of stories and shorts
Categories: anime, manga
Tagged: heart's content, moe:meido
21 Comments »
So for the past few months, Sixten and I have been chugging along (literally, thanks to the 53 people who submitted input on how Sixten should draw trains) on Heart’s Content. Here’s an update from my point-of-view.
I talked about my involvement with Heart’s Content once before, and not much has changed in that respect. I’m still the writer, and I’ve actually got the first introductory arc kinda done. I also have more than just that finished– I’ll get to this later– but I wanted to share a few things I learned from this creative process. But, first a quick primer:
Heart’s Content is a school that trains potential future haremettes. These students will one day star in their own manga and/or anime series. So this school would have classes on how to approach a typical harem moment or sing cheesy pop songs. It would also offer majors like being a meido or a tsundere. Now, there are other schools just like Heart’s Content that focus on other things. One of these schools trains pilots for giant robots. The main character of Heart’s Content, Eric, was a student at this pilot academy before he transferred to Heart’s Content. Why would he do such a thing? You’ll find out as the comic progresses. (Hint: he’s not a Lulu All-Star.) Along with Eric is a cast of haremettes, both classmates of Eric as well as past graduates of Heart’s Content.
Okay, here a few things that I learned so far in this creative process:
1. I’m reading. I’m reading a lot more. I mentioned during the final March Madness match that one thing I really respected from Gurren Lagann was that it was a complete and whole story that just came out of nowhere (now we know it came from the desire to sell robot toys, but whatever). People argued that degree of difficulty shouldn’t be used to judge an anime. I disagree. Degree of difficulty is used in every subjective Olympic event, like diving and figure skating. Also, racking my brain trying to think of dialogue or think of a way to logically tie a story together, well, it’s not easy. There’s really only two ways to go about:
A. Do a good job, put in the time, and refine.
B. Deus ex machina to the rescue!
(You can probably guess which one Sunrise picks. Over and over again.)
But back on my original point of reading, I wrote that there’s no school or book out there that really teaches one how to write for a comic. It is it’s own unique style. I come from a non-fiction writing background, plus the only fiction I ever wrote was poetry (remember, I used to do weekly haikus on this blog). So… not exactly a lot of help. Therefore, I read. Like anything. Right now, I’m reading Pratt’s SuperFoods. The last book I finished was a book about classical music.
2. Blog… version -1. Before blogs, people kept their thoughts and notes to themselves on “paper” using “pens” and “pencils.” Sometimes, they make a mistake, and they have to use an “eraser” for a “pencil.” If they used a “pen,” they would have to use “white-out.” They’re kinda like the backspace key, only they require more work. I personally enjoyed “white-out,” or, more specifically, sniffing this substance. So one big reason why I’m reading more books (and manga) is that when I see something I like, I jot it down as a note. Later, when I need inspiration or whatever, instead of licking toads, I either go read the notes in my little notebook or I start sniffing the white-out. Both equally effective.
3. Quality only comes with practice. Sixten wrote a post recently comparing his drawings from the past two years or so. He improved. He drew a lot (more than you see on just his website), and he improved. Writing is the same way. I just hope a year from now, I’m not doing stuff to the plot like bringing back dead characters or having Sixten draw a series of ass shots because I’ve written myself into a corner.
(Quick, depressing analogy: you remember Final Fantasy Tactics? You know how characters can change jobs, but, when they do, they have to start at level 1? That’s me. I was a level 20 black mage suddenly dropped to being a level 1 white mage. You also know from that game that even though you can make characters change jobs, it doesn’t mean it’s the best job suited for them. Who knows, I might be better suited as a thief.)
4. At some point, to create a believable world, you must create your own vocabulary. You can either do a fantastic S+ job like J. R. R. Tolkien or a very, very mediocre job like Darker Than Black. I used to make fun of Darker Than Black for its ridiculous jargon. No more. I fully appreciate the difficulty of the task. I have never written “haremette” as much as I have. Ever. And I write posts like this one.
5. I went to pretty much every Ric Myer panel at Fanime. I left with this kind of feeling: there’s a small market for manga. There’s a smaller market for Americans pretending to make comics that resemble manga. One thing he said is that everyone wants to make a comic, and what is going to separate you from the next guy? Especially when the market is so small? Great question. I don’t know. But sometimes, you don’t need to be able to see the ending.
(You know what, if we can make Heart’s Content even half as enjoyable as The World God Only Knows, I think we’re in a good shape.)
6. Because I write faster than Sixten can draw, I felt like a closer who hasn’t been in a save situation for a while after wrapping up the first story. I’ll get rusty without practice, so I decided to write a series of short stories (mostly filler-type stuff) for Heart’s Content.
So I’d like to announce that we have a brand new information site about Heart’s Content. There, you’ll find brief character bios as well as the start of the first chapter of the manga as well as the first chapter of one of my short stories. Enjoy.
Okay, this has been a long-winded post (even for me), but I’m almost done. A couple of quick notes:
– We don’t have a lot of stuff posted yet. We’re working on it. Right now, Sixten pretty much codes the whole site by hand. We hope to get chapter two of the short story ready by this weekend and chapter three on July 4th. Nothing says “Happy birthday, America” than a story about haremettes.
– I don’t want to get into a discussion about the story or why characters do this or that. At least not yet and not before the first chapter or two of the manga is available. Right now, we’re basically tossing you into the fire, but we need victims beta-testers.
– Why, yes, I did toss in in-jokes for people who regularly read this blog. Maybe not the best of ideas.
21 Responses to “of stories and shorts”
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Huzzah! Yet another person who can empathize with how tough it is to be a writer. I do like sniffing the white-out. Or sharpies. Or spray paint. Depending on whats on hand. Damn toads are too scarce out here. I am currently writing a play that is going to (hopefully?) be produced and my college. And a webcomic that is struggling out of it’s infant stages. (Yep, looking at it…its one of those wannabe mangas that are done by Americans -_-.)
Well at any rate looks good, and I am eager to pick it apart like $unri$e works looking for logic breaks and whatanot because I keep telling myself I have nothing better to do. Sally fourth!
TOADS ARE HARDCORE!!
I loved the idea of this story when you first made your post about it awhile back, and now I’m happy to see its actually coming to fruition. It sounds like a hilarious plot, and maybe someday if I’m lucky someday when I’m 40 I’ll see your manga has been finally adapted to an anime by Kyoto Okawari Studios.
Heh, those scented pens were my sniffing poison.
Actually, I read your first short story… I’m legitimately impressed at how well you can switch between analytical/humorous writing to fictional. Suffice to say, you have an interested reader already. (And, I at least caught the Rickroll reference. :P )
Oh yeah jason…totally digging the avatar for author, almost as ego-centric seeming as mine. I loled.
Please tell me “page_05_01.jpg” is not meant as an indication of the sort of resolution planned for comic pages. I mean, that’s just a thumbnail, right? Right??
Might I recommend a read to you: Maid wo Nerae. It’s a manga published in Dragon Age Pure Magazine, written by Mattuu and Tsubaki Asu (The author/artist combo responsible for He is My Master). The idea is that this one guy ( a relative of HiMM’s lead) is running a school training a variety of women how to be maids, with a 100% employment rate (because he employs all graduates who don’t find employment elsewhere) and the main characters are two girls: One who comes to the school seeking to create her own personal harem of slaves, and another who comes to create her own personal harem of little sisters (imouto). They attend various classes including things such as “neko-mimi-maid” and so forth. It’s as funny as He Is My Master, and filled with 100% pure Yuri, so symetrical docking and various other moe modes abound.
everyone wants to make a comic, and what is going to separate you from the next guy?
The strawberry marshmallow flavoring. And Miao-Sensei. No other American comic has both.
And a webcomic that is struggling out of it’s infant stages.
Link please. It’s always nice to see how others with similar ambitions are doing.
if I’m lucky someday when I’m 40 I’ll see your manga has been finally adapted to an anime by Kyoto Okawari Studios
With assistance from H.C.Staff.
Oh yeah jason… totally digging the avatar for author, almost as ego-centric seeming as mine.
I put up a picture of twintailed little sister Miao-Sensei at first, but Jason told me to replace it with a male combat butler. A good artist follows instructions.
Please tell me “page_05_01.jpg†is not meant as an indication of the sort of resolution planned for comic pages.
Our working resolution is approximately 5 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall at 300 pixels per inch in keeping with certain printing standards. Don’t worry.
How do we volunteer to be victims?
(Difference: Beta testers need to do stuff like run into every wall. Victims d/l the demo, finish all the quests. Whine any bug coming their way without properly detailing it. And then wait for the next char wipe/new job added)
This sounds awesome, pure genius. How have I totally missed any mention of it? Looking forward to future chapters.
“Link please. It’s always nice to see how others with similar ambitions are doing.”
Hell, this thing has been on hiatus for a while, and my artist is off doing other things. I need to finish up the website and get it up before anything can see the light of day…Christ. Well knowing that you guys are chugging along (with advice on how to draw trains no less) somehow motivates me.
Do I spy with my little eye the influences of Mako-cakes and traps?
Poor Er-…..Erica.
Looking forward to seeing how this’ll all pan out!
Well, not that I need to, but here, and here.
Everyone involved in that project moved on to better things, sadly.
Everyone involved in that project moved on to better things, sadly.
Your team has pro-level skills. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “better things” they moved on to involved breaking into the industry. Jason and I however, we’re still getting to that level.
>> Maid wo Nerae
Mattuu and Tsubaki divorced, and both this and HiMM are on hiatus.
>> Do I spy with my little eye the influences of Mako-cakes and traps?
Wait until Sarah starts singing Watashi no Kare wa PI-LEE-TOE.
Heh. Your guy’s (Sixten+Jason) looks very good. We only got a two man team on ours plus the sorta almost no-time editor. Oh wait, so do you guys… We have been frozen up for too long, I got no excuses…. And damn Skrib- that is some nice shit. My artist is AWOL and I am gonna go pounding down her door tomorrow. I’ll be sure to have something to show for it by the next time you talk about this project….Right now what I got isn’t capable of seeing the light of day… Oh yeah I haven’t said this yet but, you are very good Six. Pffft my artist is good but…. zero motivation. Jason, you got any tips to help me out in this regard? Heh?
Oh yeah. I see Sanae’s bread shop… why are there so many customers in there?!?
Cute girls selling bread of course.
Don’t sell yourselves short. You’re very good.
And speaking from experience, breaking into the industry is not as romantic as it sounds like.
>> Heart’s Content’s mission is very specific; it is to train thousands of young women (and now, one man)
So all the Itsukis and Rolos just have to make their own way in the world? (I suppose that’s for the best, so they don’t get too much encouragement. Though I’m sure there would be an ample supply of a humorous two word names for their school )
The full cast shot on the character bios page is lovely, but it kinda gets in the way of seeing the character pictures and reading the bios when clicking through them all, since depending on the size of monitor sometimes you can’t see the pic/bio at all. Maybe just have it on the cast landing page, or add named anchor tags to just above the character images then add #*anchor name* on the end of all the character links?
Finally, you can tell it’s Sixten’s art – no cup size above a B – :p
I couldn’t help but repost one of Sixten’s 4komas:
Shoot, I fail at HTML;
Here.