Manga Why Are Manga In Black And White !?!

I don't know if this thread has been done :sweat2: :shy2: :blush2: so If it has please someone let me know.

Now I know that it shouldn't matter if manga is in color or black&white or orange for that matter but it just erks me that Comics are in color and manga is not.

This has been bugging me for a while and I have never heard any of my friends complaining about such unimportant ( ) details. But i would like to see if any one else felt that way. :anime:

 

Interesting question that has many answers. It could be that the companies that produce and distribute the manga want it to be in black and white to be produced easier. Or maybe the people who make the manga prefer black and white because it's easier.

If I were to become a manga-ka, I would first try to get about 8 mangas and the sequels for a couple of them published. Then I would release my special manga that I've been working on since I started drawing manga that I would try to get published. I would use paint brushes for color, and air brushes for special effects. It would probably revolutionize manga in both the aspect of colors and the aspect of what the majority are about.

[/End meaningless explanation]

 

They cost of making it would increase as would the price you pay... Some of their readers might not beable to afford it and so the company would possibly end up losing...

 

Right, just like Zanza said.

As far as I know, Manga in the US is worth 10 bucks a piece, and in Canada they have it 15 buckaronies a manga. That's a lot of money. If you just have 10 mangas in the US alone, you're already at 100 dollars, and 125 for Canada. Imagine the price for that in color and such. I have around 40 mangas, but I'd have much less if they were in color. Plus I'd think they kinda take part of it's life.

Plus, If i did a manga, I'd feel kinda bummed that my manga was taken on computers and fixed to make it look like it's not even mine. So yeah, let's keep it simple, and original!

-Seishin

 

I really don't see why it would irk you so much that manga is in black & white and American comic books are in color. You have two different industries producing them, and they have different industry standards that they follow. Just looking at the way manga and American comics differ in production will give you a fairly good idea as to why they use different print standards.

Manga

• Publication schedule - weekly, biweekly, or monthly are the most common. It depends on the magazine.
• Publication style - 'phonebook' format collections with chapters from several different series.
• Standard length - overall length for a phonebook style magazine can reach 200+ pages. Most weekly chapters are between 19 and 20 pages in length.
• Paper - newsprint
• Print style - single color printing. Most 'phonebooks' will use a different color for each story, making them rather colorful.
• Collections - each series is later collected into tankouban or graphic novels. These are in black & white, but may contain color pages at the front or back. They are also smaller than the original phonebooks. Nearly all manga are collected into tankouban.

American Comics

• Publication schedule - monthly or every other month are the most common. Depends on the publisher.
• Publication style - each story published individually.
• Standard length - generally between 20 and 25 pages in length.
• Paper - usually at least the same weight as used in your average copy machine.
• Print style - full color printing
• Collections - most recently done in full-color on semi-glossy paper. They are the same size or larger than the original comics. May be hard or soft bound. Not all comics are collected into volumes.

Most American comics will have at least five people working on them (story, pencils, inking, lettering, color) in addition to an editor. All of these people will be credited equally in each volume.

Most manga are the products of one or two creative talents. They may have a team of assistants to help with laying down tone or some of the backgrounds, but the assitants are not credited on the cover with the creator(s) because they are just that, assistants.

In general, you lose detail work when color is applied to something. As many manga are highly detail-oriented (especially the shoujo series), this would be detrimental.

Printing something in full color costs a whole lot more than single-color printing. In order to get really vibrant, lasting color you need to use glossy or semi-glossy paper, and this drives up costs. Printing on plain paper just doesn't work as nicely. The colors turn out differently and the overall look is darker and kinda muddy.

To illustrate the price difference...your standard American comic book (20 to 25 pages) is right around 3 dollars when purchased at the newstand price. Your standard 'phonebook' manga magazine (200+ pages) costs around 5 dollars.

When you get to the graphic novels/tankouban the price difference continues to be apparent. Most American comic collections (Marvel and DC being the most common) are around 20 dollars apiece, although some are considerably higher (DC Archive editions run around 45 dollars each). Your standard Japanese tankouban is around 400 yen (approximately 3.50 USD). Even the more expensive volumes rarely go above 1000 yen, and they are larger in size and often contain full-color pages at the beginning or at chapter breaks.

*takes a deep breath*

So yeah. That's why manga is printed in b&w and American comics are printed in color. Remember, manga is not originally published in America. You are dealing with an entirely different industry.

~Shadrach Anki

 

now that I think about it... shading is so much easier in black and white... it takes more time and effort to do that and if there is only one person on a weekly schedule using the rich palette that is found in American comics just isn't posible.

Edit: not to say that it wouldn't be nifty though.

 

I agree with Zanza and whoever said that black and white make it faster come out. Also the nice tidbits Shadowboard did too. I like black and white better. If you don't like the manga then use it as a coloring book. But I have yet to find a manga I didn;t like.

 

Plus not all comics are in colour. It's mostly the big name comics from big publishers with big bucks backing them up, so it's quite different. And a very sizeable portion of Ghost in the Shell - Man Machine Interface WAS in colour, and, surprise, it was one of the big titles with big bucks ready for it.

 

:catgirl: I think it's cool to have the books in black and wight 'cause you can picture in your mind what the colors could be :catgirl:

 

I kinda understand what you're saying, sorta. If every manga was in color (we all know there are thos special little one's out there) it would just be considered a comic book with a different art style, and none of us want that. ^_^


-Ian

 

I think there's as much skill in shading in tones as colour. to imply different lighting effects, movement and all that sort of jazz is really difficult (but looks amazing when it's done properly.) if you look at some of the ink illustrations of say shirow, it's amazing how they'ved developed methods of conveying these sorts of intricacies in just black ink.
i guess even if cost and all the rest wasn't a factor, many magaka's would still draw in the same way cause that's how they learnt, and it's tradition.

 

Becahse black and white is cheaper, of course

 

I like to read manga with black and white and I don't think it'll be better if it's colored , long ago I had manga Ranma the first 3 books in color but and it was sucks and when I got it with black and white it was damn good ...
and I don't think I can read manga like Berserk or Blade of the Immortal with color on it cos the black and white are part of the art work and it'll disappear if it were colored

 

it would be too expensive to put the whole thing in color.

 

Two immediate reasons jump to mind:
1)Cost, not only to print, but for customers. I personally don't want to pay twenty dollars for manga, it's already too expensive.
2)Time constraints. Manga artists have deadlines. Very stressful deadlines. If everything had to be colored (which uses an entirely different style than black and white) on top of being drawn, proofed, and touched-up, there would be many fewer manga artists in the world, and many more suicides.

Besides which, extremely long mangas, like Ranma 1/2, would still not be done. Fans would rebel.

 

as already mentioned it would cost the companies more money, the prices of the mangas will go up and its going to take more time to do that(i think)

plus it doesnt really bug me about there being no color usually when i read a manga i dont even recognize its not in color