Do you ever contact your favourite mangakas?

[bunny-blu]

Hi all,

 

I was wondering if any of you ever contact your favourite mangakas just to say hi or thank you or tell them how awesome they are or give them encouragement? If so what where your reasons? (you can include the name of the mangaka if you like. ^^)

 

Have you ever received a response? How did it go? Did you write in English or Japanese or another language?

 

 

Personally, the last few years I have this growing fear that my favourite mangaka are getting older; what if they pass away without ever knowing how much I love them and just how much their stories mean to me? I must tell them!

 

It's not always easy finding contact information but it is possible sometimes, so I've been doing my best to get in touch and let them know. Anyone else doing this?

[confidant_v]

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I think it was about 6 years ago that I tweeted my favorite mangaka, Kaori Yuki. Her stories changed my life. I'm an adult now, but I first started reading her works when I was just a sophomore in high school. I don't remember exactly what I told her, but I know I said something along the lines of how much her work impacted me and my creativity. I told her she was my favorite manga artist and that I loved everything she's produced. I still have her response where I can easily access it. "あけましておめでとうございますｗいつも見ていてくれてありがとう、私も出会えて嬉しいです♪これからもよろしくねｗ = "Happy New Year! Thank you for always looking after me, I'm also happy to have met you. Please continue to look after me."" I don't read/speak Japanese so when she responded to me I made a post on tumblr asking someone to translate for me. It's worth it to mention that I wrote to her in English. This is what I got XD I was so, so, so happy! I doubt she remembers this encounter, but it meant everything to me and it still does.

 

Also there was a time when my good friend and I were arguing about the hair color of one of her characters so we tweeted her to find out who was right. My friend was right haha!

[bunny-blu]

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I think it was about 6 years ago that I tweeted my favorite mangaka, Kaori Yuki. Her stories changed my life. I'm an adult now, but I first started reading her works when I was just a sophomore in high school. I don't remember exactly what I told her, but I know I said something along the lines of how much her work impacted me and my creativity. I told her she was my favorite manga artist and that I loved everything she's produced. I still have her response where I can easily access it. "あけましておめでとうございますｗいつも見ていてくれてありがとう、私も出会えて嬉しいです♪これからもよろしくねｗ = "Happy New Year! Thank you for always looking after me, I'm also happy to have met you. Please continue to look after me."" I don't read/speak Japanese so when she responded to me I made a post on tumblr asking someone to translate for me. It's worth it to mention that I wrote to her in English. This is what I got XD I was so, so, so happy! I doubt she remembers this encounter, but it meant everything to me and it still does.

 

Also there was a time when my good friend and I were arguing about the hair color of one of her characters so we tweeted her to find out who was right. My friend was right haha!

 

That is so awesome!! Kaori Yuki, the author of Angel Sanctuary right? She's a legend! And her response to you is so cute! Aww, bless you for taking the time to do that, I'm sure it made a difference to her too. ^^

 

I messaged Saiko Takaki once, the illustrator for the Vampire Hunter D manga adaptation, to tell her how much I loved her style and the manga. She responded with a really sweet message. Later she couldn't continue illustrating the manga due to health reasons, poor sensei.

[confidant_v]

That is so awesome!! Kaori Yuki, the author of Angel Sanctuary right? She's a legend! And her response to you is so cute! Aww, bless you for taking the time to do that, I'm sure it made a difference to her too. ^^

 

I messaged Saiko Takaki once, the illustrator for the Vampire Hunter D manga adaptation, to tell her how much I loved her style and the manga. She responded with a really sweet message. Later she couldn't continue illustrating the manga due to health reasons, poor sensei.

 

Yep, the one and only! I've bought every manga of her's that's come out in English (although recently they've jacked up the prices of her manga to almost $20! I've had to slow down because of it >.

[bunny-blu]

Yep, the one and only! I've bought every manga of her's that's come out in English (although recently they've jacked up the prices of her manga to almost $20! I've had to slow down because of it >.

 

That sucks they increased the price! Is it because Tokyopop and other western publishers went out of business so now there's a limited supply of their manga?

 

Oh definitely! I managed to find a few of my beloved mangaka on twitter, some of them have guestbooks on their websites, some have pixiv or run a blog. There are definitely way to contact them if someone is determined. ^^

[auser]

oh.. Reading your stories, guys, now I want to contact Chise Ogawa then:D:D Just to tell her that she is the goddess of all goddesses:D

[bunny-blu]

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Her manga look adorable. Let us know if she replies.

[auser]

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no twitter though..^^ well, I might consider getting one:D

 

and ahah, your comment makes me wonder if by any chance you haven't read her yet & I might convert you? Because, while she might draw very beautifully, most of her stories are anything but cute xD

[bunny-blu]

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I haven't read anything by her yet. Who knows? Maybe I'll give her works a try. ^^

 

Btw I just had a look on her official website and her email address information is written at the bottom, so you can email her if you don't want to make a twitter account especially.

You need to replace the star in her email address with an @ symbol in order for it to work. Oh and her official website address is listed on Manga Updates.

[auser]

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thank you so much for going through all this effort!!:D wow I didn't know that she has an official website.. Yay! I might actually contact her today then.. you've been inspiring:D:D

 

and do let me know if you ever decide to give her a try, we can find together a perfect manga for you.. Chise Ogawa is the best of the best in my opinion, and she works in lots of different genres..^^

[bunny-blu]

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you're welcome! ^^ Well, maybe you could recommend me something? I like cute fluffy stories.

[auser]

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I was HOPING you would ask that ahah xD

 

oh well, she is more into angsty & dark stuff rather than cute & fluffy, but there are definitely exceptions - Gosan no Heart is an obvious one, about 2 high school boys & all that follows. I actually love its spin-off, Owaranai Fukou Ni Tsuite No Hanashi, more, but it's definitely much less cute & much more questionable.

 

Kono Ore Ga Omae Nanka Suki Na Wakenai is another incredibly cute story about high school boys (Chise Ogawa really likes writing about that age)

 

Sekai wa Kimi de Mawatteru can be a very good choice as well, because it's a collection of 1-2 chapter stories, so it's a smaller commitment, but all of the stories are so good I won't even be able to name my favorite one. And yep, all of them are about high school:D

 

Oita ga Sugiru wa Koneko-chan is the only one on this list not about 2 high school boys, but it's because it's about a highschool student & his second cousin xD so there is age gap & a bit of incest, I guess, but it's incredibly funny & cute..

 

but yep, those are the best fluffy Chise Ogawa stories, the rest is usually much darker - she often writes about rape (not even rape-to-love, just rape) & extreme incest.. but at the same time, her art is so beautiful, I could forgive her anything..^^

[bunny-blu]

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wow sounds like you know her entire body of work! I'm the same with with my favourite mangaka ! ^^""

Thank you for the introductions! I think I'll try Sekai wa Kimi de Mawatteru!

[auser]

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yep I do ahah I think i've read every single one of her works at least 2 or 3 times ahah:D and it's a great choice, really:D

 

please please please do let me know what you think:D I love talking about sensei's stories:D

[bunny-blu]

Ahh something awesome happened!

 

Last week I emailed Koide Mieko sensei. She's the illustrator of Yatteraneeze! It was one of the first shounen ai manga I ever read and it's still one of my all time favourites.

 

I told her (in my awful Japanese) I'm her ardent fan, how much I love that manga, and I wish her a beautiful life, and she replied!

 

Here's what she said: (I'm translating)

 

"Hello.

 

Thank you for your Japanese email.

(Sorry that I'm replying in Japanese)

 

I'm so happy that there are people in England who read my manga.

I will continue doing my best.

 

Thank you,

Koide Mieko"

 

GYAAAAA!!!! SENSEI REPLIED TO ME!!! Ok it was a short response but hey Sensei is busy creating awesome manga. My life is now complete.

[meow_meow]

Thanks to the internet, keeping tabs with your favorite mangaka has never been this easy. Most of them have Twitter accounts too. Some words of caution though:

 

1. Do not use Google translate in translating your message to Japanese because it will sound kind of awkward. If you know a friend who can translate it to you then that's great.

 

2. If you really don't know anyone who can help you (like me), keep your messages simple, like "Congratulations", "This is pretty", "Amazing", "Thank you Sensei", etc. 99.9% of the mangaka cannot understand any language other than Japanese. Or use smileys or emojis! Gifs can also express your happiness and appreciation towards their work. They may not reply (not all of them do), but they could definitely see your tweets. There are a handful of mangaka that are very active on Twitter, most only posts every now and then.

 

3. If you are in the habit of retweeting/liking/following mangakas on Twitter and you are also following other accounts that post scanlations of manga, unfollow them if possible, or at least avoid retweeting their posts. Some mangakas, even if they don't follow you back on Twitter, checks the profile of the people liking their posts. This also applies if you have a Tumblr/Livejournal/Wordpress blog that shares screencaps/makes reviews about yaoi manga and shares it via your Twitter account. Some mangakas are not averse to blocking/reporting people. If they see you retweeting scanlations they might block you (therefore losing that precious first-hand access to their tweets) or worse, they might report you. That would suck big time. Example: Ike Reibun blocks people who shares screencaps of her manga.

 

Some mangaka are nice enough to follow me back (I'm shook tbh, I'm just a worthless person), and some I've messaged over the years, especially during their birthdays. The ones I remember replying/liking my retweets are:

 

1. Fusanosuke Inariya, when I congratulated her on the comeback of Maiden Rose (she did reply to my tweet! In English! She also did her best to reply to different people in other languages)

2. Sera-sensei (author of that nudist manga) thanked me when I greeted her happy birthday.

3. Dayoo-sensei (author of Young Good Boyfriend) thanked me when I retweeted one of her posts.

4. There was one mangaka (dammit I forgot who it was) where her father visited my country and sent her some local delicacies as a present. She tweeted a photo of it and I was so happy that I asked if it was delicious. She replied in English, "Yes, it's delicious!" I just lost it and screamed, seriously.

 

I totally forgot about the others *sobs* maybe I should save some screenshots and frame them lol.

[darina]

We are familiar with by correspondence together wrote and sent a letter to Shimizu Yuki (manga Love Mode). We were given a track in the mail and the letter came exactly to the new year 2016 or 2017, though we did not know either her address or the address of her editor. And sent to a publishing house where one of her last works was published. I don't even know if she got the letter. But just sending it was something amazing.

[lowkeygay]

I've always thought of doing this, I think I actually might do it now!!

[Virdian*]

How do you contact them?

[AtomBomb_Baby]

I would love to but Harada is such a mystery no one seems to know anything about him/her. I have read and loved everything they have written.

 

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[Dexen]

Oh i follow a few of them on Tweeter, but contacting is a bit complicated cuz of language mostly, so just like someone said on a previous post I keep it short, and mostly use emojis =)

[Kujaku]

I have never tried to contact any of the mangakas. I look them up if I really like them, but that's mostly it. I usually do it so I can read more of their mangas.