Winning many the heart of fans is a dream and a mission all manga creators face. An excellence award winner of SILENT MANGA AUDITION® 7 is a Hungarian girl who already has many fans from the state side. Now winning the heart of SMA Judges, she’s confident and determined to continue her manga creative mission! How can a girl become so strong to achieve such feat? Let’s ask the first Hungarian SMA Award winner for more vital tips! Hello, Lüleiya!

---

• ABOUT YOU

  Could you please begin, by introducing yourselves “using only three words”? Passionate, ambitious and dreamer!   “I had many manga fandoms and decided to create Doujinshi for fun.”   How did you begin creating manga? Like many girls, my initial inspiration came from “Sailor Moon”. Later on, I had many fandoms like “Dragon Ball” and “Pokémon”, but the biggest one was definitely “Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle”! By reading CLAMP works, I decided to make my Manga. I started creating Doujinshi just studying CLAMP’s artworks and CLAMP’s Manga pages. First of all, I wrote the script, made a very rough Name, then adding the details, inking and toning. By doing this, I came to understand that creating a Manga is like directing a movie: you hold the camera and imagine each panel how it will look better. Did you sell your works in events? I discovered Manga thanks to a friend of mine. With her, we decided to create a Manga anthology and selling it on paper in huge European events like “Japan Expo” in Paris. Before it, I used to create my Manga to be sold online through a personal website. Mostly, the buyers were from America because of the English dialogues in them. My longest Doujinshi “Lüleil” had around 150 pages and took me six months to complete the job. My nickname came after it. It is a made-up word in an elf-like language, meaning “beloved”. Did you study from other sources, like “how to create Manga” books? At one point I had a “How to draw Manga” book, but it didn’t help me very much. I used to study what was in front of me and learning whatever is up there, trying to incorporate all those things into my style. In the end, I came up with my actual art and page setting style.  

• ABOUT YOUR PLACE

“Budapest nature and climate are the best environments to me.”   What do you like the most by living in your country? I live in Budapest. I love the nature and environment here, also the beautiful hiking trails and forests in the countryside. I love going to lake Balaton, which is our most important local summer vacation spot.   How do you mange your creative habits? Right now I work as a full-time graphic designer at a big company, so in the most work days I am at the office from 9 am to 6 pm. I walk my husky before and after work, and when I have time/energy, draw something in the evening – generally though I prefer to draw on the weekends. How is the local manga scene? I’m not aware of massively successful local comics yet, but western comics, as well as manga, are pretty popular among readers.  

• ABOUT YOUR ENTRY

“Join SMA was a personal challenge.” Congratulations on the great result! How was creating for SMA7? When I read the round theme for the first time, I didn’t feel that could match with my art. I felt troubled because I had no idea how to incorporate “food” into the story I wanted to tell. But after thinking it a lot, I finally came up with a story that expresses human emotions and connections, with sweets as the key item. I decided to take part in SMA7 because it came to me at a very particular moment of my life. At that moment, the only thing I wanted to do was to prove myself that I was capable and could reach a goal if I wanted to. 
“I have to challenge myself. I have to put myself out there. I cannot give up”, that was what I kept repeating in my mind during the days after the SMA7 theme’s announcement. It took me around two months to write the script, plan the pages, inking, toning. How did you know the SILENT MANGA AUDITION® in the first place? The very first time I heard about it was during a “Japan Expo” in 2012, I think. I was there with my dear friend and MASTERCLASS member Inma R.. By seeing her works and also by sharing together the happiness of winning an international Manga audition, I decided to join the competition as well. Several years later I thought it was finally the right moment and wanted to take part in the upcoming round no matter the theme.   Why the Paris setting? What I wanted most was to show a town immediately recognisable by any reader around the world and with a “food” association. Paris and Eiffel Tower seemed like the best choice. But maybe there is more. The link between my Manga setting, SMA and Paris. I have been there several times, and I like the city so much!  

• ABOUT YOUR FUTURE

“I want to become a professional artist!” What are your future expectations? I want to make a living off of my art. Whether it’s drawing comics, doing illustrations, concept art, etc. I don’t have a firm idea yet about which direction I should take. I want to try myself out in several areas to find my true calling. I hope to get feedback and suggestions from SMAC! editorial team on how to develop myself further, and maybe work on a project together in the future. I want to enter another SMA competition too, to hopefully win a higher award, get into MASTERCLASS and travel again to Japan. 
Winning motivates me a lot to develop myself in general and enjoy what I love doing the most: drawing! Anything else you want to share with the community? I want to thank the committee for the opportunity to take part in such a fun contest and all my followers for supporting my work over the years! <3  

---

Thank you very much, Lüleiya!
We are hoping to see your name again in the next SMA8 Manga Award winning list! Her love and passion for Paris, supported by the strong friendship of fellow artists and fans gave her the strength to create the SMA7 winning manga. Do you think you have passionate connections like her, or perhaps you are that supporter to someone who is challenging themselves? SILENT MANGA AUDITION® welcomes all fans and challengers to show their work to some of the best talents in Japanese manga production circles! SMA8 “Fair play” round is accepting entries until September 30th. Show the world your determination, and we look forward to welcoming you or your favourite talent in this interview hopefully followed by a face-to-face meeting in Tokyo 😉 See you next time!