telophase: Index to Telophase's Manga Analysis Series

mello hates you (

telophase) wrote,
@ 2010-04-15 14:25:00

Entry tags:

manga_analysis

Index to Telophase's Manga Analysis Series
Hello! If you've come here looking for essays on manga layout and art and links to other sites that talk about it, you're in the right place. I've written some articles for Tokyopop, and these are the essays that started me out in this strange business of being a Web pundit.

Feel free to add me to your friendslist without asking - I don't get offended by that. :D Please excuse me if I don't add you back - it's not because of you, it's because I've got too many journals on my friendslist to keep up with right now and adding more would completely overwhelm me (I do try to at least go and look at your LJ occasionally). You're perfectly welcome to come in, hang out, read, and comment as you choose.

One request: if you comment and you're not a Livejournal member and don't have an OpenID to identify yourself with, please leave a name. I get lots of anonymice making comments on these, and some sort of name or nickname separates your anonymous comment from all the other anonymous comments and makes all of us take you a bit more seriously. ETA: Anonymous commenting is now off, thanks to anonymous commenters who never leave any way for someone to reply to them. It's easy enough to create an LJ for commenting purposes, and if you don't want to, my email address is posted on my LJ profile page.

I, and the other people who comment here, do tend to reply to comments because we're interested in talking about manga with other people, and presumably you are also. Leaving a way for us to discuss with you is common courtesy.

The Series:
Part 1 - What Makes For Professional Manga (Akira Toriyama, DRAGONBALL Z)

Part 2 - Order out of Chaos (Kazuya Minekura, SAIYUKI)
   Part 2.1 - Follow-up to Order out of Chaos, on SAIYUKI

Part 3 - Visual Flow I (Natsuki Takaya, FRUITS BASKET)
   Part 3.1 - Visual Flow II (Natsuki Takaya, FRUITS BASKET)

Part 4 - Action Jackson - Controlling Time (Hiroaki Samura, BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL)
   Part 4.1 - Quick Followup on BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
   Part 4.2 - Combat (Masashi Kishimoto, NARUTO)

Part 5 - Characterization (Obata Takeshi, DEATH NOTE)
   Part 5.1 - Characterization II (Obata Takeshi, DEATH NOTE)
   Part 5.2 - Characterization III (Obata Takeshi, DEATH NOTE)

Part 6 - Aging Characters (Hiromu Arakawa, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, Ashinano Hitoshi, YOKOHAMA KAIDASHI KIKOU) added 10 July, 2005
   Part 6.1 - Aging Characters (Obata Takeshi, DEATH NOTE and HIKARU NO GO) added 11 July, 2005
   Part 6.2 - Aging Characters (Kishimoto Masashi, NARUTO and Ai Yazawa, PARADISE KISS) added 11 July, 2005
   Part 6.3 - Aging Characters Quick Followup added 11 July, 2005

Added 1/8/2008: I ripped apart chapter 118 of Bleach here to see what each page and panel did, and how they contribute to the work as a whole. The analysis itself is in a Google Docs collaborative document: email me for an invite if you want to contribute to it.

Mangatalk, open threads on various themes in manga.
   Gender issues in manga.
   Plot and story cliches.
   Paneling and repetition in Saiyuki.
American comics in comparison.
Why and how does simple graphic design work? Using Fruits Basket to explore the elements of page composition.
Comparing Fullmetal Alchemist and Saiyuki
Differences in Japanese and OEL shoujo
Covers Comparing the covers of the top and bottom 5 manga in the monthly top 50.
Covers, part 2 Continued.

Manga essays and talk in other journals and websites

I have essays by other Livejournal people on manga analysis saved to my memories here. Many of them are also listed out here, in case Livejournal's memory function isn't working.

Essays on manga by Matt Thorn, a cultural anthropologist who teaches at the School of Cartoon & Comic Art at Kyoto Seika University in Japan.

Livejournal communities:

manga_talk - for discussion and analysis of manga/manwha/manhua/OEL manga, and posting links about same.
homemade_manga - discussion, comments, and criticism of your creative manga work
mangaartists - for anime- and manga-style artists

I'm willing to listen to suggestions for future essay topics, but you'll have a better chance if you ask a question about the process or techniques involved instead of asking for a particular series, since I tend to pick a series that serves as a good example for the subject and not the other way around.

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prettyism
2005-04-15 09:47 pm UTC (link)

I've slowly be going throught the posts, and am awaiting your book on creating comics.^_^ Anyhow I do want to become a pro artist some day. But are these pros just natural brilliant or do they study making comics? I'm having enough trouble just learning how to draw. I'm beginning to wonder if drawing can be learned actually. I don't really think about my panels and pages, if it looks pretty I just got with it.

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telophase, 2005-04-15 09:51 pm UTC (Expand)

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prettyism, 2005-04-15 10:13 pm UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-15 10:30 pm UTC (Expand)

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prettyism, 2005-04-16 04:56 pm UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 05:22 pm UTC (Expand)

	usmangaka 2005-04-16 02:47 am UTC (link)
	Nice. I hope you don’t mind, I added your livejournal to my friends list for easy reference, very informative! ~Luke (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 02:58 am UTC (Expand)

kerbox
2005-04-16 04:35 am UTC (link)

This is wonderful. As a freshman in art college and a hopeful sequential art major, all of this was fantastic to read... very eloquent and enlightening. (I also didn't realize Mello was bullying that kid. x_x; ) It's great to see such appreciation for these fantastic mangaka, and a solid explanation of why they're so good. They really inspire people like me, however they manage it... and you're explanining exactly how. X_x;

(DBZ was my first manga, and BotI and Fruits Basket - which I discovered at once - were the manga that hit me hard enough to change my direction in life and go for art colleges... it's hard telling that to some, but I think you'd understand. XD)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 04:46 am UTC (Expand)

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kerbox, 2005-04-16 04:56 am UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 05:07 am UTC (Expand)

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kerbox, 2005-04-16 05:28 am UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 05:45 am UTC (Expand)

	moranasama 2005-04-16 04:19 pm UTC (link)
	this is wonderful... will take me a while to read though XD thank you!! btw your username worries me shivers (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 04:31 pm UTC (Expand)

	phantomlimbs 2005-04-16 09:40 pm UTC (link)
	Nice. I think the first comparison was a little harsh though. The combat Naruto one was probably my favourite. I think a bit on One Piece would be cool too. I'm not sure what the topic might be... Maybe style or personal iconography? (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-16 10:22 pm UTC (Expand)

_ri
2005-04-17 05:34 pm UTC (link)

You might be interested in this manga analysis I once happened to find.

I've been planning since a while ago to post a bunch of manga sequences in my journal, not really as an analysis but rather to gush about how beautiful and powerful the timing and visual flowing are. xD Maybe I should do that soon.

Will there be more on the subject of characterisation?
Are you familiar with Naoki Urasawa's works? He did Monster, 20th Century Boys - highly acclaimed and multiple award winning authour and imo draws the best facial expressions in manga ever. And he's one of the best at visual storytelling.

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telophase, 2005-04-17 05:45 pm UTC (Expand)

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_ri, 2005-04-17 07:35 pm UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2005-04-17 07:40 pm UTC (Expand)

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_ri, 2005-04-17 09:49 pm UTC (Expand)

	Will Eisner braincraft 2005-05-25 05:32 pm UTC (link)
	would probably be useful reading for you, both his essays and his comic works. He covers a lot of the same ground, in a more general sense. (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: Will Eisner -

telophase, 2005-05-25 05:44 pm UTC (Expand)

The zen of manga -

braincraft, 2005-05-25 05:59 pm UTC (Expand)

Would you do me a favor?

chitatopops
2005-06-29 08:06 am UTC (link)

Hello, telophase.
I'm the guy who posted a comment about the sound effects used in DEATH NOTE.
Do you remember me?

I really like your characterization essay on DEATH NOTE. And I think it's worth reading for other Japanese DEATH NOTE fans, too.

Would you do me a favor?
May I translate your essay and publish it on my weblog( http://chitatopops.net/ )?
I'm anything but an expert with translation, but I'll do my best.

Volume 7 of DEATH NOTE is supposed to be released on July 4th in Japan. So I think it's a good time to do it.
Thank you.

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Re: Would you do me a favor? -

telophase, 2005-06-29 02:00 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Would you do me a favor? -

chitatopops, 2005-07-01 12:23 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Would you do me a favor? -

telophase, 2005-07-01 12:37 am UTC (Expand)

Translation Finished -

chitatopops, 2005-07-30 04:01 am UTC (Expand)

	lilrivkah 2005-10-10 02:41 am UTC (link)
	Woohoo!!!! It's all in one place, now! I missed a lot of this, so now I can read at my leisure. Thanks for posting this. :) (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-10-10 02:45 am UTC (Expand)

	tgreywords 2005-10-15 04:49 am UTC (link)
	Hiya! I'm here from two places, kinda -- one is Kiro's journal, and I realized that you had a LJ and I hadn't noticed it yet. And from DA as well, were I've admired your work for some time now. Anyway, I thought I'd add you, since we both love Saiyuki and we share the same birthday! Cool, huh? :) (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-10-16 05:08 pm UTC (Expand)

	jonquil 2005-10-16 11:41 pm UTC (link)
	Hey. I seem to have fallen off your friendslist, if I was ever on it... could you re-add? Thanks. I'd like to make sure I can order the Super Seekrit Project. (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-10-16 11:48 pm UTC (Expand)

gorbeh
2005-10-17 10:56 am UTC (link)

I'm SO glad I read these before starting my webcomic! Because of it, I started paying attention to things like layout, flow, panelling and such, and it did wonders to the quality of my comic.
Thank you SO MUCH!

Anyway, I've been wanting to write a One Piece manga analysis for a long time now (Focusing on conveying dynamicness through comics), But I'm not so good at writing.... Maybe I'll take a shot at it though. Manga_talk should REALLY be more active. XP

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telophase, 2005-10-17 01:58 pm UTC (Expand)

	ninja_tech 2005-10-31 11:51 pm UTC (link)
	I hope you don't mind that I friended you. I don't have time now, but I would really like to read your analysis series. I can un-friend if you like. Thanks! (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2005-10-31 11:58 pm UTC (Expand)

yukihito
2005-11-17 07:26 am UTC (link)

hello, came across through a google search....
I would like to request, if I may, that you change the "manwha" on the manga talk community to "manhwa", because the former spelling encourages and fosters mispronounciation (and I hate having to listen to someone say it 20 times at a panel ^-^;; )
sorry for bothering you randomly, and if I sounded harsh or insulting or something.... >.<
read your DN article, by the way. good stuff.

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telophase, 2005-11-17 04:29 pm UTC (Expand)

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yukihito, 2005-11-27 03:35 am UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2005-11-27 03:41 am UTC (Expand)

phthoggos
2005-12-26 05:19 am UTC (link)

it seems that you've set up two lj tags: "manga analysis" (which becomes "manga+analysis" and "manga_analysis". might want to combine the two.

Thanks very much for doing them, by the way: i'm learning a lot.

I was startled, by the way, to open the first volume of Fruits Basket and be utterly bewildered by the layout there. I would have thought America's best-selling manga would be more populist and accessible...

(Reply to this)

	matildarose 2006-03-13 01:34 am UTC (link)
	Hate to go to an unrelated post to ask, but lj isn't allowing me to reply in my own lj without crashing the damn thing. >_> Anyway, I think I probably won't be able to come through. Some things came up, and I can't spare the money. ;_; Count me out. (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2006-03-13 01:44 am UTC (Expand)

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matildarose, 2006-03-13 07:51 am UTC (Expand)

	rachelmanija 2006-04-20 10:11 pm UTC (link)
	VIVA MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2006-04-20 10:15 pm UTC (Expand)

	chaosinaskirt 2006-05-19 05:32 am UTC (link)
	completely unrelated, but i saw that you really like arabian nights and let me know if you're interested in a [free] imp :P (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

telophase, 2006-05-19 05:36 am UTC (Expand)

	_boxinghelena 2006-10-03 03:34 pm UTC (link)
	Hi, Sorry to bother you in your journal but I receieved a package yesterday from Texas. An art card with the artist's name( Stephanie Folse) & two imps were inside: Fortunato & Vechernyaya. Someone informed me that you are the artist. Did you by chance send me the imps by accident? This package has me so perplexed. (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2006-10-03 03:38 pm UTC (Expand)

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_boxinghelena, 2006-10-03 03:50 pm UTC (Expand)

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telophase, 2006-10-03 03:57 pm UTC (Expand)

	qcvar 2006-10-09 11:47 pm UTC (link)
	Wow... this is ungodly useful (one of the few times I need to pull out that word). You've definitely given me a pretty good sense of some things it seems like most beginning artists often fail to learn - what makes art "alive" and what makes it easy on the viewers. Thanks so much. (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2006-10-09 11:50 pm UTC (Expand)

	phalanstere 2006-12-30 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Hi there, I found your LJ while googling for manga essays. Then I recognised your name from the DeathNotes essay site. Anyway, thanks for this post. :) mems (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2006-12-30 07:16 pm UTC (Expand)

	celestriad 2007-01-16 04:51 am UTC (link)
	hello! i was referred to your journal by darksumomo... just wanted to let you know that i've friended you. as for things in common... i'm a death note, saiyuki, and kingdom hearts fan. XD even if you don't friend me back, i thought i'd just let you know. :) (Reply to this)

	urbi_et_orbi 2007-03-05 05:40 am UTC (link)
	Hi~ I wandered into your journal from the bento community (: and friended you :3 (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

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telophase, 2007-03-06 04:48 am UTC (Expand)

	painless_j 2007-03-20 09:16 pm UTC (link)
	Came here via a link provided when we newbies to reading manga asked for links in my LJ. Thank you very much! I have read only a couple of your essays so far but I find them very helpful and interesting. Thank you! (Reply to this)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

telophase, 2007-03-20 09:23 pm UTC (Expand)

chomiji
2007-04-05 08:10 pm UTC (link)

I keep coming back here as I read more manga ... I just started Death Note and Vagabond, for example.

I'm wondering if clothing/costume choices would be too big a topic for this sort of discussion. There's the basic aesthetics of it - color choices, how covered or revealed the characters are, and so forth - and then there's all sorts of culturally-based refinements. Example: In some of the later Samurai Deeper Kyo volumes (not available in English yet), a group of characters show up in "yanki"-style clothing, and a friend who knows a lot more about Japan than I do (and speaks Japanese) explained the implications - it said a lot about this family and their relationship with the other members of their clan.

Anyway, this all made me wonder about the sort of clues that the various mangaka are placing that I might be missing.

- Cho

(Reply to this)

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