What do you think?
Rate this book
Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga
The people who make the World’s Most Popular Manga share their tricks, advice, and secrets!
From Dragon Ball to Demon Slayer , from One Piece to My Hero Academia and beyond, Weekly Shonen Jump has published some of the finest manga to grace the earth. Now, the creators and editors behind several of the most popular manga in Shonen Jump sit down to discuss how to craft exciting stories, how to use your tools to the best of your abilities, and more. Whether you’re getting started on your artistic path or a veteran looking for new tips, The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga is the perfect book to sharpen your skills.
Featuring commentary and advice from Eiichiro Oda ( One Piece ), Tite Kubo ( Bleach ), Shun Saeki ( Food Wars ), Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu ( The Promised Neverland ), Yusei Matsui ( Assassination Classroom ), Kohei Horikoshi ( My Hero Academia ), and more!
From Dragon Ball to Demon Slayer , from One Piece to My Hero Academia and beyond, Weekly Shonen Jump has published some of the finest manga to grace the earth. Now, the creators and editors behind several of the most popular manga in Shonen Jump sit down to discuss how to craft exciting stories, how to use your tools to the best of your abilities, and more. Whether you’re getting started on your artistic path or a veteran looking for new tips, The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga is the perfect book to sharpen your skills.
Featuring commentary and advice from Eiichiro Oda ( One Piece ), Tite Kubo ( Bleach ), Shun Saeki ( Food Wars ), Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu ( The Promised Neverland ), Yusei Matsui ( Assassination Classroom ), Kohei Horikoshi ( My Hero Academia ), and more!
178 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2022
19 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 1, 2025
The best manga making guide out there!
Summary:
This was a very down-to-earth guide that gave great examples and was engaging throughout. There is excellent advice within these pages for any type of creator, but obviously, especially for manga and comic artists.
Full review:
First off, this is a practical guide to making what you love, not a step-by-step how-to guide. This book gives you tips on how to make what you love in ways that work for you, and while this obviously does center on manga as it is from Shonen Jump/Viz Media, a bit of the advice could be used for other creators. Mainly for comics, yes, but some of the advice could work for writers and other artists too.
Particularly, chapter four: When stuck, return to your foundation. Sometimes tearing everything down - after saving everything, of course - and starting from square one again, maybe even from a different perspective, can really help the creative flow of any project. I loved how the prose in the book wasn't dry, lecture-esque, but a conversation between an SJ editor and an inspiring (fictional)maganaka. It didn't just hook me, but kept me engaged through the book, even when their conversations deepened into some technical stuff that normally would have zoned me out a time or two.
While visual aids are nothing new, especially in art books, I particularly liked how even the different sizes of draft paper, tools, etc., were shown. Actually seeing the different sizes of the paper specifically helped me to understand what they were talking about, instead of just having a vague idea, as I learn better by seeing. The multiple two-page manga stories from various artists in multiple genres with the same prompt were amazing to see and really showed how unique the same idea could be from different people.
More so with the big-name mangaka Q&A. Sadly, this was the only thing that did not hold my attention while reading the entirety of its chapter; all the posed questions were the same, and the answers were starting to blend together. However, I got around that by reading one or two of the interviews in between reading the following chapters. So, even though the questions were then familiar, it didn't feel as repetitive when read back-to-back, and I was able to absorb the professional's answers more effectively.
Check out my bookstagram! @Witchy.Otaku
Summary:
This was a very down-to-earth guide that gave great examples and was engaging throughout. There is excellent advice within these pages for any type of creator, but obviously, especially for manga and comic artists.
Full review:
First off, this is a practical guide to making what you love, not a step-by-step how-to guide. This book gives you tips on how to make what you love in ways that work for you, and while this obviously does center on manga as it is from Shonen Jump/Viz Media, a bit of the advice could be used for other creators. Mainly for comics, yes, but some of the advice could work for writers and other artists too.
Particularly, chapter four: When stuck, return to your foundation. Sometimes tearing everything down - after saving everything, of course - and starting from square one again, maybe even from a different perspective, can really help the creative flow of any project. I loved how the prose in the book wasn't dry, lecture-esque, but a conversation between an SJ editor and an inspiring (fictional)maganaka. It didn't just hook me, but kept me engaged through the book, even when their conversations deepened into some technical stuff that normally would have zoned me out a time or two.
While visual aids are nothing new, especially in art books, I particularly liked how even the different sizes of draft paper, tools, etc., were shown. Actually seeing the different sizes of the paper specifically helped me to understand what they were talking about, instead of just having a vague idea, as I learn better by seeing. The multiple two-page manga stories from various artists in multiple genres with the same prompt were amazing to see and really showed how unique the same idea could be from different people.
More so with the big-name mangaka Q&A. Sadly, this was the only thing that did not hold my attention while reading the entirety of its chapter; all the posed questions were the same, and the answers were starting to blend together. However, I got around that by reading one or two of the interviews in between reading the following chapters. So, even though the questions were then familiar, it didn't feel as repetitive when read back-to-back, and I was able to absorb the professional's answers more effectively.
Check out my bookstagram! @Witchy.Otaku
May 31, 2025
Идеальный баланс между мотивационной книгой и учебником с узкой спецификой. Идеальный баланс между книгой для изучающих культуру манги и учебником для художников. Местами жаль, что такая книга вышла на русском, когда я уже набил себе шишек. С другой стороны, даже так я узнал много нового: например, понял, как делать развороты в комиксах! Ну держитесь!
June 28, 2023
First off, lower your expectations.
Is this a guide to making manga? No. There is very little on the nuts and bolts of drawing or writing here.
A big chunk of the book deals with the attitude and mindset needed for making manga, with some tips on how to study, what you should work on, and things you should pay attention to. I think this is useful, if somewhat repetitive.
The best section of this book was on storyboards (names) for a pair of two page stories based on simple prompts. These were drawn by 4 different mangakas and it was illuminating to see their vastly different approaches to the material. The ones focused on creating characters with distinct personalities were the ones that worked best. There’s also some good advice on layouts.
Next is a long section where 16 famous mangakas give short (shallow) responses to survey questions. This section would have been better with more relevant questions. Most are focused on breaking into the industry and working routines. I found the questions on character creation most helpful but there’s not much substance here.
There are a couple sections on tools and specifications, both analog and digital. These are pretty worthless imo, unless you need the precise format for jump.
Araki’s book on theory and practice of manga is comprehensive and far superior to this and you should definitely read that first.
Is this a guide to making manga? No. There is very little on the nuts and bolts of drawing or writing here.
A big chunk of the book deals with the attitude and mindset needed for making manga, with some tips on how to study, what you should work on, and things you should pay attention to. I think this is useful, if somewhat repetitive.
The best section of this book was on storyboards (names) for a pair of two page stories based on simple prompts. These were drawn by 4 different mangakas and it was illuminating to see their vastly different approaches to the material. The ones focused on creating characters with distinct personalities were the ones that worked best. There’s also some good advice on layouts.
Next is a long section where 16 famous mangakas give short (shallow) responses to survey questions. This section would have been better with more relevant questions. Most are focused on breaking into the industry and working routines. I found the questions on character creation most helpful but there’s not much substance here.
There are a couple sections on tools and specifications, both analog and digital. These are pretty worthless imo, unless you need the precise format for jump.
Araki’s book on theory and practice of manga is comprehensive and far superior to this and you should definitely read that first.
October 26, 2025
A must-read if you want to become a professional mangaka.
There were a lot of stuff I was confused with and had to figure out by scanning manga page by page, trying to find reliable sources online (which was almost impossible since you need good knowledge of Japanese, ofc ai and google translate can be very helpful, but neither is reliable enough, so this book was a piece of Jewel that saved me in so many aspects and I wish I had found and read it sooner.
My main complaint however is that it sugar-coats the process and doesn’t at all cover the grueling work it requires to make manga on a weekly basis. The stuff the manga authors mentioned are also not very reliable in that aspect since the Japanese culture heavily relies on keeping appearances (which aren’t at all realistic btw)
This other point’s not really about the book, but it would be great if it was explained by the localization team: a lot of the stuff mentioned only hold truth if you are a Japanese national or in full-control of the language and you are completely familiar with their culture. It could lead to unrealistic expectations if you are from any other nation and still a long way from learning their language and pop-culture.
So if you do intend to look at this path professionally keep in mind that this book does not cover a lot of the things you need to learn about the manga industry.
There were a lot of stuff I was confused with and had to figure out by scanning manga page by page, trying to find reliable sources online (which was almost impossible since you need good knowledge of Japanese, ofc ai and google translate can be very helpful, but neither is reliable enough, so this book was a piece of Jewel that saved me in so many aspects and I wish I had found and read it sooner.
My main complaint however is that it sugar-coats the process and doesn’t at all cover the grueling work it requires to make manga on a weekly basis. The stuff the manga authors mentioned are also not very reliable in that aspect since the Japanese culture heavily relies on keeping appearances (which aren’t at all realistic btw)
This other point’s not really about the book, but it would be great if it was explained by the localization team: a lot of the stuff mentioned only hold truth if you are a Japanese national or in full-control of the language and you are completely familiar with their culture. It could lead to unrealistic expectations if you are from any other nation and still a long way from learning their language and pop-culture.
So if you do intend to look at this path professionally keep in mind that this book does not cover a lot of the things you need to learn about the manga industry.
October 27, 2022
Buku how to yang lebih bahas bagaimana mangaka dari Weekly Shonen Jump membuat manga. Dilengkapi tips dan trik buat bikin manga ala Jump, dari mulai draft paper, kembangin plot, penggunaan panel & balon komik, alat tempur analog vs digital, sampe hasil survei mangaka WSJ, manga 2 halaman + copy dari draft One Piece. Walaupun saya beli ini bukan karena pengen bikin manga, tapi penasaran sama isi survei + manga otodidak yang dibuat author2 veteran, isi dari buku ini bikin saya makin takjub sama mangaka, mereka orang-orang hebat yang berani ambil resiko, mendedikasikan waktu, pikiran, dan sebagian hidupnya buat manga yang sekarang makin mainstream di masyarakat luas. Membayangkan mereka nyusun storyboard, underdrawing, draft, rasanya amat sangat berat. Harusnya buku ini cocok dibaca buat wibu yang suka koar2 dikte mangaka kudu A B C.
January 2, 2025
This was cool. It's definitely intended for Japanese readers hoping to get their work published by Shueisha, but there's a decent amount of universal advice, and I enjoyed that little peak behind the scenes. They talk a lot about how you should focus on making the art that you love making, because making a career of art will require you to make a ton of art and you'll burn out way faster if you prioritize what other people like. They also really emphasize the importance of finishing your stories. There's a ton of other stuff, but what makes me feel best about recommending this is how much it made me want to pick up my art supplies and try making some comics myself.
January 16, 2025
I did like this book it has a bunch of great tips and is good for art motivation, answering many questions people may have and also asks alot of famous mangakas their experiences on things to do with manga.
This is the kind of book you continue to grab if you have a question about the making of manga and how to help your own series
This is the kind of book you continue to grab if you have a question about the making of manga and how to help your own series
January 31, 2023
Loved the parts about CSP will be referencing a lot !
November 23, 2025
20 page ad for clip studio paint in the middle lmao
October 14, 2022
Before we begin this review, I would like to thank Viz Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title.
Creating Art is one of the greatest experiences in the world, and that is the same feeling when you’re a writer. Today’s review will be focusing on Viz Media’s newest book, The Shonen Jump Guide To Making Manga.
From the Editorial Team of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine, this guide walks you through the initial ideation phase of creating a story. Then we’re brought to the storyboard stage with real examples of an actual storyboard from the Editorial Team. Any budding artist knows how invaluable real-world examples are, and what makes them even better is that it is from mangaka that has the on-the-job experience and gives advice on characterization and scene placement is the best.
One of the best things about this book was the interviews with sixteen (yes, sixteen!) mangaka, for example, Eiichiro Oda of One Piece, Gege Akutami of Jujutsu Kaisen, Tite Kubo of Bleach, and the list goes on.
These interviews show us the difference between artists and the reinforcement of the Editorial Department’s views that there is no “one way” to become a mangaka. But we also have honesty regarding manga workloads, recommendations for pens and ink, and even advice regarding how to create manga digitally.
This guide reminded me of another book, The Right Way To Make Jump! From Takeshi Sakurai. The only difference behind this was that you got to take a journey to the printer, the paper supplier, the editorial department, and surprisingly, the home of Mangaka, Kohei Horikoshi. The only difference between these two books is that both drive the idea home about creating manga, but it is this book that this guide gives the proper advice that a creator is looking for and craving without sugarcoating it. It is fully translated and comes straight from the editorial department, and there isn’t any better place to get career advice than mangaka who works for one of the most esteemed companies in the world.
Creating Art is one of the greatest experiences in the world, and that is the same feeling when you’re a writer. Today’s review will be focusing on Viz Media’s newest book, The Shonen Jump Guide To Making Manga.
From the Editorial Team of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine, this guide walks you through the initial ideation phase of creating a story. Then we’re brought to the storyboard stage with real examples of an actual storyboard from the Editorial Team. Any budding artist knows how invaluable real-world examples are, and what makes them even better is that it is from mangaka that has the on-the-job experience and gives advice on characterization and scene placement is the best.
One of the best things about this book was the interviews with sixteen (yes, sixteen!) mangaka, for example, Eiichiro Oda of One Piece, Gege Akutami of Jujutsu Kaisen, Tite Kubo of Bleach, and the list goes on.
These interviews show us the difference between artists and the reinforcement of the Editorial Department’s views that there is no “one way” to become a mangaka. But we also have honesty regarding manga workloads, recommendations for pens and ink, and even advice regarding how to create manga digitally.
This guide reminded me of another book, The Right Way To Make Jump! From Takeshi Sakurai. The only difference behind this was that you got to take a journey to the printer, the paper supplier, the editorial department, and surprisingly, the home of Mangaka, Kohei Horikoshi. The only difference between these two books is that both drive the idea home about creating manga, but it is this book that this guide gives the proper advice that a creator is looking for and craving without sugarcoating it. It is fully translated and comes straight from the editorial department, and there isn’t any better place to get career advice than mangaka who works for one of the most esteemed companies in the world.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews