Manga Discussion What are your wishes for the future of the manga industry?

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

I feel like most new gen Shounen manga are kinda generic and the plot aren't that interesting.

I just wish that there's more Seinen manga like Berserk and Kingdom where the plot are actually interesting.

And let's not talk about modern Isekai. Most are hot garbage with the same cliche plot (harem, overpowered MC, and medieval tropes recycling) which turns off some folks like me.

My personal idea for future mangaka that is gonna invest in writing manga is to not follow the tropes I listed above and actually write a thematic story that is engaging and original.

I feel like a new twist on an old concept like Spy x Family could be good. By this, I mean a previously unseen (or at least rare) take on an old concept.

Take bullying in manga for example, which is a super common theme. It is a story usually done in a revenge/thriller genre and can be both infuriating (due to the cruelty of the bullies) and satisfying (when the bullies get visited by karma). I am following three stories in this regard right now.

The first one is Juujika no Rokunin:

It's a sadistic story on the running to be the most violent manga ever written. It angers me at times since the author really knew both how to create characters we don't want to get hurt and how to create callous villains who are vile beyond redemption, but I just can't have enough of reading it.

The second one is Juvenile Offender:

A Korean Webtoon/Manhwa with a smart MC out for vengeance against the bullies that destroyed him and his entire family. It's to the point and so far a satisfying story that I look forward to every week.

However, both stories involve the victims themselves taking matters into their own hands. Be that as it may, there are revenge/thriller stories that take a rare twist on the bullying genre: involving the adults.

There was this Japanese film called Confessions, released in 2010:

The story involves a middle school teacher whose only daughter is brutally murdered by two of her students. One a prodigious psychopath, another one a perennial loser. Due to lax Japanese laws about teenage crime, both got off with a slap on the wrist. So, she decided to avenge her daughter in the most ruthless way possible. I remember liking the film because of its rare take on the bullying genre and because it managed to present itself not only as a compelling revenge thriller but also as an exploration of motherhood and the bond between mother and their children. Teachers vs Violent Highschoolers is nothing new, but Confessions took it to its most extreme logical endpoint.

It wasn't until years later that I found a compelling revenge thriller that involves adults and bullying in "Is the bully bad, or is the bullied me bad?":

The story is about a taciturn teacher who was cruelly bullied as a high schooler to the point where he suffered permanent scars all over his body and became a recluse. After a class reunion, he found out that most of his bullies are now living a normal and/or successful life, whereas his chief bully, an ardent believer of the strong eats the weak, is now a successful banker. He decided then he could no longer live with this injustice, so he began his path of revenge. To make things more interesting, he is now the homeroom teacher of the daughter of his chief bully and she is currently suffering as a bullying victim, just like he was in the past.

And then I recently found a manga similar to this, which is also the third revenge story I currently follow. It's called Maria no Danzai:

Pretty, isn't she? Kind and popular, too, among her students as "Saint Maria of the Infirmary." What most people didn't know about this drop dead gorgeous school nurse with nigh-infinite benevolence is her only son was viciously bullied to death when he was a middle schooler, so she decided to infiltrate the high school the bullies go to in order to give them proper judgement. This is a story in the same vein with Juujika no Rokunin, with an interesting MC you want to root for and a gang of merciless villains you just cannot help but hate.

I actually don't mind reading more mangas where it's the adults who take charge over delivering retribution toward bullying done in the past. An interesting story, I think, would be something like this: a father who is a black ops operative specializing in torture and interrogation. A wife and two kids, normal family on the outside. His wife knows what he does, but keeps his secret. He tries to be a decent dad whenever he isn't out on a mission and in general has a good rapport with his family.

What they don't know is their oldest kid got bullied by a bunch of budding psychopaths in school but kept quiet, to the point where, one day when he is far away on a mission, the bullies' brutality caused the death of the kid. It broke the family apart, and his wife took their other kid away after a divorce.

He immediately discovered what really happened to his kid and then prepared to kill the bullies off, but, on the way, he realized that killing the bullies off would not be really satisfying, since his kid still won't come back and his family is already split. So, he decided to make them feel what he feels by deciding to, instead, destroy their lives.

The bully who is also an aspiring athlete? Can't aspire for nothing after his visit.

The bully with a normal "parents + kids" household? Won't be so normal anymore.

The pretty/handsome honey-trap bully? Won't be so pretty after meeting him.

The bully with a loving single mom? Oooops.

Heck, make the main bully the kid of some high-ranking politician with plenty of strong bodyguards to make the father's journey of revenge a lot more challenging.

Just my two cents.

BROOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I thought I was the only one who reads Juujika no Rokunin in this forum, glad to see another fella with good taste. As expected from Crane-san.:cheers:

 

[The White Crane]

I feel like most new gen Shounen manga are kinda generic and the plot aren't that interesting.

I just wish that there's more Seinen manga like Berserk and Kingdom where the plot are actually interesting.

And let's not talk about modern Isekai. Most are hot garbage with the same cliche plot (harem, overpowered MC, and medieval tropes recycling) which turns off some folks like me.

My personal idea for future mangaka that is gonna invest in writing manga is to not follow the tropes I listed above and actually write a thematic story that is engaging and original.

BROOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I thought I was the only one who reads Juujika no Rokunin in this forum, glad to see another fella with good taste. As expected from Crane-san.:cheers:

:cheers:

I wanna avoid spoiling you the manga in case you haven't read every chapter of JNR like I have, so how far have you read it, mate?

And if you like heavy stuff ala JNR, you should definitely try Maria no Danzai (if you haven't already).

And, also if you haven't already, there is this challenging new manga called Saihate ni Madou that I'd like to recommend.

 

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

:cheers:

I wanna avoid spoiling you the manga in case you haven't read every chapter of JNR like I have, so how far have you read it, mate?

And if you like heavy stuff ala JNR, you should definitely try Maria no Danzai (if you haven't already).

And, also if you haven't already, there is this challenging new manga called Saihate ni Madou that I'd like to recommend.

I caught up with JNR. Fantastic manga until a certain point....

Haven't seen Maria no Danzai yet so I might check it out. I did see Saihate ni Madou though....

 

[The White Crane]

I caught up with JNR. Fantastic manga until a certain point....

If you mean the final arc of pre-TS, I can't deny that the aforementioned arc has more PIS than even Marineford.

Haven't seen Maria no Danzai yet so I might check it out. I did see Saihate ni Madou though....

By "see," do you mean you've read it or have you simply glanced at it?

 

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

If you mean the final arc of pre-TS, I can't deny that the aforementioned arc has more PIS than even Marineford.

Yeah that.

By "see," do you mean you've read it or have you simply glanced at it?

Just a peak at it.

 

[The White Crane]

Yeah that.

The writing of that arc is indeed an atrocity. It's like Shiryu wrote it so carelessly not because he had to, but simply because he could.

Post-TS is decent, tho.

Just a peak at it.

You're in for a ride, then.

Post automatically merged: Oct 6, 2023

@Warchief Sanji D Goat Before I forgot, is it okay if I PM you from time to time to talk about Juujika?

 

[PeperLevi]

Since OP is a low-quality product,i'm convinced that the manga industry needs more new forays into the pirate genre.
This is the list of things a potential new pirate-themed manga needs to do to succeed in everything OP failed to do:
-Focus on the adventure theme,without ever deviating from it. What makes OP incapable of telling proper adventure stories is that it is a stupid shonen that follows the stale trend of a stupid protagonist who wants to be the best at whatever the theme of his universe is,and have a overbearing presence in the story that turns all the potential of his universe into a big joke. A true pirates story should focus on the characters getting involved in politics-centered plots and supernatural-centered plots in order to fullfil their ambitions,without tying anything to wanking a obnoxious protagonist. For a manga about pirates to deliver this,it needs a protagonist of greater quality than condom-boy.
-Make the most of every character. Lolda's ability to imagine countless characters becomes useless because he never knows what to do with them. A pleasant pirates story should have a ideal number of characters,without bloating the story with more things than the author can handle,and give them all roles with satisfactory lenght and conclusion. The story shouldn't be biased towards any character,and there should be the right balance between their successes and their failures in their goals. To succeed where OP failed,a new manga about pirates shouldn't do the assholery of using the hierarchy of a group of characters as a excuse to limit their roles in the story,like Lolda does with condom-boy's gang.
-Have the same quality in writing and showing in details fights,battles,power systems and power scales as manga like HunterXHunter and Jujutsu Kaisen. In OP,fights and battles are sometimes brief clashes,sometimes never shown in details,the contexts and goals of the fights are stupid,the choreography and use of the abilities and powers during the fights are poor,and the power system and power scale are mediocre. Fighting power is the way to make it in the pirates world,so a pleasant manga about pirates needs to put efforts into writing it.
-Be faithful to the meaning of being a pirate. Condom-boy's gang lives in a world where people don't follow any laws,but they always gets angry when civilians suffer because of it. They are always victorious in their journey,with zero slump times. Deaths are a irrelevant thing in their story. Every plotline they take part in is always unserious when,realistically,it should be on the edge. Pirates are people who reject society's rules to do as they please,so they shouldn't care about things like the suffering of countries full of losers and people with sob backstories. In a pirate life,there is never a guarantee that you will succeed at your goals,but times of struggle and suffering are guaranteed. Deaths are inevitable in the life of a peaceful civilian,and in the life of a pirate it is even worse. The world of pirates is unforgiving,so every situation in this lifestyle should be on the edge. In a manga about pirates,the characters should behave like real criminals without helping people they don't care about,have a fair share of both successes and slump times,have relevant deaths in their story the whole time,and realistically live on the edge during every plotline.
-Have a strong female cast. The whole female cast of OP falls into the sexist and misogynistic vision of women. Since that's not a good thing,a pleasant manga about pirates should make its female cast both feasts for the eyes and engrossing,powerful and self-reliant characters.
-Make the lawmen not a joke. In OP,the navy and government are pathetic in fighting against piracy. They either fail to get any job done when fighting piracy,or never fight against it at all due to their complicated policies. Bounties are meaningless in OP,as Lolda never did any plotline about a bounty hunter hunting a character with a bounty on his head. A story about pirates is no excuse for lawmen to be a joke. After all,protagonists can't be effective without villains who are effective in living opposing them. In a future manga about pirates, the lawmen should be effective antagonists and the bounties and bounty hunters should be important in the story.
-Have great animal characters who never water down. Before the time-skip,Chopper was a great animal character. But after time-skip,Lolda threw away any plans he might have had to make him even better,to turn him into a living plot device and soulless cash grab. This is not how animal characters should be written. If a future manga about pirates is supernatural enough to have animal characters,the author must make them loveable,entertaining,powerful and self-reliant,and always develop them for the better.
-Have a outstanding art style. People may not want to read a manga if they don't like its art style. I'm that kind of person. A new manga about pirates needs a beautiful and clean art style to please everyone.
-Be written and illustrated by different people. Writing and illustrating a manga alone may not be effective when you want to create a long-running series. The author can develop health issues at any time,causing the manga to go on a permanent hiatus or the author to die,leaving the story unfinished and its fans saddened. A future manga about pirates should have the format in which the author writes the story for someone else to illustrate. This way,the story can last a long time without the author pulling a Togashi or Miura on us,and its success can inspire more manga authors to publish their stories with this format.
@Light D Lamperouge @NikaInParis @The White Crane @Devilbat @lee33
@matt245 @JoNdule

 

[K!NG HARA$H!MA]

Manga is dying with our generation imo


Hyper-Zoomers are more into Tik Toks and Shit

 

[Blackbeard]

Since OP is a low-quality product,i'm convinced that the manga industry needs more new forays into the pirate genre.
This is the list of things a potential new pirate-themed manga needs to do to succeed in everything OP failed to do:
-Focus on the adventure theme,without ever deviating from it. What makes OP incapable of telling proper adventure stories is that it is a stupid shonen that follows the stale trend of a stupid protagonist who wants to be the best at whatever the theme of his universe is,and have a overbearing presence in the story that turns all the potential of his universe into a big joke. A true pirates story should focus on the characters getting involved in politics-centered plots and supernatural-centered plots in order to fullfil their ambitions,without tying anything to wanking a obnoxious protagonist. For a manga about pirates to deliver this,it needs a protagonist of greater quality than condom-boy.
-Make the most of every character. Lolda's ability to imagine countless characters becomes useless because he never knows what to do with them. A pleasant pirates story should have a ideal number of characters,without bloating the story with more things than the author can handle,and give them all roles with satisfactory lenght and conclusion. The story shouldn't be biased towards any character,and there should be the right balance between their successes and their failures in their goals. To succeed where OP failed,a new manga about pirates shouldn't do the assholery of using the hierarchy of a group of characters as a excuse to limit their roles in the story,like Lolda does with condom-boy's gang.
-Have the same quality in writing and showing in details fights,battles,power systems and power scales as manga like HunterXHunter and Jujutsu Kaisen. In OP,fights and battles are sometimes brief clashes,sometimes never shown in details,the contexts and goals of the fights are stupid,the choreography and use of the abilities and powers during the fights are poor,and the power system and power scale are mediocre. Fighting power is the way to make it in the pirates world,so a pleasant manga about pirates needs to put efforts into writing it.
-Be faithful to the meaning of being a pirate. Condom-boy's gang lives in a world where people don't follow any laws,but they always gets angry when civilians suffer because of it. They are always victorious in their journey,with zero slump times. Deaths are a irrelevant thing in their story. Every plotline they take part in is always unserious when,realistically,it should be on the edge. Pirates are people who reject society's rules to do as they please,so they shouldn't care about things like the suffering of countries full of losers and people with sob backstories. In a pirate life,there is never a guarantee that you will succeed at your goals,but times of struggle and suffering are guaranteed. Deaths are inevitable in the life of a peaceful civilian,and in the life of a pirate it is even worse. The world of pirates is unforgiving,so every situation in this lifestyle should be on the edge. In a manga about pirates,the characters should behave like real criminals without helping people they don't care about,have a fair share of both successes and slump times,have relevant deaths in their story the whole time,and realistically live on the edge during every plotline.
-Have a strong female cast. The whole female cast of OP falls into the sexist and misogynistic vision of women. Since that's not a good thing,a pleasant manga about pirates should make its female cast both feasts for the eyes and engrossing,powerful and self-reliant characters.
-Make the lawmen not a joke. In OP,the navy and government are pathetic in fighting against piracy. They either fail to get any job done when fighting piracy,or never fight against it at all due to their complicated policies. Bounties are meaningless in OP,as Lolda never did any plotline about a bounty hunter hunting a character with a bounty on his head. A story about pirates is no excuse for lawmen to be a joke. After all,protagonists can't be effective without villains who are effective in living opposing them. In a future manga about pirates, the lawmen should be effective antagonists and the bounties and bounty hunters should be important in the story.
-Have great animal characters who never water down. Before the time-skip,Chopper was a great animal character. But after time-skip,Lolda threw away any plans he might have had to make him even better,to turn him into a living plot device and soulless cash grab. This is not how animal characters should be written. If a future manga about pirates is supernatural enough to have animal characters,the author must make them loveable,entertaining,powerful and self-reliant,and always develop them for the better.
-Have a outstanding art style. People may not want to read a manga if they don't like its art style. I'm that kind of person. A new manga about pirates needs a beautiful and clean art style to please everyone.
-Be written and illustrated by different people. Writing and illustrating a manga alone may not be effective when you want to create a long-running series. The author can develop health issues at any time,causing the manga to go on a permanent hiatus or the author to die,leaving the story unfinished and its fans saddened. A future manga about pirates should have the format in which the author writes the story for someone else to illustrate. This way,the story can last a long time without the author pulling a Togashi or Miura on us,and its success can inspire more manga authors to publish their stories with this format.
@Light D Lamperouge @NikaInParis @The White Crane @Devilbat @lee33
@matt245 @JoNdule

@Topi Jerami

 

[Devilbat]

Since OP is a low-quality product,i'm convinced that the manga industry needs more new forays into the pirate genre.
This is the list of things a potential new pirate-themed manga needs to do to succeed in everything OP failed to do:
-Focus on the adventure theme,without ever deviating from it. What makes OP incapable of telling proper adventure stories is that it is a stupid shonen that follows the stale trend of a stupid protagonist who wants to be the best at whatever the theme of his universe is,and have a overbearing presence in the story that turns all the potential of his universe into a big joke. A true pirates story should focus on the characters getting involved in politics-centered plots and supernatural-centered plots in order to fullfil their ambitions,without tying anything to wanking a obnoxious protagonist. For a manga about pirates to deliver this,it needs a protagonist of greater quality than condom-boy.
-Make the most of every character. Lolda's ability to imagine countless characters becomes useless because he never knows what to do with them. A pleasant pirates story should have a ideal number of characters,without bloating the story with more things than the author can handle,and give them all roles with satisfactory lenght and conclusion. The story shouldn't be biased towards any character,and there should be the right balance between their successes and their failures in their goals. To succeed where OP failed,a new manga about pirates shouldn't do the assholery of using the hierarchy of a group of characters as a excuse to limit their roles in the story,like Lolda does with condom-boy's gang.
-Have the same quality in writing and showing in details fights,battles,power systems and power scales as manga like HunterXHunter and Jujutsu Kaisen. In OP,fights and battles are sometimes brief clashes,sometimes never shown in details,the contexts and goals of the fights are stupid,the choreography and use of the abilities and powers during the fights are poor,and the power system and power scale are mediocre. Fighting power is the way to make it in the pirates world,so a pleasant manga about pirates needs to put efforts into writing it.
-Be faithful to the meaning of being a pirate. Condom-boy's gang lives in a world where people don't follow any laws,but they always gets angry when civilians suffer because of it. They are always victorious in their journey,with zero slump times. Deaths are a irrelevant thing in their story. Every plotline they take part in is always unserious when,realistically,it should be on the edge. Pirates are people who reject society's rules to do as they please,so they shouldn't care about things like the suffering of countries full of losers and people with sob backstories. In a pirate life,there is never a guarantee that you will succeed at your goals,but times of struggle and suffering are guaranteed. Deaths are inevitable in the life of a peaceful civilian,and in the life of a pirate it is even worse. The world of pirates is unforgiving,so every situation in this lifestyle should be on the edge. In a manga about pirates,the characters should behave like real criminals without helping people they don't care about,have a fair share of both successes and slump times,have relevant deaths in their story the whole time,and realistically live on the edge during every plotline.
-Have a strong female cast. The whole female cast of OP falls into the sexist and misogynistic vision of women. Since that's not a good thing,a pleasant manga about pirates should make its female cast both feasts for the eyes and engrossing,powerful and self-reliant characters.
-Make the lawmen not a joke. In OP,the navy and government are pathetic in fighting against piracy. They either fail to get any job done when fighting piracy,or never fight against it at all due to their complicated policies. Bounties are meaningless in OP,as Lolda never did any plotline about a bounty hunter hunting a character with a bounty on his head. A story about pirates is no excuse for lawmen to be a joke. After all,protagonists can't be effective without villains who are effective in living opposing them. In a future manga about pirates, the lawmen should be effective antagonists and the bounties and bounty hunters should be important in the story.
-Have great animal characters who never water down. Before the time-skip,Chopper was a great animal character. But after time-skip,Lolda threw away any plans he might have had to make him even better,to turn him into a living plot device and soulless cash grab. This is not how animal characters should be written. If a future manga about pirates is supernatural enough to have animal characters,the author must make them loveable,entertaining,powerful and self-reliant,and always develop them for the better.
-Have a outstanding art style. People may not want to read a manga if they don't like its art style. I'm that kind of person. A new manga about pirates needs a beautiful and clean art style to please everyone.
-Be written and illustrated by different people. Writing and illustrating a manga alone may not be effective when you want to create a long-running series. The author can develop health issues at any time,causing the manga to go on a permanent hiatus or the author to die,leaving the story unfinished and its fans saddened. A future manga about pirates should have the format in which the author writes the story for someone else to illustrate. This way,the story can last a long time without the author pulling a Togashi or Miura on us,and its success can inspire more manga authors to publish their stories with this format.
@Light D Lamperouge @NikaInParis @The White Crane @Devilbat @lee33
@matt245 @JoNdule

Tbh I'm not sure I want a pirate manga with a shounen vibe. To me, pirates aren't especially nice people, they're breaking the laws to achieve their goals. If I have to think in terms of media, Black Lagoon and that lawless island the main cast spends most of their time probably is the closest to what I would expect from a pirate manga.

 

[Cruxroux]

- Stop Sexualising woman's with abnormal proportions.
- Pedophile stuff is not funny anymore.

 

[Bisoromi Bear]

SPOOILLEERRSSS

 

[Monster Zoro's Tesla Supplier]

- Stop Sexualising woman's with abnormal proportions.
- Pedophile stuff is not funny anymore.

Pedophile stuff was never funny.

 

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

-Have a strong female cast. The whole female cast of OP falls into the sexist and misogynistic vision of women. Since that's not a good thing,a pleasant manga about pirates should make its female cast both feasts for the eyes and engrossing,powerful and self-reliant characters.

Yeah this one irritates me the most. It's not just OP, this applies to every other Shounen as well.

It seems like most Japanese mangaka have a problem creating good female characters. Them being strong in a fight is not a problem, it's about how they are written.

Kishimoto is a perfect example of how NOT to write female characters.

Frieren and Maomao are what well written female MCs are supposed to be.