{"id":56725,"date":"2026-02-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56725"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T09:30:17","slug":"the-self-indulgent-need-to-impress-rather-than-entertain-is-whats-holding-back-some-manga-authors-shonen-jump-contest-panel-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-self-indulgent-need-to-impress-rather-than-entertain-is-whats-holding-back-some-manga-authors-shonen-jump-contest-panel-says\/","title":{"rendered":"The self-indulgent need to impress, rather than entertain, is what\u2019s holding back some manga authors, Shonen Jump contest panel says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The<strong>Jump Manga Award <\/strong>is an online portal compiling all manga-related contests organized by Weekly Shonen Jump publisher Shueisha. As most of Shueisha&#8217;s contests\u2019 main purpose is to discover new talent in the manga sphere, Jump Manga Award\u2019s official X account has an open Q&amp;A box where aspiring authors can freely seek advice on manga creation or ask questions about the industry. Recently, the account went viral after offering an unexpectedly blunt answer to the question, \u201cWhat does it truly mean to face your audience?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou need to draw while thinking of the readers,\u201d \u201cYour work is not facing the audience\u201d are some of the advice aspiring mangaka often get when making their submission, the anonymous inquirer explains. However, while it\u2019s natural to, for example, not feature explicit content in a manga that\u2019s meant for young boys, as in <em>knowing your target audience<\/em>, the idea of \u201ctruly facing your audience\u201d is perhaps difficult to grasp for someone who\u2019s just starting out as a mangaka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u4f5c\u8005\u306e\u81ea\u5df1\u6e80\u8db3\u300c\u3060\u3051\u300d\u3067\u63cf\u3044\u3066\u3044\u308b\u304b\u3001\u8aad\u8005\u3092\u697d\u3057\u307e\u305b\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3092\u5f37\u304f\u982d\u306b\u5165\u308c\u3066\u63cf\u3044\u3066\u3044\u308b\u304b\u3001\u306e\u9055\u3044\u304b\u3068\u601d\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002\u6628\u4ecaSNS\u304c\u767a\u9054\u3057\u305f\u3053\u3068\u3082\u3042\u308a\u3001\u300c\u8aad\u8005\u306b\u300e\u81ea\u5206\u304c\u300f\u51c4\u3044\u3068\u601d\u308f\u308c\u305f\u3044\u300d\u3068\u3044\u3046\u300c\u8aad\u8005\u3092\u697d\u3057\u307e\u305b\u308b\u2026<br><br>(\u6b8b\u308a377\u6587\u5b57)<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mond_jump_mangasho?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#mond_jump_mangasho<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/huF7xaHFDV\">https:\/\/t.co\/huF7xaHFDV<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u5c11\u5e74\u30b8\u30e3\u30f3\u30d7\u6f2b\u753b\u8cde (@jump_mangasho) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jump_mangasho\/status\/2021142587235774823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 10, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe believe the difference lies in whether the author is drawing<em> \u2018simply\u2019<\/em> for their own self-indulgence, or with the intention of entertaining the readers burned into their minds.\u201d As the Jump Mangasho editorial team notes, on social media, you sometimes see authors and aspiring mangaka with sets of values that are fundamentally detached from the idea of \u201centertaining the readers\u201d and are closer to the desire to \u201cbe viewed as an amazing mangaka\u201d by the readers. \u201cYou could say it\u2019s like being obsessed with \u2018being unpredictable\u2019 while completely making light of \u2018not disappointing your readers\u2019,\u201d Jump writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"920\" height=\"572\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260213-567250001.jpg\" alt=\"Shonen Jump heroes.\" class=\"wp-image-56730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260213-567250001.jpg 920w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260213-567250001-380x236.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260213-567250001-768x477.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, they also state that having a certain degree of self-indulgence, in a positive sense, is also important. With the market being so oversaturated nowadays, a manga that\u2019s 100% \u201creader-oriented\u201d is always at a risk of fading into the background if it doesn\u2019t have the author\u2019s personal touch or quirks, Jump argues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHowever, if that self-indulgence goes out of control, with an overbearing \u2018Just you watch!\u2019 mentality \u2013 a twist that\u2019s never been done before and surprises the readers (in a negative way), sadly boils down to your work not being on the same page as the audience The ideal is to overcome both the readers\u2019 predictions and expectations, but from the perspective of manga being a commercial work, we get the impression that \u2018If you\u2019re going to betray readers\u2019 expectations, at least don\u2019t be unpredictable\u2019 is something you hear very often. But this is only a personal opinion, and other people may have a different understanding of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nobody-reads-manga-anymore-veteran-manga-editor-says-there-are-fewer-aspiring-editors-who-are-truly-passionate-about-the-medium\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>\u201cNobody reads manga anymore.\u201d Veteran manga editor says there are fewer aspiring editors who are truly passionate about the medium<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The team behind Shonen Jump Awards answers the question: \u201cWhat does it truly mean to face your audience as an aspiring mangaka?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":56729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[17,66],"class_list":["post-56725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-non-gaming-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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