'Manga Inspired'

[kibbleking]

I was browsing the free gifts section of Madman and I was about to select Bondi Tsunami as mine until I read the review, which says "the adventure of four punked up manga inspired surfers" and frankly the term "manga inspired" makes me want to stab somebody in the face. Happens a lot in fashion magazines as well, where they talk about an "anime inspired" collection or makeup look. Really? Inspired by which anime? What the hell does it even mean? *flips table*

Discuss.

[Username]

http://fructis.garnier.ca/en/product_fs.asp?product_id=26
http://www.mangalife.com/news/MangaHeadbyGarnierFructis.htm

[AtheistMonk]

That stuff was in our showbags at Manifest '07

[kibbleking]

Oh my god, they spelled "rules" with a 'z'. Even worse.

[x.Almasy.x]

I feel like I'm going to vomit now.

[AtheistMonk]

I think that's a nice touch =[

[Avi]

I think the Garnier gel gets away with it. There are manga hair styles that would be impossible to do without it, or glue... And unlike glue, you can wash that stuff out. But yeah, I haven't seen it on the market in a while.
As for Bondi Tsunami, I get the feeling it's actually an art house experiment in tourism promotion. They visit most of the Big Things around the country, as well as some of the more remote places that NSW's government is desperately trying to get people to go and look at.

But the term itself is really starting to piss me off as well.
I get clients for OzTAKU saying they're after a "manga" look, when what they actually mean is a western illustration that would sit right at home in most Marvel comics, because "manga" has basically become the marketing buzzword that allows you to charge substantially more for graphic design work, even if you can't actually draw it.
Anyone remember that travesty of design that was the 7-11 brand of phonecards? Yeah, totally because someone in marketing had a nephew that says they could draw "manga".

[kibbleking]

I think 'Harajuku style' should be lumped in with these awful terms.

*edit* I don't remember which company sells this product, but I remember recently seeing an ad for 'anime eyes' mascara.

[mish]

QUOTE (kibbleking @ Dec 7 2009, 08:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"anime inspired" collection or makeup look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nJXK5EJEQA
At least she does it with class...and is cute...

[Dudegirl]

QUOTE (AtheistMonk @ Dec 7 2009, 08:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That stuff was in our showbags at Manifest '07

An fine example of the 'Manga Inspired' look, using none other than Garnier's "Manga Head":



The real reason manga style anything is popular is because it takes almost zero actual talent. You learn the basic pattern and repeat it ad infinitum and call it "character art." I'm sure for this reason it's very cheap for companies to use for illustrative purposes- rather than a decent render, they pay guys to draw like four lines to represent a human face. That way, everyone at every level becomes addicted to the fundamental shittiness and oversimplicity of manga inspired art/whatever.

Why draw a Da Vinci sketch when you can feel like a stud drawing a perfect reproduction of a picture of Goku in under 5 minutes?

[AtheistMonk]

What a flattering photo of a man that really needs a shave.
lkshlkasdsadad

[pdgeorge]

It's simpler for stupid people who arn't familiar with things to group everything that is similar enough to it together and label it with the same name as if they are all the same thing. It works sometimes, but other times (like this, video games and the internet) when you group so many things together, they stupidly group so many different things together, assume its all the same thing and just stick with it. Getting confused when something pops up and it doesn't fit into their stereotyping of whatever it is, or flat out saying 'that isn't *blank*! I know *blank*! *blank* Is like *this*! You are wrong!'

[Pure-hikari]

I used that Manga Head stuff for my Yuna hair. (Worked really well too.)
@Atheist; Hawt hair.


The term Manga Inspired does make me quite ill.
Seems that Manga and Anime are more poplar than Japan itself.

[BlaznAzn]

QUOTE (kibbleking @ Dec 8 2009, 01:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think 'Harajuku style' should be lumped in with these awful terms.

*edit* I don't remember which company sells this product, but I remember recently seeing an ad for 'anime eyes' mascara.

That's pretty funny considering that Osamu Tezuka's illustrations were inspired by the makeup of the Takarazuka Revue.

QUOTE (Dudegirl @ Dec 16 2009, 12:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

An fine example of the 'Manga Inspired' look, using none other than Garnier's "Manga Head":



The real reason manga style anything is popular is because it takes almost zero actual talent. You learn the basic pattern and repeat it ad infinitum and call it "character art." I'm sure for this reason it's very cheap for companies to use for illustrative purposes- rather than a decent render, they pay guys to draw like four lines to represent a human face. That way, everyone at every level becomes addicted to the fundamental shittiness and oversimplicity of manga inspired art/whatever.

Why draw a Da Vinci sketch when you can feel like a stud drawing a perfect reproduction of a picture of Goku in under 5 minutes?

Every comic book should be a work of Renaissance art. Only the intelligent can appreciate the baroque and any beauty found in austerity is the product of a simple mind. Making things complicated is more difficult and more noble than making things simple. More and more effort needs to be put into comic art because it's too accessible. Western comic books went in the right direction by going from weeklies to bi-monthlies to monthlies. But they should have more time put into them so we can have more shiny CG and Rob Liefeld. A true master of detail and POCKETSSSSSS.

[Dudegirl]

Agreed.

I want a hug pillow with a manga inspired BlaznAzn printed on it.

[BlaznAzn]

I break into otaku's homes and I slit open their dakimakura pillows and stitch myself inside them. I like they way they dry hump me and call me Etna-chan. I feel less lonely. When they fall asleep and theres a layer of our bodily fluids and cotton between us, I like to sing Nana Kitade songs to them.

[sakaki]

QUOTE (AtheistMonk @ Dec 7 2009, 08:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That stuff was in our showbags at Manifest '07

It was?

[angelic_vampire]

*sighs* In my experience 'Manga Head' or wherever the hell they call it is pretty second rate for any hairstyle that isn't a normal style or Goku-ish.
You're better off getting the gel J-rockers use off ebay, which is actually designed for that and not some cheap Garnier gimmick.

I dunno, I think companies cashing in on it and the look is bad because then we get **** like Totally Spies! on TV and that makes me want to gag when the kids run around going "OMG did you like totally see Totally Spies! It's like OMG the BEST anime eva!" (I kid you not, that comes straight from the Pakenham trainline).

[unagi_no_mimi]

You're better off getting the gel J-rockers use off ebay

Could you/anyone provide a brandname/link?

[sakaki]

"OMG did you like totally see Totally Spies! It's like OMG the BEST anime eva!" (I kid you not, that comes straight from the Pakenham trainline).

I feel like I'm going to vomit now.

[mish]

Totally Spies!

"Is Totally Spies anime?"
"No, because anime is a French word for Japanese animation."

LOL!
So...anyone who makes comics/cartoons and isnt japan...cant be considered anime/manga?

[Betty Page]

I hate it when the ABC calls things like Ergo Proxy "A manga phenomenon". Somebody needs to educate the masses.

[sapphirix]

I was browsing the free gifts section of Madman and I was about to select Bondi Tsunami as mine until I read the review, which says "the adventure of four punked up manga inspired surfers" and frankly the term "manga inspired" makes me want to stab somebody in the face. Happens a lot in fashion magazines as well, where they talk about an "anime inspired" collection or makeup look. Really? Inspired by which anime? What the hell does it even mean? *flips table*

Discuss.

it's really just the stylization of characters... and perhaps some of the story-telling devices. however when you take into account the corporate mass, and the consumer masses (pluralization may or may not be a point) it boils down to an attempt at cashing in on some new fad.

Oh my god, they spelled "rules" with a 'z'. Even worse.

that s**t spelling has been around for ages... at least 6-7 years anyway...

I think the Garnier gel gets away with it. There are manga hair styles that would be impossible to do without it, or glue... And unlike glue, you can wash that stuff out. But yeah, I haven't seen it on the market in a while.
As for Bondi Tsunami, I get the feeling it's actually an art house experiment in tourism promotion. They visit most of the Big Things around the country, as well as some of the more remote places that NSW's government is desperately trying to get people to go and look at.

But the term itself is really starting to piss me off as well.
I get clients for OzTAKU saying they're after a "manga" look, when what they actually mean is a western illustration that would sit right at home in most Marvel comics, because "manga" has basically become the marketing buzzword that allows you to charge substantially more for graphic design work, even if you can't actually draw it.
Anyone remember that travesty of design that was the 7-11 brand of phonecards? Yeah, totally because someone in marketing had a nephew that says they could draw "manga".

yeah, I'll admit that the garnier stuff gets away with it, because it can be useful, and is easy to get...
tourism? yeah, why not. if it works it's good, else they can just drop it later.

back to the consumer masses and such, when people here something like "manga" they immediately think of stuff like DBZ, Pokemon, sailor moon etc. some will think of 'la blue girl' and other not-so-wholesome things that got picked up at the start. but the reality is that fusion which is basically a modification of western comics to show more muscle and angular faces similar to anime/manga is picking up as well. we're no-longer looking at classics like Tin-Tin or Asterix and Obelix, it's the Marvel superheroes in their 'manga-inspired' (fusion ) forms now.
((protip: cash in on it?))
I never got to see those 7-11 brand phonecards... anyone got a pic or something saved for posterity?

The real reason manga style anything is popular is because it takes almost zero actual talent. You learn the basic pattern and repeat it ad infinitum and call it "character art." I'm sure for this reason it's very cheap for companies to use for illustrative purposes- rather than a decent render, they pay guys to draw like four lines to represent a human face. That way, everyone at every level becomes addicted to the fundamental shittiness and oversimplicity of manga inspired art/whatever.

Why draw a Da Vinci sketch when you can feel like a stud drawing a perfect reproduction of a picture of Goku in under 5 minutes?

fundamentally correct. corporate mass, consumer masses. (that arguement of mine is getting over-used and I haven't developed it into coherence )
basically shit is shit because it lacks things... there's this show on digital tv something like super-hero-squad or something
I'd call it shit because it lacks solid story-line, and the characters look like cheap-3D renditions of the original characters. I watched the Iron Man movie and that suit with the red and gold looked awesome because it looked rather realistically human-shaped. then there's an animated series that doesn't look too bad (cell-shaded horribly) again the characters still don't have this shit-simple-sphere-cylinder-sphere-box body.

why do they do it? It's cheap. nuff said. and they don't really care, their audience is little kids. we're expected to watch things like top-gear, two and a half men, the Simpsons, and stuff like that.
like we'd ever listen to them... their drama s**ks.

It's simpler for stupid people who arn't familiar with things to group everything that is similar enough to it together and label it with the same name as if they are all the same thing. It works sometimes, but other times (like this, video games and the internet) when you group so many things together, they stupidly group so many different things together, assume its all the same thing and just stick with it. Getting confused when something pops up and it doesn't fit into their stereotyping of whatever it is, or flat out saying 'that isn't *blank*! I know *blank*! *blank* Is like *this*! You are wrong!'

kinda makes me want to say "the answer is simple then, don't group things, tell others not to group things and it'll all be good"
I know that's not the full case... but perhaps we might start looking there...

QUOTE (kibbleking @ Dec 8 2009, 01:13 PM) I think 'Harajuku style' should be lumped in with these awful terms.

*edit* I don't remember which company sells this product, but I remember recently seeing an ad for 'anime eyes' mascara.

That's pretty funny considering that Osamu Tezuka's illustrations were inspired by the makeup of the Takarazuka Revue.
==================
Every comic book should be a work of Renaissance art. Only the intelligent can appreciate the baroque and any beauty found in austerity is the product of a simple mind. Making things complicated is more difficult and more noble than making things simple. More and more effort needs to be put into comic art because it's too accessible. Western comic books went in the right direction by going from weeklies to bi-monthlies to monthlies. But they should have more time put into them so we can have more shiny CG and Rob Liefeld. A true master of detail and POCKETSSSSSS.

let me finish up here and just refer to the last few posts without quoting. I think I've quoted too much already.

everything has it's origin even renaissance art, which is merely a complication of previous art-styles. renaissance could be called the peak of art because people were getting less afraid of the little bits of taboo, so much so that a lot of things were no-longer taboo.
but beauty can be found in simplicity... I particularly am enjoying Ore no Imouto Ga Konnani Kawaii Wake Ga Nai which has a lot of super-deformed (aka chibi) (one of the trademarks of manga as seen by western community) characters particularly as story-telling and character development devices.

as for Totally Spies! I actually respected it... it wasn't so simple and shitty that I passed it off, instead I used it as a lever to get a couple of people I know to actually consider anime and manga a little more seriously. although one decided it wasn't for them the other watched titles such as tokyo mew-mew and sailor moon. not quite what I had in mind but they're a fan in their own right...

I try and I try not to say manga/anime for all those books in the library but some are, and some aren't. I tend to say cartoons, animation and graphic novels a lot because that's what they are, even anime and manga fall under these broad terms. a good way to palm it off in my opinion.

phenomenon shmenomenon who cares what they say? it's generally only a bid to get you to watch, higher ratings means profits. although I don't know how it works for ABC but whatever.

two things to go...

I have had a rather nice experience with something that falls under the banner of manga-inspired. for those who know Fred Gallagher and his work, he's one of the people who started me down this track, partly because I was told that his comic was actually manga. not true, but it's damn near close enough.
Fred AKA Piro and his manga-inspired/influenced webcomic megatokyo http://megatokyo.com/ inspired me to start drawing and got me to follow a little niche path that came by one day. which led to me being here ranting now ;
on a serious note, check it out, there's books for sale at the store. up to volume 6 now...

last thing... j-rocker hair gel? I tried searching Ebay, but I can't seem to find it, of course that's just australia/english ebay...
if anyone knows what it's called or a brand name... anything that could be used to track it down I'd like to see.

cheers, and grats if you managed to read all that...