PROFILE Name: Enewald Age: 17 Country: Finland Favorite manga: “ONE PIECE” Favorite movie: “Laputa: Castle in the Sky” Entry title: “Blossom” Round: SMA15 “Moments of  CRYING, SMILING, or LOVE” Award: Grand Prix Runner-Up

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“…In case you are struggling with coming up with a story, thinking about your own life can be a source of inspiration!”

  About SMA

• How does it feel to win a SILENT MANGA AUDITION® award? I’m so happy! I feel honored that the judges read and evaluated my work. It makes me smile when I think about it.

• What was the inspiration behind your winning work? I heard from a friend in school that their sister was moving out, and my friend felt very sad about it. I thought that it was interesting, because at the same time one of my own sisters was moving out, but I didn’t feel too sad (don’t get me wrong, I do love my sister ;D). That made me think about what kind of relationship I have with my siblings, and I came to the conclusion that it would feel awkward crying and sobbing once they leave. So, I made a story about that.

 

READ ENEWALD’S SMA15 ENTRY HERE!

 

• What challenges did you face while making your manga? How did you overcome them? The part that worried me the most was the panel layout. That is because I think that small changes in it, like panel size, camera angle or the speed at which the story proceeds, will influence the way the reader feels the story. And, in the end, all that matters is what the reader feels. I haven’t overcome that challenge yet, but what I think will help is simply practicing and studying other manga’s layouts.

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  About your Manga

• How and when did you start making manga? Any advice for beginners? I made my first manga for an art class back when I was 12. The assignment was to create a comic of at least four pages. My oldest sister had had the same assignment a couple of years prior, and my art teacher had been incredibly impressed by it. I guess I was a little jealous, which made me start drawing and practicing more seriously. My advice for beginners is to try to create short stories first, and make sure to finish them.

• What was the first manga you picked up? “Scary Lessons” by Emi Ishikawa. I “took” them from my sister’s bookshelf.

• Which manga changed your life? “ONE PIECE!” Well, actually it was the anime – which is based on the manga. It came on TV when I was young, and I loved it!

• Which manga character do you most identify with? Why? Tobirama Senju. I dislike all Uchihas.

• What kind of manga do you want to make next? I’m working on a story involving a cat. One of our cats recently died, so, in some sense, by putting them in a story I wanted to make them live on.

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  About Enewald

• What do you do when you’re not making manga? How do you relax? I love listening to music, reading manga and watching science and math videos on YouTube!

• What industry do you work in (if manga making isn’t your primary job?) I’ve recently graduated from high school, and I will be studying for the next couple of years as well. However, I have worked at an ice cream stand.

• Where do you see your manga career in 5 years’ time? I’m not sure. My goal is to get serialized, but I don’t know enough about the manga industry to be able to give a realistic answer. In five years’ time I hope to be significantly closer to this goal.

• What advice would you give to people entering the SILENT MANGA AUDITION®? In case you are struggling with coming up with a story, thinking about your own life has certainly helped me. Good luck!

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Thank you, Enewald! We’re eagerly expecting your future masterpieces and hope that you’re in HASTE to join us by entering SMA17! You have time until 31st January to WOW the readers and have a chance to develop your potential as a manga creator with us in Japan!