Nowadays manga attracts fans from all over the world. Once upon a time only people interested in Japanese culture and art would read such things. As the manga has become popular all over the world and it can be safely called the most famous trend in Japanese art, the Manga Out of the Box was created.
Manga Out of the Box is a new project of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 12 cultural institutions from all over Japan and Google Arts & Culture. It allows everyone to learn the history and details of the original illustrations. The project consists of films, experiments, interactive elements, as well as many articles that help to understand and learn more about manga in an interesting way . Five suggestions are offered:
Learn the history of the manga
Articles enriched with many illustrations will accurately familiarize the reader with the entire story of the manga. In them you will find answers to the questions: when did the first manga start to appear ?; what are the 12th century Chōjū Giga scrolls and can they be called the first manga ?; does the manga start only in the nineteenth century and we forcefully find its beginning earlier?
Create your own manga with machine learning
In this experiment, anyone can become an artist and draw their own manga. The Giga Manga tool is used for this, which, with the help of machine learning, will help you create the entire work. Contrary to appearances, you do not need to have any experience in painting, because the innovative program only needs a few simple lines and colored spots to help us finish the drawing. After the tool is finished, anyone can add some details to the illustration to give the drawing their own original style. After finalizing the image, Giga Manga can also find existing manga for us that are similar to ours.
Meet the most important characters
Thanks to the Manga, you can get to know the most important authors, as well as the characters they created, without secrets . Fujiko F. Fujio, who created the iconic Doraemon, and Osamu Tezuki, the artist responsible for Astro Boy and Black Jack , will also be there . Both works, thanks to their original narrative and sci-fi elements, were a great example to follow for the next generations of Japanese artists. They are still an inspiration for many.
See editor’s desk
In the process of creating a manga, not only the artist responsible for the drawings, but also a whole team of people participate: producers, marketing specialists, sellers, and editors. They are the focus of this part of the project. Thanks to it, you can learn how important the role of the editor is in creating a manga and learn about the story of the editor Naoko Yamauchi ( Sleepeeer Hit! ).
Be on time
Manga is everywhere now. We can find it in fashion, computer games, contemporary art and on the Internet. Popular Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, thanks to his unique passion for manga, created his own project Doraemon x Takashi Murakami , which you will also find in the Manga Out of the Box.
Manga Out of the Box is a project for everyone – for those who have been fans of manga for years, but also for those who have become interested in it recently on the wave of its popularity. Using technology, but also the great success of this type of art among ever younger generations, it is worth reminding about its roots.