
This year, members of the SMA Editorial Department visited Los Angeles, California to participate in Anime Expo 2024! Anime Expo began in 1991 and is the largest anime and manga related event in North America, with approximately 392,000 participants in 2023! This year, as well, we were impressed by the sheer number of participants, as well as the number of events and panels offered.
People flooded the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center this year, which was decorated with posters and banners advertising new and upcoming anime. Many visitors made the effort to come in cosplay, and the Editorial Department was impressed with the thought and effort everyone put in!
The Editorial Department was also amazed by the skill displayed in the Artist Alley, where artists from all over North America sold fan art, as well as original creations.
Japanese Manga Editors Industry Roundtable (July 6th)
On the third day of the Expo, the CEO of Kumamoto COAMIX Inc. and the Chief Editor of the SILENT MANGA AUDITION® Committee, Shuichi “Mocchi” Mochida, and Editorial Department member Eve participated in a Roundtable discussion about current trends in the manga industry.
The panelists discussed the growing markets in Korea, Taiwan, and North America, but emphasized that Japan is still by far the largest market for manga. However, the panel noted that there are growing opportunities for overseas creators, especially after the advent of digital manga. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the vast majority of manga consumption in Japan now takes place digitally. With more spaces open on digital platforms, and a great variety of genres being published online, overseas creators have more opportunities than ever before to get their works published in Japan!
After the roundtable discussion, there was time for individual questions from audience members, which included past SMA participants! Aspiring manga artists from all four corners of the continent came to ask questions, and the SMA team gave impromptu critiques of their works! Here were some of the questions and takeaways:
Is it possible for my work to be published in a manga magazine in Japan one day?
Yes! Many manga magazines now employ overseas creators, so you could have your work serialized in Japan one day! However, if you want to live in Japan and work for a manga magazine, it’s important to be able to speak and understand Japanese at a high level.
Is it possible to get published in Japan while still living in my country?
Yes, this is also possible! Before, you had to live in Japan to be published there, but now that video conferencing technology is widely available, it’s becoming more common for people to be published while working remotely!
What is more important when coming up with ideas for manga, the world or the characters?
The characters are 100% more important. Interesting characters are the lifeblood of manga!
What is the most important thing when designing manga characters?
The eyes! The eyes are the windows to the soul. It’s important to be able to draw a variety of different eyes that can express many different emotions.
It was inspiring to meet so many talented and passionate creators. We’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who came to the roundtable discussion, as well as to everyone who came to Anime Expo 2024! We hope to see you (and your works) again soon!
Learn more about how YOU can join the Artists Village and create manga with us!