A dream that ended too soon: the periodical Mangaka

Cover of issue n.1 of Mangaka

Japan Magazine was not the only periodical dedicated to the manga world that charmed me in the past. In the summer of 2009, after a day at the beach, in a newsstand I found a magazine called Mangaka, with a very colorful cover, and a subtitle saying “the only magazine that publishes your manga”. I was instantly fascinated and bought it. Inside it had a few short stories of European manga authors, with articles about techniques and interviews with manga authors. I hoped to find the following number, but I never found it: convinced I had found something that could fill the void left by Japan Magazine, I kept hoping to have luck and find an issue in the future. Years passed, and during a research on the internet I finally found an answer to my doubts: the magazine, published by Coniglio Editore in 2009 bimonthly, finished its publishing journey after the first two issues. The publisher itself doesn’t exist nowadays, it unfortunately closed down in 2011.

Ad for publishing on the magazine

Presented as a supplement to the title Scuola di Fumetto, Mangaka offered an incredible opportunity: the readers could send their own short stories to the editorial staff, and if it was published, the artist would have been paid 35 euros for each page! For me, a 13 year old kid, 35 euros per page seemed a fortune. Having the luck of seeing my drawings published in a magazine, and being paid as well? A dream! Here is the ad with the instructions to send by mail a story of one to four pages. Remember, it was the year 2009 and sending photocopies or digital scans on CD by mail was still more common and accessible than using e-mail.

Cover for issue n.2 of Mangaka

Unfortunately I don’t have the second issue, I would be very curious to see the works of non professional artists. The artists that collaborated on the first issue are:

• Joanna Zhou
• Åsa Ekström
• Marco Dominici
• Celia Machuca A. (script) + Elisabet Basanta 
• Federico Memola (script) + Teresa Marzia
• Giacomo Pueroni 
• Akane (Alicia Ruiz)
• Federica di Meo
• Enrica “Enrychan” Fastuca

Article about screentones

The articles talk about drawing techniques, fundamentals and tools, with easy writing for the beginners but at the same time very informative and interesting. For instance, a short article explains what are screentones, what is their function and where to find them in Italy.

In conclusion, the Mangaka periodical had the potential to be a point of reference and a stepping stone for beginner artists interested in the creation of manga, and it’s a shame that its publishing journey was that short. However, I am very glad I bought the first issue on that Summer day, fondly remembering the magazine to this day.

Before online forums and websites in Italy: Japan Magazine

During the boom of popularity of anime in Italy during the 80s-90s the average fan was very interested in discovering more about their favorite series, more aware of the differences between the censored dub and the original version, and as well wanted to meet other fans. However, in that era the forums and websites as we know them today didn’t exist yet. So, what did yesterday’s fans have?

Japan Magazine cover from 1991
(source: Guida al Fumetto Italiano)

In 1991 in the newsstands debuted Japan Magazine, a periodical dedicated to the current anime series. A versatile magazine, that through more than a decade changes many times covers, title and especially size. Japan Magazine’s inconsistent size was probably due to the change of publishers and the fact that technically it was a publication with pirated content, because it wasn’t authorized by the owners of the series, but this last part is speculation that was never officially confirmed. Correct or not, the rumors about the “pirate magazine” amplified its fame: Japan Magazine was the reference point for the newborn Italian otaku culture.

Its contents included articles about series on air and sneak peeks of what was about to come, interviews to the voice actors and comic artists, posters and spaces dedicated to the readers’ content. In fact, the readers could send their drawings and fanfiction to the magazine’s editorial staff! Furthermore, the staff replied to reader’s questions in La posta del Drago (Dragon Mail) and you could propose ads for selling, buying or exchanging in the column Fiera del Bambù (Bamboo Fair), where occasionally the ads were something along the lines of “I’m looking for friends to talk about manga and anime, you can write me at this mail address”. In the last period of its publishing history the Dragon Mail was accompanied by Matilda’s Mail: the first was about questions and daily general themes, the latter was dedicated to questions about the anime world and Japanese culture.

JM cover from 1993 featuring
unexplicably Dylan Dog
(source: Guida al Fumetto Italiano)

This all seems legit, right? Where is the pirated content then? In the early years of Japan Magazine, the periodical used to feature chapters of anime comics, that is a comic version of an episode created using frames from the animated series. Normally anime comics can be quality work, when they are made by a team that understands the visual language of comics. The point is that JM’s anime comics used to take already existing adaptations and modify them, sometimes cutting scenes and simplifying dialogues. We can see an example of this thanks to MikiMoz’s article, that presents us a Sailor Moon anime comic and the differences with the correctly translated version made by Marvel/Panini years prior. His article about the magazine is also quite interesting! During the third publishing phase of JM the anime comics were reduced and when they appeared it was a few pages put together by the editorial staff with frames of lower quality, they personally remind me of VHS recordings.

Page from the Beyblade anime comic
(2005, personal collection)

What’s more, in the early years a few issues had an annex of some VHS of movies or OVA (Original Video Animation) anime, and these were undoubtedly pirated, to the point of open conflict between publisher EDEN and authorized distributors such as Yamato.

This peculiar magazine, that sometimes can be considered similar to a fanzine, had three series through its publishing history:

• Series I (1991-1992) 10 issues
• Series II (1992-1995) 28 issues
• Series III (1998-2005) 66 issues

For this, although it’s not easy to identify the release date of each issue, it’s possible to estimate the year of publishing.

JM cover from the late 90s
(source: Guida al Fumetto Italiano)

During my childhood in the 2000s I used to buy Japan Magazine when I had the chance of finding it at the newsstand. I remember seeing different sizes, one time it was a small book, another time it was as big as printer paper! The number of pages changed as well and occasionally the title, and I used to wonder why it was like that. I own several issues titled JM Japan Magazine, and a few titles JM Cartoons, sized like a little book. Thanks to the archive site guidafumettoitaliano.com I could finally understand the bizarre journey of the magazine and it’s special editions, such as JM Cartoons. One of the articles that particularly impressed me was about drawing tools and it mentioned Pantone markers with many images as well.

JM cover from 2005
(personal collection)

In the end this was JM’s strength: in a time period where the internet didn’t exist or it wasn’t as accessible as it was today, images and information (although sometimes partially incorrect) were a precious treasure! After the golden age between 1995 and the first years of 2000, in the last period of its publishing history the magazine gradually lowered in quality, and concluded its journey in 2005. When I decided to write this article I looked for my issues of the periodical and I found two that are very likely from 2005. I hope to find the issue with the Pantone markers, so I could share the article here!

JM was a peculiar and a bit odd magazine, it wasn’t perfect but it was a product of passion from manga and anime enthusiasts. Thank you Japan Magazine for the happy memories of two generations of fans! <3