Shopping Guide
Kodansha is an industry leader among publishers in Japan, and this year they held the 33rd Manga Open. Among the many hopefuls who entered was a fan from Taiwan who won the top prize as the best overseas newcomer. We met up with the talented Huang when he made a trip to Japan to attend a Kodansha party to talk about his past, his manga, and his hopes for the future.
TOM: What role did manga have in your life when you were younger?
Huang: When I was in elementary school, I began reading manga because my friends were reading it. In my second year of elementary school, I came to like Dragon Ball after I started reading it. Taiwan doesn’t have monthly manga magazines, so I read individual volumes. Right now, One Piece understandably popular. Most of the Japanese manga that are available to read in Taiwan are works that are big hits in Japan. Through my work with Morning, I’ve come to understand for the first time how many other manga works there are in Japan.
TOM: What made you first want to become a manga artist?
Huang: Originally, I wanted to do character design work at a Taiwanese game company. Starting at that time, I was also thinking about story plots, but as expected, turning a plot directly into an anime is difficult, so I started drawing manga. When I heard about Kodansha’s Manga Open, I thought it was my chance. Not many people from Taiwan who wish to become manga artists are picked up by Japanese publishers, you know?
TOM: How is manga in Taiwan different from manga in Japan?
Huang: I’ve only sent my manuscripts to Japanese publishers, so I don’t know in detail... There is a big market for manga among Japanese people. While working for Morning, I learned that in regard to creating a manga that others will find interesting, it’s not necessarily good to create the story entirely on your own. I think it would be good if foreign manga artists who are active in Japan increased, so I will continue to create interesting stories to help achieve that.
TOM: What is your dream?
Huang: For starters, I want to be famous enough that I can make a living as a manga artist (laughs). I want to have my major debut at Morning. My popularity in Taiwan is extremely low. At the same time, I want the amount of Taiwanese manga artists being published in Japanese manga magazines to increase. Because there are no manga magazines in Taiwan, I definitely want to publish an individual volume.
There seems to be many aspiring manga artists in Taiwan. However, we would be very happy if Huang chooses Japan as the place in which to be active. From his work, his talent can certainly be felt due to his creative stories and the way in which he vividly draws the lines of each picture. According to Huang, he really likes the beautiful cityscapes of Japan and would like to try living there. Look forward to the day when Huang’s works line the shelves at bookstores in Japan and beyond.
