Manga Day: The dream of drawing manga

For the third time, publishers and retailers are giving away reading samples of Japanese-style comics for “Manga Day”. There is also a work by a German illustrator to choose from.

There are not many comic artists in Germany who can live their dream. Caroline Tent, alias Racami, is one of them. She is a full-time manga artist, draws comics in the Japanese style and earns her living from it. After the trained teacher and freelance visual artist self-published six books, she is now a full-time author at the renowned Altraverse publishing house. The company only publishes manga, has re-released two of Racamis’ self-published books and is also publishing her new story.

“The Curse of the Purple Smoke” is her first long story and is planned to be six volumes long. Volume one has already been published, and in addition to the regular edition, the publisher has also released a “Collectors Edition” that includes small wooden stands that depict the locations of the story. Fans can also buy a pocket mirror, monster plush toys or a puzzle. A lot of marketing effort, which is quite unusual even in the manga world.

Large Marketing effort

But that’s not all. When the 35-year-old from northern Hesse came to the Leipzig Book Fair this year to sign her recently published book, her publisher Altraverse had recreated a scene from the manga she had presented there. A big surprise for the illustrator, who knew nothing of her publisher’s plan. “All of a sudden, I’m no longer standing in front of a picture of my world, but in the middle of it, life-size,” she says enthusiastically.

The fact that the publisher can afford such an effort is due to the great response that manga continues to generate worldwide and in Germany – and of course to the sales revenue. Although sales in stationary bookstores fell by around four percent last year, the market is at an extremely high level. Just two years ago, it was up by around 28 percent, and the year before that by around 75 percent.

A mix of romance, fantasy and thriller

Racami, whose manga is published under the genre label romance/love, is now also benefiting from this boom. “In fact, ‘The Curse of the Purple Smoke’ is a wild mix of fantasy, mystery, drama and in one place or another even a bit of thriller,” says the illustrator.

In the story itself, the main character Erin is looking for direction. Will she be able to take her life in the right direction? The ominous sorcerer Artur is supposed to help her. He offers her a deal: Erin should stay with him for ten years and make herself useful, after which he will send her on the right path.

There are also many small one-eyed monsters that inhabit the house – just like the mandrake Ivy. The “purple smoke” that keeps appearing makes the story even more mysterious. In the book, it is even highlighted in print – unusual for the industry.

“Manga are usually kept in black and white, but in the volumes you can also find purple as an additional color accent, which is used, among other things, to color the eponymous smoke as well as the little monsters,” explained the illustrator.

Exchange with readers

Caroline Tent also has her perseverance to thank for the story’s acceptance. “Whenever I think of something, I collect ideas and write them down, sometimes more, sometimes less conscientiously, and then put them in my drawer with ‘stories that could still become something.‘The very first aspects of ‘The Curse of the Crimson Smoke’ landed there in 2007, but at that time there were still many pieces missing to complete the story.

On the occasion of “Manga Day”, Caroline alias Racami will sign the first volume of the series. And she is already looking forward to the direct exchange. “The readers stumble upon all the secrets that I have spun and the first speculations about where they might lead are made. Fortunately, these are always shared with me, because it is always super exciting for me to read them.” It is simply wonderful when people conscientiously collect the breadcrumbs that I have scattered and then come up with the first theories about what might be behind them.