Here’s the video:   Hojo sensei has some very encouraging words he wants to tell us!!

“SILENT MANGA AUDITION 2015, The theme is “Mamma(Mother)”. It may be a little difficult, but all of us judges, are very much looking forward to the pieces drawn by you. You have one more month left, please do your best!”

Thank you very much, Hojo sensei! Now onto the main topic! We talked about “Exaggerating” and “Surprising” in character creation. The last, and possibly the most important, is

“Sympathy”!

Let’s look at some examples! How about “the most adventurous, BUT an intelligent professor”? This is an already great character, but may be a little too perfect as a person… So! We add elements like “Afraid of the snakes” or “Annoying cynic”! These “weak spots” are, what makes a human, human. The very elements, you feel sympathy with. Let’s take a look at some more examples! The world’s “Greatest detective” , but “Never leaves home”, and…     The world’s “Fastest Driver”, but “A school kid with no license”, and… Also, “He is lazy”, so “He became fast, because he wanted to go home early” ! It can be a personality, a habit, a complex, or just looks… with any “weak spots”, your character will feel much more like a real person, that you can sympathise with. “Exaggeration” and “Surprise” may overlap, and may be a little farfetched. But the “Sympathy”, is something that is much closer to the reader. If you want your character to be loved, remember he needs to have that weakness. A perfect character, is an unlovable character. People just don’t like that. GOT IT!? Use the three elements, “Exaggeration”, “Surprise” and “Sympathy”, to create characters, and think of moments, little episodes with them. Send it to our Facebook page, and show us! We can and do give you advice on that. Next time, we are talking about “The Character Image Board”. See you next time! Bye bye!