yugji gets trained by Gojo.
[5:59] They fight in a tournament and so on.
[6:01] And now a Magaka's job is to pick where
[6:04] chapter one would start. And they
[6:06] decided this is a good place to start
[6:09] chapter 1. Everything else, what
[6:11] happened before, we can explain later in
[6:13] flashbacks. And now it's up to you to
[6:15] decide this in your own story. Your
[6:18] timeline is finished and you should
[6:20] decide which event in your manga is the
[6:23] most interesting to hook your reader in
[6:25] chapter 1. My favorite example of this
[6:28] is Attack on Titan. Starting the story
[6:30] where Titans tear down the walls was the
[6:34] perfect needle drop and an insane thing
[6:37] to happen in chapter 1. And if you've
[6:39] read the series, you know that a lot of
[6:42] things happened before. lots of points
[6:44] where you could have started chapter
[6:46] one, but dropping the needle right here
[6:49] was the most genius thing you could have
[6:53] done. So now, if you have dropped your
[6:55] needle in your timeline, let's go.
[6:58] That's where you write the first
[7:00] chapters of your manga. You do not need
[7:02] to write the whole story from the get-
[7:04] go, but just enough so you can make the
[7:06] first manga pages out of this. Don't
[7:08] worry, this can take weeks, sometimes
[7:10] even months. You definitely have to take
[7:12] your time here. Especially if you're a
[7:14] beginner, you should start with a very
[7:16] short story for starters. So maybe just
[7:19] take your world and timeline and limit
[7:21] it to a short time span for your very
[7:23] first manga experiment.
[7:25] Congratulations,
[7:27] you're done with the first step of
[7:29] making your own manga. All right, now
[7:31] that we have the story step completely
[7:33] finished, let's get visual with the most
[7:36] fun part.
[7:41] Okay. What makes character design good
[7:43] and what makes it bad? Well, the best
[7:46] character designs are unique, meaning
[7:49] you see the silhouette and you know what
[7:51] character you're looking at. Also, their
[7:54] outfits should definitely match their
[7:56] abilities, backgrounds, or powers. And
[7:59] also, their basic look, like hairstyles
[8:02] should match their personality,
[8:04] obviously. And that is why we've made
[8:06] those textonly character sheets before.
[8:09] If you struggle to make a character look
[8:11] unique, maybe use this as an
[8:13] inspiration. Maybe your character is
[8:15] into art and fashion and likes to draw,
[8:17] then maybe they should have stylish
[8:19] clothing and hairstyles, popping colors,
[8:22] and some sort of sketchbook with them in
[8:24] order to show this. If you want to have
[8:26] a stepbystep on how to make a good
[8:28] character design, I have made a tutorial
[8:30] about this topic showing how I've made
[8:33] my character designs. Definitely check
[8:35] that one out if you struggle in this
[8:36] step. TLDDR: If you look at a character
[8:38] and they look like they could be a
[8:40] protagonist of some random isekai anime,
[8:43] you failed.
[8:47] Okay, this really is the same thing
[8:49] again just for everything else in your
[8:51] story. Make references and designs for
[8:53] the tools your character use, the
[8:55] animals, plants, everything. because you
[8:58] don't want to be in the middle of
[9:00] drawing your manga and being like,
[9:01] "Wait, how does this thing look like
[9:06] from the other side? I've even made 3D
[9:08] models for my manga for certain weapons
[9:11] just so that I can check all the angles
[9:13] when drawing them. Same thing goes for
[9:15] places and environments. If you don't
[9:18] plan out everything ahead, it is going
[9:21] to bite you in your ass when you're
[9:23] drawing a manga and suddenly you forget
[9:25] how many walls there are in your
[9:27] fictional Attack on Titan City or where
[9:30] exactly the Titan forest is located.
[9:32] Make as much visual references so you
[9:35] can stay consistent. Also, make a world
[9:37] map so you can map out the journey your
[9:38] characters take and then you're good. I
[9:41] know it's a lot, but there's a reason
[9:44] why pro mangaka have folders upon
[9:47] folders of notes. Because if they work
[9:49] for years on these stories, they can't
[9:52] get anything wrong here. Believe me,
[9:54] I've been there. It's very important.
[10:01] Okay, now one last thing before we can
[10:04] draw our manga. I promise. And again,
[10:06] it's something that can really help you
[10:09] out later on.
[10:11] So um
[10:14] how will your manga even look like? Like
[10:17] this or like that or like this or like
[10:21] that or manga pages can look completely
[10:24] different depending on their styles and
[10:26] you need to decide for the exact style
[10:28] that you're going for ideally before you
[10:31] start making your manga. So, here's what
[10:34] I did when I made my new manga. I
[10:37] collected some different manga pages
[10:39] first, and then I analyzed what they all
[10:41] had in common. They all had a lot of
[10:44] grayscale shading, aka screen tones.
[10:46] Don't worry if you don't know what that
[10:48] is. We're going to tackle that later on.
[10:50] They all had really detailed
[10:52] backgrounds. Check. I also need to watch
[10:55] that. Also, the backgrounds were
[10:57] realistic, but the characters still
[11:00] stayed very stylized and anime looking.
[11:02] Not like Vagabond, for example, where
[11:04] even the characters were drawn with more
[11:06] realistic proportions in their face. So,
[11:09] anyway, I tried to fuse all of these
[11:12] things that I like about other manga and
[11:15] tried making my own manga like this.
[11:17] Now, I like to think this worked out
[11:19] pretty well. What do you think? By the
[11:21] way, if you want to learn more about my
[11:23] manga, I explained the plot and I've
[11:25] even made a whole animated trailer for
[11:28] it. I've linked the video at the top.
[11:30] Just give it a watch. Anyway, that's
[11:32] what you should do before you make a
[11:34] manga. Pick some style references and
[11:37] then you're good to go.
[11:40] Okay, steps one and two were a lot of
[11:43] preparation. This is where you start
[11:45] producing your manga. Here's one last
[11:48] challenge to test if you are really
[11:50] ready to start. Maybe just try drawing a
[11:54] manga page before you actually tackle
[11:56] this big project. A page with some
[11:57] characters from your story, different
[11:59] angles, maybe a location in your story
[12:01] just to check if you could really nail a
[12:04] finished manga page. If you struggle
[12:06] here, I've made videos about basically
[12:09] everything now, from how to draw a
[12:11] character in perspective, faces, how to
[12:14] invent your own art style, backgrounds,
[12:16] and so on. But if you really feel ready,
[12:19] then let's go.
[12:22] Okay, I'll keep this part a bit shorter
[12:25] because I literally made videos about
[12:28] all of these steps. In case you didn't
[12:30] know, mangaka don't go directly from a
[12:34] story to a finished manga page. They
[12:36] make a storyboard before that. Always.
[12:40] You need to plan out which pages start
[12:42] out right and which pages start out
[12:44] left, how the panels in these pages are
[12:47] flowing, and so on. If you do not plan
[12:50] this out before, you will regret it a
[12:54] lot. So, yeah, go ahead and draw a
[12:56] storyboard of your manga pages first.
[12:58] Maybe sketch out your first chapter like
[13:00] this. If you have never made a
[13:01] storyboard before, I did make a tutorial
[13:03] on that where you can see how I turn a
[13:06] story into a story board. But if you
[13:08] already know how story boards work, then
[13:10] you know what to do. So, let's move on
[13:12] to the main part.
[13:17] Ah, yes. Drawing the actual manga page.
[13:21] Just a quick heads up, I don't care if
[13:23] you draw this digitally or traditionally
[13:25] with pen and paper. The same things
[13:26] apply for both, namely the different
[13:29] zones. Here's a quick explanation what
[13:31] this means. The outer zones of the manga
[13:34] page will be cut off. That's like 3 to 5
[13:37] mm. If you want to see exactly how that
[13:39] looks like, here's a PDF from my manga
[13:42] that has these marks. That's where it
[13:44] gets cut off while printing. Then you
[13:46] have these borders. That's depending on
[13:48] if you're drawing a left or right manga
[13:51] page. For example, if you're drawing a
[13:53] left manga page, then don't put anything
[13:55] important here because in your finished
[13:58] manga, this part of the page probably
[14:01] won't be visible anymore. So, yeah,
[14:03] while drawing, don't put any speech
[14:05] bubbles or important things here. But
[14:07] that's why you've made a storyboard, so
[14:10] you won't have to worry about where to
[14:12] place things anymore. You've already
[14:14] planned that ahead. And oh yeah, the
[14:16] part in the middle is the safe zone. It
[14:18] doesn't matter what page you're drawing,
[14:20] this part is always safe. Usually, manga
[14:23] cars have this special manuscript paper
[14:25] that includes all of these markings. And
[14:27] that's also what I've used for my
[14:29] traditional manga pages. I can only
[14:31] recommend it. And if you want to know
[14:33] where I got my paper, my ink, my pens,
[14:36] and so on, they are all linked on my art
[14:38] supply list. By the way, that's what I
[14:40] have a website for, so you can check it
[14:41] out. There's also lots of other
[14:43] important stuff like paneling, timing,
[14:46] especially when you're drawing fight
[14:47] scenes, effects, like sound effects. But
[14:50] all of this depends on which kind of
[14:52] manga you're drawing. But if you need
[14:54] any help, like I said, I have a whole
[14:57] playlist with all of this stuff in
[14:59] detail, from paneling to sound effects.
[15:01] This manga paper is also really
[15:03] important for the next step because if
[15:06] you want to ink traditionally with a pen
[15:08] and nib like pros do, regular printer
[15:11] paper will probably bleed. Manuscript
[15:14] paper won't. Now, speaking of inking,
[15:18] [Music]
[15:22] again, you probably know the drill. You
[15:24] sketch out a manga page and then you ink
[15:27] it. You can totally ink with liners, but
[15:29] the problem here is that liners fade
[15:32] when you erase over them. That's why you
[15:34] see pro manga always use special pen nib
[15:37] and ink for manga pages. Now, I will
[15:39] warn you, handling these is not easy.
[15:43] The learning curve is steep. It is
[15:45] expensive and tedious, but it's also an
[15:48] incredible amount of fun. There are
[15:50] different nibs with special abilities,
[15:52] and I use them for basically all of my
[15:55] artworks. Now, again, if you are new and
[15:57] you want to learn about every detail
[15:59] when it comes to inking, especially with
[16:01] pen nibs, again, I've made a video on
[16:04] how to handle them and how to ink in
[16:06] general.
[16:10] Okay, in case you did not know, manga
[16:12] isn't just shaded gray like it looks at
[16:16] first glance. These are actually not
[16:18] just flat gray areas, but they are tiny
[16:21] dots. And this effect is called screen
[16:24] tone or toning for short. To me, that's
[16:26] kind of what makes the difference
[16:28] between a black and white comic and an
[16:30] actual manga. At least when it comes to
[16:32] the finishing touches. However, if
[16:34] you're a traditional artist, don't do
[16:36] it. Traditionally, you're doing it with
[16:39] screen tone foil that you need to stick
[16:41] onto your paper and then cut into place.
[16:43] And don't get me wrong, manga pages like
[16:45] this can look incredible, like the ones
[16:48] in My Hero Academia. These are drawn
[16:50] traditionally and also toned
[16:52] traditionally, but these things are way
[16:55] too expensive. Instead, just scan in
[16:58] your manga pages using a scanner and
[17:00] some free software like MS Paint. If you
[17:03] need my settings, I showed them on
[17:05] screen. Then crank up the contrast and
[17:07] then just shade it digitally. Don't
[17:09] worry, you can also convert it into
[17:11] screen tones. Believe me, this way it's
[17:13] much less of a headache. And I could
[17:15] also scanner.
[17:16] >> What app is that? Which software are you
[17:18] using? Oh. Oh, yeah. Right.
[17:21] >> So, yeah, you're done producing your
[17:23] manga pages. Congratulations.
[17:26] This is taking months to get done, but
[17:28] it's worth it. Okay, after all this
[17:30] time, let's make a manga out of these
[17:33] manga pages.
[17:36] [Music]
[17:38] [Applause]
[17:39] [Music]
[17:42] Okay, so obviously you don't add the
[17:44] text by hand. You add the text digitally
[17:46] after scanning your manga pages. And
[17:48] here is a quick crash course on that.
[17:50] You want to download a font called Anime
[17:53] Ace. A download link is down in the info
[17:55] box. You can literally use any free
[17:58] software to add text, but there are a
[18:00] couple of things to look out for. First,
[18:02] leave some space in your speech bubble.
[18:04] Ideally, your text should have equally
[18:07] as much space to breathe on each side.
[18:09] Now, next, I personally like it when
[18:12] your text has a similar shape to the
[18:14] bubble itself. So, instead of this look
[18:18] right here, try formatting it more like
[18:20] that. It has a nicer shape to it. Again,
[18:22] that's how pros do it. And I think it's
[18:25] overall a lot more pleasing to look at.
[18:28] And now, these are your finished manga
[18:31] pages with text and all. You could
[18:33] actually print them like this, but most
[18:36] printing companies actually want a
[18:38] full-on PDF. In that case, you need one
[18:42] more step.
[18:47] There are special layouting softwares
[18:49] for making an actual PDF. I'm using
[18:52] Adobe Inesign for this. It's pretty
[18:54] self-explanatory. Opening a new document
[18:56] in your desired size, placing the pages,
[19:00] and boom, you're done. I actually prefer
[19:02] placing my text in this layouting
[19:04] software rather than on the pages
[19:06] themselves. But this is just a matter of
[19:08] preference. Placing it in in design is
[19:10] the more professional workflow though.
[19:12] And then from here on out, you can
[19:14] export it as a PDF. And boom, you're
[19:16] done. Here's your finished PDF ready to
[19:19] be printed. Oh, and what's still missing
[19:22] is your cover. And it's as simple as
[19:24] that. You make your illustration either
[19:26] digitally or traditionally. You scan it,
[19:29] you add some font as your title, and
[19:31] that's it. Your printing files are
[19:34] ready. Okay. Now, what's next?
[19:41] Ready
[19:44] for the final step? Let's publish your
[19:46] manga. Now that you have a finished PDF,
[19:49] you could either go to a publisher
[19:52] because they could print it and sell
[19:53] your manga in bookstores and online. But
[19:56] the problem is that they might change
[19:58] your story or let you redo it from
[20:00] scratch. Or instead, you could print it
[20:03] on your own, sell it in your own online
[20:06] shop, and maybe publish it that way.
[20:08] There are a lot of things to know about
[20:10] this. Lots of downsides, lots of
[20:13] upsides. And if you want to know
[20:15] everything in detail, again, I've made a
[20:18] video on how to publish your own book. I
[20:21] would just copy and paste everything
[20:23] from that video here. So again, just
[20:25] watch that video if you want to know the
[20:27] details. Before you leave and watch that
[20:29] though, this video absolutely broke me
[20:31] and it would be nice if you subscribe to
[20:33] the channel. I'm making a lot more
[20:35] videos like these very soon. All right,
[20:38] it was a pleasure helping you guys out.