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HELLO, SMA23 AWARD WINNER, pileofants!

SMA Editorial Dept. SMA Editorial Dept. 19/03/2026 17 min read

PROFILE

Pen Name / Name: pileofants
Country: United States
Social media profiles: Instagram: @pileofantsss
Age: 24
Favorite manga: Whatever I’m reading right now (the actual answer is Fullmetal Alchemist)
Favorite movie: Perfect Blue
Favorite quote: “You are the most beautiful ship in the world.” – Aircraft carrier USS Independence to Italian Navy ship Amerigo Vespucci
Entry title: “space walk with me”
Round: SMA23 “My Dream”
Award: Excellence Award

“Stop being scared to suck! The only way you get better at things is by failing at them for a long time.”

About SMA

How does it feel to receive a SILENT MANGA AUDITION® award?
Uh, really crazy. I had to reread the email notification a lot because I was like, “no way, my eyes are just sore.” Actually seeing my stuff on the SMA website felt a bit surreal. I’m super happy, but I’m also super motivated to do even better next time!

What was the inspiration behind your awarded work?
I started by thinking about dreams that everybody has as a kid. I’m pretty sure everybody has said, “I want to be an astronaut!” at least once as a child. However, I can reasonably bet that most of us aren’t astronauts. So what happened? Most people probably changed their dream and found other paths that more aptly matched their interests and situations, but maybe some really went down the path of astronaut training. Not everyone who trains can become a pro, though. I remember this game I played once years ago (although I forget the name) had a subplot about a man who always wanted to be a pilot and trained for it for years, only to find that he couldn’t achieve his dream because he was colorblind. To be so devoted to your dream and then denied it because of circumstances outside of your control is very tragic. What if someone’s dream was to see Earth from above, but their physical condition prevented them from ever doing it? What if they had to watch someone else achieve what they never could? Could they move on? That became the basis of the story.

What challenges did you face while making your manga? How did you overcome them?
The time limit + my current drawing ability = oh no oh god oh no. I had to draw faster than expected, and the ending was visibly rushed, which the judges noticed (I’m sorry!). I did learn new methods of saving time while drawing, so I’m excited to use them in my next project. I also had to do a lot of research on space technology, as I wanted the training sections and the spacecraft itself to feel real. I cheated a little bit at the end, though. A space station camera isn’t really approachable like that. Sorry to whoever was reading from the international space station. You must get nice WiFi.

READ pileofants’ Awarded Work HERE!


About Your Manga

How and when did you start making manga? What do you wish you knew as a beginner? What advice would you give to someone who wants to start drawing manga?
I started back in elementary school. I used to doodle comics where I inserted myself into the worlds of different shows like Pokémon or Sailor Moon. I thank God every day that I was too dumb to use the internet back then, so there’s no public record of those. If I had to give advice to my younger self, I would say stop buying sketchbooks with fancy paper. You don’t need it. Scrap paper is fine. Also, do more life drawing! You will not learn how to draw the human body just by drawing magical girls! The only other advice I could give a beginner is just to practice observing stuff other than manga. Read/watch/play stuff that inspires you and gives you different perspectives, so you aren’t overly imitating other manga artists. Read more indie comics, too!

Do you draw your manga digitally or by hand? What are your go-to digital or analogue tools?
Right now it’s all digital. I have a second generation iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil. I use Clip Studio Paint for comics, but, when painting, I’ll use other programs like Procreate and Heavypaint, too. I’d like to get back into traditional inking, though. I just love the feeling of a nib pen. I don’t like not being able to hit undo, though.



What was the first manga you picked up? Is it easy to access manga where you live?
The first manga I picked up was Pluto by Naomi Urasawa. I got it at my local library. I didn’t understand a lick of it because I was like nine, so I picked up Tokyo Mew Mew and was capable of reading that. Manga is getting easier and easier to read around the world, both in print and online through apps like MangaPlus. Despite that, I still see many series that look interesting but haven’t been translated yet, which sucks. The world needs more manga and bande desinée translators!


Which manga changed your life?
I don’t know if I can pinpoint any single work that changed my life. When I kind of dropped off on drawing comics for a while to study illustration, the work that got me back into wanting to make manga was Chainsaw Man. I just read it because I was looking for a fun action series (which it is!), but behind the action, there was this unsettling aura, as well as a fear and sadness at the core of the world. There was a sense that even these powerful, near-invincible characters were still emotionally weak and longing for something. It was both very surprising to me and very relatable. I want to make something that gives off those contradicting but emphatic emotions.

Which manga character do you most identify with? Why?
I don’t know if this counts, but Ritsu Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100. I identify with his insecurity at being less skilled than his brother, as well as his mix of pride and envy that his brother can use psychic abilities while he cannot. He feels like he can never escape being ordinary, when that alone is a gift. Oof. I’ve always liked characters who are overshadowed. Also, Kaiji from Kaiji. I think we all feel like Kaiji sometimes—minus the finger amputation. I won’t elaborate on that.

What kind of manga do you want to make next?
I want to make too many—that’s the problem. Independent publishing is hard enough for written books; trying to independently publish comics is even harder. The American comics industry is still dominated by large companies with shared universes, so it can be difficult to break in if you are an indie artist who wants to make a series that isn’t complete in a single volume. Graphic novels for children have been experiencing a boom, but it can be a bit difficult to convince traditional publishers to support a series aimed at mature audiences. I also don’t think I work fast enough, yet. I do have a concept I’m sketching now, though, about a forensics team in a world with superheroes. It’s less like The Avengers and more like the show House. I hope to at least make it into a one shot, then hopefully bang on the doors of some publishing houses, slip it under their doors, and run away before they see me.

About You

What do you do when you’re not making manga? How do you relax?
I wish I could say something cool like, “Without drawing, I am nothing,” but I’m probably gaming or watching shows of questionable quality on Netflix. I also read a lot of manga. I like finding something secret that I feel like few others have found yet. I also like the feeling when the series you’ve followed for a while suddenly gets noticed and adapted; that’s pretty great, too. I also try to make music. I’m not good at it, but music is important to me. Maybe I should make a comic about making music.

What industry do you work in (if manga making isn’t your primary job)?
My current goal is to get work in the TV animation industry making background art. I like storytelling through the details of an environment. Right now, I work a couple of jobs in sales, and I assist at a local art gallery. I’m also trying to get a teaching certificate to teach art at public school. Plus, I have a coffee job… Wow, what a stereotype.


Where do you see your manga career in five years time?
I really don’t know. I just want to create more stories—any stories. I have years of stuff on the back burner just waiting to actually be drawn. Also, I want to create longer stories with multiple chapters. They don’t need to be published or anything. I’ll print them myself on office paper at Kinko’s if I have to. I like to check out local zine events where that’s pretty much the standard. Being published would be really amazing, though.

What manga making advice would you give to your younger self if you could?
Stop being scared to suck! The only way you get better at things is by failing at them for a long time. You shouldn’t wait to get good at drawing in order to draw a comic, since drawing a comic is a great way to force yourself to improve quickly. The only way to learn is to fail. Please don’t see failing as something so terrible. Failing is the path forward.

What advice would you give to people entering the SILENT MANGA AUDITION®?
I think the biggest thing to remember is that the story is more important than the art. You can create really nice illustrations, but comics aren’t just a series of unrelated pictures; they’re more like a movie where every scene should flow into the other. Even if you think your story isn’t that creative or unique, the way the characters experience it and express emotion can be. That’s what ties it to the reader. I can’t relate personally to a warrior leaving his home to fight the demon lord, but I can relate to the joy his lover feels when he returns alive—something like that.

Thank you, pileofants! We’re eagerly awaiting your next manga masterpiece!

The deadline to join SMA24 is May 10th. Enter for a chance to develop your potential as a manga creator with us in Japan! 


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