When artists in the west try to mirror manga done in Japanese stylings, it’s not that their style isn’t like manga but more so it’s just not from the land of the rising sun. Manga will always be something we associate with Japan and anyone who does similar works here in America will be making comics or graphic novels. Look at stories like Scott Pilgrim and/or 7STRING. These comics have a manga-like visual aesthetic but ultimately, they will never be manga, just comics. We have even seen other lesser known creators who create in the same formula as manga always be referred to as comic books not manga here in the west.

If you need further proof that western manga just doesn’t make sense and really why it’s not published as manga, let’s for a moment dive into comics outside of the west and Japan. China’s comics are called manhua and Korea’s manga is called manhwa. If you ask a person from either of these wonderful countries they will say that both manhwa and manhua are comics books but made from their countries. It’s why it wouldn’t make sense to publish a western manga as a manga when—once more—our comics are just known as we said before. Either call them comic books or graphic novels.

Now let’s say an American or European artist wanted to make a manga series but from their countries and publish them in Japan. Would that even be possible? The answer is yes, but it would require a ton of work and probably be more difficult then it’s worth. Not only would the creator need to find a publisher willing to take a non-Japanese creator but they would then have to figure out how to get editors, pay for the work of creating art and translations and the list of steps goes on. Publishing manga in Japan isn’t easy for creators of lesser known status, but if you watch videos of creators who rose from nobodies to well-known mangaka—manga authors—you would know that It was simpler for them because its their language and their country. We could only imagine the reverse would be true for a Japanese or even Chinese creator to come to the west and try to find publishers that would be willing to go through a gambit of getting their work out there…

Many creators will tell you that getting publishers for anything—video games, manga, cartoons or manga—can be an arduous challenge. Why you might ask? Simple, because publishers do care about profits and when they risk their money on newcomers the challenge of getting that person’s work out there becomes risky for said profits. Respected mangaka and comic book creators can create new IPs—intellectual properties—without much complaints from their publishers since they know the name associated with the new IP holds clot. Any regular person coming up for the first time will be a risky venture and in the world of manga getting published from western creators, Japanese might be worried that the cost of making it happen won’t be seen as a profit once the series begins selling. It makes sense as manga even in Japan still doesn’t make super large amounts of money as people in the west thing they do.