Dr. Vee's Story: 'How I Became a Professional Manga Artist'
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As a lot of you might have already seen, recently we chatted with the gaijin mangaka Dr. Vee about the best ways to become a professional manga artist if you live outside of Japan. After she took us through the necessary processes involved in becoming a professional, we got talking about her journey and her experiences in the medium. What it is that she did to reach her goal, and what it is she did once it had been reached - the good times, bad times and in between times.
Image taken from Ai Mai Mi
Dr. Vee tells us that for as long as she can remember she wanted to be a mangaka. Raised on anime and in particularly on Doraemon, it was natural to her that she grew to idealize the creators, Fujiko Fujio, and from there she knew that she wanted - or was meant to be - a cartoon creator of some description. When asked about her first journey into the medium we found out that it was as she entered primary school that she began to draw with the use of speech bubbles and other such things. Having seen her ability and dedication, a classmate took the initiative and teamed up with Dr. Vee to form what was possibly the youngest (and probably most adorable) team in the industry. Her friend would write the stories and Dr. Vee would draw them - this bond continued for as long as they were in the same class and when that time drew to an end and they were seperated, Dr. Vee began to both write and illustrate her own manga. You could say it was at this point she became a professional - in time classmates and friends began trading possessions for her art. As her primary-school empire grew, so too did the fondness of her fans and in time a friend began paying her regularly for a long running series. This miniature scale empire continued to grow to the point that the teachers could no longer miss it - the whole operation was closed down.
Image taken from Ai Mai Mi
As she grew older and reached middle school, the ‘real world’ was starting to take control. As most parents would do, Dr. Vee was pressured into academics and safer, more by-the-book pursuits of a career. Becoming a mangaka is a risky game and can often take the form of an all-or-nothing pursuit. After a countless number of arguments with her family, Dr. Vee eventually decided to go with the flow. At the age of 15, Dr. Vee was sent to the USA and UK to attend prep schools in hopes of getting into a med school.
“There was an air of 'academic achievement rules', and I felt great pressure for getting a place in medical school. At the time it felt as if I would be a complete failure if I didn’t reach that status. I struggled with my lifelong goal, and with all the stressful events going on around me, I chose to give in and go through med school instead of fighting for my dream.”
Working as a medical doctor for two years, Dr. Vee was drained of energy and in part enthusiasm.
“I had good salary that allowed me to get a car, live in nice neighborhood, buy designer labels. One day I reflected upon my choice and admitted that I was miserable despite the material success, and wondered what life would have been like if I had the courage to pursue my dreams.”
Following this train of thought Dr. Vee left her surgical job and once again began her search for an opening in the industry. After considering the possibility of moving back to the US to attend an art university Dr. Vee discovered a certain manga creator who ran classes for the medium in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“I felt that realistically at age 27 it was practically impossible to start learning the trade and make a success as manga creator in the competitive industry, but apparently I was wrong.”
Image taken from Mangirl
8 months after enrolling Dr. Vee succeeded in publishing her first work, PramBanana, in Indonesia. It was received very well and gained her a fandom of loyal readers. One and a half years following its publication Dr. Vee found herself on a plane to Tokyo to study manga in a designers school. Fueled on ignorance and completely unaware of how high the standards were in the industry, Dr. Vee made a beeline directly to the Shonen Jump office as soon as her plane had reached Japan.
“I arranged an interview for a job as Masashi Kishimoto (creator of Naruto)'s assistant with my PramBanana comic pages in hand, done on low-quality A4 copy paper, full of outdated techniques.”
In the end things didn’t work out with Shonen Jump but as is often the case with life every failure brings with it some success. Though in the end nothing came of this particular endeavour Dr. Vee left the office after a short period of dealings knowing more about the industry and how it worked.
Because of how the Japanese view trust and work ethics, it is often frowned upon to deal with more than one company at a time - especially if they're rivals. Though Dr. Vee was dealing with multiple publishers, she knew that she had to take a chance and ally herself to one of the many. In the end it was Shonen Sunday that she found herself working under and it was here that she managed to make her professional debut as a mangaka.
Image taken from Mangirl
At times, we were told, the journey was of particular difficulty for Dr. Vee and although these times often felt like they could last forever, Dr. Vee never failed to continue looking in hope that someone would notice her own abilities.
“All the editors who previously showed much interest in my work suddenly stop doing so almost at the same time, after more than a year of working together.”
This slump was short lived, however and it was when a job opening for the assistant of Kenjiro Hata, the creator of Hayate the Combat Butler, opened up that Dr. Vee found her escape. It was at the hands of Kenjiro Hata that Dr. Vee was able to get a lot of her works into the limelight.
“One of my mentors, Mr. Hironobu Kaneko, who had been the head editor at Tezuka Production said that a mangaka should form a fully transparent relationship with his/her editor and be able tell everything to them like to a best friend”
Though many of her editors were helpful and offered key advice that lead her to becoming a professional, many would be very fickle about certain things and pay little to no heed to her efforts. We were told that certain editors would spare little time for her work, demand certain changes and then months later decide against the whole project. These times were obviously very stressful for Dr. Vee but through speaking to her we got the idea that even these times she deemed incredibly valuable to her journey.
We were informed about a particular friend who had had her work discarded as ‘rubbish’ by one editor and published by another. One thing that we found out from listening to Dr. Vee is that editors are individuals - being told one thing by one does not mean that you will be told the same thing by another.
We were informed about a particular friend who had had her work discarded as ‘rubbish’ by one editor and published by another. One thing that we found out from listening to Dr. Vee is that editors are individuals - being told one thing by one does not mean that you will be told the same thing by another.
Image taken from Usagi Drop
After working very closely with Kenjiro Hata, the previously mentioned creator of Hayate the Combat Butler, for almost 2 years, Dr. Vee found her way to Shonen Sunday, where we already know she debuted. Her journey to Shonen Sunday was by no means an easy one and probably couldn’t have been done without the help of many others throughout her life. Through talking to Dr. Vee though we discovered that one thing above all else made it a possibility for her and that was her ability to keep looking forward and keep that passion that she had had since a child.
Inspired perhaps by the difficulties in her own journeys, or perhaps by those who had helped her, Dr. Vee offers manga classes for all ages and abilities. In her classes Dr. Vee offers so much more than drawing techniques alone and actually offers guidance into the industry itself. Growing now from a physical class to an online one, Dr. Vee’s Mangaka Club is open to everyone regardless of age, location or ability. Classes are held on a one to one basis and are certainly something we feel you should all at least take a closer look at. You can find all the information you might need here.
Image taken from Mangirl
“Every step I have taken towards becoming a professional has been a valuable lesson, even the failures. One thing I wish I realized earlier is that dreams do come true. The universe will move in your favor when you focus on your goal, no matter how much seems to be against it. Age, financial circumstances, the language barrier and talent are not reasons not to achieve the goal, and it is never too late to start. I have seen many who thrived despite their adversities - the key is never to give up and to think outside of the box when all roads seem to be blocked.”
Image taken from Mangirl
