Japan embraces a new generation of Spanish manga authors

Since its first edition, around twenty Spanish cartoonists and scriptwriters have been recognized at the Japan International Manga Award for works published in Spanish or as members of international teams in other languages.

This year, Ana Oncina (Elda, Alicante, 35 years old) received the Silver award for

Just Friends

, a work in the

yuri

genre , stories focused on friendly or romantic relationships between women, published by the Planeta publishing house.

The teenage love story between two girls who meet at a summer camp is told with a manga aesthetic with neat black and white lines, oriental reading (from right to left) and sequences sprinkled with onomatopoeia in Japanese.

An important Japanese influence recognized by the author is that of Taiyo Matsumoto, an innovative

mangaka

(as the authors of Japanese comics are known) capable of fusing stylistic elements of manga with a narrative that some critics consider very close to the French

bande dessinée

.

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Everyone wants the manga

Like Matsumoto, Ana Oncina relies on the architecture of the city, drawn in her case without deformations and with clean and precise contours, to emphasize and communicate the emotions of her characters.

When presenting her with the award in Tokyo on March 5, the president of the jury, the

mangaka

Machiko Satonaka, highlighted the calm pace of Ana Oncina's narrative, congratulated her for resisting the temptation to win over the reader with dramatic scenes and the He encouraged them to continue “defending the contained tone” of their stories.

Cover of the manga 'Just Friends'.Editorial Planeta

In addition, Ana C. Sánchez (Murcia, 33 years old) won Bronze for

Limbo

, a story of adventures and battles that draws on subgenres such as

shonen

, action stories for teenagers, and

isekai

, fantasy in parallel or supernatural worlds.

The work, starring a girl who takes advantage of her ability to communicate with spirits to earn money, is published in series, also by Planeta, and at the 29th edition of the Barcelona Manga Fair it won the award for best Spanish manga.

The author, whose previous works,

Alter Ego

and

Sirius

, were also published in English, French and Italian, began her career in a very similar way to that of many Japanese

mangakas

, touring manga fairs to show off her self-published works in

fanzines.

Although its first stories were intimate and had Japanese protagonists who moved in Japanese environments,

Limbo

has an ensemble cast with Western names, despite the fact that the physiognomy of its characters remains faithful to the aesthetic of huge eyes, small bodies, pointed chins and long hair. leafy

The Japanese contest does not require a particular style and admits graphic stories with more than 16 pages and produced by non-Japanese authors in the three years prior to registration.

“Since the prize is awarded by Japan, we call it manga, but we are aware of the mutual influences between manga, American comics or

bande dessinée

,” says Ritsuko Suzuki, director of Public Relations for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the institution organizer

A vignette from the comic 'Matagi Gunner' by Juan Albarrán.Norma Editorial

Suzuki attributes the Spanish presence in 14 of the 16 editions to the birth in Spain of an ecosystem similar to that of Taiwan or South Korea, where manga is an industry that generates professional illustrators who can make a living from their work.

The Japanese award, a tool of public diplomacy in which this year 587 works from all over the world participated, in turn contributes to reaffirming the Iberomanga or Spanish manga label, whose production increases supported by the large Spanish-speaking market.

There have also been Spanish artists working with Japanese publishers for years, such as José María Ken Niimura, from Madrid with a Japanese father and resident in Tokyo who in 2011 won the only Spanish Gold at the Japanese award with

Soy una matagigantes,

scripted by North American Joe Kelly.

In addition to the stories of Kenny Ruiz, a cartoonist born in Alicante who creates adventures with the characters of Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), considered “the father of manga”, many Japanese readers read every week the adventures of

Matagi Gunner

, an old hunter. fan of video games drawn by the Barcelona artist Juan Albarrán and published by the Kodansha publishing house in its

Morning

magazine .

Cover of the comic 'I am a giant killer'.Editorial policy

Albarrán explains that for a foreigner to produce manga in Japan means adopting a specific graphic style and narrating with the oriental four-act structure and, almost always, without conflict.

It also requires a huge number of hours, explains the Barcelona cartoonist, who recognizes that the experience has raised his level of self-demand and his skill as a cartoonist.

“It also means that I have gotten into the groove,” he says, referring to his work schedule, which can extend from six in the morning to eleven at night.

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