HELLO SMA18 AWARD WINNER, Thuntopia!

PROFILE Name/Pen Name: Thuntopia Age: 28 Country: Thailand Favorite manga: ONE PIECE Favorite movie: Star Wars Entry title: “Indelible Memory” Round: SMA18 “Moments of HAPPINESS, AFFECTION, or TEARS” Awards: Excellence Award

“Please don’t hesitate; just draw it. If it fails, do it again.”

About SMA

How does it feel to receive a SILENT MANGA AUDITION® award? I’m very appreciative; it feels like “Finally!!” After many previous entries, I received many valuable comments from the judges that helped me correct and improve my manga.

What was the inspiration behind your awarded work? For the theme of passion, I tried to think about unique and interesting hobbies and lifestyles such as singing, drawing, and tattooing. I chose tattooing because it is very charming and is socially controversial in my country, and especially because it helped me create a very cool character.

What challenges did you face while making your manga? How did you overcome them? I decided to create a manga about tattooing, but I didn’t have any information about it. So I searched for many references about tattoos, tattooing and tattoo studios. Then I needed to design a tattooed character. I had many drafts for him.

About your Manga

How and when did you start making manga? Any advice for beginners? I made my first manga when I was in primary school. I was just drawing on used school-notebook paper with a pencil. I changed to drawing with a ball-pen in secondary school, but it was still just a hobby. When I just entered university, I started using a G-pen, drawing oneshots and presenting them to publishers. Now that I am working, I draw digitally and self-publish my manga. My advice is: drawing manga is easy to begin with and even easier to enjoy.

Do you draw your manga digitally or by hand? What are your go-to digital or analogue tools? I started digital drawing 3 years ago. At first I used Clip Studio Paint and Wacom Bamboo, then I changed to Wacom Cintiq. Before that I had used a G-pen.

What was the first manga you picked up? I picked up the 7th volume of Yu-Gi-Oh when I was 9.

Which manga changed your life? I think each manga I read changed my life at a different stage of my life and had a different perspective at that time. The ones that changed my life especially are ONE PIECE (I could see how far imagination can go) The Wonder Boy and Oyasumi Punpun (I learned about other genres besides shōnen and saw how deep manga can go through in my mind). Others worth mentioning are Death Note, Gintama, and others.

Which manga character do you most identify with? Why? Wonder boy from The Wonder Boy. He’s mysterious, charismatic, innocent, cruel, godlike, and humanistic all at the same time. And as for the character design, I really love Enel from ONE PIECE, and Yami-Marik from Yu-Gi-Oh.

What kind of manga do you want to make next? I want to draw manga about Sci-Fi and coming of age, or something about thinking of the meaning of life.

About You

What do you do when you’re not making manga? How do you relax? I read manga, watch anime and movies, and play board games. Sometimes I go to bed. And think about manga I never make.

What industry do you work in (if manga making isn’t your primary job)? I work in a hospital.

Where do you see your manga career in 5 years time? Self-published manga, sold at dōjin-market festival, I guess. I hope I can release a comic book per year.

What manga making advice would you give to your younger self if you could? If you burn out, just take a rest and don’t give up. Travel more, get to know more people, and read more books (except manga). The more experience you have, the wider your perspective is, and the better manga you can make.

What advice would you give to people entering the SILENT MANGA AUDITION®? Please don’t hesitate; just draw it. If it fails, do it again. Comments from the judges are so important. You can learn a lot of manga techniques from SILENT MANGA AUDITION® YouTube channel (me included).

Thank you, Thuntopia! We’re eagerly expecting your next manga masterpiece!

You have time until April 3rd to join SMA19 and have a chance to develop your potential as a manga creator with us in Japan!