Today, I’m going to introduce my current favorite manga!! Among the countless books and series available in Japan, there is one particular gem that I want to recommend to the people of the world! This manga… “Days”! “Days” is about a complete soccer newbie, who nevertheless decides to join the prestigious soccer club at his high school. The story follows his growth, the bonds he forms with his teammates, and the intense matches with his rivals! When I was a student, I dreamed of becoming a pro soccer player, so this manga really reminds me of my youth! My dear readers, here is my summarization of “Days” and a few extra comments for those of you who want to draw your own manga!    ———————————————————————————— Tsukushi Tsukamoto is a junior high school student who is often picked on. Just before he starts high school, he meets Jin Kazama, a genius soccer player, who invites him to play a friendly game of futsal. Tsukushi is really clumsy, but he runs around like crazy and manages to score. In that moment, he discovers both the joy of having teammates and the excitement of scoring a goal, and he becomes hooked on soccer. Later, he finds out that he and Jin happen to be going to the same Seiseki Highschool. “Days” is the story of Tsukushi’s struggles and growth, together with his new teammates, after he joins the prestigious soccer club at his new school! ————————————————————————————   The main idea behind this story is that a complete beginner discovers the joy of soccer and decides to play. In addition, the school that he goes to happens to have a very strong team. At first, Tsukushi and the other beginners have zero ball skills. But through hard training, Tsukushi discovers something that he can do better than anyone else… running around. Tsukushi has great stamina! He keeps on moving, and although he doesn’t specifically plan it out, he sometimes finds himself in a good position to help his team. Of course, since his school has a strong team, most of the regular players are extremely talented. However, with a combination of hard work and modesty, Tsukushi eventually gets their attention and his overall presence on the team increases. It’s not that he suddenly becomes brilliant at soccer overnight, but rather that he discovers his own strong point, and makes use of it. The readers see how he improves slowly over time, with lots of hard work, and they can’t help but cheer him on. For manga artists, creating distinctive characters is extremely important. As an example, let’s take a look at Tsukushi’s characteristics: 1. He’s weak, but kind, so he tends to get picked on. 2. He joins a prestigious soccer club with only beginner level ability. 3. He doesn’t have good ball skills, so he just runs around. 4. He works harder than everyone else. 5. He is very humble. These characteristics draw the reader in and are directly related to the pleasure that the reader gets out of the story. The protagonist has both strong and weak points, which makes him more realistic, and helps the readers identify with him. Naturally, the protagonist’s teammates and the aces from the other teams also have their own idiosyncrasies, adding further flavor to the story. When you’re drawing a manga, the first step is to decide “What kind of characters do I want to draw?” It’s important to draw a character that you also find interesting! Once you’ve created an amazing character, he’ll take on a life of his own, and the story will move along naturally.   「CREATING JAPANESE MANGA 101 WITH MOCCHI & TAIYO」 Next time, I’ll be introducing some of the techniques used to sell manga!! Do you like sports manga? What’s your favorite? Does Days sound like something you would read? Please leave your comments below!